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DARIEN ELEMENTARY HONORS CHORUS 2022
DARIEN ELEMENTARY HONORS CHORUS 2022
WELCOME!
June 4, 2022 FESTIVAL NEWS:
Our performance is Saturday, June 4 @ Middlesex Middle School (MMS). This is open to family and friends.
Students ARRIVE at MMS by 7:45 AM. We will warmup and run through our pieces. Please be on time.
8:30AM-9:00AM: performance for audience and the judges will be doing a mini-workshop with the choir.
9:10 AM: Choir gathers in the MMS rotunda and then boards the buses for Lake Compounce.
Buses depart between 9:15 and 9:30am. It will take approx. 75 minutes to get to Lake Compounce. On the bus, you will receive your ticket to the park and your meal voucher.
11:00-3:45PM: Go on rides, eat, and have fun at Lake Compounce. Students stay with their chaperone 'group' all day.
3:45pm: all chaperones and students meet the directors at a designated spot and then we walk together to the buses.
Approximately 5:30pm: arrive back to MMS.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS about the festival:
What time does each group perform in the MMS Auditorium?
8:30 am: Honors Chorus
9:05 am: Honors Band
9:35 am: Honors Orchestra
What to wear: All students and chaperones should wear their Honors Chorus T-Shirt all day. You can wear any shorts or pants. Wear comfy shoes, since you will be walking a lot ! Bring a raincoat if needed. The weather looks GREAT for Saturday!
What to bring: Students are responsible for their own personal items on the bus and in the amusement park. You may wish to bring sunscreen & refillable water bottle for inside the park. You may also want SUNGLASSES! You may wish to bring a snack for the bus ride.
Meals: All students and chaperones will receive meal vouchers to use inside the park. That's good for one meal for each person. (Your choice of: personal pizza, chicken tenders and fries, grilled cheese and tots, or hot dog and fries PLUS one fountain drink. This can be changed to a vegetarian option if you ask them at the restaurant.)
Food allergies: Students with food allergies may carry their own food into the amusement park. Customer service at Lake Compounce told me that the french fries at the park are gluten-free and there are gluten-free rolls for hot dogs and hamburgers. Lake Compounce has this info on their website: "Lake Compounce food service managers are sensitive to guests with food allergies and special dietary needs, and offer food products to accommodate. We offer sugar-free candies and novelties, peanut and tree nut free treats, and ingredient lists available at any food stand upon request. Nothing is fried in peanut oil, and trans fat- free oil is used park wide. Simply ask a team member or manager and they will help you choose the menu that best suits your needs. We also welcome phone calls to discuss your needs before you arrive." Students with nut allergies should avoid the Sweet Shop since a lot of nuts are used there. More info: https://www.lakecompounce.com/things-to-do/dining.
Money: The amusement park is 'cashless.' However, students can turn 'cash' into a 'card' in the park. Since a meal voucher is given to everyone, students will only need spending money if parents would like to send money with their child. Please visit the Lake Compounce website for more info about their cashless system: https://www.lakecompounce.com/cashless
Health and Safety: Please make sure emergency contact info is up-to-date in ASPEN. It is very important that we have accurate emergency contact info and allergy/health info to ensure student safety.
Groups: Students will be divided into 'chaperone group' and will remain with their groups throughout the day. All groups will meet with the directors at 3:45pm and we will all walk together to the buses.
Leaving early? If your child is getting picked up before 3:45pm from Lake Compounce by a parent/guardian, please contact the directors to arrange for kids to be met by parents in the park. You must sign out all children who are leaving early.
HAVE FUN! Thank you for being so awesome!
April 20, 2022 news:
Honors Chorus starts this week! Our first rehearsal is WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20th from 3:45-4:40pm in the band room at Darien High School.
DROP OFF: between 3:20-3:45 at the DHS AUDITORIUM DOORS. There will be signs to guide you to the band room in the music wing of DHS.
Pick-up time: 4:45PM at the DHS Auditorium Doors. (see picture)
For more info about HONORS CHORUS, please visit the blog (this website).
All students have also been invited to join the honors chorus ‘GoogleClassroom.’
All of our communication will be done through GoogleClassroom, the Blog and Email. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at ElemHonorsChorus@darienps.org
Please also take a moment to ‘whitelist’ or add our email address in your address book so that our emails land in your inbox and not the spam filter.
We are looking forward to making great music together in the coming weeks!
Regards,
Kathleen Theisen (Royle) and Kathy Knapp (Hindley)
ElemHonorsChorus@darienps.org
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February 2022:
Dear Parents:
We invite your children to audition for the town-wide Darien Elementary Honors Chorus (DEHC). This chorus will be comprised of students from each school’s chorus, and will perform on Saturday, June 4 as part of the Music in the Parks program of Lake Compounce Amusement Park in Bristol, CT. The performance will take place at a nearby venue; the children will then spend the rest of the day in the amusement park.
Students will audition during the month of March. Students will be asked to sing the introduction and one verse of “God Bless America,” a round called “Make New Friends,” and will be asked to sing back a few short melodies. A practice track for each of the songs is on the Honors Chorus Blog. An audition rubric has been included on the reverse side of this letter and is also available on the blog.
Quick Link to Audition Songs: GOD BLESS AMERICA
MAKE NEW FRIENDS
Acceptance into the Honors Chorus is also contingent upon each student’s continued attendance in their own school chorus throughout the entire school year. Students who have qualified for the honors chorus will be notified on Monday, March 28th. Please note: all rehearsals are mandatory and will take place from 3:45pm to 4:40 pm on SEVEN WEDNESDAYS from April 20 - June 1 @ DHS). Pick-up time is exactly 4:45pm.
At the June 1 rehearsal, parents and family members are invited to watch a run-through of our performance!
There is a non-refundable participation fee - $90. This fee covers transportation to and from the park, a t-shirt for each student to wear during the festival, and park admission. The fee is due on or before the first rehearsal. If you are interested in being a chaperone, you will ride on the bus and you will get a t-shirt and a discounted ticket into the park. Please do not pay the participation fee until your child has been accepted.
For more information about the Darien Elementary Honors Chorus, please visit our blog, listed above. We are looking forward to this exciting musical adventure!
Katharine Knapp, kaknapp@darienps.org, 203-655-1323 ext 4294 (Hindley)
Kathleen Theisen, ktheisen@darienps.org, 203-655-0044 ext 4892 (Royle)
Honors Chorus email: elemhonorschorus@darienps.org
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The Audition Permission Slip is ONLINE this year!
USE THIS LINK: https://forms.gle/L8UuRT2Nkt8BAR6W9
Auditions will be held on these days:
HINDLEY - Wednesday, March 23 from 7:30-8:15 AM (during chorus time)
HOLMES - Thursday, March 17 from 1:30-3:00 (on an early release day)
OX RIDGE - Wednesday, March 16 from 8:00-8:45 AM (during chorus time)
ROYLE - Thursday, March 24 from 7:30-8:20 AM (during chorus time)
TOKENEKE - Friday, March 18 from 1:15-3:00 (on an early release day)
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The AUDITION RUBRIC looks like this:
DARIEN All-Town Elementary Honors Chorus Audition Form 2022
Name: ___________________ Grade/Classroom Teacher: _____________
School: Hindley Holmes OxRidge Royle Tokeneke
Recommended Voice Part: I II
Part 1 – Tonal Memory in Key of F (1 point per pattern, 4 points possible)
Procedure: Teacher plays the pattern on the piano 2x; student sings the pattern a cappella
Part 2 – Prepared Song (4 points possible)
“God Bless America”
LINK to the song tracks and PDF of sheet music: https://www.eemusicclass.com/shared/xszrC9paNkJsbxih
Procedure: Student sings intro and one verse with the accompaniment track
4: Student sang using proper pitch, rhythm & intonation with a steady tempo & sense of musicality.
3: Student sang using proper pitch, rhythm, and intonation with a steady tempo.
2: Student sang with slight difficulty involving pitch, rhythm, intonation, and/or tempo.
1: Student sang with great difficulty involving pitch, rhythm, intonation and/or tempo.
Part 3 – Harmonic Independence (4 points possible)
Procedure: Sing “Make New Friends” with the track. Student starts the round, and the teacher or another student sings the second entrance. Can the student maintain his/her own part?Link to song resources: https://musicplayonline.com/songs/make-new-friends/?my_access_code=R868030
4: Student sang using proper pitch, rhythm & intonation with steady tempo & sense of musicality.
3: Student sang using proper pitch, rhythm, and intonation with a steady tempo.
2: Student sang with slight difficulty involving pitch, rhythm, intonation, and/or tempo.
1: Student sang with great difficulty involving pitch, rhythm, intonation and/or tempo.
Part 4: Overall Musicianship: (4 points possible)
4: Student always performs by demonstrating appropriate phrasing, dynamics, expression, & posture.
3: Student usually demonstrates an awareness of appropriate phrasing, dynamics, expression, and posture.
2: Student demonstrates some awareness of appropriate phrasing, dynamics, expression, and posture.
1: Student demonstrates little or no awareness of appropriate phrasing, dynamics, expression, and posture.
Part 5: Participates cooperatively and shows effort in rehearsals for school chorus: (4 points possible)
Total Points: ____ / 20
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