The 2009- 2010 school year is going to be a very exciting one for the performing arts. Our beautiful new Kurtz Center for the Performing Arts will open to students when classes resume in January. There are a number of special events that have been planned as part of the Spring Arts Festival, which will be our official grand opening. This festival will start with three performances of the all-school musical The Wizard of Oz on March 19, 20, and 21. Lower and Middle School students, grades 4 through 8, will be included in the cast. In order for Lower School students to be in the musical they must participate in the Chamber Singers starting in October.

Traditionally, the Chamber Singers is a non-audition treble choir made up of fifth and sixth graders. In order to include more students from the Lower School in the musical, the Chamber Singers will also be open to the fourth grade.  Students who sign on this fall will automatically be in the musical as munchkins and poppies. While students involved with the Chamber Singers and the Small Ensemble concert are encouraged to participate in the musical they are not required to participate. We will need to know which students joining Chamber Singers will also be coming out for The Wizard of Oz in October, so that we will have a clear sense of the numbers.

In addition to the musical, the Chamber Singers will perform along with the Upper School and Middle School select ensembles for one Small Ensemble Concert on January 28^th at 7pm. This concert is free and will take place at the Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd on The Oak Road. We meet in the morning before school from 7:30 am to 8:00 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Richard B. Fisher Middle School - room 102. The first rehearsal for the Chamber Singers will be Thursday, Oct. 8^th. We will start promptly at 7:30. Interested students will be asked to put their name on a roster when they arrive on the 8^th.

In December and January Chamber Singer members will be asked to come to Wizard of Oz choral rehearsals after school at least twice a week in addition to morning rehearsals for the Small Ensemble Concert. After the concert on January 28th, all rehearsals for the musical will be after school.