00 Hour (Mixed Varsity) and 6th Period (Varsity Treble)
As a reminder: 00 Hour Varsity Mixed Choir meets every day before school from 8:00-8:50am and is a graded class period, the same as periods 1 through 8. Attendance is taken daily and it is the expectation that if a student is present during the school day, that they are present for 00 Hour. Students placed in 00 Hour are also expected to be enrolled in either 6th Period Varsity Treble or 2nd Period Tenor Bass.
Spring Individual Vocal Listenings will be conducted very similar to our individual vocal listenings everyone did before Winter Break. These listening will be used to determine placement into next year's ensembles. Students will sing individually for Mrs. Stevens and Miss Schulte the following exercises:
Vocalises
Bubbling, Z-Ah, Sauce, "Over the Mountainside," "I Love to Sing" etc
Scales and Intervals
Diatonic scale, thirds, fourths, fifths, and chromatic scale on solfege with hand signs
These are the warm ups we use every day in class. Students wishing to be placed in one or both of the UIL Varsity Ensembles must be able to complete these fundamentals alongside the piano and without Mrs. Stevens/Miss Schulte singing along or providing hand signs
For tracks and visuals to assist in practicing for these, click here.
Sight Reading
Students will be provided a 4 to 8 bar sight reading passage in one of the following keys: C, F, G, Bb, D, Eb, or A (up to 3 sharps or flats)
Students wishing to be placed in one or both of these Varsity Ensembles must be able to identify the key signature of the passage, identify their starting solfege, and perform the passage with the correct pitches and rhythms given the tonic triad and starting pitch. Student will have roughly 30 seconds to review the sight reading to themselves before singing.
For practice sight readings and tonic chord tracks, click here.
Directors will use the Spring Individual Vocal Listenings and other factors (improvement from Fall Vocal Listenings, daily student behavior/participation, various region and/or solo auditions, etc) to determine which ensemble students will be placed into for the upcoming school year. Student schedules and conflicts are always taken into consideration, but ultimately placement in to various ensembles is up to director discretion.
Small Vocal Ensemble (SVE) Audition
Auditions for the 7th Period Small Vocal Ensemble (SVE) will be held after school on Friday, May 8th. This audition will be held in front of all SVE candidates. It is the expectation that this remains a positive and encouraging environment. The audition will be made up of the following components:
Solo Vocal Audition- Performative
Students will perform a predetermined 32-bar cut of "Sway" in the style of Michael Bublé with a provided backing track. There will be two different keys- high and low, that the student may choose to sing along to.
Since SVE is O'Connor's performative ensemble, the expectation is that students PERFORM this piece with engaging facial expressions and movement/stylistically appropriate dancing.
Click HERE for a performative reference video in the Lower key (Michael Bublé).
To practice with the karaoke track in the Lower key, click HERE
Click HERE for a performative reference video in the Higher key (Joyce Partise).
To practice with the karaoke track in the Higher key, click HERE
Vocal Audition- Part Independence and Blend
Students will sing their voice part on The Star Spangled Banner in a quartet (one singer per voice part) or an octet (two singers per voice part.) Please be aware that students may be asked to sing in multiple quartets or octets so that directors can hear different balances and blends.
Students in SVE are expected to be able to hold on to their own vocal line/harmony in a 4 part texture. Students in SVE are also expected to be able to listen and adapt in order to blend with the other members of the ensemble.
For access to The Star Spangled Banner sheet music and part tracks, click here.
Dance Audition
Students will perform the choreography from the Pop Show opener and/or closer- One Short Day/We Go Together
All SVE candidates will dance as a group. There will be an opportunity to rehearse the selected dance and then everyone will perform it together. To respect everyone's time, directors will record the final performance of the dance audition and review the footage after the audition has concluded. Video recordings will not be shared and will only be viewed by directors. Once a final decision has been made, any video footage will be deleted.
For access to practice tracks and choreo videos, click here: One Short Day and We Go Together
As a reminder: Students chosen for SVE are expected to enroll in 00 Hour Varsity Mixed Choir and a daytime choir (2nd or 6th). SVE is a large commitment and frequently requires attendance outside of school hours at events including, but not limited to; pep rallies, middle school recruitment tour, NISD Board meetings, local elementary school rallies/events, NHS inductions, and more. Please talk with your parents about the commitment level of this ensemble. If you have questions about any of the Varsity Ensembles, do not hesitate to chat with a current member of these ensembles or reach out to Mrs. Stevens and Miss Schulte. We are looking forward to building this next year in choir!
To audition for SVE, please fill out THIS FORM (you must be logged in to your "students@nisd.net" account)