Dear Chorus Members and Families,
Welcome to the Chickering Chorus! I am very excited to be singing together this year! I have fantastic music planned for you. We are going to grow as musicians and singers through our diverse repertoire, a focus on vocal technique, and the development of our sense of ensemble.
I would like to share some thoughts about how our repertoire is chosen. First and foremost, our music is of the very highest quality. I choose songs and arrangements for you that are artistic, inspiring, important to know, and age-appropriate. These songs must also meet our specific musical objectives; in putting together a program, a group of songs complement each other not only musically, but also in the ways they offer opportunities to build specific musical skills in targeted ways. I think of our music as our textbook!
We, as humans, sing about what is meaningful to us– this is common across cultures and through history. Music is intrinsic to celebrations, to sorrows, and to events that mark important days and times; through music, we gain new perspective and deeper “below the surface” understanding. Therefore, our repertoire is inclusive, and celebrates diversity not as a token nod to various customs, but as an artistic learning opportunity through the lens of authentic musical experience.
This fall, the Fourth and Fifth Grade Chickering Chorus will be learning four wonderful pieces: Haida, arranged by Henry Leck (a traditional Chassidic round, sung in three parts); One Little Candle by Audrey Snyder (a beautiful two-part song that speaks to light and hope); Children Go Where I Send Thee! (a traditional Christmas spiritual that provides introductory part singing, a terrific descant, and expressive movement that contributes to our understanding as well as to our fun!), and lastly, Singabahambayo, a South African folksong with exciting harmony and percussion.
The Third Grade Junior Chorus is diving into some terrific music as well! We are ringing the bells (literally!) with an arrangement of a traditional English song, The Bells Do Ring; we will experience part singing and the Hebrew language through the beautiful melody Shalom Chaverim; with Tue Tue we bring the sounds of a market in Ghana to life with singing, clapping and drumming; and I Saw Three Ships is a traditional Christmas carol that provides an engaging melody to support our unison singing goals, as well as an opportunity to accompany our singing with classroom instruments.
We approach this music through aural imitation, written text, and staff notation. We use musical scores and traditional choral parts, and develop our musical literacy skills by applying sound-before-sight techniques. This week, we are primarily looking at written text. We will soon have musical scores in hand!
I’m very excited to begin this musical journey together. I would welcome the opportunity to talk with you at any time about our music curriculum!
Musically Yours,
Mrs. Law-Linck
