SCVA Newsletter (on-line version) – October 2005
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Message from the President – Grace Sheldon-Williams, President
Musical Offerings II: Easy
SATB
Last year we started the “Musical Offerings” series, which allows SCVA
members to share their recommended pieces in various voicings with all of
us. This month’s featured voicing
is easy SATB. Thank you to those who submitted their ideas. Next time we’ll focus on men’s choir
music – please send me your favorite men’s choir pieces in any voicing. Don’t forget to include Title, Composer/Arranger,
Publisher, Octavo number, Voicing.
Comments are welcome also.
“All My Trials” Swenson;
Galaxy #1.2824.1
“All Ye Who Music Love”
Donato/Meredith; Kjos #8745
“Away in a Manger”
Kirkpatrick/Wilberg; Hinshaw #HMC-925. This is the lovely, less-used tune
“The Bells” Ahrold; Belwin
#9729-6. Edgar Allan Poe poem
“Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” American Folk Song/Schram;
Belwin #SVM04015
“City Called Heaven” arr. Poelinitz; Plymouth #HL-105. Extended solo(s).
“Consecrate the Place and Day”
Pfautsch; LG #51420.
“The Cuckoo” American Folk
Song/Heninger; SBMP #11
“Elijah Rock” arr. Hairston; Schumann # S-1017. SSATB
“Fum, Fum, Fum” arr.
Wilberg; Hinshaw #HMC-928
“Gaudete” arr. Kingsbury;
OCP Publ. #10396
“Hanerot Halalu”
Cohon/Chass; MF #677. Hanukkah
“He’ll Make a Way” Smith;
Onyx #BJS0001. Solo.
“Je le vous dirai!” Certon/Leavitt; HL#08596707.
“Jubilate Deo” Althouse;
Shawnee #A-1835
“Locus iste” Bruckner;
Peters #6314
“Music, Most Wondrous Lovely Art”
Jeep/Leavitt; HL #08552517. German or English text.
“My Gentle Harp” Irish Folk
Song/Parker; LG #51409.
“Praise His Holy Name”
Hampton; earthsongs
“The Storm Is Passing Over”
Tindley/Baker; B&H #OCTB6936
“S’vivon” Traditional
Hebrew/Bertaux; B&H #OCTB6840
“There Shall a Star from Jacob Shine” English Folksong/Patterson; Kjos#C8213. Advent/Christmas.
“Three Madrigals” Diemer;
B&H #5417
“When I Fall in Love”
Young/Shaw; HL 08665912
B&H = Boosey & Hawkes
HL = Hal Leonard
MF = Mark Foster
LG = Lawson Gould
SBMP = Santa Barbara Music Publishing
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Fall In-Service – Mark Henson, Past President
Greetings all! I'm excited
to tell you about the upcoming Fall In-Service, and I hope that many of you are
planning to attend. This year's
event includes a variety of presentations which will be interesting and
beneficial to all.
Tim Lutz of Arlington High School will present a choral reading
session featuring quality pieces for “developing” choirs. You will leave this session with a
packet of pieces which can be successfully performed by beginning and
intermediate choirs. Tim will also
discuss techniques for inspiring your younger singers and keeping them
motivated.
Zach Halop will conduct the ninety-member Woodbridge High School
“Bass Clef Choir” and share the techniques that led to his success in building
a large men's choral group as well as creating a strong choral interest
throughout the school. Those of us who have directed all-male choirs know what
a rewarding experience it can be, and what an asset a men's choir can be to
your choral program.
Certified Alexander Instructor Debby Jay returns to present a
continuation in Alexander Technique which deals with body awareness, alignment,
and relaxation for singers, instrumentalists, and conductors. This was a very popular subject at last
year’s in-service and is back by popular demand! You will come away with several techniques which you can
begin using immediately to create a more relaxed rehearsal and performance
environment for you and your students, and to decrease the tension and strain
which often accompanies a full day of choral teaching.
Also featured will be a presentation dealing with the teaching of
musicianship skills during the choral rehearsal.
The Inservice officially begins at 9 a.m., but you'll want to arrive early
for check-in and coffee-juice-pastry social time. There will be a lunch break of slightly more than an hour,
and we expect to conclude by 3:30 p.m.
The venue for the day will be Placentia Presbyterian Church located at
849 N. Bradford Avenue in Placentia.
Does this sound great? YES! Come to be inspired and motivated! The registration form follows. I plan to send final confirmation, schedule, directions, etc. via email, so be sure to include this information. Please complete and return the form by October 12. Copy the form and pass it on to a friend so you can introduce your colleagues to our organization - the only one dedicated to supporting choral music education in Southern California for over 60 years! I look forward to seeing you on October 21.
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Hosting a Festival is a Great Experience!
Jennifer Stanley, VP of High School Festivals
Linda Nason, VP of Junior High School Festivals
“Hosting a festival is so easy, I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner!” - Joel Whisler, El Monte HS Choral Director
It is never too early to start planning for festival season! We have been working this summer to
make the festival process easier for everyone, especially festival hosts. Whether you are the director of an
elementary, middle school or high school choir, there are many reasons to
consider hosting a festival:
- The registration form is
easy.
- You get free festival
registration for one of your choirs at each festival you host.
- You don’t have to get a bus to
go to festival.
- You provide schools in your area
a quality performance opportunity.
- You and your students get to see
other choirs and hear quality literature.
- Your students have the comfort
and familiarity of performing in their regular auditorium (home court
advantage!).
- Students enjoy the
responsibility of assisting in the running of the festival.
- You get excellent networking
opportunities with other directors in the festival, and with the adjudicators.
SCVA will provide for each festival host:
- A list of participating choirs
with contact information for each director
- Plaques delivered to your school
for each participating ensemble
- Certified adjudicators scheduled
for each festival by SCVA
A regular festival has eight participating choirs and two adjudicators. One
adjudicator tapes his/her comments, and the other writes comments on the score
sheet. Both adjudicators’ scores
are averaged to determine the rating (if desired by each director). If you would like to host a clinic
festival, please indicate that on your form; a clinic festival has a maximum of
six participating choirs and one adjudicator. After each choir performs, the adjudicator works with the
ensemble onstage. SCVA may convert
a regular festival to a clinic festival if there is low enrollment.
If you are interested in hosting an ELEMENTARY FESTIVAL, or if you have
questions about elementary festivals, please email us!
Please contact us with any questions you may have!
Festival Host Application Form
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Vocal Jazz Festival – Matt Falker, VP Jazz Choir
SCVA FALL VOCAL JAZZ FESTIVAL – with m-pact!!
Roger Estrada has graciously offered to host this year’s SCVA Vocal Jazz Festival at Upland H.S. on Friday, October 28 from 9:30am – 2:00pm. Please put this date in your calendar, as we will be joined by the incredible vocal ensemble m-pact! (visit them at m-pact.com). The USC Vocal Jazz Ensemble (creSCendo) will also perform. A registration form is included in this newsletter. Online information will also soon be available on my site and also on the SCVA web site.
2005-06 LOCAL VOCAL JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE
A comprehensive list of all vocal jazz festivals (local and regional) that I am aware of is available on my web site, including links to festival web sites. If you hear of any others, please let me know! Here’s a summary:
|
Friday, October 28th |
SCVA Jazz Festival |
Upland H.S. |
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Saturday, November 5th |
Cuesta College Vocal Jazz Workshop |
San Luis Obispo, CA |
|
Thursday, February 22nd |
Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival |
Moscow, ID |
|
March 3-4 |
Columbia College Vocal Jazz Festival |
Sonora, CA |
|
Friday, March 24th |
Val Verde Jazz Festival |
Rancho Verde H.S. |
|
Friday, April 7th |
Fullerton Jazz Festival |
Fullerton, CA |
|
Thursday, April 20th |
Univ. of Northern Colorado Festival |
Greeley, CO |
|
April 21-23 |
Monterey Jazz Festival |
Monterey, CA |
|
April 28-29 |
Reno Jazz Festival (UNR) |
Reno, NV |
BRING A COLLEGE CHOIR TO YOUR SCHOOL!
Many college vocal jazz ensembles are looking for off-campus performance
opportunities, and would love to come and work with your students. Well, I
can’t speak for other directors, but I can say that both the USC and Cal State
Northridge vocal jazz ensembles are definitely interested in coming to your
school! A common format is to hold an after school exchange/clinic, have some
dinner, and do a joint evening concert. I know the school calendar gets packed
so quickly, but these experiences are wonderful for everyone involved.
IAJE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE – January 11-14, 2006, New York, NY
The best way to continue to grow as a vocal jazz director is to see this
music performed live and to collaborate with other educators. Consider looking
into whether or not your school will subsidize your attendance. This conference
is jam packed with incredible performances and clinics – check out www.iaje.org
for more conference details!
2006 IAJE/CMEA ALL-STATE JAZZ CHOIR
We are all very excited that is
once again organizing the effort for the All-State Jazz Choir. The ensemble
will perform at the annual CMEA convention in Sacramento on March 9, 2006.
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VOCAL SOLO COMPETITION - Rodger Guerrero, VP Vocal Solo Competition
I am excited and honored to have been appointed the new SCVA Vocal Solo
VP! I cannot express how
meaningful, educational, and even life-altering the competition
has been for my students at Harvard-Westlake. In preparing for this year’s event, I have gained great respect for Colleen
Kennedy, whose excellent organizational and communication skills helped to
solidify the competition during her tenure as Vocal Solo VP. I only hope that I can endeavor to
coordinate it as well as she did.
Luckily my accompanist, Mark Hilt, will be helping me out!
The first order of business is to congratulate last year’s Vocal Solo
Competition winners, who performed at the Jr. High/Middle School Honor Choir
concert on Sunday May 15, 2005:
Jr. High/M.S. Winner Breeanna
Jenkins, Sandburg Middle School
6th place Amanda
Corbet, Edison High School
5th place Spencer
Case, Harvard-Westlake School
4th place Lindsey
St. Onge, L.A. County High School for the Arts
3rd place Scott
Hurst, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
2nd place Amanda
Workman, Los Osos High School
1st place Kate
Pynoos, Harvard-Westlake School
I have hosted a preliminary site each of the past four years. While it requires some work, the
rewards are innumerable! Just ask
any of last year’s other hosts: Melanie Alpert, Alta Loma School District;
Linda Corwin, Corwin Vocal Studio; Sandra Cupp, Niguel Hills Middle School;
Scott Hedgecock, Fullerton Union High School; and Mary Purdy, Canyon High
School. Special thanks go to Rick
Soto at Orange Coast College for providing the semi-final round facilities.
Finally, thank you to Debbie Montpas, VP for the Jr High/Middle School Honor
Choir, for organizing the performance for the finalists on May 15 and La Habra
Hills Presbyterian Church for hosting the event.
It is marvelous to observe the transformation of the singers at the hands of
our superb adjudicators! The
education and experience they receive during the eight-minute vocal session are
absolutely priceless. Last year’s
clinicians were especially outstanding: Al Brightbill, Rhonda Dillon, Karen
McBride, Matt Scully, Bonnie Snell, and Diana Zaslove in the preliminary round;
and Dr. Nicole Baker and Don Brinegar in the semi-final round. Thanks to all of you!
Nearly 120 singers participated last year. While this is wonderful, I know
that there are many more out there who could truly benefit from this
experience. Please, encourage
your students to participate! If you’re concerned that the sites are too far away, then host
one yourself! Only 20 singers
are needed at each site in order to cover the cost of adjudicators,
scholarships, and other operational expenses. All you need to do is make your choir room available for a
few hours on a Saturday morning, shuffle some papers, and the rest is done for
you. It’s easy!
Sandra Cupp, Scott Hedgecock, and I are already planning to host sites this year. Many more are needed, as last year’s six were simply not enough. I would especially like to challenge directors/voice teachers in the far south, South Bay, and West LA regions to host and send students! It’s wholly rewarding, looks great on a college résumé, and singers can earn scholarships. Most importantly, become involved in the Vocal Solo competition because it’s the right thing to do for your students. They deserve this opportunity to learn and become better singers and overall musicians.
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2006 Vocal Solo Competition Information
Application Info
Participation is open to both junior high/middle school and high school
students, though the two levels do not compete against each other. The
application fee remains at $20. This fee is non-refundable. Applications must
be accompanied by a school check or money order payable to SCVA. You can also
pay online by visiting www.scvachoral.org and selecting e-Payments. Please, no
purchase orders, personal checks or cash. Each applicant should include a
self-addressed envelope with their application for notification. Participants
must be active members in a choral ensemble. Church, temple and community
groups meet this requirement. The application must be signed by the choral
director. If the choral director is not a member of SCVA, then the application
must be signed by both the choral director and the private voice teacher.
Directors and/or voice teachers must be current members of SCVA, having paid
their 2005-06 dues, in order for their students to participate. If your
membership isn’t current, please contact Shawn Taylor, complete the membership
application included in the SCVA newsletter, or visit www.scvachoral.org.
Performance Info
Each participant will sing one selection of a classical nature (art song or
aria). Selections should be appropriate to the singer’s level of experience.
Participants will be given a total of 8 minutes to perform and work with the
adjudicator. Keep in mind that a longer song means less time to work with the
adjudicator. Singers must provide their own skilled accompanists for the
preliminary and semi-final rounds. (Keep costs down by sharing an accompanist.)
An accompanist will only be provided for the final concert performance. The
preliminary and semi-final rounds are in master-class format, lasting
approximately 3 to 4 hours, including breaks. Participants are expected to
check in before the master class starts and remain until the end to receive
their certificates and adjudication forms. Please remind participants to make
sure that they are available for all dates and times before completing the
application. Also, please help our participants by not scheduling a gig for
your choir on the same day that any of your students is scheduled to sing in
the competition, or excuse those students from the gig. Singers arriving and
leaving throughout the class can be distracting.
Up to five semi-finalists may be selected from each preliminary site at the
high school level, along with one junior high/middle school semi-finalist.
Singers selected to continue to the semi-final round may either perform their
selection from the preliminary round or prepare another. At the semi-final
round, the judges will select six high school finalists and one junior
high/middle school finalist. The high school finalists will consist of the two
best female singers, the two best male singers and the next two best singers at
the judges’ discretion. Final placement of the high school finalists will be
announced at the Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir concert.
Dates to Remember
- Applications postmarked no
later than Saturday, December 10, 2005
- Preliminary rounds (various
sites): 9am - 1:30pm, Saturday, January 14, 2006
- Semi-final round (site TBD): 9am
- 2:30pm, Saturday, February 25, 2006
- Scholarships awarded after final
performances at the Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir Concert (date, site,
& time TBD)
Mail application packets to:
Rodger Guerrero
SCVA Vocal Solo Competition
3700 Coldwater Canyon
North Hollywood, CA 91604
For more information please visit www.scvachoral.org and select Events and/or Newsletter.
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Men’s and Women’s Clinic/Workshop - Ron Soderwall, VP – Young Men’s
Clinic
Now is the time to start planning to send both your men and women
singers to one of the finest gender related choral events in Southern
California.In addition to the annual Young Men’s Harmony Festival that is
co-sponsored by SCVA and the Masters of Harmony (six-time International Chorus
Champion of the Barbershop Harmony Society), the Harborlites (current Sweet
Adelines International Chorus Champion) will be organizing a Young Women’s
Harmony Festival so that the young women in our choirs can enjoy the same
experience as the men.
The dates for these two all-day festivals will be:
Young Women’s Harmony
Festival: February 11, 2006 – Orange Coast College
Young Men’s Harmony
Festival: February 18, 2006 – Orange Coast College
Having sent men to the Young Men’s Harmony Festival each year, I have personally benefited from the training that they received from the Masters of Harmony. And then, to top off a full day of workshops and two great meals (all provided), the evening concert with the combined 320 singers filling the OCC stage was unbelievable! This year I am sending all the female and male singers in all of my choirs as a required attendance and I have included the modest registration fee in their yearly choir participation fee (negating one other event in their calendar). Yes, this event is that important to my singers. And I am expecting the same high quality training and performance from participation in the Young Women In Harmony Festival for the ladies. Please see the following article, and be sure to visit the Events page on the SCVA website for applications and more information.
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Young Men’s Barbershop Harmony Festival – Mark Freedkin, Barbershop
Harmony Society (SPEBSQSA)
We are pleased to announce another unique opportunity for your young
male singers that will provide a positive boost for choral music at your
school. Building on our successful
choral programs during the past six years, the Masters of Harmony and SCVA will
hold a Young Men’s Harmony Festival starting at 10:00am on Saturday, February
18, 2006 at Orange Coast College.
The day-long event will consist of a morning and afternoon clinic and
rehearsal, followed by a public performance in the evening with the Masters of
Harmony. In addition to providing
an outstanding musical experience for your singers, all of the proceeds from
this event will go to support choral music education programs in our schools.
About four weeks prior to the event, we will provide sheet music and
downloadable voice-dominant MP3 audio practice tracks for several songs
arranged in the barbershop style.
The cost is only $20 per singer for early registration. Local barbershop sponsors will cover
the remaining costs for all sheet music, audio practice tracks, rehearsal
facilities, guest clinicians, and performance costumes. A commemorative T-shirt will be
provided to each singer. We will
also provide lunch and dinner for the singers, as well as a catered dinner for
any music educators who attend the rehearsal and clinic. We request that you or a parent
accompany your singers at the event to help maintain discipline during the long
day.
To qualify for the early registration fee, complete the enclosed application
and parental consent/medical form for each singer and send payment by cash,
check or money order payable to “Masters of Harmony” to the address
below NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 20, 2005. Thereafter, the registration fee will be $25 per
singer. Any male student who is
currently enrolled in a school choral music program is eligible to participate. There is no limit to the number of
students you can nominate from your choral program. We can accommodate up to 200 singers, so don’t delay!
For more information, please contact:
Mark Freedkin
Home: (949) 559-9621
Work: (949) 470-3117
e-mail: mfreedkin@yahoo.com
Young Men’s Barbershop Harmony Festival Application
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Other Important Information
SCVA Membership Application