2^ND GRADE HONOR CHOIR INFORMATION

AUGUST 20^th , 2013

Parents and Guardians of Dogwood 2^nd Grade Students,

This letter is to inform you about a fantastic opportunity for our 2^nd grade students at Dogwood Elementary.  Dogwood Musical Jewels, Dogwood’s 2^nd grade honor choir, begins auditions on September 3^rd.  While every child will participate in the 2^nd grade musical coming up in November, a select group of kids will be invited to the Dogwood Musical Jewels through an audition process conducted during the child’s regular class time..  The audition process will consist of:

1)         Singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” beginning on D.

2)        A 5-note vocalise singing the vowels A-E-O.

3)        Pitch matching.

Students will be assessed on pitch accuracy.  A practice sheet is provided on the back of this permission form.

I will be listening to determine if your child is able at this time to match pitch.  Not all 2^nd grader’s voices are matching pitch but please share with your child that if they don’t match pitch right now it doesn’t mean that they will never have the opportunity to match pitch or sing in a choir.  If your child matches pitch he/she will be given the option to join the choir with your permission.  Here are the requirements:

1)        Rehearsals Tuesday and Thursday morning BEFORE SCHOOL, from 7:25 a.m. through 8:05. Parents, you must commit to bring your child to these rehearsals as the buses do not arrive this early.  First rehearsal is Tuesday, September 17^h at 7:25 in Mrs. Green’s music classroom at Dogwood.  Kids may begin arriving at school as early as 7:15. 

2)       Required attendance for evening concerts on Thursday, December 10th, at 6:30 p.m. in the Dogwood Elementary Gym, and our final evening concert at 6:30 Tuesday evening, March 11^th, 2014.

3)       Purchase of white blouse/shirt and black skirt/pants for our evening concerts. 

4)       Purchase of a choir t-shirt, priced between $10 and $12.  Please let Mrs. Green know if the purchase of this tee-shirt would present a hardship to your family.

5)       Opportunity to sing  for the Springfield Cardinals!  More information to come!

Repertoire for Dogwood Musical Jewels includes high quality music appropriate in subject matter and voice range for young children.  The repertoire will also consist of sacred and secular materials following the National and State mandates for children’s choral literature.

Please sign and return the audition permission slip below letting me know you would commit to bringing your child to the morning rehearsals and all evening performances if he/she is invited to become a member of the 2013-14  Dogwood Musical Jewels.  Permission forms must be received before your child can audition.  Auditions are closed after Wednesday, September 11^th. 

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My Child has my permission to audition for Dogwood’s Musical Jewels:

Child’sName_________________________________________Child’steacher_____________________________

Parent/Guardian name_________________________________________________________________________

Phone #: __________________________E-mail_____________________________________________________

Dogwood Musical Jewels Honor Choir try-out routine:

1)     “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” beginning on D:

My Country ‘Tis of Thee, Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride

From ev’ry mountainside, let freedom ring”

2)     A-E-O vocalise:  A-------E-------O--------.  Beginning on C

3)    Echoing numbers on pitches beginning on C:1-3-5, 1-4-6, 3-5-8, 8-6-4, 3-2-1.

Kids are practicing the routine in class to help them be secure when they audition or try-out.