Solo/Ensemble Contest a Success

2009 Solo/Ensemble contest is but a wonderful, exhausted memory. But April 18 does merit a bit of reflection as I sort it's music and prepare for the end of the year activities.

Top Ten memories from 2009 Solo/Ensemble Contest (in no meaningful order)

No surprises: everyone got on the bus that we were expecting!!
Teamwork: The kids supported each other and worked together- heartwarming!
Helpful parents & students: who could see that their director was a bit overwhelmed at times.
Musical Growth: so much evidence of hard work and learning.
Perfect Scores: 2 of them- both on trios.
Continued excellence: 12 Ones, 8 Twos, 2 Threes
Chamber Choir: Beautiful, meaningful performance.
Musical Moments: A couple touching performances that communicated with the audience.
Exhausted students: who gave everything they had and more.
AND..............
Australia: the movie I watched when I was finally in my recliner with my cup of tea!!!

Answering Questions

Occasionally, questions come up that remind me that some of this might be new to people. While I am stuck in high school and the seasons pass without much variation in schedule from year to year, not everyone understands the method behind my madness. So what follows is a not so short explanation of MIXED ENSEMBLE!!! (pictured above is last year's group at solo/ensemble contest)

At the beginning of the year, I hold auditions for the Mixed Ensemble. It is totally voluntary, although the freshmen may not really understand what they are auditioning for. In a normal year (if there is such a thing), I usually have enough upper classmen that the freshmen have a slim chance of being chosen for obvious reasons. We do rehearse before school quite a bit, depending on the season of the year. Here are the main things that we do that are above and beyond the requirements of the class:

Christmas Concert- sing one number
Pops Concert- 4 songs (totally responsible for the vocal portion of the pops concert- whole class does not sing)
Contest- We will perform 2 songs not yet learned
Awards Concert- The mixed ensemble will perform one set (medley of songs) and the whole class will perform one set.

We also get requests during the year to provide music for different clubs, events, etc. When I get these requests, I usually turn to the mixed ensemble to provide it. In this way, we are ambassadors to the community for the music department and the school. We always go at least twice to the Colonial Manor in Anita.

I realize that the time commitment is huge and I do so appreciate the effort that they all make to come to extra rehearsals. The rewards are great! They sing harder music than the big group is able to sing- so gifted students are challenged and not bored. They grow together as a group- finding a safe peer group that includes classes other than their own age level. We create great memories as we go places! We learn about serving others through sharing our music beyond the school. We learn that hard work pays off!

Bigger schools have an auditioned group (and it is usually a show choir) that is scheduled as a separate class so that the rest of the students don't have to be idle while the select group is rehearsing. I have enough trouble getting my students all in one class for the day, let alone asking them to sign up for 2. So I have always had the select group come in before school.

There are other times when we have before-school rehearsals. The All-State Auditioners rehearse before school, and the SWI Honor Choir kids do also. Very often, the mixed ensemble kids are the same as the All-State and SWI kids, but not always. I also choose a couple of alternates who rehearse with us as much as they can so they are ready to step in when we need them because of illness or schedule conflicts.

Now the question: If the Mixed Ensemble rehearses before school, what goes on during our regular class period? Here is a breakdown of what the whole class is doing at any given time during the year:
Fall: Musical or Variety Show and music for Conference Vocal Festival
Winter: Christmas
Jan-April: Small Group Contest. We always take at least 20 events. Each event includes 2 songs.
Mar-May: Awards Concert. This is the closest we get to show choir. Everyone sings and dances!

This schedule has served my program well over the years.
If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
Mrs. Nichols

It has been a rough couple of weeks. Our grandson was brought into this world and left it on the same day. Why do I share this here? Why did I show this picture to my students and tell them with tears about the short life of sweet Isaac? Because all life is precious, no matter how short it is, and it deserves to be celebrated. Because I want my students to share their lives with me, so I share mine with them. Because they are good at giving hugs. Because some of them have similar stories. Because I want them to know I'm human. Because I want to share with them the source of my strength for today and my hope for tomorrow.

On a musical note, all of our life experiences help give us a reservoir of emotion from which we draw when we are communicating a piece of music to an audience. I'm hoping to help my students to draw deep when we are performing, so that our music is more than notes and rhythms and words, so that our music communicates emotion to the audience. And thus we will celebrate life.

New Beginnings

I'm really trying to get back in the swing of things, but it's hard. Our family had such a wonderful vacation in Colorado, I got to see my daughter who lives in Honduras, only one person got sick, the weather was beautiful, we celebrated Jesus, ................and then school started! Which is great, because I do love my job. But this year more than most I'm having trouble shifting gears. Maybe it's because I'm older. My kids would say it is because I'm going to be a grandma. Part of it is that the semesters are so different in my class. First semester is musical, all-state, and Christmas. Second semester is solo/ensemble contest, pops concert, and Awards concert. So we really have to start over and that takes lots of organization and planning. So here's where we stand (in case you ever wonder what I do with my time).

So far this week, I have: chosen and ordered music for the chamber choir to sing at contest, sorted files and files of music looking for appropriate contest music, tidied the costume loft (something I wanted to do before Christmas), posted and partially graded a moodle assignment for this week, finished grades from last semester, ordered more music for SWI Honor Choir, made some preliminary decisions about music for the Awards concert in May, finished the Bye Bye Birdie picture collage (which hangs at the back of the room with the others from every production since I've been here), registered for honor choirs, checked dates for all spring events, tried to find an accompanist for chamber choir (any volunteers?), supervised band when Mr. Berry went home sick, prepared for and taught my classes, drove to Massena twice, and updated this blog!!!! Wow, now I'm tired.

On a different note related to planning: some of us are going to Des Moines to see the evening performance of Hairspray on March 20. I still have some tickets left if you want to go with us. Just let me know and bring a check for $28.50.

I hope you are enjoying your new beginnings!

One of My Favorite Things!

One of my favorite things at Christmas time is the Christmas Concert at ISU. It was very special when my daughter was in one of the ensembles that performed in it several years ago. It's a different kind of special to see my former students participating! The picture is of the Men's Choir, one of four ensembles that performed at ISU last Sunday December 7. Paul Wedemeyer has been a member of this group since he was a freshman. I believe this is his third Christmas Concert. This is the second year for Amy Williamson to participate. She is in one of the women's ensembles called Lyrica. Her sister Sarah also sang in it when she was there.

Why is this one of my favorite things? I love C.Y. Stephens Auditorium, for one thing. It seriously has the best acoustics of any performance hall in the country. Secondly, I love the music that the directors choose. It is traditional, yet different in a very classic way. I love the fact that all four choirs fill the stage to capacity and join their voices together for the finale! But most of all, I love it that my students are still singing. What a gift to themselves, to their communities, to their families, and to me!!

Holiday Happenings

By the time New Year's Day arrives, most music teachers are in Christmas music shell shock. We pick out our Christmas music in September, begin preparing it with our students in October, perform it for you in December, and then we don't want to hear Christmas music again for quite a while! Throw in a couple church programs and those of our own children, and we definitely get enough Christmas spirit to last for several months. That's not to say we don't enjoy it, though. We love helping you celebrate Christmas! We hope to see you at one of the Christmas concerts coming up soon: December 8 (7:00 Middle School) and December 11 (7:00 High School).

This might be a good place to tell you about my philosophy of celebrating Christmas with traditional Christmas music. You might be thinking that I'm quite politically incorrect. Well, if you know me very well, you know that label doesn't bother me in the slightest. However, I plan very carefully to include a variety of music on our Christmas programs. You will almost always hear Latin, (Gloria in excelsis Deo!) some kind of snow or Fa la la song, and definitely at least one traditional carol that you will recognize. I think it is important to remember our traditional musical roots when it comes to Christmas, and if you want more information on this, let's talk in person.

Until then, have a wonderful, music-filled Christmas season!

Crazy routine- delightful and unexpected!

Two phrases stuck out to me when reading my daughter's blog last night:
http://www.foreignheart.blogspot.com/
(please excuse the shameless plug)

"....routine.......crazy"

"..delightful, unexpected, life things..."

So, because she was asking for guest writers for this week (and it's already Thursday), and because I am enjoying a wonderfully relaxing day while my students are at an honor choir, I am sharing this tiny space of ...space... with her.

At some point in everyone's life, if they are productive and passionate and purposeful, (please note alliteration- I worked very hard at that), they find out that, oddly enough, routine and crazy actually work out very well together. The key is realizing that each have their time and place, and knowing when to roll with routine and rock with crazy. Flexibility! Those of us who are control freaks have a hard time with this, but believe me it's one of the most valuable lessons to learn in life. Side benefit: aids in learning to trust our Heavenly Father!

Which leads to the second phrase rolling around in my head. If we are flexing, trusting, rocking, and rolling, we will discover "delightful, unexpected, life things!" Those serendipitous moments that push us out of our routine and into crazy. Those "out of control" things that happen when we least expect it, but we learn to cherish because of their infrequency. Things like unexpected compliments, deep conversations, touching compassion, random acts of kindness, surprise encounters.
Enjoy your crazy routine, my daughters. In it you will find the delightful and the unexpected.