Mrs. P's Singers and Ringers Blog

Do you ever look at the map on the right side of the page?  That is a map that tracks visitors to our blog.  The number that’s listed on the map is as of sometime in March.  But if you click on the map, you will see a more current total, as well as where the visitors are from.  We are only a few hits away from having 3,00 visitors on our site!  I think that’s awesome, considering that that it’s a classroom blog.  Of course, I’m partial; I don’t think this is just ANY classroom blog!

What do you think?

You can probably tell from the fact that I haven’t put up a new post in a few weeks that it has been a very hectic time for Chorus and Handbells.  Yesterday’s performances for next year’s sixth graders went very well, despite a few “blips” that we’ll discuss in class.  And Wellington Ringers will perform this evening at Seminole Ridge High School, as part of their Spring Fling choral concert.

Now is the time to make sure that our spring concert is on your family’s calendar.   The concert will take place on May 22nd, a Tuesday, at 7:00pm in the WLMS cafeteria.  The performance will include both choruses and both handbell ensembles (no band).  Handbell students need to be here at 6:30, and chorus students have a report time of 6:40.   This performance serves as our nine-week exam, and attendance is mandatory.  If you need to, you can check out the attendance policy in the Chorus Handbook or the Handbell Handbook.

Concert Chorus also needs to add Wednesday, June 6th, to their performance calendar.  We will be singing for the eighth grade awards program, which will take place this year at Wellington High School.  I will have more information for you soon as to the time, and what we will be singing.  So pay attention in class!

This one’s for General Music, but you all might enjoy this.  In General Music, we’re talking about and listening to blues, which is a precursor of jazz.  We were talking today about the form of blues songs.  We said that the lyrics, or words, follow an AAB pattern.  That is, the first line is a statement of some sort.  The second line repeats the first statement.  Then, the third line is different.  You can hear it in this song that I started to play in class, Every Day I Have the Blues.

17 Every Day I Have the Blues

The performance is by the famous blues guitarist and singer, B. B. King.  You can see his picture below, with his guitar which he named Lucille.  He has even written songs about Lucille.

The only song that Concert Chorus is singing for spring concert for which we don’t have a recording is “Until We Sing Again.”  I found a listening link for you, so that you can listen to the song online.  This is a demonstration recording done by professional singers for the publisher of the music.  There are several recordings of the song on Youtube, but of course, I can’t send you there.  However, I watched and listened to a couple of them last night and, trust me, we will do much, much better than anything I saw or heard.  In fact, one was so bad that I wished I could assign it as an example for you to critique.  There were some really obvious errors.

I hope you like the song as much as I do.  It’s the perfect piece for the end of the year.

Thanks to all of you who sent good wishes to my dad for his surgery.  It went very well.  There was a minor complication, and he is going through another procedure today (Monday), but it should not be a big deal.  So I am back, and glad to be with you all.

Something that you might find interesting is a story about a young boy that I learned about at the hospital where my dad had his surgery.  This is not your usual hospital.  In the lobby is a grand piano, and there is almost always someone there, playing it.  There is a 10-year old boy who plays for an hour every Friday afternoon.  His name is Noah Waddell, and he is quite an amazing musician.  You can check out his website, and listen to him play.  He has entered many competitions, and has an opportunity to go to the Cleveland Institute of Music this summer to study.

I know that I’ve told you about the Tone Deaf on-line comic before, and the new posters in the Chorus Room are from this series.  The artist, John  Bogenschutz, is a former band director, so most of the strips are about band.   But occasionally, he does one for chorus.  If you follow this link , you’ll see a new one of these.  Eric Whitacre is a choral composer who writes beautiful, but very difficult and complex music.  His pieces aren’t anything we would ever consider in middle school.  I think that Mr. Chase has done one or two at Wellington High School, but Whitacre’s music is mostly college-level.  And there’s nothing ordinary about the parts.  You can listen to some samples of his music at Mr. Whitacre’s website. Anyway, I think the comic strip is pretty funny.  The music is not funny, but it is absolutely beautiful.  Listen to “Alleluia” if you get a chance.

I know, you really don’t want to think about anything that has to do with school during Spring Break.  But just in case you get inspired, I’ve put a couple of links here, so that you can listen to some of the music we’ll be doing for Spring Concert.

02 Haven’t Met You Yet – Rehearsal

What a Wonderful World

Don’t Stop Believin’

01 Sing

Don’t Stop Believin’ and What a Wonderful World are songs that Beginning Chorus is doing for the concert.  Sing and Haven’ Met You Yet will be sung by Concert Chorus.  So this will give you something to do over your spring break that will be fun, but you can tell your parents that you are working on school stuff, and make them happy!

I hope you all have a wonderful break.  I’m looking forward to mine, even though my husband and I are planning to do some painting around the house.  But we’re also planning on going to the beach and playing tennis and going to the Norton Museum and…well, enjoy this picture of the glass ceiling by artist Dale Chihuly at the Norton Museum.

I’ve always known that I get to direct superior choirs, and now we have our MPA ratings to prove it.  As I said in class today, I don’t worry about the actual ratings,  because there is so much subjectivity in judging.  Mr Bailey and I saw that when were reading the judges’ comments.  One judge heard one thing, and another heard exactly the opposite.  My concern is that everybody does their very best.  I can’t ask for more.  And I think this year, there is no questions that everyone did just that.

And I don’t think my hair got too frizzy.  I know I didn’t look like the director in this post!

I know you’d like to listen to your performances again, so here they are.

01 Music Like a Radiant Light

02 Good Night

Rise, Rise Thou Merry Lark

Kyrie–Miller

Wayfarin’ Stranger

As I’ve said a couple of times, there are rules of conduct that we are expected to follow while we are at MPA.  We will discuss these in class on Tuesday and again on Friday before we leave.  However, they are so important that I’m listing them here.  These are taken from the Florida Vocal Association handbook.

Listening: A vital part of the evaluation is listening to other groups perform.  Choirs are required to remain in the auditorium for the entire block.  Violation of attendance policies will result in disqualification.

Conduct:

1.  Director should brief all students on the rules of conduct so that they are thoroughly understood.  (That’s what I’m doing here.)

2.  The following rules apply specifically to the MPA site:

• Reasonable quiet should be maintained at all times.
• Radios, recorders, beepers, cell phones, watch alarms, and other portable sound sources are distracting and must be turned off at the performance venue.  Violation of this rule will result in confiscation by an FVA officer, who will take the device to the FVA office until the school checks out.  The device will be returned to the director.
• No one is to enter or leave an adjudication room while a performance is in progress.
• No flash pictures may be taken during any performance.  (And since your cell phones must be off, no pictures with cell phones.)
• No food or drink is permitted in any adjudication or warm-up room.
• Individual schools are responsible for any property damage that is caused by any of their participants.

Infraction of any rules will result in disqualification of the entry.

As you can tell, Florida Vocal Association is very serious about these rules.  So, what does it mean for us?  It means that, once we get off the bus, we are QUIET.  We will line up and stay together at all times.  Once inside the auditorium, you will stay in your seat until we are called to go to the warm-up room.  We will do that quietly, as well.  When we finish sight-singing and return to the auditorium, we will sit quietly and listen respectfully to the other choruses.  You can applaud the other performances, but this is not a place for whistling, screaming, or any other sound to acknowledge a performance.  When we are finished, we will leave the auditorium in a quiet, orderly fashion.

As far as I’m concerned, how you act is as important as how you sing.  Remember, the judges will see you in the auditorium before they see you on stage.  Impress them with your good behavior as soon as you walk in the door.  Don’t be like the person in the picture!

I posted this on Edline last week, but apparently a lot of people missed it:  we are not doing our cookie dough fundraiser this year.  The company that we normally work with is going out of business.  I spoke with our school bookkeeper, and we have enough money in the chorus and handbell account to make it through the rest of this year, so I’m not scrambling to find another company right now.  I will see about doing a cookie dough sale for next fall.

If we do a fundraiser before the end of the school year, it will be something low-key.  I know that some people have asked about doing a car wash, but those don’t make a lot of money, and, frankly, you all need to remember that MRS. P HAS A LIFE!   There are a lot of evenings and weekends that I’m away from my family for performances, MPA, etc.  I really don’t want to give up another Saturday for a car wash!  However, we may sell lollipops.  I’ve seen the Ozark Delight lollipops when I’ve gone to the Florida Music Educator’s conference in Tampa.  They come in some amazing flavors.  Take a look.  Is this something that might interest you?