South Bay Children's Choir (SBCC)

Choir, a place where there is either unified success or widespread failure. Experiencing choir for the last four years of high school, it has taught me great life lessons, both challenging and heartbreaking. Our class everyday consists of sight reading, learning a new song that is sometimes in another language, and trying to beat out the other variety of girls that fill the black risers that are wearing thin due to age.

Show Choir is an elective class that integrates choreography into the choral experience. A varied repertoire of 2 and 3 part music is memorized, choreographed and then performed in a concert setting. Vocal technique, developing the ensemble and dance are the main emphasis of this class. Various

This past fall, I was given the opportunity to audition for VA district 13's district chorus. As a member of the FUMA choir, I saw this as a breath of fresh air. Our choir is ok, but it has its strengths and weaknesses. Passing the audition would be easy, a short song and sight reading, I mean, it's not rocket science. Passing the audition with flying colors, I had about two months to prepare the chosen songs. (Learning a part solely by piano can be a long and tedious process, but thankfully we were provided practice recordings of our parts.) With only two months to learn my part, I hit the ground running listening to the mp3s whenever I had a chance to.

I never sang too loud so if I messed up, no one would hear it .After every class I would go up to my Choir or band director with about five questions. But it simply was not enough. So my sophomore year I was given vocal lessons that taught me that I can match pitch consistently , and that my range was bigger than I ever thought it could be. I discovered a talent that I loved and I intended to perfect it .I performed in multiple cabarets and had the opportunity to sing with my choir at the Carnegie music hall. I was finally getting the swing of music; but that was not enough due to my obstinacy. I wanted to learn

I seemed to find my voice, and my teacher proposed the idea of me joining Circle of the State with Song. I gladly accepted the offer. It was considered the next level of proficiency in music at that age. Preparing for the exchange with other schools in a few months, one day there was auditions for the best of best to be in the Indiana All State Honor Choir. There were about twenty of us in Circle of the State with Song from Winamac. I thought I should audition for a spot because the worst they could tell me is that I did not make the cut. In the past, there have been little to nobody that had made all state, so it is quite an honor to be part of

Throughout my youth, I have had experiences which have been very meaningful to me, however, there is one that stands out from the rest. I have been part of the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) for seven years now. The choir is an auditioned choir for people ages seven to eighteen. I am in the highest choir, Cantabile, with conductor Mike Ross.

"I’m so nervous,” I complained to my mom as we walked into the Waukesha Civic Theatre. “What if I’m not good enough. I haven’t even prepared that much!” It was a crisp September day and some leaves had already started changing color. On the way home from school my mom told me about a play that the theater puts on near us every year and thought I would be good for it. Since I had only heard about the audition that day, it gave me a few hours to pick my song and be prepared for whatever part they wanted me to read. The next song that came on the radio was the song “Edge of Glory” by Lady GaGa and because it was in my vocal range I thought it would be good for me. Little did I know that this audition would change my view of theater.

I wish that Jason could sing with me but there was no argument when Echo told me the song only required one set of vocals. After getting lost in my worried thoughts for a minute, my mind went back to reality when the lights dimmed and the crowd got quiet. My heart raced and it took all my strength to stand still and hold back tears. "Now everyone, this is our last entry for the competition but I've heard great things from this group and am sure they will impress you. Now playing the song (song name here) is (school name here) Middle School's Junior Music Group!" The announcer said in an excited voice. My stomach sank when he basically told the crowd to have high expectations but I knew I couldn't chicken out now. The curtains started to separate and bright lights started to blind me from the large crowd, which was good in this case. I knew now that I was facing the biggest challenge of my life and that if I failed to complete this challenge, my dreams of a musician would collapse, so I didn't take this lightly. I adjusted my posture one more time and with trembling hands I signaled Tori to begin her

The nerves took control of my body, but I was prepared. Growing up in a Mexican-American household, I was introduced to the importance of music early on. Mariachi taught me that Hispanic sounds bring joy to one’s soul. Adaptation was slow, but it led to the development of my own distinct musical taste. Popular music dominates my heart. The lyrics embellishing themselves into my mind, the words softly spoken through my lips, the sounds of vibrations pitted against my eardrums. It was at this moment that I realized music would turn into a noteworthy piece of my future. At the age of 15, it finally struck me. I needed to consider singing as a more important factor of my life. Vocal lessons were required to meet my musical dreams. Coming from a

There’s a bigger song emerging from the music wing this year, but even though the women’s choir has more than doubled from the 36 girls in the fall of 2012 to the 82 girls enrolled this fall, choir director Elliot Kranz said that teaching that many girls at one time isn’t any different than teaching any other ensemble. There are just more girls.

Middle School students are included in the statistics of increasing vocal range, increasing pitch accuracy, and decreasing positive attitudes toward participating in school choir. Numerous studies of the development of singing in younger grades show that accuracy increases with age at least through grade six (Goetze, Cooper, & Brown, 1990; Rutkowski & Miller, 2003; Welch, 2008). Studies of middle school students have also focused on the relationship of singing accuracy to perceptual skills (Demorest & Clements, 2007), to type of vocal model (Yarbrough Morrison, Karrick, & Dunn, 1995), and the influence of instruction (Phillips & Aitchison, 1997). All of these

When I was asked if I would like to be a part of the York High School Treble Choir before my freshman year I decided that I’d take a chance and sign up. Singing had always been a passion of mine, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be ready for the honors level requirements that came with the course. During my freshman year, I found myself becoming a listener rather than a leader. Although I was determined to learn the information, I wasn’t comfortable speaking out in class, let alone leading any of my peers. Sophomore year started, and I began to notice slight changes in my confidence with guiding the group. I would sometimes be asked to lead and explain certain vocal warm ups to prepare my peers for class. When we were informed about the honors choir

As we began to learn our singing parts and I heard all the beautiful voices surrounding me, I had a moment when I thought, "Oh my, God. I don't think I'm talented enough to be a part of this cast. At some point someone, or all of the production staff, is going to realize that they made a huge mistake." As I drove home I kept telling myself that I am going to need to work extremely hard and bust my little booty to prove that I belong in the cast.

Last tuesday was the Middle School’s chorus concert that was being held at the Burlington Township High School, where 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students performed. The concert started off with five students signing the “Star-Spangled Banner”, the performance was powerful, but only the girls could be heard. The boy at times could be heard but definitely were not as powerful as the girls singing. The crowd at first didn’t even realize that they were going to sing it so they had a delayed reaction standing up. But, it was an overall impressive performance, especially with the girls powerful vocals.

When a student begins choir at their high school, they must enter the beginner group choir. Whether they already learned about choir music in middle school or if they couldn’t tell you what a treble clef is, they still must start in the beginner choir. This choir is in a way like an introduction class, such as Introduction to Sociology. It is used as a time to educate the students on the basics of choir singing and music. Usually by the time of a month has passed, the students have gotten into a daily routine that includes warm-ups, rhythm practice, and learning their chosen songs for a performance. This becomes the daily routine that a student will endure throughout the rest of their time as a choir student, even in the advanced choir.