Music Department

Whether you are a seasoned veteran music student at our school or this is your first year, we are excited to bring you a comprehensive, dynamic, and inspiring pre-professional education in the art of music.

What do we mean by pre-professional?

Our goal as music educators is to offer a music program that enables our students to be life-long music-makers. Many of our advanced students taking Honors and AP level courses are awarded major scholarships to some of the top higher education institutions in the U.S., including Berklee College of Music, the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, University of the Arts, The New School, University of Michigan, and others. Some of our most successful alumni own their own record labels, are performers with major music acts, teach music at a secondary level, work as music therapists, and work in the industry as recording engineers and producers.

Even our graduates who do not choose a career in music have been given the knowledge and skills to compose, perform, record, and produce their own music. They can pursue music as an avocation by joining a community band or choir or by producing and promoting their own original music and music covers on social media, streaming music platforms, and YouTube.

Every CPFA music student develops proficiency on one or more instruments (including the voice as an instrument), learns the basics of melodic and harmonic structure, voice leading, sight singing/playing, and ear training. Many also learn the basics of digital audio workstation software, music notation software, studio recording techniques, MIDI, music editing, mixing, and mastering.

In addition to becoming well-rounded contemporary musicians, CPFA high school students have the opportunity to become involved in an exciting and engaging array of extra-curricular musical opportunities. Tri-M Music Honor Society Chapter #7447 provides many services to both CPFA and our surrounding communities. We are very proud of our extra-curricular performing ensembles! CPFA Chorale placed first in their division and had the highest score out of every ensemble in attendance at Music In The Parks this past May, scoring a 96 out of 100! The CPFA Jazz Mavericks placed third in the nation in the Small Ensemble category at the third annual National Jazz Festival in April 2022. Both groups will be fully active this school year, performing throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. They will also be taking a trip from March 30 to April 2, 2023 to Williamsburg, VA to participate in the Worldstrides Heritage Music Festival.

PALCS is in the midst of some important and historic changes this school year. The founding fathers of our school, CEO James Hanak, and CPFA Director Mark Allen, have handed the reins to new administrative professionals. CPFA's new Head Administrator, Dr. Steven Dziekonski (pronounced "Ja-kohn-skee") is a seasoned educational and artistic leader, and we feel very confident that the best days of CPFA are yet to come.

Thank you for choosing us as your music teachers. Please feel free to reach out to me with any concerns you have about anything related to the curricula, concerts, and activities of the Music Department. Welcome!

Thomas J. West

Music Department Chair, CPFA

Music Department Events

Description

This year, the CPFA Music Department will produce three full concerts and two recitals. Select Vocal and Instrumental Music classes will be combining for a single winter concert in December (this is a change from last year). In the spring, Vocal Music and Instrumental Music will have their own separate concert dates. All CPFA music concerts and the piano recital are mandatory parts of the curriculum for On-Site students in Ms. Bennett's piano classes, Mr. Harmantzis's vocal classes, Mr. Townsend's guitar classes, and Mr. West's winds and strings classes. Absence from a CPFA dress rehearsal or concert will have a significant impact on a student's report card grade for that marking period - see the Concert Participation Policy below. The Senior Recital features our graduating music students and is completely voluntary.

Remote Access students are not required to participate in our concerts and recitals. However, the vast majority of our Remote Access students do make the journey to West Chester, PA to participate. As such, the Music Department always holds the dress rehearsal for each concert at the concert location on the same afternoon as the evening concert, enabling Remote Access families to travel to West Chester in time to fully participate.

The CPFA Music Department has published the concert dates for the 2022-2023 school year on the CPFA PALCSchool Calendar and requires all on-site students and parents, as well as all participating remote access students and parents, to sign a Concert Commitment Form to indicate that they are aware of the dates and intend to participate fully.

Concert Participation Policy

In order to be eligible to participate in the Winter Music Concert, students must not have been absent four or more times during marking period 1, four or more times during marking period 2, or six times overall in the 1st and 2nd marking periods. Students must also participate in the Winter Concert Dress Rehearsal in its entirety unless special permission has been given in advance for extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student or parent. That permission will be based upon the amount of successful preparation the student has made on concert material and how their presence or absence will affect the performing ensemble as determined by the teacher.

In order to be eligible to participate in the Spring Instrumental and/or Vocal Music Concerts, students must not have been absent four or more times during marking period 3. Students must also participate in the Spring Concert Dress Rehearsal in its entirety unless special permission has been given in advance for extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student or parent. That permission will be based upon the amount of successful preparation the student has made on concert material and how their presence or absence will affect the performing ensemble as determined by the teacher.

In order to be eligible to participate in the Piano Recital, students must be approved for performance of their recital repertoire by Ms. Bennett.

Dress Rehearsals

Dress Rehearsal Conduct: Students must spend large portions of the dress rehearsal waiting for their turn to go on stage. Students who are not on stage are expected to be courteous, respectful, and non-disruptive to the students and directors on stage. We recommend bringing a book to read, a laptop for completing PALCS schoolwork, etc. Please note that neither PALCS nor our host venue are responsible for any personal electronic items that are lost, damaged, or stolen during the dress rehearsal and concert. All personal belongings will be stored in a secure location during the dress rehearsal and concert.

Meals for Dress Rehearsals: please note that for the Vocal and Instrumental Music Concerts, students will rehearse in concert attire, then will carefully eat dinner at the concert venue. Students will provide their own drinks and meals which do not require refrigeration or heating. Students are expected to behave as guests of the venue, cleaning up after themselves and refraining from touching any property owned by the venue without permission.

Schedule of Music Department Events

The published dates for the 2022-2023 school year are:

CPFA Dress Rehearsal - Winter Concert

NOTE: This is a combined concert for select vocal and instrumental music classes and does not include students from MS Vocal Development, MS Applied Winds, and MS Applied Strings

Friday, December 16, 2022 3:00-6:30 PM