December Updates :)

CHORUS NEWSLETTER

1. Pecans came in yesterday. They should be delivered by students shortly.

2. Students should have turned in $300 by winter break. $150 is due at the end of January.

3. Evening holiday performances for Blues in the Knight and Knight Sounds
· Last night was the Treyburn Holiday Concert. They really enjoyed our performance and we are planning on singing there same time next year.
· Wednesday, December 16: Ruritan Club Dinner (at Willowhaven)
Meet at 6:40pm. Sing at 7:00pm

4. Daytime holiday performances
· Monday, December 14, 10:30am Hillcrest Convalescent---Knight Sounds and MKB
· Tuesday, December 15, 10am Ben Franklin Medical Park—KS and BIK
· Wednesday, December 16, 10am Durham Regional—BIK and MKB

5. Evening of Entertainment (EOE)
· Students chosen will rehearse the music after school with me during January @ NHS !!!!
· GIRLS: December 14 2:45-4 pm
January 7 2:45-3:45 pm
GUYS: December 17 2:45-4 pm
January 12 2:45-3:45 pm
· Pre-rehearsals at Riverside High (REQUIRED):
January 21 6-8pm
February 4 6-8pm
February 11 6-8pm
· Big EOE weekend (all-day intense rehearsals- REQUIRED)
February 18 7:40am-9:15pm at DPAC
February 19 7:40am-9:15pm at DPAC
February 20 8:30am-9:00pm at DPAC
· EOE Performance on February 20th at 7:00pm at DPAC
· Tickets are available starting December 12. Tickets are $25, $15 and $10. You can purchase tickets at http://www.dpacnc.com/

UNC-Chapel Hill Men’s Invitational Choral Festival
· January 15 and 16, 2010
· All male students in Knight Sounds are required to attend.
· Male students in MKB will receive 100 quiz grade for attending.






Directions to WILLOWHAVEN/ RURITAN GIG (Dec 16)
From Northern High School, proceed south on Roxboro Road to Latta Road...turn right and travel on Latta to Guess Road. Turn right on Guess Rd. Go to the stop light and turn left onto Umstead Road. Go approximately 3 miles to the sign that says Willowhaven Country Club. Turn left into the subdivision and wind around to the main Club house. There is a sign at the entrance. We will meet in the lobby when you first walk in.

FALL CONCERT WEEK/ Florida update

Chorus students had a chocolate/magazine fundraiser at the end of September. Items *just* came in on Thursday, November 12th. Any student who sold 8 items or more made 50% profit. Some families chose to subtract that amount from their initial deposit ($200, due yesterday, 11/13). We will also have a pecan fundraiser beginning next week (50% profit), so any money that students make on that fundraiser will also go towards his/her Florida trip. I am keeping a detailed record of how much students are earning, and keeping up with multiple payment plans from chorus families. If you have questions, I urge you to contact me immediately at rachel.fitzsimons@dpsnc.net. It IS possible for every student to go on this trip, and I hope that you will talk with me about payment plans before assuming your family cannot afford it. The chorus is a team, and we will find a way to help all singers attend if they want to!

NEXT PAYMENT FOR FLORIDA DUE: DECEMBER 7th. Amount: $100

As a reminder, here are the rehearsal dates for this coming week-- FALL CONCERT WEEK!.
Mon, Nov 16, 6-9pm
Tues, Nov 17, 6-9pm
Thur, Nov 19, 6-9pm DRESS REHEARSAL (I will provide a red flower and scarf for each girl, but they should come wearing a black dress/knee-length skirt and black dress shoes that they can dance in. I will provide a red flower and red tie for each boy, but they should come wearing a long-sleeved black button-down dress shirt and black dress pants, plus a black belt, socks and shoes.)
Sat, Nov 21 7:30pm CONCERT (students arrive at 6pm)

Any parents interested in helping with sound, please email me ASAP. We need your help at rehearsals! I also need parents to help with supervising students at all rehearsals. Please email me if you are available to help this coming week. Thank you for your support!

November 5th

Quick reminder that the Chorus Parents Association meets tonight at 7pm in the Chorus room. We got in the costume materials today, which was really exciting. We have been adding some choreography and percussive instruments in slowly but surely. It is getting really exciting! Blues in the Knight, the all-girls 3rd period class, performed at the faculty meeting yesterday afternoon and really wowed all the teachers. Mr. Colclough loved it, too.

I hope you're getting revved up for our Fall Concert, "Noche de Musica," on November 21st at 7:30pm! **A Ticket Order Form should have come home with your student on Monday.**

Concert attire: All black.
Guys: long sleeved, button-down black dress shirt (tucked in). Black dress pants. Black shoes, socks and belt. The chorus will provide a red flower to pin to their shirt pocket, and a red tie.
Girls: black dress or skirt/shirt combo. No straps smaller than a lasagna noodle, no cleavage. All skirts should be about knee-length. We will discuss shoes in class. The chorus will provide a red scarf/sash to tie around her waist, and a red flower for her hair.

Required rehearsals:
Monday, Nov 16th, 6-9pm
Tuesday, Nov 17th, 6-9pm
Thursday, Nov 19th, 6-9pm DRESS REHEARSAL, no exceptions (if missed, must write a 2-pg paper)
Saturday, Nov 21st, 7:30pm (call: 6pm for all chorus students) (if missed, must write a 3-pg paper)

All rehearsals and concerts are counted as performance grades and are a major part of the student's grade.

Many thanks to the parents on the costume committe, especially Jane. Everything looks great.

The Pancake Breakfast was a huge success, as was our Bake Sale. I am still anxiously waiting for our fundraising materials to arrive so we can begin the pecan fundraiser ASAP.

Looking for a keyboard for the chorus:
--relatively light and transportable, full size keys (not skinny), needs a sustain pedal
--If you see one for a good price (or have an extra one laying around the house), please let me know. We will need one for performances around the community in the future.

Things to talk about tonight at the CPA meeting:
-Ticket sales at concert
-Sound at concert
-Costumes for fall concert
-Shoes (girls, character shoes)
-Black dresses, tuxes for winter ASAP- measurements
-Wintertime performance opportunities (nursing homes, etc)
-Batteries for mics (9V)
-Anything else I forgot.


Please reply to rachel.fitzsimons@dpsnc.net with any questions. Thank you so much for all of your help! You are so crucial to our success and we appreciate all that you do for the chorus.

mid-October reminders

Reminders:

- Pancake Breakfast at Mt. Sylvan Ruritan Club
this Saturday, October 24th 7-10 am
Price: $6 (children under 6 eat free)
*Please bring bake sale items

- Chorus (small group) performs at faculty meeting
November 4th after school

- Chorus Parents Association (CPA)
November 5th at 7pm

- Fall Chorus Concert
November 21st 7:30 pm

End of September

There is a lot coming up for the chorus!

• Tomorrow (Tuesday), September 29th, 4pm, Chorus Room: small parents meeting to talk about FL spring competition trip
• All County pre-rehearsals at NHS from 2:45-4pm
  -Mon 9/28, Tues 9/29, Thurs 10/1
  
• Official All County Chorus rehearsals start this week! @HILLSIDE HIGH
  -Thurs, 10/6, 6-8pm
  -Tues, 10/6, 6-8pm
  -Thurs, 10/15, 4-9PM BRING DINNER
  -Sat Oct 17th: All day rehearsal, Concert at 7pm @Hillside!
• NEXT CPA MEETING: Thursday, October 8th at 7pm in the NHS Chorus Room
  -We will be discussing fundraisers (Pancake Breakfast), concert, costumes,
  Florida, and more!
• Students in Blues in the Knight and Knight Sounds should be selling chocolate and magazines for our current fundraiser! Half the money that they raise will go towards their personal chorus account, which will ultimately help pay for their trip to Florida!
  

CPA

The first CPA (Chorus Parents Association) meeting will be tomorrow night (9/10) at 7pm in the Chorus room (A3). You may enter through my door down by the bus lot and teacher parking lot. I hope to get everybody out of there within 30 minutes.

Topics of the evening will include:
1- Fundraising (chocolate, jewelry, pecans, pancakes, baskets, etc)
2- Costumes
3- Chorus Calendar/ explanation of "optional" chorus events
4- Parents and Why We Love Them (tickets, bake sales, transportation, support, batteries, sound board for concert week, advertising, recording, supervision, printing/folding programs, and being smart and beautiful/handsome)

Fall Theme

Get excited about the theme of our fall concert: Music from Spanish Speaking Countries! We will be learning music from Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Spain, and many other places. Expect to groove with some local salsa band musicians and see some latin dancing.

I encourage all chorus students to attend La Fiesta del Pueblo 2009, a local Latino festival held this coming weekend (8/29 and 8/30) at the Raleigh fairgrounds. Here is the link to the event's website. If you click on "schedule" you can see when all the different musicians will be performing. If a student attends and takes a picture of herself there, she can get extra credit. In addition, there will be lots of good music and delicious food. I hope you get a chance to get a taste of Latino culture at this festival.

If you know a lot about this topic (maybe you grew up in Puerto Rico, etc), please let me know! I would love all the help I can get! Thank you in advance. :)

Syllabus!

Literature studied: Students will be required to sing a variety of choral literature both secular and sacred. Students will not be expected to believe, practice, or worship any of the sacred literature, but they will be asked to sing and study it as a part of our world’s music history. Refusing to sing particular styles of music will result in a zero for the student’s daily participation grade.
We will be working on musicianship, vocal technique, and choral literature daily. All three of these components are crucial to making each student a good musician, which will ultimately prepare students for musical endeavors beyond high school.

Expectations: Chorus is based on teamwork and collaboration.
1. Be on time to class and be prepared to sing when the bell rings.
2. No food, drinks or gum in the chorus room.
3. Be respectful to Ms. Fitz, your classmates, yourself and our classroom materials.
4. Bathroom policy: Three passes per student per semester. These may be used for the bathroom, water, or guidance. Your weekly participation grade drops two points for every additional trip. If you save your passes, you will gain two points per pass on your participation grade at the end of the semester.
5. Cell phone policy: Do not take it out, or Ms. Fitz will keep it until the end of the day. If this happens more than once, your parent will be called and informed. The third time, expect to visit an administrator.
Here are the consequences if those expectations are not met:
1. Verbal warning.
2. Time out/ Call home.
3. Referral to administration.

Grading scale: Chorus is a performance-based course; therefore your attendance is extremely important in class and MANDATORY for rehearsals and performances.
Daily Work: 40%
1. Students must be on-task.
2. Students must have a positive attitude and show respect for their peers and the teacher.
3. Students must follow directions written on board daily. Gather materials listed on the
board and go to your assigned place by the time the tardy bell rings.
Quizzes/Projects: 25%
1. Students will be given written quizzes to assess their knowledge of music notation and literacy.
2. Students will be given singing quizzes to assess their sight-singing skills.
3. Students will be given singing quizzes in quartets to assess their ability to sing their own part of music learned in class.
Rehearsals/Concerts: 35%
1. Students are required to attend all performances and rehearsals.
2. Students must be dressed in uniform and demonstrate proper stage etiquette to receive full credit for the performance.
3. If any after school rehearsals, dress rehearsals, or concerts will be missed, you must notify Ms. Fitz via email (rachel.fitzsimons@dpsnc.net) in order for it to be counted as excused.
o Normal rehearsal missed= help Ms. Fitz (clean up auditorium, make copies, make signs)
o Dress rehearsal missed= write a 2 page paper (topic of Ms. Fitz's choice)
o Concert missed= write a 3 page paper (topic of Ms. Fitz's choice)
o If I do not hear from your parent/guardian/coach/boss before these events, you will receive a ZERO. This is your warning.

Costumes: The purchase of a costume is mandatory. If you purchased a costume last year and it still fits, you are all set. If you are new to the group, women will need to purchase a formal black dress, (fake) pearl earrings and a (fake) pearl necklace. Men will need to purchase a tux (under $100). Further information will be sent home about costumes soon. In addition, t-shirts will be for sale in the near future. Please make any checks payable to NHS Chorus.


REQUIRED Performance/Rehearsal Dates

FALL 2009

Friday, October 9 : National Anthem at Homecoming Football Game:
Rehearsal at 5pm, Tailgating Party at 5:30pm, National Anthem at 6:50pm, Game at 7pm
Monday, November 16 and Tuesday, November 17: Rehearsals for Fall Performance, 6-9pm
Thursday, November 19: Dress Rehearsal for Fall Performance, 6-9pm
Saturday, November 21: Fall Chorus Concert 7:30pm, students arrive at 6pm


SPRING 2010

January 15 and 16, 2010: UNC Men’s Invitational **required for all year-long male chorus students**
Monday and Tuesday, April 26 and April 27: Rehearsals for Spring Show, 6-9pm
Thursday, April 29: Dress Rehearsal for Spring Show, 6-9pm
Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1: Spring Chorus Concert 7:30pm, students arrive at 6pm
June 10, 2010: Graduation (Northern Chorus sings)


Additional Performances/Rehearsals (OPTIONAL)

Thursday, September 24: Honors Chorus Auditions- Meredith College, Raleigh. The audition piece for this year is “The Conversion of Saul” by Z. Randall Stroope. Audition rehearsal tracks are available at www.ledfordhigh.com. You may download the mp3 tracks from this website. The accompaniment track will be used for all auditions. There is an audition fee of $15.00 per student.
- Only 9 students from Northern can audition. Pre-auditions will be after school on Sept 3 and 4. Expect to attend a few after school rehearsals from Sept 7-18 if you are chosen to audition.
- If you score high enough at the Sept 24th audition and are chosen to participate in the NC Honors Chorus, you will need to be available November 7 and 8 for the performance.

Saturday, October 17: All-County Chorus Concert:
All Rehearsals Required:
· Thursday, October 1, 6-8pm
· Tuesday, October 6, 6-8pm
· Thursday, October 15, 4-9pm
· Saturday, October 17: All Day rehearsal
· Concert at 7pm
December 5, 2009: Light Up Durham (more info later)
Monday and Tuesday, December 7 and 8: Spring Musical Auditions (The Wiz!)
Saturday, February 20, 2010: Evening of Entertainment:
All Rehearsals Required:
· Thursday, February 4, 6-8pm
· Thursday, February 11, 6-8pm
· Thursday, Feb 18, after school
· Friday, Feb 19, all day, DPAC*
· Saturday Feb 20, rehearsal time TBA at DPAC*
· Saturday, February 20: Performance at 7pm at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC*)
Friday and Saturday, March 26-27: Spring Musical (The Wiz)
Wednesday through Sunday, April 14-18: Chorus Competition Trip to Florida (more info soon)


*******************************************************************************************
I am looking forward to an exciting year. If you would like to be part of the Chorus Parents Association, please attend our first meeting on Thursday, September 10 at 7pm in the chorus room (A3). The CPA assists with fundraisers, choral performances, chorus finances, field trips, costumes, publicity and anything else the chorus needs. If you cannot attend, I hope to meet you at the NHS Open House on September 17 from 6:30-8pm. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to working with both parents and students! Thank you for your support.

2009-2010

Welcome back to all students! I hope that you had a wonderful summer, and that you are excited to start singing again! If you are a new Chorus student or have interest in joining, I encourage you to come and meet me on Thursday, August 20th from 6:30-8:00PM in the Chorus room at Northern during the Open House for students new to Northern. We have a really exciting fall semester ahead, so I hope you are ready to work hard and have fun!

Spring Concert and beyond

Congratulations to all chorus students! The 2009 Spring Concert was wonderful! You should be very proud of your hard work. You may purchase a DVD of the concert for $10. Please email me at rachel.fitzsimons@dpsnc.net if you are interested!

Right now, students are working on their music history group projects. The final product, a Power Point and presentation (in costume!) is due May 20. We will have presentations May 20 and 21.

Our next performance will be at NHS Graduation on June 11th at 12 noon. We will be singing the Alma Mater, "Irish Blessing," and "There You'll Be." It is an honor to sing at graduation, as well as a great chance to say goodbye to all of our wonderful seniors.

Welcome to Knight Notes...

You found us! Let us share with you the sights and sounds of the Northern High School Choruses. Here you will find information on events we participate in, IMPORTANT info from Ms. Fitz, and upcoming events. Please sign up on the left side to receive updates via email. Anytime anything is posted, you will receive an email posted to your email account between 11 pm and 1 am. That way, if you check your email regularly, you won't miss out on anything and you won't have to keep checking back here. We hope if you are not already a follower of our choral groups, you will follow us and check out our performances. We promise you, we will not disappoint!