As we are approaching the end of Fall semester, we encounter performances and Holiday events. Here is a report on late November progress and December events.
Music/Drama Boosters: meets this week, Thursday, December 2nd, at 7:30pm in the Faculty Dining Room (FDR), which is in the front of the school, to the west of the PAC and the cafeteria (double blue doors). Interested parents welcome.
Holiday CONCERT: Tuesday, December 7th, 7:00pm in the PAC. CALL time 6:15, dressed. Beginning Choir and Varsity Singers will perform, also Esquire and Men's and Women's choirs. Concert should last approx an hour. Attire is formal—choir dresses, comfortable, low-heeled shoes, and tuxes for VS and all black elegant wear for BC--same as for the Veterans Tribute. Effectively a final exam. Lots of points! Small admission charge and all donations welcome!
DRESS REHEARSAL: Monday, December 6th, 2:30-4:00pm in the PAC. Attire is casual. Purpose is setup, sound checks, run-through, cue-to-cue. We may finish early since it is only choir (not combined with band and/or orchestra) and I have a training class starting at 4:00.
Facebook page: Please join our Pioneer Choirs facebook page: type "Pioneer High School Choir" in the facebook search field and Join Group. Photos of your singers are there.
Christmas in the Park: Varsity Singers is scheduled to sing at Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose on Sunday, December 12, at 2:00pm. CALL time 1:30. Beginning Choir singers and all parents, please come out to the park to hear them and enjoy the displays. I think there's a tree decorated by Pioneer's art students. Attire is "festive." Brightly colored, comfortable, warm clothes. Hats, scarves OK. Mittens maybe not so singers can turn pages. They will hold binders.
The latter half of November found Varsity Singers learning lots of new music for the Holiday concerts, including carols that can be sung at holiday events such as Christmas in the Park, retirement homes, and parties. We have been accepted to sing at Christmas in the Park and have also been invited to carol at a retirement home near school. I will notify everyone when that gets scheduled. Caroling is also planned at school; not sure yet exactly when that will happen.
All choir students are required to attend two outside choir concerts that they are not performing in and to write ONE one-page critique of one of the concerts. The critique is due no later than Friday, December 17th. I have provided students with a graphic organizer to structure their paragraphs and also a list of concerts I know about in the nearby area. Any choir concert is acceptable: middle school, high school, church, professional, college, community. Performers need audience members for their concerts and I would like our students to see and hear groups who sing different literature and do things differently than I/we do. I want my students to get some perspective on choral music performances. The listening samples and paragraph writing we do in class contribute to students' increased ability to discern musical elements in compositions, choral tone, vocal techniques that choirs use, and programming choices. This practice plus the graphic organizer should be useful to them in constructing their performance critiques.
The Beginning Choir has decided to re-adopt the name "Mustang Chorale." They are performing a wide variety of songs for the holiday concert. One day we spent at least half of a class period solving two issues: getting to know each other better and trying to establish a more productive learning environment. I asked each person to say their name and one thing they liked about choir and one thing they would like to change. The next person had to echo the previous person's three points, then offer their own. A lot of good listening occurred and several students were quite articulate and all were respectful. Some common threads were that many students like choir because they like to sing and/or because they have made friends, and/or because it's a very different class or environment from their other classes. In terms of what they wanted to change, most said they would like disruptive students to stop talking at inappropriate times and to show more respect for others. Some also are interested in singing more modern music. I have taken notes on all their ideas and will use it to decide the new repertoire to introduce after the Holiday concert to be performed at our Valentine and Spring concert. I also emphasized to them to take personal responsibility for their behavior and to respect others' wishes to be allowed to sing more during class and be more efficient with our time.
The singers who are seniors are looking very tired lately and many have taken a few sick days. Please encourage them to take good care of themselves, get as much sleep as possible, eat healthily, and not to stress out. Life is a (hopefully long) journey and they would do well to think long-term. Good luck to all who are applying to selective colleges. I hope each gets accepted to one of their top choices.
