I have been so happy
to hear this over and over as students enter the new music room.
After such a wonderful year last year, I feel it is time to
set a bigger goal for our choir. I try to attend TMEA, Texas Music Educators
Convention as often as affordable. Last
year, thanks to generous financial assistance from our PTA, I was able to make
this trip. Each year, a small number of
choirs are invited to perform for around 25,000 music educators in Texas. To be invited is a huge honor. While attending the conference, I heard some
very good choirs, talked with directors, and attended workshops about
submitting an application for selection as a performing choir for this
conference in San Antonio. The first step is to make a quality recording
of our choir and submit it to the steering committee for the next year’s
convention. I believe it is a worthy and
achievable goal to prepare to take our choir by February 2016. With the help of Mr. Dwayne King, we will
make a recording of our choir this year, and will submit it for consideration
for the 2014 convention. It may take more than one submission, but we will learn so much through this process, which will
make our chances of being selected better each year. This process will require growth on the part
of our students, our parent supporters, and for me, but I believe we are ready
for this goal.
To help us become a select choir for TMEA, I am changing the
choir program in the following ways:
Choirs will meet on Tuesdays and
Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. Children who eat
breakfast will need to be in the cafeteria at 7:30, pick up their breakfast,
and come directly to the music room for rehearsal. Because of the limited rehearsal time, no
student will be allowed into the music room after 7:45.
Our
choirs will no longer be organized by grade levels. We will have two choirs: Developing Singers, and Advanced Singers. All students who want to sing in a choir,
have good behavior, and who regularly attend rehearsals will be admitted to one
of our choirs.
Membership in a choir will be determined by
a short audition, by recommendation from Mrs. Brown and other Sanger teachers,
and by a parent conference. The beginning choir will be less structured
and will give beginning and developing students more time to enjoy singing while
adjusting to the expectations and discipline of an award-winning choir. The advanced
choir will be made up of students who already demonstrate appropriate choir
posture, have excellent focus and attention to the director, and who
demonstrate an ability to produce quality choral sounds.
I plan to have a choir parent meeting soon to
discuss this goal and this year’s choir program. Please check this webpage regularly for more
information.
I look forward to another great year of Song with our
Stallion Students.
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