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.