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!!