To contact the directors of the Darien Elementary Honors Chorus: ElemHonorsChorus@darienps.org

OR

Mrs. Kathy Knapp, KaKnapp@darienps.org 203-655-1323 ext 4294 (Hindley)

Ms. Kathleen Theisen, ktheisen@darienps.org, 203-655-0044 ext 4892 (Royle)

Are you auditioning for DARIEN ELEMENTARY HONORS CHORUS?

Auditions take place in your own school.

You will make an appointment to sing for your own school choir director.

You will sing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL and BROTHER JOHN/FRERE JACQUES.

You will also sing some 'patterns' that your teacher will play on the piano.

To practice AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, click on the link at the side.

To practice BROTHER JOHN, click on the link at the side.

(For a printable version of the 'parent information letter' and the audition rubric,

click on the links at the right: PARENT LETTER 2019 and AUDITION FORM 2019.

DARIEN ELEMENTARY HONORS CHORUS 2019

https://sites.google.com/a/darienps.org/roylemusic/darien-elementary-honors-chorus-2019

Dear Parents of a Darien Elementary School Chorus Member,

We are very excited to conduct the annual 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 1, as part of the Music in the Parks program of Lake Compounce Amusement Park in Bristol, CT. The performance itself will take place at an area school; the children will then spend the rest of the day in the amusement park!

Students will audition for the chorus director in their own school during the months of February and March. Students will be asked to sing one verse of “America the Beautiful,” a round called “Brother John/Frere Jacques,” and will be asked to sing back a few short melodies. A practice track for each of the two 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. 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 festival will be notified at the end of March. Please note: all rehearsals are mandatory and will take place from 3:45pm to 4:40 pm on SEVEN WEDNESDAYS from April 10 - May 29 @ Royle School. Drop-off time before rehearsal is anytime between 2:55pm-3:45pm, though we encourage you to wait to drop off kids until 3:10pm so that you don’t get caught in the school dismissal traffic. Pick-up time is exactly 4:45pm in the parent pick-up circle at the back of the school.

There is a non-refundable DEHC participation fee of $100 per student. 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 get transportation on our bus, a t-shirt, and a discounted ticket into the park.

For more information about the Darien Elementary Honors Chorus, please visit our new 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)

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Audition Permission Slip

please return the bottom portion of this page, but do not send checks at this time

Please initial that you are aware of the following:

Non-refundable $100 Participation Fee ______

Mandatory rehearsals ______ (SEVEN Wednesdays, 3:45-4:40pm, April 10-May 29 @ Royle School.)

_____________________________________ ____________________ _____________________________

Student Name (Please PRINT ) Grade/ Classroom Teacher School Chorus Teacher

I give my permission for my child to audition for, and participate in, the town-wide Darien Elementary Honors Chorus.

_________________________________ _________________________________ __________

Parent Signature Parent Name (Please Print) Date

_________________________________________________ _______________________

Email Phone Number

Parent Chaperones: Student T-Shirt Size: (circle one)

Sure, I’ll help! No, thanks! Youth S YM YL YXL Adult M Adult L AdultXL

DARIEN All-Town Elementary Honors Chorus Audition Form 2019

Name: ___________________________________ Grade/Classroom Teacher: _____________________

School: Hindley Holmes OxRidge Royle Tokeneke Recommended Voice Part: I II

Part 1 – Tonal Memory (1 point per pattern, 4 points possible)

Key of F

Procedure: Teacher plays the pattern on the piano twice and then student sings the pattern a cappella.

D-M-S-D’-S-M-D

D-F-L-F-D

S-F-R-T-D (descending V6/5 chord)

M-S-D

Part 2 – Prepared Song (4 points possible)

“America The Beautiful” key of Bb (Silver Burdett version)

Procedure: Student sings one verse with the piano or with the CD

4: Student sang using proper pitch, rhythm, and intonation with a steady tempo and 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: Have student sing Brother John (or Frere Jacques) or another round that your students know. Student starts the round and teacher sings the second entrance. Teacher can accompany on I-V-I each measure, but don’t play the melody. Can the student maintain his/her own part?

4: Student sang using proper pitch, rhythm, and intonation with a steady tempo and 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 consistently performs by demonstrating appropriate phrasing, dynamics, expression, and posture.

3: Student 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, shows effort in musical tasks, and attends rehearsals: (8 points possible)

8: Always participates cooperatively in music rehearsals and classes and has outstanding attendance

6: Cooperates and demonstrates effort when engaged in musical tasks and attends rehearsals regularly

4: Often cooperates and demonstrates their best effort when engaged in musical tasks and attends most rehearsals

2: Rarely cooperates or demonstrates effort in the music classroom and rarely attends rehearsals

Total Points: ____ / 24

Comments: __________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________