Dress Rehearsal and Concert Information

Marcato Parents:

 

We had our last regular rehearsal today prior to our concert on Saturday. Here is the information you and your choir member need to know about our dress rehearsal and concert. Please let me know if you have any questions about any of this.

 

Dress Rehearsal

Our dress rehearsal will be on Friday, December 21 at 4:30 pm in the High School Auditorium. Choir members do not need to be in concert attire for this rehearsal. The rehearsal should only last about 30 minutes or so. If your child will not be able to attend this rehearsal, please let me know.

 

Concert

Our concert is on Saturday, December 22 at 7 pm at the High School Auditorium. CALL TIME FOR CHOIR MEMBERS IS AT 6 PM. Please have your singer in the auditorium at 6 pm so we can practice before the audience begins to arrive. Several choir members have expressed concern that they will not be able to attend the concert because of other family things going on that evening. Please let me know whether or not your child will be at our concert, and make sure they know for sure if they are attending or not as well. Concert attire needs to fit both of the following criteria: 1-Look "Christmassy" and 2-Look nice, or dressed up.

 

Again, please let me know if you have any questions about what is happening for the dress rehearsal and concert. Also, there are still a few "rough spots" in a couple of our songs, so it would be VERY helpful to have your choir member listen to and sing with the practice tracks on the website. Most of the trouble is due to not knowing some of the words to the songs.

 

Last, thank you for allowing your children to be part of the choir this Christmas. I really enjoy working with them. I am excited about this concert. It will be a lot of fun! I hope you are looking forward to it as well.

Dress Rehearsal Time & Solo Parts

Marcato Parents,

I now have a firm time for our dress rehearsal. It will be on Friday, December 21 at 4:30 pm in the High School Auditorium. It shouldn't take longer than 30 minutes. They do not need to be in their concert attire at this rehearsal. We will just be going over each song once to be sure they know where they need to be. This will help us get the lighting and sound ready for the concert. Please let me know if your child will not be able to attend this rehearsal.

Also, all of the solo parts have been awarded. I have sent emails to those whose child has a solo for this concert. If your child auditioned and didn't get a solo, please let them know that they did a great job! It was very difficult to choose who would get solos because so many of them auditioned. There will be plenty of opportunities for solos in the future!

Thank you!

Announcements 12-4

Just a few updates from today.

 

Solos

We had solo auditions today during rehearsals and I am totally impressed with the talent and the willingness of so many who tried out today! I wish I had a solo for each of them. I will be making the solo assignments shortly, but know that even if your child does not get a solo for this concert, it doesn't mean they didn't do a great job. There just aren't enough solo parts to go around this time, but there will be more opportunities in the future! I will send out emails to those who will be singing our solos in the next day or so.

 

Dress Rehearsal

I was hoping to avoid having a dress rehearsal prior to this concert, but since we will be in the High School Auditorium, we need to make sure the lighting and sound are working correctly. I also want to make sure the children all know where they need to be throughout the concert. I don't know an exact time yet, but dress rehearsal will be on Friday, December 21, sometime in the early evening. I will let you know an exact time as soon as I have it. THE CHILDREN DO NOT NEED TO WHERE THEIR CONCERT ATTIRE AT THIS REHEARSAL.

 

Accompanist for Sing-a-long
As part of this concert, we will be having a sing-a-long, but rather than dump several more songs on our already busy accompanist, I am searching for someone who would be willing to play a few Christmas carols for our sing-a-long. I have all of the music, I just need an able/willing person to help us out. There does not need to be any outside rehearsal for this. You (or they) would just need to show up at the concert ready to play. *Edit: I just found out that our accompanist has a conflict with our concert, so I am in need of someone who could accompany our choir for the concert as well. We will be singing 3 songs that will need accompaniment and they are not too difficult. Please contact me if you would be able to help us, or if you know of someone who could help us.

Thank you so much for sharing your talented children with me. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy working with them. They really are amazing and are picking up on everything so quickly. Please have them continue to practice at home. It makes a big difference if they are hearing the songs throughout the week so that we are not starting cold again each week. Here is link for the practice tracks again:  http://morganvalleychildrenschoir.blogspot.com/  We only have two full rehearsals before our dress rehearsal. Please be sure your child attends both of these rehearsals so they can learn all of our songs.

Choir Announcements 11-27

We have now had 2 great rehearsals! Things are moving right along, which is good because time is short until our December 22 concert. We only have 3 more rehearsals until the concert! This means that the time we have left is critical and I need all singers on time to each rehearsal so we can use all the time we have. 

 

Here are several announcements to keep you up-to-date on choir happenings.

 

Concert Information:

First, concert attire. For this concert, I am not asking that we do a set color scheme for the entire group, as I've done in the past. The two guidelines that I am giving for this concert are that the children look nice (dress up), and that they wear something "Christmassy." I am not going to tell you what colors to wear or anything, but if you follow those two guidelines, I'm sure that they will be dressed just right.

 

Second, I am not planning to have a dress rehearsal at this point. Within the next couple of weeks, I will decide if an extra practice is necessary and we may try to piggy-back on the ballet's dress rehearsal on December 21. However, I would like all choir members to arrive at the High School at 6 pm on December 22 for some pre-concert warm-ups and run through. The concert will be on the 22nd at 7 pm in the High School Auditorium.

 

Practice at Home

I would definitely encourage you to have your child practice all of our songs at home. Our most difficult piece is "This is the Christ." However, I have decided that due to the limited amount of time we have to rehearse, I am only going to have the choir sing the chorus. So, please have your child listen to the practice tracks of the chorus of that song so they can learn it quickly. (I have just added these to the website.)

 

Solos

I am going to have several solos at this concert. These solos will need to be learned at home. We will not use rehearsal time to teach these solos. In fact, if your child is serious about having a solo, please have them practice with the solo tracks that have now been added to the Practice Tracks page on the website. They need to be prepared to sing at our next rehearsal on December 4. Here is the link: http://morganvalleychildrenschoir.blogspot.com/p/practice-tracks.html

 

There will be six short solos on "This is the Christ" and two solos on "When Christmas Comes to Town" as well as a duet on "When Christmas Comes to Town." I have made a recording of each of the solos on "This is the Christ" so your child can listen to them and practice with them. I would encourage them to learn more than one part so that I can assign as many solos as possible and spread it around to as many as desire to sing a solo.

 

As always if you have any questions/concerns, please contact me. Also, if you know of anyone else that would like to join our choir, please invite them. We could especially use more boys in our choir! Next week will be our last week to accept new members prior to the Christmas concert. If they are unable to join us for this concert, they are welcome to join us in January.

 

Thank you for all you do! I love working with your children!!

 

(This information was also sent by email to all Marcato Parents. If you did not receive this by email, please send me an email with your correct email address, so I can add you or correct any typing errors I've made.)

For those who have just received the note in Tuesday folders about our choir, we are still accepting new members! (I was hoping that note would go home a week ago, but . . .) Anyway, if your child would like to sing with us, please have them attend the next three rehearsals so that they can be ready for our concert on December 22. (Please see the "Calendar of Events" tab at the top of the page for the rehearsal schedule.) Also, it would be very helpful if they listened to the practice tracks (located on the "Practice Tracks" tab) and became familiar with the songs we will be doing so they won't feel behind when they join us.

If your child is not able to attend the remaining rehearsals before the concert, they are definitely welcome to join us when we begin in January. We will begin new music at that time and would love lots of new members! If you have any questions, please contact me by commenting here on this site, or by sending me an email. (See "Contact Info" tab)

Practice Tracks Now Available!

The practice tracks are now ready to go. They are found by clicking on the "Practice Tracks" tab at the top of the page. If your singer could practice at home, it would help a lot, as we don't have many practices before our December 22 concert!

Marcato Registration

It's time to begin a new season of Marcato! Rehearsals will be held on Tuesdays on the Morgan Elementary School stage from 3:45 - 4:45 pm. The first rehearsal will be held on November 20! Registration forms will be available at the first rehearsal for all members to fill out. You can also get a registration form by clicking on this link or by going to the "Join" tab at the top of the page.

Information is currently being updated on this website, so please check back to get the latest information about our upcoming Christmas concert which we are excited to share with the Morgan Valley Ballet Company. It will be held on December 22 at 7 pm, so mark that date on your calendar. A full rehearsal calendar is now available on the Calendar of Events Tab above.

Please pass the word along to your friends and family!

A New Season of Marcato

Just a quick update to let you know about the upcoming season of Marcato Children's Choir. For those who are new to Marcato or don't know much about it, Marcato is a FREE choir which includes children in grades 3-6.

 

At the moment I am trying to secure a meeting place and time for us to practice. I am hoping to have rehearsals begin within the next couple of weeks. This should give us enough time to prepare a few songs to be sung in a small concert/recital which we will share with the Morgan Valley Ballet Company in December. Once I have clearance to use a room, I will be sending out the word via email as well as on facebook and on our website. I will also be sending out flyers to the schools to generate interest. My request is that you check your email/facebook often in order to get the most current information and so that your singer doesn't miss our first rehearsal.

 

If you have any questions, please contact me. Also, spread the word so that we can have more singers join our group!

Once my baby comes in September and things have settled down a bit, I will get information out about the choir and classes. If you would like to receive information about our program and details about our next season, please send me an email to morganvalleyvoices@gmail.com or leave your contact information in a comment here.

Updates, Information, and Help Needed

Concert/Dress Rehearsal Dates & Times
Our concert has been scheduled for Thursday, May 3 in the Morgan Elementary Commons Area. The concert itself will begin at 7 pm, but I need to have all Vivo, Vivace,  and Marcato members there at 6:30 pm. Our dress rehearsal will be held on Tuesday, May 1. I will be in the Commons Area right after school at 3:30 and am hoping to start rehearsing at 3:45 or so. Dress Rehearsal will end at 5 pm. Children do not need to be in concert attire for dress rehearsal.

Concert Attire
Concert attire for Marcato Choir members will be the same as our last concert--black dress pants and shoes for boys, black skirts, tights, and shoes for girls. Skirts should be knee length or longer. White shirts for all choir members with boys wearing a neck-tie. I am thinking about making something for the girls that is spring-like, maybe a dressy scarf or something. If anyone has any ideas or could help me with something like that, please let me know.

Parent Assistance during Dress Rehearsal and Concert
I am going to need 5 or 6 parents to help out during our dress rehearsal as well as "backstage" during the concert. I mostly need help with crowd control as well as help getting groups on and off the risers and to their spots. It would be helpful to have the parents who can help at the concert also help out during the dress rehearsal so they know what to do and where everyone needs to be throughout the concert. (Please see the "Concert Dates" section for dates and times.)

Committee Help Needed
I have reviewed the registration forms to see who would be willing to help me in different committees. Those who said they would be willing to help out during the concert or for an after party, I will be sending more detailed information to you soon. Please watch your email for that. If you did not sign-up for either of those things, but would like to help, please let me know and I'll let you know what I need help with.

Changes for Next Year
Many of you have likely heard that I am expecting a baby due in September. As you have probably figured out, this will have quite an impact on my music schedule for next year. As of now, I do not know exactly what I will be able to handle with a new little one. Obviously, I will not be holding classes or choir at the beginning of the school year. However, I do hope to have some sort of choir event prior to Christmas. It may just be a few rehearsals and a caroling activity, or if I feel like we can do more, we may be able to have a short concert. I will send out updates and information as I figure out what I can do. As for classes, I may not have anything until the beginning of the year, but again, I will let you all know as soon as I have things figured out.

Marcato Parents Only
Our attendance has been a little spotty the last several weeks. As we come closer to the concert it is even more important that I have all choir members to each rehearsal. I understand that things come up and there are conflicts, so if your child will not be at rehearsal, please let me know ahead of time if possible.

Concert Follow-up: NEW DATE!

Just wanted to let you know that I have just discovered that the High School Musical opens on the night I was hoping to have our concert. I will be looking into other dates for our concert since this is a conflict that effects several of you, including our accompanist! At the moment I am hoping to push it back 2 weeks and have it on May 3. However, I need to check with Karen at the Elementary School before I can do anything. Please let me know if any of you have major conflicts with this date as well as May 1 from 4-5 which would be our dress rehearsal.

Thanks for your understanding!

Update -- 2/23/12

Here is the latest update for Marcato Children's Choir:

Concert Date
Our concert has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday, April 19 at Morgan Elementary School in the Commons area. Once the date and time have been firmly arranged, I will pass it along to you. (I am hoping to have the concert start at 6:30 pm). We will also have a dress rehearsal which will be held in the MES Commons area on Tuesday, April 17, during our regular rehearsal time (4-5 pm).

Practice Tracks
I have added a practice track for a descant part that I will be having 4 or 5 choir members sing together in a group. At our next rehearsal, I will be listening to some voices singing this part together to try to get the sound I am looking for. If your child is interested in being part of this group, please have them listen to and learn the part that I have on the practice track. We will go over it quickly during our next rehearsal before I start listening to different voices.

Thanks for all of your support!

On the Move Update - 1-18-12

Just a few updates from this week, including the times for the performance on January 31.

Celebration of the Arts Performance Times

Our choir will perform during the two assemblies held during school on January 31. The times of those assemblies are at 9 am and 2 pm. I am working on a letter to give to the school offices at Morgan Elementary and Morgan Middle School in order to excuse them at the proper times. If I need to meet additional requirements in order to get them excused (like parental permission) I will let you know. As I mentioned before, I will need those parents with children at MGES to excuse their own children and provide transportation to and from the performance. I have been told that the entire assembly should not be more than one hour long. I am not sure when we will be performing on the program, but choir members will be excused to return to class right after we perform. For those who home school as well as those bringing children from Mountain Green, if you could have your children at Morgan Elementary (in the gym) at 8:45 for the morning performance and at 1:50 in the afternoon. If you have to choose between the two performances, I would prefer to have more attend the morning performance. Please contact me if you have any other questions or concerns about this.

Election Results

We held our elections for choir presidency yesterday and our new choir president is Sage Earl, and our secretary is Meagan Durrant. They will both do a great job! Thanks to all others who ran! We really do have great choir members and they all do so much to make our choir run smoothly and be successful!

Solo Auditions

We have a few solos for this season. Solo auditions will be held on January 31 during the 15 minutes prior to rehearsal as well as during the last 5 minutes of rehearsal time. I have asked those who are auditioning to be prepared to sing the first 8 measures of "Homeward Bound" for the audition. They each received the music to this song and we went through it at our rehearsal yesterday. I have also included a practice track on the website so they can listen to it and practice at home. We do not have as many solos at this concert as we did at the last one. I will try to accommodate those who audition, but we usually have so many that audition, that some may not receive a solo this time around. Please try to prepare your child for that. There is only so much I can do to add solos and still make them special. Thank you for your understanding.

That is all I have for now. As we near our first performance of the season, please check your email often for updates and additional information.

Thank you!!

Practice Tracks

I have just updated the practice tracks with the songs we will be doing this season. Please allow your child to listen to these recordings often so they can retain the things we are learning in choir. They are found under the "Practice Tracks" tab at the top of the page.

Marcato On the Move - Update 1/4/12

I can already tell that this is going to be a great season!! The theme I have chosen for the season is "On the Move!" We had a great first rehearsal yesterday and accomplished a lot. There are a few items of business that we talked about at rehearsal yesterday that I need to pass along to you:

1 - Performance 1/31 - Morgan Elementary School has asked us to be part of their "Celebration of the Arts" assembly on January 31. I do not have the exact times yet, but they hold the assembly at two different times during the day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) to accommodate all of the children in the school. I have talked to Mr. Wolff at MES and he will excuse all choir members from his school for both assemblies. I will be talking to Mr. Madeo at the Middle School about excusing the choir members for one or both of the assemblies. However, since there is an element of travel for the students at MGES, I will need those parents to talk to Mr. Murdock about excusing their child during at least one of the performance times. As soon as I find out the exact times, I will pass them along to you.

2 - Choir Presidency - We will be electing a new choir presidency on January 17. If your child would like to be considered for choir president or secretary, they need to send me a short write-up about why they would like to be in the presidency. This needs to be completed and to me prior to rehearsal on January 17. Here are the requirements for the presidency:

President:

-Be in either 5th or 6th grade.

-Arrive 5-10 minutes early to assist the conductor with room & music folder preparation.

-Act as a role model and leader to other choir mates.

-Serve on the Activities Committee (with a parent) to plan choir parties and events.

-Help conductor as needed.

Secretary

-Those running for secretary can be any age.

-Take attendance at each rehearsal.

-Help conductor collect music folders after each rehearsal.

-Help conductor as needed.

3 - Calendar - I have attached a rehearsal schedule and performance calendar to this email. It can also be found on our website. Please refer to it so that your child will be at each rehearsal. I will also be posting it on our choir website, and will be making changes and additions to it on the website.

4 - Choir Website - Our choir website is http://morganvalleychildrenschoir.blogspot.com/ Please check it often for updates. I will be sending out emails with important information, but for the latest news and information, please check the website. 

Thank you for signing your child up for our choir. I am really looking forward to this season! As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Here We Go Again!!

Our first rehearsal of the Spring season will be tomorrow, January 3, from 4-5 pm at the Middle School. I'm looking forward to working with your children again! It will be a really fun season with a lot of great music. Please tell your friends to sign their kids up (and have your kids tell their friends to join us!).

See you tomorrow!!