Concert Music

Believe it or not, there are not that many rehearsals until our concert on December 13. Here are the links to our pieces for this concert. Remember, they will have to be memorized!

The Lauridsen 'O Magnum' has me nervous since we lost so many days to Sandy. I think you are up to the challenge, but since I still have to hand out the Hallelujah Chorus, we will see how the next week goes before I definitely include it in the program.


My God is a Rock- arr. Ken Berg

Sleep- Eric Whitacre

Daemon Irrepit Callidus- Orban

O Magnum Mysterium- Lauridsen

Jabula- arr. Hatfield

Hallelujah Chorus- Handel

Hurricane Sandy

Hi everyone,

I truly hope you and your families are staying safe and as warm as possible after Hurricane Sandy last week. I am looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow and getting back to normal!

Just so you know, please DO NOT worry about making up last weeks lesson. I am going to treat is as if it was a vacation and continue on with the 11/5 week rotation. Hopefully that will alleviate a little stress from the work you have to make up.

All the best,

Mrs. C

Lesson Schedule

I am SO sorry for the delay on this! I accidectally didn't press publish when I wrote this post.

Here is the rotational lesson schedule. Remember I should be seeing you in a lesson once a week for individual instruction. If you lesson falls on a day we do not have school, please attend the same period on the next day of school.

Let me know if you have any questions!

-Ms. Christy

12-13 Lesson Schedule

All-County Jazz

The All-County Jazz NYSSMA has been posted. If you are interested in auditioning, let me know! This needs to be submitted by the end of the week.

Mrs. Christy

Dona Nobis

Hello everyone,

Here is the pdf for DONA NOBIS that we started in class. Please print it out at home or in the library and bring it to class by Wednesday, September 12 at the latest.

Thank you

Mrs. Christy

Here is the link to Dona Nobis

Jazz Choir Auditions

Next TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 I will be holding auditions for Jazz Choir after school. This is a select ensemble of about 20 students who perform frequently throughout the community. We rehearse every Tuesday. In addition they participate in concerts throughout the year and will hopefully be attending another competition this spring. While there is a high level of dedication needed, it truly is a blast and I hope you all consider auditioning.

For this years audition you will be preparing a verse and chorus of a jazz standard, as well as a short sight-singing excerpt that will be given to you at the audition. If you have ANY questions about song selection, please COME FIND ME!! I have a lot of resources available to you and I am more than happy to help. Due to my schedule, you may need to email me your questions. My email is schristy@smithtown.k12.ny.us

Listening is the KEY to success in vocal jazz. Jazz has a very special technique that it is easy to grasp when you hear it performed. Some artists or groups I recommend you explore are;

Jane Monheit                                        Ella Fitzgerald
Sarah Vaughn                                       Billie Holiday
Diana Krall                                           Ray Charles
Frank Sinatra                                        Michael Buble
Nat King Cole                                      Harry Connick Jr.
Jaime Cullum                                        New York Voices
The Real Group                                    Singers Unlimited
Manhattan Transfer

If you are wondering what I am looking for, it is NOT the biggest solo voice I've ever heard. Remember this is not theatre, so you should be singing with as choral or "classical" or a sound as possible. In jazz, the low register in my women sections can have NO BELT. The jazz vocals and harmonies require a round tone with little or no vibrato and lots of the lifted soft palette that we began to talk about in class. Remember you will be singing with a group, so blend, intonation, support and subtlety will be more important than projection.

Please come with questions if you have any!!! I can't WAIT to hear you all next week :) Sign up sheets for audition times will be on the board in the hall of the music suite.

Best of luck :)

-Mrs. Christy


ps... here are some videos that I've posted... remember to look and listen for more!! Some of these tunes are pretty complicated. Remember to come speak to me and we will figure out an audition piece that will work for you

Ella Fitzgerald- Cry Me a River

Frank Sinatra- Come Fly With Me

Sarah Vaughan- Lullaby of Birdland

Harry Connick Jr- It Had To Be you

Welcome to another year!

Hello and welcome to another year of concert choir! I am excited to create more wonderful performances and musical moments with you.

While there are going to be some changes, they will not affect the success or progress that we will make as a group. Next week you will be given your lesson schedule and I will begin to hand out our concert music for the year.

Until then, please remember to come find me periods 1, 2 or 9 so that I can place you in the appropriate section. This needs to be done by THIS Friday.

-Mrs. Christy

Dates to Remember

Here are the final dates for you to remember:

Wednesday, May 30- NIGHT REHEARSAL 6-7:30 pm
Friday, June 1- NYSSMA MAJORS 10 am
Tuesday, June 4- SPRING CONCERT 7 pm

-Mrs. Christy

Spring Concert

The spring concert is RIGHT around the corner! Here are links to our songs so that you may practice for our performance.

Elijah Rock, arr. by Moses Hogan

Laudamus Te from Gloria, by Francis Poulenc

Ne Sedi Djemo, arr. by Steven Sametz

Shenandoah, arr. by James Erb

Make Our Garden Grow from Candide, Leonard Bernstein

**Remember we are also taking Ezekiel Saw de Wheel to NYSSMA on June 1**
Countdown is at 14, so be ready! I would like this memorized by Friday with the exception of Make Our Garden Grow.

-Mrs. Christy

Alive Inside

Last year I completed my masters degree by researching how musical study impacts the connections in our brain between the two hemispheres. It was inspired after I read a book by neurologist, Oliver Sacks called Musicolphilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. His studies of brain synapses and musics influence upon them has made music therapy a growing field for treatment of disabilities and for children diagnosed with ADHD, asbergers, and autism (to name as few).

This weekend I got wind of two films that have been inspired by Dr. Sacks work. One is a documentary called Alive Inside which premeired April 18th. I have a clip from it that I found on YouTube. It is based around Oliver Sacks studies on using music as treatment for elderly patients in nursing homes. The other is a film that premeired at the Sundance Film Festival called, The Music Never Stopped. If you have some free time, I would encourage you to check out these films.

Alive Inside clip:

The music never stopped, trailer:

Senior Pick, Spring Concert

Hi Seniors,

Here is the list of songs you performed as Freshman. Please let me know your pick for the spring concert by this Friday.

-Rytmus- Hrusovsky
-At the River- Copland
-Son de Camaguey- Hatfield
-In Time of Daffodils- Dickau
-Dide ta Deo- Brown Jr.
-Esto les Digo- Lange
-Salmo 150- Aguiar
-There Will be Rest- Tichelli
-Good News, Chariot's a Comin'- Hogan
-The Last Words of David- Thompson
-Ave Verum Corpus- Mozart
-El Grillo- des Prez
-Dirait-on- Lauridsen
-Elijah Rock- Hogan

Thanks!
-Mrs. Christy

Here are the links to the choral pieces for Gala. We test the week after break so make sure you prepare!

Eric Whitacre's Cloudburst

Gyorgy Orban- O Mistress Mine

Caldwell- John the Revelator

 
Bogoroditse Devo- Rachmaninoff
 
The links to the Mozart are on a previous post. The Mozart will be tested with music. The others you should work to memorize. Make sure you practice over the break and sign up for your test before you leave on Friday! Good luck.
 
-Mrs. Christy

Scholarship Opportunity

The North Shore Chamber Choir is offering a $500 scholarship.

The qualifications and requirements for obtaining this award are here : http://www.nschamberchoir.org/ns_scholarship.html

There are many of you who I think would be eligible for this award.

Good luck!

The Requiem...

So the insanity of Mr. Cotignola and I continues!! We are beginning the requiem that we will be performing at Gala.

As a full choir and symphonic orchestra, we will be performing movements 1, 2 and 7. In addition, chamber orchestra and an octet selected from within our choir will perform movement 5. There is also a soprano solo within the first movement. Movement 1 is a particularly difficult piece and this will take some effort on  your part outside of class to accomplish. I have attached a link to the Monteverdi Choir's performance of this requiem. This is the version that I am using to study this piece and we will be taking their tempos, dynamics, breath marks, etc. This choir only sings music from this time period, so they are the best of the best at baroque and classical repertoire.

I can't wait to get started!

Mrs. Christy

Click here to listen to the Requiem!

Eric Whitacre Opportunity

So I have made a VERY exciting discovery. On April 1, Eric Whitacre will be conducting his works that will be performed by a choir that is currently auditioning. I have attached the website where you can find the audition information. Unfortunately, I cannot take all of you, but I wish you the best of luck if you take advantage of this opportunity! Here is the link Click Here

-Ms. Christy

Gala Music

Some of you asked if I could post the links to the new pieces so you could hear them again! That definitely makes a chorus teacher smile :) Here they are! Enjoy

Eric Whitacre's Cloudburst

Gyorgy Orban- O Mistress Mine

Caldwell- John the Revelator

Lauriden- La Rose Complete

You can also look up Mozart's Requiem. We are performing the Introit, Kyrie, Dies Irae and Lacrymosa with the Orchestra!

We have our work cut out for us :) See you in 2012!!

Lesson Schedule for Gala and Spring

Here is the lesson schedule for the remainder of the year. There is no time to makeup lessons so keep track and be organized!!

Gala comes up in 9 weeks!

Schedule

Have a GREAT BREAK!!

Mrs. Christy

Concert Makeup Assignment

This assignment is for the few of you who missed the night of the winter concert. Sickness definitely swept through the choir last week, so please complete the following assignment by JANUARY 5, 2012 in order to replace the grade.

Your essays should be three pages in length, double spaced, using times new roman. Any adjustments in margin will be penalized. Please use proper grammar and make sure you spell check. Your papers should be well thought out and insightful.

Option 1)
Using the recording of the winter concert, analyze the performance in a written critique using the guidelines for NYSSMA Majors. This will involve getting back the music from me so that you can cite measure numbers and sections of the different pieces properly.

Option 2)
Cloudburst, by Eric Whitacre has been written for both chorus and band. Listen and compare the two pieces. What is more or less effective about each performance? How does the use of text in the choral performance enhance/ detract from the piece?

This is partially your opinion, but if should also include a section that discusses the background of the piece and composer. What piece came first? (The choral or band) Why did he make the choice to set it for both ensembles? What changes in each performance?

Option 3)
O Mistress Mine! by Gyorgy Orban is a setting of Shakespeare's text from the Twelfth Night. How does it reflect the meaning of the text? How was the piece used in the original work and how has Orban interpreted the setting? Why has he interpreted it this way? Are their literary clues that can be found in the music and vice versa? Can you find other choral settings that have set the text differently? Cite them and discuss how their interpretation of the text differs.

Option 4)
This Gala we will be performing Mozart's Requiem. This is a Major body of work and is a standard of both choral and orchestral literature. Listen to the entire work. Research Mozart and his style. How is it reflected in this piece? What makes it such an effective piece of music? How has he shown the meaning of the text in the voicing and orchestration? How does this piece show how Mozart's style developed and changed as a composer over the course of his lifetime? Please include a brief historical background of Mozart however, the focus of the piece should be on the Requiem.

Performance at Sertino's

This Wednesday, the Jazz Band & Jazz Choir will be performing at Sertinos Cafe in Smithtown. Please come and support your fellow students!

Smithtown West
Jazz Band & Jazz Choir

Enjoy a night of performances & delishious coffee that will put 

you in the holiday spirit!

Wednesday, December 14th

6-9 pm

at Sertino's Cafe in Smithtown

Jazz Choir

Hey all,

This week because of the conference day I will not be seeing you for rehearsal. However, you do need to take a look and start memorizing your carols! We only see each other three times before your first performances of these will begin.

Here is the list of songs with the verses that you should know:

**= we need to take a look at these still!

Angels We Have Heard On High (vs. 1 & 2)
Away in a Manger (vs. 1 & 2)
Carol of the Bells
Come Light the Menorah **
Deck the Hall in 7/8
The First Noel
God Rest You Merry Gentleman **
Hark the Herald Angels Sing (vs. 1-3)
Hiney Mah Tov **
Jingle Bells **
Joy to the World (vs. 1,2 & 4)
Light the Candles
O Come All Ye Faithful
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Silent Night (vs. 1,2 & hum)
S'vivon
White Christmas


Also please remember that for some of these gigs I need a few of you to take some initiative and learn either solos/ duets/ quartets etc. so that there is more of a variety to the program. I know we cover a lot of songs in our set list, but here are a few suggestions:

Baby it's cold outside
Frosty the Snowman
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)
Let it Snow
Silver Bells
O Holy Night
Santa Baby
Winter Wonderland
Dreidel Song

Have fun getting in the Holiday Spirit!!! See you next week.

Ms. Christy