This Week in Choir: Week 27

Good Afternoon Grissom Choir,

Congratulations to Grissom Choir senior Sophia Zajac in her upcoming SSAA Honor Choir performance this Saturday at the American Choral Directors Association’s Conference!!


This Week in Choir…

Women’s Choir:
Finalize preparations for SCPA: Laudamus Te & Joshua!
Submit SCPA Recording Submission Assignments

Men’s Choir:
Finalize preparations for SCPA:  The Storm & Ubi Caritas
Submit SCPA Recording Submission Assignments

Concert Choir:
Finalize preparations for SCPA: The River Sleeps Beneath the Sky & Cantate Domino
Submit SCPA Recording Submission Assignments

Chamber Choir:
Review Musick’s Empire & Set Me As a Seal for SCPA.
Continue learning Spring Concert Repertoire
Submit SCPA Recording Submission Assignments


Grissom Choir Course Registration
All students should have received Course Registration sheets by this time.  It is my expectation that all current underclassmen choir students will continue to take choir. Should there be any student who does not plan on taking choir next year, please come and speak with me privately.  For students who are wishing to audition for The Chamber Choir, please register for the class using Mixed Chorus IV (Course Number: 05110G1004) on the course registration sheet.  All other students should register for The Concert Choir, which should be listed as Mixed Chorus III (Course Number: 05110G1003) on the course registration sheet. This is this same Course Names & Numbers as years prior. Based on both Concert & Chamber Choir auditions, I will relocate students back to Women’s/Mens Choir or to and from Concert & Chamber Choir.  Should there be any student that wishes to be in The Vocal Lab class (an entire class block that allows students to rehearse their All-City, All-State,Solo & Ensemble, and Pizza & Pop music!), please come and speak with me so that we can have the correct class listed on your course registration sheet upon director approval!

2023 All-State Choral Festival
All-State Choral Festival is this coming week! The festival cost this year for all students is $275.  These costs are based on current hotel room pricing, (breakfast included), as well as updated All-State Registration Fees.  All money is due by THIS COMING Monday, February 26th.  We will have a MANDATORY All-State meeting the evening of Monday, February 26th at 6:30pm at the Starbucks on South Parkway.  This will be required for all students participating, as well as parents, even if they are not traveling to Birmingham.  A packet was emailed out weeks ago, and was sent home with students with the above information, as well as all things All-State related.  If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to reach out!

State Choral Performance Assessment
State Choral Performance Assessment (SCPA) will be held at Grissom High School on March 6th & 7th (less than two weeks!).  Each choir (along with other choirs in our district) will perform the 2 songs that we have been working on this semester in front of a panel of 3 adjudicators.  These adjudicators (typically collegiate choral directors) assess each choir in their execution and performance of these two songs, focusing on blend, balance, tone, rhythmic and note accuracy, musical phrasing, energy, etc.  Each choir will then go into a Sight-Reading room, where they will be adjudicated by 1 judge on how well they can learn a new piece of music in the span of 5 minutes.  Each of these 4 adjudicators will then rate our performance based on a rubric and scoring sheet: I: Superior, II: Excellent, III: Good, & IV: Fair.  Grissom Choir has had a history of being rated Superior & Excellent in their performances, of which I am excited to continue with our students.  All of our choir’s assessments will take place during the normal school day.  All students will need to bring their complete concert uniform to school that day and may leave it in the women’s & men’s dressing rooms until their performance time.  As this is a performance, all students are expected to be at school and participate in this assessment for a Summative Performance Grade.  Please see below for the schedule for theses days:

    Wednesday, March 6th: A-day
        A1 - Concert Choir (will be excused from A1 class)
        A2 - Women’s Choir (will be excused from A2 class)

    Thursday, March 7th: A-Day
        A1 - Chamber Choir (regular class block)
        A2 - Men’s Choir (regular class block)


Sincerely,

Tucker Ratcliff
Choral Director | Grissom Choir
Webmaster & Editor | Alabama ACDA
Treasurer | Huntsville Choral Director’s Association
(256) 428-8000 ext. 2271 | [email protected]
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