Chamber Choir Holiday Greetings

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More presentations from Steve Danielson

Booster Take 2 and next deposit

Next deposit for the New York trip is due by Dec 3. The price will be $265 (down from $420 after raising almost $160 per person). The last deposit will be due right at the beginning of January.

Due to popular demand, the t-shirt is back on sale - this time with LONG SLEEVES.


If you want to order one, follow this link: https://www.booster.com/ghs-new-york-t-shirts and order by December 12. The shirts will be delivered during the Holidays and we'll get them in January.

Big Fish Audition Tracks

I have just posted and uploaded audition tracks for Big Fish - our spring musical.

The URL is http://gdriv.es/ghschoir/GHS_Choirs/Big_Fish.html

Auditions will be on December 2. See either me or Mrs. Williams for audition music. See you there!!

Next New York Payment

So, the end of the month is coming upon us…so is the deadline for our next payment for New York. We're needing $420 by next Friday. I'm sorry there hasn't been more traditional fundraising set up yet. This is for a couple of reasons: 1) We haven't been able to end coupon book sales because I hadn't hit my quota – we are ending this Friday! 2) I literally have not had time to stop and think about fundraising. We did set up the Booster accounts (please take advantage of those) as well as the evening at Mellow Mushroom on November 6. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to join you there for some pizza that night! I think we may be able to set something similar up with Chick-Fil-A.

I have not received the total from the concert last night (which I thought went really well!), but it should take a couple dollars away from each total. I'll let you know when I get that figured out. PPAG and GFAF have agreed to give us $4500 (about $100 per person), but that won't come until our November deadline.

Fall Concert Tickets

The tickets for the Fall Choral Showcase are now available for purchase. The tickets are $3.00 each. These are available through the Poplar Pike Playhouse website (ppp.org). You can click this link to get directly to the purchase page: http://ppp.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=703. You may also call our box office to reserve tickets by calling 901-755-7775. You may buy tickets in advance or purchase in person that evening.

The concert is going to be amazing! We'll see you there!

UPDATE: just realized that I didn't actually put the concert information in the post. The Fall Choral Showcase is on Tuesday, Oct 21 at 7:00 PM in the Poplar Pike Playhouse (the theater in C Building). 

Booster.com setup

Hey gang,
I set up two accounts at Booster.com. On one site, a T-Shirt is available to buy to support the choir. NOTE: This is not the official shirt that we will use on the trip. That will be designed later.

The other site is for someone to just make a flat donation without buying a shirt (better for people who aren't local, or not really affiliated with our school). 

The goal is to sell 50 shirts, but of course, more shirts means more profits. All shirts will be delivered to the school by Nov 21, so if someone outside of the Memphis area buys a shirt, we'll have to figure out how to get it to them.

Here's the link to the T-Shirt Booster page: https://www.booster.com/ghschoir-new-york
I encourage everyone to buy a shirt - even if you're not going on the trip!

This is the link for the Donation Booster page: https://www.booster.com/ghschoir-new-york-donations

Please copy both/either link and send it out via email / Facebook / Twitter or any other means you have.

Update: We've sold 1 shirt so far and it's only been live for a couple hours! Woo-hoo!

Sponsor Letter

I finally was able to post the Sponsor Letter on the website. It's on both the Chorale and the Chamber Choir pages. Please mail this letter out to as many people/businesses as you can. I've had one returned so far with a check for $200. That's $200 that someone doesn't have to pay toward their trip because a sponsor paid it for them.

I've figured out that our next deposit (due by the end of the month) should be $420 per person. There will be another payment of $420 due by the end of November. The balance will be due right when we get back from the break in January.  If you play your cards right, you could get some sponsors this month and not have to worry about the second deposit!

Check this blog over the break in case I have information about fundraisers.

Cheers!

New York Deposit

Just a reminder that I need to have the first deposit for New York in by Tuesday! $150 cash or check made out to GHS. This is the first step to making sure this will happen!

Finally a new post

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I got into All-Southwest and Spelling Bee stuff and haven't been able to surface.

Anyhoo - I've uploaded the ASW Audition tracks to the website. Click here to get them for your own collection.

I've also uploaded some tracks for A Ca-Fellas and A Ca-Bellas. Click here for those tracks.

I hope you're having a great day...uh..erm..night.

Remember, parent meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 7:00 PM in my room (C-137).

Cheers!

Practice Log

First Practice Log is due tomorrow (8-20). If you write the word 'blog' at the bottom of your Practice Log, I'll give you an extra point! See you tomorrow!

A Ca-Fellas 2014

Thank you to all the guys who auditioned for A Ca-Fellas this year. The decision is never an easy one. I have decided to go with 9 guys this year:

Chad Baker
Braxton Heard
Evan Hoover
Hunter Jackson
Josh Jordan
Jacob Kight
Keith Mattix
Maclean Mayers
Caleb Suggs

First practice is on Friday at 2:30. See you there!

25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee

If you want to audition for the fall play, click here for rehearsal tracks. See Mrs. Walz for sheet music. Auditions are August 18.

A Ca-Fellas Auditions

A Ca-Fellas auditions are this Friday in my room at 2:30. We're going to be going over this song and you'll be learning it over the next week. See you Friday!

Some helpful information...

Hey Gang, I hope you have enjoyed the first two days of school as much as I have. I want to let you know about what the program looks like so far.

Chorus I: Best first two days I've had in many years with Chorus I. They all seem super positive and on board. Some of the girls will probably be moving up to Women's Chorus by the end of the week. I think we'll probably have around 30 in the class.

Women's Chorus: Small but steady. We've covered a lot in two days. We had 9 in class today. I'm hoping to get the numbers up to about 15 before the dust settles.

Chorale: Wow! What potential in this class! This could be a stellar year as long as I can keep them focused. We're starting Amavolovolo and Ezekiel Saw de Wheel tomorrow, so that will be fun! I think we'll have about 60 or so in the class.

Chamber Choir: We have had one extra day thanks to our get-together on Saturday. It shows. We hit the ground running on Monday and I don't see any signs of slowing. 24 in the class this year - as big as I said I'd ever take it.

A Ca-Fellas: Auditions are this Friday at 2:30 in my room. Be there (if you're a guy!)

All-West: Rehearsals start tomorrow (Wed.)

If you haven't been to the GHS CHOIR PAGE yet, go now! There's information for each choir on the page - including tracks for All-West Auditions.

Be good! I'll see you in class!

Gearing up for another one...

Okay, so here we go. I'm sitting at registration right now wishing I was in choir. I look forward to seeing you all next week. I have had a lot of adventures this summer - including dropping a piano on my foot (it's a good story, ask me about it). Anyway, if you are looking at the All-West music early, learn Amavolovolo because we're learning that one first. See you Monday!

Just a little reminder...

Just a reminder to all of you about why we love doing what we do:

ASW tracks are done!

I have finished all of the ASW Sr High tracks. They are all on the choir website. Click here to access the tracks.

For those that are wanting to work on their music this summer, you may purchase your own copy (total should be around $15 I think) from Allegro music in Germantown. They have all the music in and available. Their phone number is 758-0997. They're located at 2219 S. Germantown Rd. (around the corner from the High School). Their website is allegromusiconline.com.

There are 7 pieces total (if you got a list from me at the end of the school year, you need to make sure you get the 7th):
Amavolovolo
Ezekiel Saw de Wheel
The Ground
I am the great sun
Plorate filii Israel
Skip to My Lou
Wie Lieblich sind deine Wohnungen

If you go in and ask for the All-Southwest Senior High Honor Choir music, they'll know what you need!

I hope some of you will take advantage of these tracks this summer! Get a head start!

Two More Done

I did two more of the All-Southwest Honor Choir pieces today. Amovolovolo and Plorate filii Israel are done and up on the site. Get a-workin'!

End of the Year

So we've come...to the End of the Year!

Thank you everyone for a fabulous year. I know the first semester was crazier than normal - with births and deaths - and the second semester was its normal craziness, but it still ended up being a great year. Congrats again to Women's Chorus, Chorale, and Chamber Choir for making it to State Choral Festival. Seniors, you will be missed!

To wrap things up this year, here's a picture that I lifted off of Madison Croft's Facebook page of Chamber Choir singing at Baccalaureate on May 18 (thanks, Madison!).

Look for more (though admittedly less frequent) posts through the summer. I'll see you in the fall!

This is the great post

I've finished tracks for I am the great sun. Click here to work on the song. Here's a fabulous video of DePaul A Cappella performing the song.

Ezekiel Saw the Tracks Being Posted Online

I just finished Ezekiel Saw de Wheel. Click here to access the tracks.

And so it begins again...

Here we go, folks! I just finished the first of the All-Southwest Honor Choir tracks for the fall. Since I moved the website off the server, it's going to be much easier for me to update the site over the summer, so check back often. I'll post on the blog when I finish a new track.

I've just uploaded "Skip to My Lou." Click here to work on it.

C is for Composer

Hey there,
I just made this book through Shutterfly.com and I wanted to share it with you. It's called C is for Composer and it's an ABC book of composers. Each composer listed has a brief description of their musical life. Feel free to buy one for yourself if you have interest.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Here's a link to the book.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Youth Choir

Hey everyone, I just got an email from Eric Whitacre about his next Virtual Choir project. I am not able to be a part of this one, but YOU ARE! He wants to do a Virtual Youth Choir including singers ages 18 and younger. He's chosen the song "What If" from his musical "Paradise Lost" (as in 'What if we could join young people together to make a difference - to help other young people?).

I want many of you to consider being a part of this. It's a fun experience and the results are always breathtaking. Here's a link to the page with all the information you need: http://virtualyouthchoir.com/

Here's a description from the website:

What if we could use our common wealth to put children first, and unite the world through song?

We can!

Join composer/conductor Eric Whitacre and singers from around the world to create a special Virtual Youth Choir film to be premiered during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as part of a unique partnership with UNICEF, the world’s leading children’s organisation. The film will be presented to a live audience and will also be simultaneously broadcast to a global TV audience.

Whitacre, the visionary creator of the Virtual Choir has arranged a special version of his delightful composition ‘What If‘ for the voices of the young. Singers aged 18 and under from around the globe can learn their parts then record and submit videos to be part of our first-ever Virtual Youth Choir.
All you need is access to a computer with an internet connection, a webcam and microphone. The entire process for learning the music and submitting your video has been made as easy as possible for everyone to participate. All the information you need is right here. We even have a team of supporters online to help you.
So, tell your parents, older siblings and friends that you want to sing in Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Youth Choir, be a part of something momentous and support UNICEF. Then, if you need it, ask them to help you. Play your part, bring your voice and help make the world a better place for thousands of less fortunate children and young people around the world.

Together we can put children first and make a difference.

Hey, it's Mr. D again...

 I don't know much more beyond this yet. I just learned about the project myself. As I learn more, I will let you know.

Here's a video from Eric Whitacre talking about the project:

This is a little conducting guy I received as a gift today. Thanks, Lesley!

Don't forget to give me your Out of Class Event. The sooner the better! I must have everything by Tuesday!

Concert Congrats...and More!

Hey gang,

Congrats on two fabulous concerts last week! I thought it was one of the strongest spring concerts we've had yet!

Don't forget that Out of Class Events are due by Tuesday, so get them in ASAP!

For something fun, here's a video of me setting up my chairs in the morning. Enjoy!

Concert Week (and Star Wars Day!)

Happy Star Wars Day! (May the 4th be with you!)

Don't forget about the Chorus I/Women's Chorus Concert tomorrow night at 7:00 PM. If you're not in the concert, I encourage you to come support your fellow singers. I do not think you will come away feeling dissapointed.

Chorus I and Women's Chorus: Remember that you need to be at the school in the theater dressed and ready to go at 6:00 PM for our last minute rehearsal. It's our only chance to test spacing on the stage and go over our songs with the accompanist. I hope you've been going over your songs!

See you tomorrow! Feliz Cinco de Mayo mañana!

Piano Guys - Let It Go/Vivaldi's Winter

Fine Arts Banquet...and More

Tickets for the Fine Arts Banquet are on sale now. You may visit the box office in C Building to purchase tickets, call them at (901) 755-7775, or go online to http://ppp.org/box-tickets.html.

Seniors, I've been working hard on your gifts for banquet. It's taken about 4 hours so far. It's not candy; it's something that I think you'll enjoy for much longer.

As for soloist in O Sifuni Mungu:
Opening solo - Orlando Dotson
1st Female solo - Ellie Ballin
2nd Female solo - Kelsey Dolman
Male solo - Vincent Nutt

"When in doubt, duck" Write that quote on your practice log tonight and receive a bonus point tomorrow.

Choir Roster

Here's the roster for next year. Have a good weekend.

2014-15 Choir Roster

Things are ending quickly!!

Hey gang,
Just a couple reminders:

Chorus I, work on memorizing Dies Irae (and the other songs for that matter).

Chorale: Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I'm going to have to axe "Alleluia." If you're in Chorale next year, I would like to do it as part of my 10 year celebration, so don't give your hopes up yet (see the bottom of this post about information about next year). We need to focus on Les Misérables, Deaf Old Woman, and O Sifuni Mungu. It seems like there's something else, but I can't think of it at the moment.

Women's Chorus: I think America is the one furthest from being memorized, but Johnny's a Soldier needs some attention as well. Keep working Like an Eagle on your own. I don't plan on really touching it much between now and the concert.

Chamber: Keep practicing your Boomwhacker part (if a Boomwhacker is the instrument, what do you call someone who plays the Boomwhacker? Boomwhackerist? Boomwhackerer?). Also, work on memorization of In Rememberance and O Sifuni Mungu.

For O Sifuni, I have to audition people on Monday for the solos. If you want a solo, don't be absent and don't ask to do it on Tuesday. It's a do or die situation at this point...but don't die.

Lastly, for next year's roster, I plan on posting it before I leave tomorrow afternoon. I'll put the link on the blog. You can look at it over the weekend and cheer and/or cry before Monday.

Cheers!

Congrats...and More

First off, Congratulations to all who went with us to State Choral Festival. We had a great time and you should all be very proud! I wish I could give you all awards at the Fine Arts Banquet, but I can't. maybe I'll think of something else...Any ideas?

Secondly, Congrats also need to go out to all those inducted into the Tri-M Music Honor Society yesterday. You should feel proud of your accomplishment!

Lastly, as promised, here's a re-post of the O Sifuni Mungu video.

Tomorrow's the Big Day

So, tomorrow we're all going to State Choral Festival. Count yourselves fortunate. It's the first time since I've worked at GHS that all three choirs have qualified for State. It's very exciting.

Don't forget, come to my room right after 1st period - don't go to 2nd. We're going to leave at 8:10. I anticipate 3 stellar performances from 3 superb choirs.

Congrats on getting this far. Here's hoping for tomorrow!!

State Choral Festival reminder

Just a reminder that I need to have all payment ($10) for State Choral Festival by tomorrow (4/17). I also need permission forms. If you've lost your form, here's a picture of it. Print it out and get it signed.

Never Saw This Coming!

Thank you to everyone who nominated me for the Lynn Warren Taylor Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching. I'm glad to know that I've made an impact in your lives. That means more to me than the award itself.

Just something interesting

I don't have a lot tonight, but I thought you might find this interesting. Here's a recording of my high school band when I was a freshman. The song is called American Civil War Medley. I'm playing the baritone.

Solos

Whew! I almost forgot to post today.

Here are the soloists I've selected for Les Mis and Tece Voda Tece (Women's):

Dream a Dream: Madison Croft, Sydney Armstrong
Do You Hear the People Sing: Clayton Pace, Maclean Mayers, Jacob Miller
On My Own: Raneem Imam
Bring Him Home: Renee Blevins, Reggie Taylor
Finale: Evan Hoover, Kelsey Kimble, India Ratliff

Tece Voda Tece: Sop: Taylor James; Alto: Cierra Stevens

Have a good night!

All-State Wrap Up

I know most of you won't make it to the All-State concert tonight, but I wanted to give you a little taste. Here's the Men's Chorale final rehearsal.

Joshua Fit the Battle - Preview

Here's a fun preview of what Chamber Choir's working on. We're not done with it yet, but we're having fun with it.

All-State Update

Just wanted to say hello from All-State. I missed being at school with you all today! Here's a picture of us at lunch today.

Chamber Choir tracks are up

Hey gang,
I finally got the tracks for the Chamber Choir Choral Festival performance. I've put them online here.

And since that was a short post, here's a re-posting of our Harlem Shake video.

Lux Aurumque...in Reverse

I thought you might like this. Here's Chamber Choir's performance of Lux Aurumque from St. Peter Catholic Church, but the track has been flipped and is now playing backwards. It creates a whole new song. It's interesting to listen to.

"Ah, music, a magic beyond all we do here!" ~Albus Dumbledore

I have this quote hanging up in my house. What is your favorite music quote? Post it in the comments!

Armadillo

Here's my word song that I performed for you in class on Friday. My words were Armadillo, Invisible, Fly, Shoe, and Earth.

Word Songs

So, today in class you had the opportunity to create songs based on lists of words. Here are the lists (in case you're trying to tell your parents about our activity).

List #1: Elephant, Sleepy, Swim, Blue, Party
List #2: Camel, Cry, Ocean, Ambitious, Yellow
List #3: Giraffe, Frighten, Piano, Majestic, Red
List #4: Monkey, Carry, Hat, Exciting, Green
List #5: Donkey, Lift, House, Meticulous, Purple
List #6: Armadillo, Fly, Pink, Invisible, Cloud

We had some great songs today! I really enjoyed hearing what you came up with. If I get enough comments on this post, I'll post the winners up here.

Comments and More

Hey, if you ever see anything on here that you feel needs a comment, you are allowed to. Just click the comments link below each post. It's the only way I'll learn who is reading the posts.

I think I'm about ready to decide on the choir rosters for next year. Not yet...but soon. You'll have to wait with bated breath (which is different than waiting with baited breath - which just means your breath smells like worms).

Here's BYU Vocal Point singing Happy:

State Choral Festival update

Hey gang,
I know I mentioned this in class today, but I just want to put it here as well so you can keep track of deadlines. Since I didn't include state choral festival in the choir fee, I need to assess a $10 fee from each student. This needs to be paid by April 17.

I'm in the process of uploading the tracks from Concert Festival for your listening pleasure. I'll let you know when I'm done.

9:20 PM UPDATE: I just finished getting the tracks uploaded for Chorale and Women's Chorus. I'll put Chamber up as soon as I have them. Click Here to listen.

Accompanist

Are there any choir parents out there who play the piano well enough to accompany the choir? I've never really asked this question, but thought I'd throw that out there.

Concert Fest Wrap-up

Hey gang,
Congrats on a fabulous showing at concert festival. I've never had such a performance as we had today!! This is the first time that Women's Chorus has received a I let alone a Sweepstakes. I'm so proud of Women's Chorus, Chorale, and Chamber Choir!!

Oh, and I've decided I'm going to try to update the blog daily for the rest of the school year (at least daily during the school week - I can't promise weekends). This could either be as awesome as Concert Fest was today or it could be a total bust. Keep up with the blog!! I could Practice Log incentives thrown in as time goes by.

I Can't Sleep

I'm so excited about Concert Festival tomorrow that I can't sleep (that, and it's only 9:00)! I think you are going to rock this festival and make GHS proud. See you bright and early tomorrow! (you be bright...I'll be early)

Concert Festival on Monday!!

Don't forget about Concert Festival on Monday!! I recommend wearing your dress/tux to school since we're leaving by 7:20. If you're planning to change at school, you must be dressed by 7:00!

Don't forget to bring money for lunch.

PLEASE take time this weekend to review your songs!!

And...just 'cause y'all have been so good, here's a little video entertainment for your weekend.

New Choir Webpage Address

The choir webpage is now located at a different site. The site is the same and all the information is all there. The school server is getting old and unreliable. The site is now being hosted by Google Drive. The URL is now http://gdriv.es/ghschoir

The link to the right has been updated.

The links for the Les Miserables have been put online. Go here for Chamber or Chorale.

Have a wonderful and safe Spring break!

Tri-M Night

Tri-M night has been postponed. The tentative plan is to have a Saturday matinee and move Tri-M to that spot. We'll figure out what to do more securely when we get back to school on Wednesday.

Stay warm.

UPDATE: The matinee WILL be this Saturday at 2:00. See you there!!

Concert Festival

Hi everyone...I'm so sorry to report that concert festival will not be happening tomorrow. Y'all have worked so hard and it breaks my heart that you can't go. Perhaps there will be a make up day, but I don't know when that will be.

Be safe. I'll see you on Tuesday (I hope).

Mr. D

Fair Phyllis - Chamber Choir

Here's Chamber Choir singing Fair Phyllis.

Lux Aurumque - Chamber

Here's a video of Chamber Choir singing "Lux Aurumque" last Monday at St. Peter Catholic Church.

O Sifuni Mungu - First Call