OUR ENSEMBLES
What does it mean to be in chorus? Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grade meet as a scheduled class during the day, so they won't interfere with any of your before or after-school activities.
Our Boys Choir and Girls Choir are optional, but a lot of our students love to sing in these choirs, too! They take place one to two days before school and come with big rewards!
Sixth Grade Chorus
Sixth Grade Chorus meets as a scheduled class during the day. We will not rehearse before or after school. This class is normally scheduled class that lasts 50 minutes. Students enrolled will take chorus as their first connections class every day for three years. There is no homework assigned. The sixth grade performs at three concerts: Fall Concert (October), Winter Concert (December), and Spring Concert (May). This chorus does not participate in LGPE. This choir starts singing unison and two-part pieces, and eventually sings 3 and 4-part music by the end of the year.
Seventh Grade Chorus
The Seventh Grade Chorus meets as a scheduled class during the day. We will not rehearse before or after school. This class is normally scheduled class that lasts 50 minutes. There is no homework assigned. This chorus performs at three concerts: Fall Concert (October), Winter Concert (December), and Spring Concert (May) and will also participate in LGPE (March). This choir starts singing 2 and 3-part pieces of greater difficulty and complexity, and eventually sings 3 and 4-part music by the end of the year. This choir usually starts as a treble choir (soprano and alto parts), and transitions to a mixed choir (adding baritones, tenors, and/or basses) by the end of the year.
Eighth Grade Chorus
The Eighth Grade Chorus meets as a scheduled class during the day. We will not rehearse before or after school. This class is normally scheduled class that lasts 50 minutes. There is no homework assigned. This chorus performs at three concerts: Fall Concert (October), Winter Concert (December), and Spring Concert (May) and will also participate in LGPE (March). This choir picks up where they left off in seventh grade, 3 and 4-part pieces of greater difficulty and complexity. This choir often gets invited to sing at special events such as conferences, festivals, workshops, joint concerts, and more.
Boys Choir & Girls Choir
The Boys Choir and Girls Choir are ensembles that students can join if they want more opportunities to sing. Participation in these ensembles is not necessary to be in Chorus. It is safe to say that our members LOVE THESE CHOIRS!
The time commitment is very light. These ensembles meet twice a week at 8 a.m. One rehearsal is a full rehearsal, and the other is a sectional. In sectional rehearsals for Girls Choir, only sopranos or only altos will meet. In sectional rehearsals for Boys Choir, only tenors or only basses will meet. So for students, the commitment is three rehearsals every two weeks; one week the student will only attend a full rehearsal, then will attend both the following week. Two absences are allowed per month. The rehearsal dates change from year to year, but will stay the same once those days are decided.
These ensembles are set up to allow sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to sing together, become friends, and mentor each other. One of the great challenges of the scheduling at our school is that students from different grade levels can’t sing in choirs together during the day. These ensembles provide that otherwise elusive opportunity. This allows a great opportunity for mentorship. Younger singers learn from older ones and the torch is passed along.
In addition to being mixed grade-level ensembles, these ensembles provide the opportunity to sing in an environment of only boys or only girls. Girls have the opportunity to learn from a female director. This provides a unique musical opportunity, but also a great social one. Our members become great friends and these friendships last into high school. The repertoire of these ensembles tends to be diverse and exploratory, and usually include a fair amount of creative and interesting popular music arrangements. In most cases, students have suggested or chosen our selections. This adds an element of ownership.
As a reward for being in Boys Choir and Girls Choir, our students enjoy a field trip in December. These trips follow a three-year rotation: 1. Attend a rehearsal at Georgia State University, dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, and a visit to the "Garden Lights, Holiday Nights" at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. 2. Attend a rehearsal at Georgia State University, dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, and a visit to the "IllumiNights at the Zoo: A Chinese Lantern Festival" at Zoo Atlanta. 3. A dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and attend the Morehouse-Spelman Christmas Carol Concert. In May, they get to attend the Music Celebration at Stars and Strikes.
Chamber Chorus
Our Chamber Choir is our only auditioned singing group. In order to participate in Chamber Choir this year, each student must commit to also participate in either Boys or Girls Choir. The Chamber Chorus is comprised of experienced choral singers. In most cases, only seventh and eighth graders are in Chamber Chorus. Students must have a strong voice, a good ear, and the ability to read music well at this level and learn music quickly. This choir will prepare in 7 to 8 rehearsals what our grade level choirs will prepare in several weeks. Commitments to this ensemble are firm. Students should not audition unless they are prepared to commit themselves for the entire year.