8th Grade
Songs of Nostalgia
Our Program
The Song Sisters and Brooks Brothers chose to explore a concert theme of "Nostalgia". You will hear 3 virtual choir projects as well as a library of nostalgic songs from our friends and families. You will see our composer deep dive and art inspired by our reflections. We hope you enjoy the products of our remote learning classroom!
Song Sisters
"Songs of a Disney Princess"
arr. Mac Huff
Solos by Emma Gordon, Louisa Rossano, Alex Auth & Fiona Zhou
Immediately upon learning the meaning of nostalgia, Disney songs started floating through the air in Song Sisters classroom. We couldn't possibly choose just one song, so the singers were presented with 3 different medley options. They preferred the length and song options in this arrangement. The length of the medley was always going to be a challenge, as well as the Soprano 2 and Alto needing to fight the urge to sing the well-known melodies.
Brooks Brothers
"Since I Don't Have You"
arr. Mac Huff
Solos by Ray Zhang & Luca Scirica
The choice for the singers in this case was between a Doo-Wop style "Since I Don't Have You" and a Barbershop style "Coney Island Baby". This song won by a landslide (perhaps because of our positive Step-Up Concert experience). The solo in this song is particularly challenging because of its wide range. The boys sing this in 3-part harmony, a demanding feat for any small ensemble.
8th Grade Chorus
"Wanting Memories" by Dr. Ysaӱe Barnwell
The Composer
The 8th Grade Chorus members chose one slide each to learn more about this amazing performer, composer, educator, and author. Scroll through to learn more about Dr. Barnwell's time with Sweet Honey in the Rock, her talks on the role of music in the community, and her many incredible projects.
Take 1
- our first virtual choir -
Wanting Memories - TAKE 1.mp3This was our very first attempt at participating in a virtual choir. Students recorded themselves individually (a courageous undertaking), then their tracks were collected and layered into Garageband. Check out this doc to learn more about our process!
Self Evaluation
A regular part of rehearsal and good musicianship is analyzing a performance and setting specific goals for improvement. Students used a google form to critique the first recording and decided to focus on improving uniform consonants, vowel shape, and phrasing.
Wanting Memories
Final Cut!
Wanting Memories Skye video.MOV
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Bass
WMS art: Zoe Huang