Commercial Street Performace Time & Christmas Party

I have two important updates for you.

 

1. Commercial Street Performance. We will be performing on Commercial Street on Dec. 7 from 3-3:30 inside the old Vallis Hotel (where Morgan Academy of dance used to be). We need to have all choir members there at 2:45 pm sharp so we can quickly warm-up (literally) and get ready to perform. I'm not familiar with the building, so I'm not sure exactly where to have us meet. I'll do some looking into it and let you know.

 

2. Christmas Party. Ellen Nielsen, one of our amazing choir parents is helping to plan our choir Christmas Party! She has made arrangements for us to sing our program at the Family Tree on Tuesday, December 17. We will meet at 5 pm at the Family Tree and will be prepared to sing promptly at 5:30 pm. After we sing for the residents there, we will be able to stay afterward for a little party. Please plan on attending, if possible! I think this will be a fun opportunity for all of the kids!

 

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Updates & Information 11/20/13

Marcato Parents:

 

A few key pieces of information for this week.

 

1. No Rehearsal on November 26. We will not be holding our regular rehearsal next week since Tuesday is the last day of school before Thanksgiving for MES & MGES. I hope everyone has a great and safe Thanksgiving!

 

2. Lyric Sheet. Even though we won't be holding rehearsal next week, I do have an assignment for all choir members. Attached to this email, you will find a lyric sheet for all of our choir songs. If you could please make this available to your child so that they can sing through AND MEMORIZE all of our songs during the break, that would be a huge relief to me. Our rehearsal time is running short and if they don't keep the songs fresh in their minds, I'm afraid that we may not be as polished as we need to be for our concert. Once again, please allow your child access to the lyric sheet in any way that it is easiest for you. (Do I need to beg??)

 

3. Piano Duet. A month or so ago, I sent out a page that included a piano part for one of our songs--"Can You See the Star?" It is to be a duet accompaniment for that song and is to be played in the highest octave possible. I was hoping to have one of our choir members play the duet with our accompanist. However, when I brought it up in choir yesterday, I received blank stares from all but maybe 3 choir members. I have once again attached this special piano part to this email. (It is a jpg file, so if you have trouble viewing it here, it can also be found on the Practice Tracks tab on our choir website.) If your child plays the piano and would like to practice the part during the next two weeks, I will have them try it at our rehearsal on December 3. If no one is prepared to perform it at that time, I will have to do without that part.

 

4. Questions/Concerns? Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the coming concert season? Now is the time to voice them. At this point, I do not know what time our choir will be singing at the Celebration on Commercial Street. I will let you all know when I find out. And please be sure that you have a our concert on your calendar. Thursday, December 12, 6:30 pm at Morgan Elementary School. All choir members need to be there at 6 pm for warm-ups. We are getting flyers made up, and I will email those out to all of you so you can forward them to family members who may like to attend.

 

Thanks so much!

Concert Time Change

We have changed our concert time to accommodate those families who are also involved in the High School band concert on the same evening. So, our concert will be on Thursday, December 12, 6:30 pm at Morgan Elementary School. All choir members need to be at the school at 6 pm in order to warm up.

Thank you!

Marcato Update 10/24/13

Two things for this week:

Solo Auditions

We will have solo auditions on October 29 (that is our next rehearsal). Auditions will be held during normal rehearsal time, but I will not take time during rehearsal to teach the different solo parts, other than maybe a quick time singing them through. If your choir member is unable to attend rehearsal on the 29th, and is interested in a solo, please contact me beforehand so that I can work out other arrangements for them, if possible. The Practice Tracks for the solos are at the following link: http://morganvalleychildrenschoir.blogspot.com/p/practice-tracks.html

November 5 Rehearsal

When I began the season, I was expecting to be out of town on November 5, so I indicated on the calendar that we would not hold rehearsal on that day. However, my plans have changed, so we WILL be holding choir rehearsal on November 5.

 

That's all for now. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns about anything choir related. Thank you!

Update 10/17/13

Here are a few updates from choir this week:

 

Election Results
It was a busy rehearsal on Tuesday. With the most excitement being our choir presidency elections. Here are the results:

 

President: Sydney N.

Vice President: Madylaine J.

Secretary: Ainsley F.

 

Congrats to them and a big thank you to all those who ran!

 

Solo Auditions

On Tuesday, we also discussed solo auditions which will be on October 29. I have included tracks and sheet music for each solo as well as the descant. We will not be spending time during rehearsal learning these solos. So if your choir member would like to audition on the 29th, please have them listen to the practice tracks at home and be prepared on the 29th.

 

Piano Duet

If any of our choir members are budding pianists, I have an opportunity for them. I have included some sheet music of a bell part from one of our songs on the Practice Tracks tab. What I would love to see is one of our choir members playing that part on the piano in the highest octave possible on the piano. I will begin "auditioning" choir members for this part after November 12 when our accompanist begins to join us. Once again, all practicing and learning of this piano part will need to be done at home.

 

Participation Contract Reminder

This is just a friendly reminder to everyone about the Attendance & Participation Contract that everyone signed on the registration form. One of the points on the contract states that it is the choir parent's responsibility to arrange rides to and from rehearsals/classes and performances. I don't want to make a big deal about this, and I know there are extenuating circumstances; but I am not able to leave the school until every child has been accounted for. More often than not, that gets me home about 20-25 minutes after the rehearsal ends. For those who come to pick up their choir member from rehearsal, if you could please try your best to be at the school to pick your child up promptly at 4:45 pm, I will do my best to get them out the door right on time as well.

 

Whew! That's all for this week. I hope everyone is having a safe and enjoyable Fall Break!

Choir Presidency Elections

Remember that choir presidency elections are on Tuesday! I need to have short paragraphs from each contestant prior to rehearsal along with a brief statement of permission from their parents. All candidates will read their statements to the choir before we vote. For more information, please see the ANNOUNCEMENTS tab on the website.

Things are rolling along and everyone is catching on to our songs really well!

 

Have a great weekend!

Marcato Update - 10/3/13

A few updates and some information for choir members:

 

Website

Some new things have recently been added to this website including the calendar for the remainder of 2013 on the "Calendar of Events" tab, as well as some information about choir presidency elections on the "Announcements" tab. We also have a Facebook page where you can stay in touch with all things Morgan Valley Voices. Search for "Morgan Valley Voices" and get connected.

 

Presidency Elections
We will hold elections for choir presidency on October 15 during rehearsal. Here is some information you and your choir member need to know about presidency elections: (All of this information can also be found on the Announcements tab on the website.)

 

If your child is interested in running for choir presidency, please have them write a short paragraph stating which position they would be interested in and why they feel they would be a good choice to fill that role. These paragraphs need to be emailed or given to me prior to rehearsal on October 15. I will also need parental permission for each child running for choir presidency stating that you've read the requirements and will allow your child to run for the presidency.

The requirements for presidency members are as follows:

President -- Must be in 5th or 6th grade
If there is enough interest, we will also elect a Vice President who will assist the President in fulfilling their duties.
-Help will room set up, as needed (arrive at 5-10 minutes prior to 3:45 start time)
-Lead games during and before rehearsal, occasionally
-Help with choir parties (choir awards)
-Give reminders to Mrs. Farmer about choir birthdays

-Set an example for all other choir members
-Assist as needed

Secretary -- Can be in any grade -- 3rd through 6th
-Take attendance at each rehearsal
-Help with room set up, as needed (arrive at 5-10 minutes prior to 3:45 start time)
-Make sure that all folders are collected at the end of rehearsal
-Help clean up and room and replace everything that was moved during rehearsal.
-Set an example for all other choir members
-Assist as needed

Choir Accompanist

We are in need of an accompanist for our Christmas Concert. If you are interested, please contact me as soon as possible so that I can get the music to you. We would need the accompanist to begin attending rehearsals on November 12.

 

Thanks to all of our choir members for another great week at rehearsal!