River Dance a Hit!!

River Dance exceeded our expectations Friday night- what a joy to be a part of something so wonderful. The dancing (how do they DO that?), the singing (breathtaking) and the instrumentalists (five men making so much music- incredible) were all top-notch and something we will remember for a long time. We also enjoyed dining at Applebee's in West Des Moines (see picture), and were joined by some CAM High School alumni and their moms.
The tradition continues! Funny things that happened: Thinking Miss R. expected me to have her ticket, emergency stop for CC, losing Mr. Berry, getting Regular instead of Decaf coffee, and trying to get out of the parking garage after the show. Ok, they weren't funny then, but seem humorous now! Thanks, everyone, for a great trip.

So Much Fun!!

Riley was chosen by audition to sing the National Anthem for one of the sessions of the Boys' State Basketball tournament, and he represented us all very well.
Thanks, Riley, for remembering that the song is about our country and not about you! Thanks, IHSAA, for taking such good care of us and for giving talented musicians this wonderful opportunity. Thanks, CAM Boys' BB team, who supported Riley by attending the day he sang.
I agree with Riley: "That was so much fun!!!"
You can see his performance by going to the front page of the school web site and clicking on the link in the article Mr. Giegerich wrote.

In other news: Solo and Ensemble Contest will be here before we know it. (April 12, Coon Rapids) In order to encourage my students to practice and memorize NOW, we will again be having a Pre-Contest Recital during Parent-Teacher Conferences on March 17. My goals are to give the students something to work for that's a little closer than April, and also to give more parents an opportunity to see their children sing. All vocal students are required to participate in at least one event. (Most choose to do more than this.) In addition, all vocal students are required to participate in the Pre-Contest Recital. Thanks for encouraging them to practice and memorize their music!

Southwest Iowa Honor Choir a Success!

Eight tired CAM vocal students (and one exhausted teacher) reported for school Tuesday morning the 12th after a hard, but rewarding, day of rehearsal at the Southwest Iowa Honor Choir Festival in Council Bluffs on Monday, February 11. We had a really good day, led by Mr. Joel Johnston of Omaha. He had only four rules for the day, which he cleverly re-enforced as the day went on. His rules helped to establish his expectations for the group, as well as focus them when the energy level began to sag. Here were his "rules" for making music together yesterday:
1) Tonight we will have an "event", not a concert; 2) For today we will put our list of complaints, concerns, and problems AWAY; 3) Remember not to count Crayons (comparing your box to others' boxes), but just to draw; 4) We had his permission to be BRILLIANT! (instead of lazy, non-musical, bored, or inattentive). With these expectations, we embarked on a journey of music making for the day. (I say we, because as accompanist, I was right there with them all day. Sore back to prove it.)
What a successful day in so many ways. First, we participated in a music making event that we will remember for a long time. Secondly, we had such an appreciative crowd of parents and loved ones. Thirdly, we learned a lot about music, singing, and being brilliant! In addition, we were well-represented in the twelve "soloists" chosen by the director by four courageous students from our school (Colton, Daniel, Luke, Jenna).
Thank you! Thank you students for working hard. Thank you parents for coming. Thank you, Joel Johnston for helping us create a musical event.
Boy am I tired!
Mrs. Nichols

Riley honored!

After the teams are announced for the third session of the Boys' State Basketball tournament on March 4 in Des Moines, the crowd will grow quiet in anticipation of the singing of the National Anthem. And.......CAM Senior Riley will be singing it!! Chosen by audition to participate in this year's Iowa High School Athletic Union State Tournament series, Riley is one of a select few to hold this honor. Riley, we are all proud of you!
This is a significant event in my mind for a couple of reasons. The first one involves my own growth as a teacher. Looking for new opportunities for my students usually means that I also have to try something new and different. This is the first year that I have submitted singers to the IHSAU for National Anthem consideration. My hats go off to all the kids that gave this a try right before Christmas! And don't worry, we'll give it another go again next year.
The second reason that this is significant is the obvious inter-dependency that sports and music share. I love music and I also love sports. Many times I have stood with my hand over my heart, at attention for the singing (or playing) of the National Anthem at a sporting event. How wonderful to take the time to acknowledge our great country, say a prayer for our armed service protectors (and the son on the field), celebrate a beautiful voice or blend of voices, and raise the spirit for a good game! There's nothing better. Thirdly, I am so proud of the accomplished poise of my students. Because many of them have had character-building experiences like auditioning for All-State, singing the National Anthem at home games, participating in small group contest and singing in front of their peers, they can shout for joy when they get news like what I gave Riley last Friday instead of cowering in fear at the thought of such an audience. Riley almost did a hand stand when I told him. Pretty cool.
Riley- we're just so proud that you will be representing us in Des Moines on March 4. Sing your heart out.

Southwest Iowa Honor Choir

These students (plus Jessica Thelen) will be participating in the Southwest Iowa Honor Choir on February 4 at IWCC. Don't they look happy?
They are delighted, because they will get to spend a whole day with a distinguished director and 200 other choral students from all over Southwest Iowa! This is one of my favorite days of the year. Many Southwest Iowa schools, regardless of class, send balanced quartets of their best students to enjoy making music together. We get to eat at fun places, meet new people, sing our hearts out, and participate in a very special evening performance. I will be accompanying the performance, which is a treat for me on that gorgeous grand piano. We will also be treated to a guest performance by the IWCC show choir! We hope you can join us!

Seasons

I tell my grown children (if you didn't know, I have five of my own plus all of yours!) that they should be thankful that they get to move on in their lives. I'm eternally stuck in high school! But if I didn't love it, I wouldn't be here. Which brings me to the title of this blog: seasons. In my job, seasons are defined a little differently than fall, winter, spring, summer. They pass without fail in the following way: All-State/Musical (or Variety Show) season, Christmas concert season, Pops Concert season, Contest season, Awards concert season. And that's just the high school. Of course, we have been working on Christmas music for 2 weeks now. It tends to sneak up on us. The mixed ensemble is getting ready to go out into the community to spread Christmas cheer. If you have an event for which you need Christmas music, let me know! All I ask is that you give me at least 2 weeks' notice (preferably more). At other times of the year, we need more lead time. But we are already preparing for a Care Center gig on December 19 so we should be ready by the 10th or so to help you out.
On another topic, let's talk about leaving comments on this or any blog. There are only 2 ways that I know people are reading this blog to get all of this essential information:) 1- you tell me in person (thanks, Diana). 2- you leave a comment on the blog. It's really easy and here are the step by step instructions. If you want to post a comment to my blog, (it’s always great to know that someone is reading my blog!) all you need to do is go to www.google.com and create an account. You will use this account information to reply to my blog after you click on the word "comment" at the bottom of the entry you want to reply to. It will then ask you to log in. You'll have to remember your log in information! Good luck!

Looking forward to comments from readers,
Mrs. Nichols

Kelsey & Colton's All-State Adventure

Hello everybody! Right now Colton and I are in Ames at the 2007 Iowa All-State Festival, and we are having a blast! This is the first time that me or Colton have participated in the All-State experience and so far it's been amazing. I personally have never done anything like it. There are 603 of the finest singers in Iowa all singing in the same place at the same time and it's just...wonderful! : The volume of the voices and the extreme talent of every individual is stunning and today during rehearsal I had to just sit down and say, "wow!"...haha... Me and Colton both are meeting tons of new people and starting new friendships. When we're not rehearsing we have to find things to do and one of the things we discovered was the 'Photo Booth' on Mrs. N's computer (explains the picture) :)... but just thought I'd tell everybody that we're having a good time here in Ames.