Choir Concert Tomorrow!

Choir Concert Tomorrow morning 8:15!

Concert Reminder

Reminder:

Spring Concert
Tues June 12
8:15am

The kids and I are so excited! They have so much music prepared that we can't even fit it all in the concert! You will hear full choir pieces as well as solos and small groups. This choir is a very impressive one! I am so proud of them.

Amy West

Pictured here: Elizabeth, Alex accompanied by Agalya, singing "A Million Dreams"!

Choir Spring Concert Info!

Dear Choir Parents, 

Choir students have been working hard! We are preparing some new music and can't wait to share it with you! Here is information about our upcoming concert. A letter was sent home with students Friday 5/18 with this same info.

On Tuesday, June 12th at 8:15am, the 6th grade band and choir students will be performing in a concert during the school day! Please join us in the gym so that these talented 6th graders can show off all they have been working on. They have accomplished so much this year as first year band and choir students and we are all very excited to share our music with you! There is no special dress for this concert, students may come to school dressed as they normally would on any other school day.

Amy West

Vocal Triad Concert

Dear Choir Parents,

Yesterday was the first time choir met since their Triad Concert. We had some great reflection and discussion about our performance. I thought they did an amazing job at this event. They were confident and flexible. Our soloists were amazing. This seems to have been a wonderful and inspiring experience for all of my choir students! I hope they continue with choir next year at Frost, or wherever they may be next year. There were several Webster alumni in the Frost choir. Mrs. Fisher (CHS's choir director) told me that one of her CAPA students is auditioning for a Broadway show this week in New York, and another choir student was just offered a $65,000 college scholarship to study music! Pretty impressive things are coming out of the choir program and I wanted to share that with you.

As we look forward in choir, you will start to hear some new music being practiced at home. Next we focus on a medley of American Folk Songs called "Red River Dances, and another tune called "I Believe"

Amy West

Choir Audition Results for Only Hope

Dear Choir Students,

I told you in class that I would post audition results here after school. Nearly HALF of the choir had a very brief audition today for a small solo at our Triad concert. After hearing everyone sing, I had it narrowed down to some absolutely beautiful singing by: Hazel, Simone, Kaitlin, and Ahrianna. Boy this was a tough decision!! 

The student who will sing the solo for Only Hope at our Triad concert next Tuesday is Kaitlin. Congrats Kaitlin! 

Ahrianna will be our back up soloist, just in case. 

Great job everyone who went for it today!!

Parents, you should be hearing your choir students singing at home as we get ready for our concert at Stevenson next week!  A letter was sent home today with all the concert info. 

Here is a great karaoke track to practice along with for Only Hope at home. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ve-uml7fE8

-Mrs. West

Choir Video!

Dear Choir Parents,

I just posted an adorable video (on Twitter) of one of the choir classes singing an excerpt from our song "Wells Fargo Wagon".  We will be performing this at our Vocal Triad concert on Tuesday Feb. 20, 7pm in the Franklin PAC!

Find me on Twitter: @MrsWestMusic     
Enjoy the soloists!! 

Amy West

Santa Hats for Choir Concert!

Dear Choir Parents,

Choir students have decided to wear Santa hats for their evening concert! Please make sure they have a plain red and white Santa hat, thanks! We are so excited to perform for you! 

Mrs. West

CAPA Camp Info

For anyone interested, the following email was sent to me today. I uploaded her attachments to our shared choir google drive, which can be accessed here if you are interested in CAPA Camp! 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7uZ6luVsI94Z25oS3hTTHQ4Z2s?usp=sharing


"Hello to you all and happy almost break!

It is that time again where I ask you to please blast this Arts Camp information to your staff and students and hope that you will! (especially the Arts Camp flyer)
I will also put together hard copies to have in your main offices as soon as I get a hot second to do that!

Thank you for helping us out every year with this information!
You are the glue that holds all schools together!

~Angie Hillman
Director of CAPA"

Choir Concert Info

Dear Webster Choir Parents,          December 5, 2017        

Your child has been working hard to learn music in choir class and we are nearly ready for our first performance! On Tuesday, December 19th, the 6th grade band and choir students will be performing in a concert. The concert will begin at 7:00 pm, but I would like your choir student to report to the vocal music room at 6:40pm that night so we can warm-up and get organized.

Students should dress nicely for the concert (if possible, no jeans or tennis shoes). Choir students may decide to wear Santa hats… I’ll see what they decide and communicate that via our blog.  

You should be hearing your child practicing our choir music at home. All audio tracks have  been shared with them on a shared google drive folder. If your child can’t access it, please let me know.

We are very proud of the work we have been doing in class and at home and can’t wait to share our music with you! Every student is a valuable part of the group, and this performance is a great opportunity for them to experience performing for an audience. It is very important for your child to be at our performance. If, however, your child cannot attend, I would appreciate it if you would let me know ASAP.

Thank you so much,

Sincerely,

Mrs. Amy West

Vocal Music Teacher

Webster Elementary

awest10@livoniapublicschools.org

websterchoir2.blogspot.com

Choir Audition Results

Solo Audition Results

Everyone who auditioned today did an awesome job! This made it very hard for me to figure this out tonight. Because you guys did so well, I know that some may feel disappointment if not assigned a solo. Finding out audition results can be tough, but please congratulate each other at school tomorrow and keep your chin up. YOU WERE ALL GREAT! Better than I've ever heard!! Pics below are of the students warming up for their auditions. Lots to be proud of today. 

Again, here are the criteria that I was looking for. The results are posted below.

• You know all the words
• You can rap them with the correct rhythm and timing
• Good stage presence and energy (you look and sound excited...young scrappy & hungry, lol!)  

Congratulations! 

Solo 1 Alex

Solo 2 Nandana

Solo 3 Vincenzo

Solo 4 Elizabeth

Substitute Soloist #1 Ilayda (if someone is sick/absent) 

Substitute Soloist #2 Katie (if two students are sick/absent) 

Here is a video of the choir students singing in a beautiful acapella harmony to the ending of "Red Bird" 

Solo Auditions tomorrow for "My Shot"

Dear Choir,

Reminder: Solo Auditions tomorrow for "My Shot". Results will be posted here late tomorrow evening! Good Luck! 

Mrs. West

Solo Auditions!

Dear Choir,

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7uZ6luVsI94Z25oS3hTTHQ4Z2s?usp=sharing

I posted a Google Drive folder I promised this morning. Click the link above for another way to access the folder. Please practice your choir music over Thanksgiving break. Remember solo auditions for "My Shot" will be during class Tuesday Nov 28. You will perform all 4 raps memorized in front of the class. You will use the performance track. If you have trouble accessing the "My Shot" track, please email me and I will try to get it to you another way ASAP. I will video record them and post the results on our blog. 

What I am looking for in your audition: 

• You know all the words
• You can rap them with the correct rhythm and timing
• Good stage presence and energy (you look and sound excited...young scrappy & hungry, lol!)  Good Luck

Happy Thanksgiving - I am so thankful to be your music teacher :) 

Halloween Post

Happy Halloween! 

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! Choir classes were exciting. We've been working on our own original compositions for about a week. Yesterday, we performed two of them for the band as a surprise, or "flash mob"! I took one video of the second period class. It was too long to post on the blog, but it is posted on my Twitter. Search @MrsWestMusic and check it out! 

Below are some pics from our class on Halloween. We enjoyed creating our own music and performing it in a creative way for the band classes. The band classes are going to treat us to a mini performance Friday which we are looking forward to! 

-Mrs. West

MMEA Honors Choir Info & Link

Dear Parents,

Some choir students may be interested in the MMEA (Michigan Music Education Association) Elementary Honors Choir. 

Here is the link! Here is a bit of information from their website. 

"The Michigan Music Education Association is thrilled to present the 4th annual Elementary Honors Choir, which will be held in March of 2018. It is open to 3rd-6th grade students of MMEA members. We feature TWO separate ensembles – a 3rd/4th grade choir and a 5th/6th grade choir. Each group will rehearse separately and will perform on their own at the concert. The performance will also feature one joint piece with the combined groups singing together. This year’s directors will be announced soon. The audition fee is $10 and the cost of participation, if accepted, is $55." 

Click the link for more info!! 

http://mmeamichigan.org/elementary-honors-choir/

Webster Choir Update!

Hello Choir Parents,

We have had such a great start to the year in choir class. I am happy with what I have been hearing so far!

I want to thank parents for taking the time to write me about their child via the "Parent Homework"! Wow, I have discovered so much. These 6th graders are passionate about and involved with so many incredible activities! We have artists, skaters, dancers, football & baseball players, pianists, singers, actors, martial artists, avid readers, a pompon participant, and even a student who has perfect pitch!!! I am looking forward to this talented group students coming together to make music this year!

You should hear your child practicing their singing at home. Right now they should be practicing singing up and down a C major scale using solfege and hand signs. Here are what the hand signs look like. They have a copy in their black choir binder. We will have an assessment on this scale in the near future.

I am sharing a video of a warm up piece the choir has been working on called Bottletop Song. I hope that this upload works...uploading them gives me trouble sometimes.

If this clip does not work, you can see it on my Twitter page: @MrsWestMusic

Written by: Mrs. West

Welcome to Choir!

Dear Choir Parents,

A warm welcome to the Webster Choir Blog! websterchoir2.blogspot.com 

My name is Amy West and I am excited to be your child's Choir Teacher this year! Our choir class meets every Tuesday & Friday morning. Sometimes I will be the one posting to this blog, and sometimes it will be the choir students. I am excited to incorporate this bit of technology into my class and hope that you find that it is a helpful way to keep in touch with our class! 

We are looking forward to a great year of music making together. Choir students will build on their prior music education by learning the basics of singing and music literacy. We will have several performances this year, dates TBD. 

I will keep this blog going the entire school year. I find it to be a fun way to communicate directly with parents. Make sure you are subscribed! 

Please return your PARENT HOMEWORK by Friday September 15. I am looking forward to reading your responses and learning all about my students! Always feel free to contact me. Email is the best way. 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Amy West 
awest10@livoniapublicschools.org