Fantastic Fall Concert!

Congratulations to all of the Grant Choirs for their fabulous performance at the Fall Concert last night! I was thoroughly impressed with their focus, enthusiasm and musicianship. Each choir brought their repertoire to the next level in what was an astounding concert. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the program. I'm very proud of all you've accomplished and I hope you are too. Now, on to GRANTASIA!

Audio and Video from the concert are on the way, check back soon for updates!

GHS Music Studio Needs Support!

One of the projects the music department has this year is to create a fully up to date Recording Studio/Sound Lab here at Grant! The administration has been kind enough to give us control of room 231 as our project space. Now it's time to acquire the necessary technology. We are equipped with a Roland Concert MIDI Keyboard, a Chickering 5 foot grand piano (newly donated) and soon with a state of the art iMAC as our computer point. Now we need to raise funds for software, speakers, microphones, an audio interface, instrument cables, etc...

A great place to start is by going to... 

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/ghs-music-lab-software-sibelius-7/1089444/

... and contributing today! Donors Choose is a great resource for teachers to "crowd source" their classroom needs. Right now we are also in a period of donation matching so if you decide to give to the project be sure to enter the promo code INSPIRE for the match to be applied. Thank you so much for your continued support of the music department at Grant. Hopefully soon we can begin educating our students in musical arts technology and they can begin producing their own songs, albums, videos, who knows??? Grant High School Record Label anyone??? 

Quick Dates Calendar

2013-14 Grant Choir Department Calendar (as of 9/16/13)

Please note which choir your student is in. Students are not required to attend events for a choir they are not a member of. All members of Royal Blues are considered members of A Cappella. All dates/times subject to change. Info at grantchoir.blogspot.com

Oct 15^th: All Choirs, Fall Concert Dress Rehearsal, After School

Oct 16^th: All Choirs, Fall Concert, 7pm downbeat, 6pm call time

Oct 19^th: A Cappella, George Fox Choral Symposium, 7am to 1pm @George Fox

Dec 12^th: A Cappella, The Grotto, 8pm

Dec 13^th: Royal Blues, Dress Rehearsal for Wintersong, 7pm to 10pm

Dec 14^th: Royal Blues, Wintersong Concert, 7:30pm downbeat, 6:30 call time

Dec 15^th: Royal Blues, Wintersong Concert, 1:30pm downbeat, 12:30 call time

Dec 17^th: All Choirs, In-school field trip rehearsal for Grantasia

Dec 18^th: All Choirs, Grantasia Dress Rehearsal, After School

Dec 19^th: All Choirs, Grantasia, 6:30pm downbeat, 5:30 call time

Jan 27^th: A Cappella, Gloria Rehearsal w/Wilson, 10am to 12:30 @Grant

Feb 6^th: A Cappella, Gloria Rehearsal w/Wilson, 6:30pm to 8:30 @Grant

Feb 8^th: Solo & Ensemble, all day @ Grant

Feb 15^th: A Cappella Gloria Rehearsal w/Wilson, 10am to 12:30 @Grant

Feb 27^th: A Cappella, Gloria Rehearsal w/Wilson/Orchestra, 6:30 to 12:30 @Grant

Mar 2^nd: A Cappella, Gloria Performance @Schnitz, 4pm call time

Mar 18^th: B&G Singers, Early Spring Concert Dress Rehearsal, After School

Mar 19^th: B&G Singers, Early Spring Concert, 7pm downbeat, 6:15pm call time

April 2^nd: A Cappella, Festival Season Dress Rehearsal, After School

April 7^th: A Cappella, Festival Season Dress Rehearsal, After School

April 8^th: A Cappella, TRL Choir Festival, Evening/tba, @Lake Oswego HS

April 9^th: A Cappella, PIL Choir Festival, After school, @Grant

May 10^th: A Cappella, State Choir Festival, day/tba, @George Fox

May 27^th: A Choirs, Spring Concert Dress Rehearsal, After school

May 28^th: All Choirs, Spring Concert, 7pm downbeat, 6pm call time @ Grant

May 29^th: Royal Blues Callbacks, after school

May 30^th: Royal Blues List Posted, after school

June 6^th: Graduation??? (TBA), evening

Welcome Back!

Dear Choir Parents/Guardians,
                                                                                     

Welcome back to Grant for another wonderful year! I’m very excited to be returning for my second year as Director of Choirs and to continue building upon the fabulous vocal tradition at Grant. For those of you who are new, I look forward to meeting you and your student. For those returning, I’m so glad to have you back in the fold and can’t wait to start making music.

This year promises to have a number of highlights and exciting opportunities. The A Cappella choir will be getting brand new robes and will have the honor of pairing with the Wilson High School A Choir and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony for a performance of John Rutter’s Gloria at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The General Chorale has been renamed the Blue & Gray Singers, will for the first time ever have professional, matching robes, and boasts over 60 members – the largest non-auditioned high school choir in the district! The Royal Blues will have the honor of performing with the Portland Symphonic Choir for their Wintersong concert in December at St. Mary’s Cathedral and are planning a trip to Ashland to share a variety of music on texts by William Shakespeare. All of the choirs will also be part of the first ever interdepartmental arts collaboration at the Winter Concert. The concert, billed as Grantasia!, will feature choirs, bands, string orchestra, the drama department, dance department and the visual arts department.

Apart from our incredible concert lineup our daily class work will focus on teaching music theory skills, foundations of music history, sight reading exercises, score analysis, team building skills, performance etiquette and professional musicianship skills. Students will develop healthy singing habits, which in turn become healthy lifestyle habits, through daily warm-ups, breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques. All of the choirs will cover a broad range of musical styles ranging from Classical to Pop, Renaissance to Jazz, Folk to Modern, Experimental to Rock, and everything beyond.

I will do my best to communicate all necessary information to you during the year. Through our new student information system, Synergy, I will easily be able to communicate to all of you via email prior to concerts and rehearsals. Also, the Grant Choral Department has a blog with all of the current dates/times on the calendar. The website is grantchoir.blogspot.com I will update the blog throughout the year as well with photos/videos and reviews of our concerts. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call or email me at any time. I look forward to hearing from you. Within the first week of school I will send out an email to everyone asking for a list of volunteers. If you would like to be considered for a volunteer position please respond to the email, or let me know. A list of current dates/times/rehearsals is on the reverse side of this letter.

Thank you again to all of you for your support of the choir program! I’m looking forward to another amazing year at Grant teaching you students and I hope you are too. Time to sing!        

Spring Choir Concert!

The 2013 Grant Spring Choir Concert is Tuesday, May 21st at 7:00 pm! Come hear all of Grant's vocal ensembles as well as the Beverly Cleary Singers!

The General Chorale
Royal Blues
Nothing But Treble
Hooked on Harmonics
A Cappella

The Spring Concert will also feature the senior awards ceremony.
Come hear the A Cappella Choir's state qualifying set!
Suggested donation of $5 per person or $20 per family.


Students:
Monday: 3:15 to 5:30 - Required Dress Rehearsal in the Auditorium
Tuesday: 6:00 pm call time for concert in full concert dress!

PIL Scores

Congratulations A Cappella Choir! You scored an 88, 88, and 92 from the judges yesterday at the PIL Choir Festival. What an incredible improvement from the 83, 84, and 76 last Wednesday.

I'm so proud of you guys and all of the work you have put in. What a remarkable accomplishment. We may have a really good shot at being asked to go to state now. Thank you so much for all of your effort. As I have more details about our scores, as well as video excerpts for us to watch I'll post them here on the blog. Again, CONGRATULATIONS!

Solo & Ensemble Congratulations!

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the 2013 OMEA Solo & Ensemble competition! We had 38 students from the vocal department participate either in solos or ensembles - many in both. It was an incredibly successful day and all of the students gave great performances. Congratulations to all of the following:
Hooked on Harmonics
Aja Wald
Kiah Stern
Maia Dooney
Eleanor Larsen
Vince Budak
Sam Butler
Claire Leipzig
Elise Soumokil
Emily Highkin
Jacob Willis
Giulia Basile
McLeod Sumner
Ethan Eisemann
Madison Barnett
Alexa Zeryck
Patrick Pierre
Katie Kimsey-Bennett
Zoe Neville
Madeline Pape
Members of the Royal Blues. 

Big Shout-outs to Jacob Willis who qualified for State as a bass and Ethan Eisemann as 1st alternate for state as a baritone! 

Also, thank you everyone who volunteered before and after the contest to set up and tear down. We couldn't have done it without you. Well done everyone.

Solo & Ensemble Schedule

Here is the schedule for this weekend's Solo & Ensemble competition. All time slots are final and cannot be changed. Room assignments will be posted as soon as possible. Please make sure to arrive at Grant at least a half hour before you time slot to check in and warm up. We will have a short mandatory meeting on Friday after school to go over the procedures for the day. We will also be helping to set up and arrange the performance rooms. Parents feel free to come by and watch your students perform, it's always great to have a fan in the audience. Students: Keep going over your music everyday and please come by and see me to get help working on your piece. Good luck!

Hooked on	Harmonics	8:00 AM
Wald	Aja	9:15 AM	Mann
Stern	Kiah	9:30 AM	Mann
Dooney	Maia	9:45 AM	Mann
Larsen	Eleanor	10:15 AM	Lusk
Budak	Vincent	10:30 AM	Lonchar
Butler	Sam	10:45 AM	Lonchar
Leipzig	Claine	11:00 AM	Lusk
Soumokil	Elise	11:15 AM	Bui
Highken	Emily	11:30 AM	Lonchar
Willis	Jacob	11:30 AM	Lusk
Basile	Giulia	11:30 AM	Edwards
Sumner	McLeod	1:15 PM	Lonchar
Eisemann	Ethan	1:45 PM	Schaumberg
Barnett	Madison	1:45 PM	Lonchar
Zeryck	Alexa	2:00 PM	Schaumberg
Pierre	Patrick	2:00 PM	Lonchar
Kimsey-Bennett	Katie	2:15 PM	Lonchar
Neville	Zoe	2:30 PM	Schaumberg
Fellows	Madelene	2:45 PM	Lonchar
Royal Blues		4:15 PM
Pape	Madeline	4:45 PM	Lonchar

Beethoven's 9th Symphony Rehearsal

This weekend the Oregon Symphony and the Portland Symphonic Choir are performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy) and Benjamin Britten's Ballad of Heroes. Both are incredible choral/orchestral works and are definitely worth hearing. All of the tickets for the performances are sold out, however there is a dress rehearsal performance open to the public. The rehearsal is on Saturday (9th), at the Schnitz downtown and starts at 9:45am, doors at 9am. Tickets are only $20 and it's open seating in the lower balcony, where the sound and the view is the best. The rehearsal will be a wonderful opportunity for students to hear this remarkable music but also witness the rehearsal process of professional musicians and see what kind of choral opportunities are available after high school and college. I've posted the link to the symphony website where you can buy tickets ahead of time before they sell out as well.

http://tickets.orsymphony.org/single/SelectSeating.aspx?p=2217

Hope to see many of you there and enjoy the music!

Holy Night From the Grotto

Here is a link to a youtube video of our closing number, O Holy Night at the Grotto, December 11th, 2012. Alexa Zeryk did a beautiful job with the solo, and the choir truly sounds magnificent in the sanctuary. Thanks for a great performance and enjoy!

  

Solo & Ensemble

Solo & Ensemble: This is a day long district wide competition for individuals and/or small groups of students. Grant hosts the competition each year. I encourage all of my students to participate as it is a great opportunity to develop solo singing skills, receive feedback from top quality vocal judges, and watch/listen to other amazing musicians in our district. I will be sending home information regarding registration and fees next week. Mr. Budge (band director) and I are also considering setting up a "chamber night" concert here in the choir room for students to perform their selections for parents and peers prior to March 2nd. More to come on that later. 

Lastly, a word of eligibility. As to the OSAA regulations all choir members must be passing a minimum of 5 classes by the end of the semester in order to be eligible to participate in competition. This means that if one of the students does not meet the qualifications they will not be allowed to compete at the choir festivals or at Solo & Ensemble. So get those grades up! 

Concert/Rehearsal Dates 2013

Here are the dates and times for upcoming events for the rest of the school year. Please keep in mind that additional rehearsals may be added as the concerts draw nearer. Call times, end times, and transportation information will be updated as soon as possible.

Choir Dates-

March 1st/2nd - Solo & Ensemble (1st is set up, 2nd are performances) Time:All Day

March 20th - General Chorale Concert w/bands. Time:TBA

March 11th - A Cappella, Rehearsal With Dr. Steven Zopfi. Time: 3:15 to 5:30

April 1st - A Cappella Dress Rehearsal. Time: 3:15 to 5:30

April 3rd - A Cappella, Three Rivers League Choir Festival @Clackamas. Time: 3:00 to 8:00. Bus Provided

April 8th - A Cappella, PIL Choir Festival @Wilson. Time: Afternoon TBA. Bus Provided

May 10th - A Cappella, State Championship (if we qualify) @George Fox. Time: All Day. Bus Provided

May 21st - All Choirs, Spring Concert/Senior Night/Awards. Time 6:30

June 12th - Graduation @Memorial Coliseum. Time:TBA. Bus Provided. 

Welcome

Welcome to the Grant High School Choral Department blog. The purpose of this blog is to be an online resource for parents and students. You will be able to find information concerning upcoming concerts and rehearsals, homework, photos and videos from concerts, links to our current repertoire for study, audition information, and any other choir related news.  Thank you and enjoy!

John Eisemann

Director of Choirs

Grant High School

jeisemann@pps.net

503-916-5160 Ex.75734