Brookwood Chorus families, It's LGPE week! A few reminders: - Students must wear the correct chorus concert attire to participate. This includes fully black shoes with black socks. Students not in the correct attire will stay at school. - Students are required to make up all work missed in other classes. - The busses are not guaranteed to stay with us during the trip, and we frequently have a different set of busses to come home. Bring as little as possible. - LGPE Performances are located at the First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville, are free, and are open to the public. Address: 395 West Crogan St, Lawrenceville, GA 30046 - I expect our students to serve as model student musicians throughout this week, both on and off the stage. - Late permission forms will no longer be accepted. They were due February 25, 2022. Trip Schedule: Monday, March 14 - 4th & 5th Period Chorus - After 1st period, place belongings to be locked up in the chorus room - Meet in the theatre at 8:23am dressed in concert attire; receive new riser locations - Depart BHS @ 8:45am - 5th Period performs at 9:40am; Mixed (4th/5th) performs at 11am. - Return around 12:05pm; collect belongings, eat lunch, and resume normal schedule Tuesday, March 15 - 4th Period Chorus - Meet in the theatre at 8:40am - Place belongings in the chorus room like before - Depart BHS @ 9:10am - Perform at 10:20am - Return around 11:40am; collect belongings, eat lunch, and resume normal schedule Wednesday, March 16 - 2nd & 3rd Period Chorus - Attend your 1st & 2nd periods like normal - Meet in the chorus room at the start of 3rd period - Place belongings in the chorus room to be locked up - Depart BHS @ 9:50am - Perform at 11am - Return around 12:30pm; collect belongings, eat lunch, and resume normal schedule Looking forward to a fulfilling week! - Mr. Still Brookwood Chorus Parents/Guardians & Students,
We are rapidly approaching our next concert, LGPE field trips, and the Disney 2022 trip! Get all the details here: Pre-LGPE Concert (ALL Chorus Students) Our next required (test grade concert) is March 1, 2022. February 28, 2022 – After school rehearsal / required test grade
March 1, 2022 – Pre-LGPE Concert Brookwood Theatre / Required Test Grade
Concert Uniform Reminder: Formal Brookwood Chorus concert attire is required for the pre-LGPE concert (March 1) and the LGPE field trips. View the formal uniform policy at this link: https://tinyurl.com/bhschorusuniform All late concert uniform orders were previously handled, and orders are currently on their way from our uniform vendor. See Mr. Still with any questions. LGPE Trips (Impacts ALL Chorus Students) All Chorus classes are performing at Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) on March 14, 15, or 16, 2022. A form was sent home on Tuesday, February 22, and is due Friday, February 25. Click here to access the form, along with relevant details. We are in need of chaperones to help make this trip a success! There are 2 forms to return for each student (code of conduct & the blue form). The chaperone form should only be returned if a parent/guardian can chaperone. Thank you! Disney Performing Arts Workshop Trip We are one month away from this exciting trip! Please click here to view the rooming list for our trip. Please note that we made every attempt to accommodate student requests to room together. Some chorus and orchestra students are rooming together in order to make rooms work. Click here for our tentative itinerary, which is subject to change. A brief pre-departure meeting will be held over zoom on March 10 @ 6pm. Stay tuned for details! If you moved into Brookwood, this trip is optional, but we are past the deadline for signing up. Check back next year for our exciting trip in 2023! Spring Show We are excited to return to performing in the theatre for our 2022 Spring Show: DECADES. Catch the show at 7pm on either April 28 or 29 in the Brookwood Theatre. Tickets will be available on GoFan later this semester. More details coming after spring break! Honors Chorale Honors Chorale performs with the Brookwood Jazz Band on March 19 as part of the Taste of Brookwood. More details TBA as I receive them! All-State Congratulations to the following students who represented Brookwood at GMEA All-State Chorus! Gabe Arguello, Bass 1 (11th Grade) - Tenor/Bass Choir Belle Burke, Alto 2 (10th) - 9/10 Mixed Choir Becca Hearn, Soprano 1 (10th) - Treble Choir Abigail Joseph, Soprano 2 (12th) - Treble Choir Nia Lattimore, Alto 1 (10th) - Treble Choir Alan Le, Bass 2 (12th) - Tenor/Bass Choir Kadin McAllister, Tenor 1 (10th) - Tenor/Bass Choir Jenny Qiu, Alto 2 (12th) - 11/12 Mixed Choir Lillie Sims, Soprano 1 (12th) - 11/12 Mixed Choir *5 year all-state student Ariana Swindell, Alto 1 (12th) - Treble Choir Vivian Tran, Alto 1 (9th) - 9/10 Mixed Choir Jourdan Tran, Tenor 2 (11th) - Tenor/Bass Choir Sean York, Tenor 1 (9th) - Tenor/Bass Choir In addition, Lillie Sims earned one of three scholarships for future music educators - the Choral Tracks scholarship. These scholarships were awarded to 5 year students who were selected by a committee of choral directors from across the state after. Scholarship submissions were anonymized. Have a great rest of the week! - Mr. Still Brookwood Chorus Parents/Guardians & Students,
Welcome to 2022! There are several items for me to share as we begin this second semester: Registration It’s almost time to register for the 2022-2023 school year! Current 9th-11th grade students will register for classes at the end of this month. I look forward to seeing our chorus students return next year as we build upon the music and skills we are working on during our current school year! Treble voices (Soprano/Alto) who are interested in auditioning for our advanced class (Cantabile) should sign up for an audition. Audition slots will be posted later this month. Auditions will be held in February. In the meantime, make sure to register for chorus so that you’re eligible to audition. Treble Chorus students who are currently in 4th period/Cantabile remain. Treble Chorus students who do not audition will be placed into 3rd period/Rhapsody chorus. Do you know someone who loves to sing, but isn’t in chorus? Please make sure to send them to me! Do you know an 8th grade student from Five Forks or Crews who likes to sing? Make sure they register for Brookwood Chorus as well! Chorus Hoodies Chorus Hoodies are back on sale - check MyPaymentsPlus.com! As mentioned in class, the deadline is TODAY - January 18 @ 11:59pm. 4th Period - UGA Choral Day Refunds should be processed soon for the UGA Choral day field trip cancellation - applies to 4th period chorus students only. The school just received the group refund. Disney Trip The Disney trip is ON! Please make your final payment by 11:59pm this Friday, January 21, 2022. Click here for instructions. Do NOT Pay if you are not on the trip roster. Please contact me with any questions! All-State Chorus Good luck to our 13 chorus students who complete the 2nd round audition this Thursday, January 20! All-State chorus students should be regularly practicing their music. The final help session is January 19, 2022, after school until 3:15pm. Chorus Dues If your student paid their chorus dues ($26), they received this year’s chorus t-shirt, which we will wear for our Spring Show. If they still need to pay, please click here for instructions. New? Need a Uniform? If you need a uniform (required for formal concerts like LGPE), please click here. You must turn in money to order a uniform, or any uniform pieces, by January 28, 2022. Our uniform company has seen shipping delays/stocking issues due to the pandemic, so we need to have lead time. Event Date Updates Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) has changed dates to accommodate transportation issues across the county. We are scheduled as follows: LGPE Field Trip Dates March 14: Forte & Cantabile (5th & 4th Periods) March 15: Cantabile Only March 16: Dolce Voce & Rhapsody (2/3rd) Our home concert will still be held on March 1. Check the calendar here for additional dates. Syllabus Click here for the syllabus. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a wonderful week! Musically, Mr. Still A few reminders as we head into the end of the first semester:
1. Required after school rehearsal will be December 6, 2021. 2nd period will be released by 3:15pm, 3rd by 3:25pm, 4th by 3:35pm, and 5th by 3:45pm if not sooner. Chorale members should stay until 4pm. 2. The Holiday concert is 7pm on December 7, 2021 in the Brookwood HS Commons. Call time for students is 5:50pm. Please wear your formal BHS Chorus attire. 8th grade chorus students from Crews & Five Forks middle schools will join us for this concert! 3. Chorus Friendly Feast is this Friday, December 3 @ 6:30pm in the Maroon Gym Lobby. Students should sign up with what they're bringing on google classroom by Wednesday, Dec. 1 so we can plan accordingly. Optional! 4. Disney Trip Participants should pay the deposit by Friday, December 3, 2021. Please see the email for payment instructions that was sent to all participants who made the list on November 19, 2021. 5. The students listed below earned a score high enough to pass the first round of All-State Chorus auditions! These students auditioned with thousands of chorus students across Georgia in mid-November, and we received cut off scores today. Students were evaluated on a memorized solo performance, scales, and three sight reading examples. Congratulations!!! Gabe Arguello, Bass 1 (11th Grade) Belle Burke, Alto 2 (10th) Becca Hearn, Soprano 1 (10th) Abigail Joseph, Soprano 2 (12th) Nia Lattimore, Alto 1 (10th) Alan Le, Bass 2 (12th) Kadin McAllister, Tenor 1 (10th) Jenny Qiu, Alto 2 (12th) Lillie Sims, Soprano 1 (12th) Ariana Swindell, Alto 1 (12th) Vivian Tran, Alto 1 (9th) Jourdan Tran, Tenor 2 (11th) Sean York, Tenor 1 (9th) Looking forward to our next concert! Mr. Still Brookwood Chorus families,
It’s hard to believe that we are approaching the end of the first semester! There are several items I want to make you aware of. Chorus Feast After a 2020 hiatus, the annual Chorus Feast tradition returns on the evening of December 3rd! Each class will be assigned a type of dish to bring next week for those who are interested. This year, we are inviting chorus students only to participate in our pot-luck style feast. More information to come soon! Holiday Concert Our next required concert will be held on December 7, at 6:30pm in the commons. Stay tuned for call times and additional details. 8th grade students from Crews & Five Forks middle schools will perform along side Brookwood HS Chorus students. The next required after school rehearsal is December 6, from 2:20pm until 4:30pm. Exact time details to be released after Thanksgiving Break, as some classes may be released early. All-State Reading Chorus Congratulations to senior alto Jenny Qiu for successfully auditioning into the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Sight Reading Chorus! Each year, the All-State Reading Chorus brings students from across the state of Georgia who have exceptional sight singing skills. Students must sing multiple 8-measure examples at their audition, with only 45 seconds to practice each example. The top 100 students are invited to the reading chorus. At the actual event in January, the reading chorus sings around 50 different pieces of music, and performs a concert at the conclusion of the weekend of about 6 of those songs. One piece is sight read at the concert in front of the audience, never seen before by the student musicians. Jenny is the first Brookwood Chorus student to make the ASRC since 2013. Congratulations! All-State Chorus Students auditioning for All-State Chorus received an information letter with details regarding their own individual audition. Good luck to everyone registered to audition Saturday, November 13! Disney Performing Arts Trip The Brookwood Chorus is offering chorus members the opportunity to participate in a Disney World Performing Arts Workshop/trip on March 23-26, 2022. We will leave for Orlando after school on March 23 (3pm) and return to Brookwood after 11pm on March 26. In addition to visiting a few Disney World Parks, students will engage in a workshop session with Disney artists, and work on Disney scores and arrangements in a professional studio environment. Students filled out a form on google classroom indicating their interest in the trip today (if they were interested). Students must be logged into their GCPS Google Workspace account to access. You can view more details about the trip here (no login required). Payments will be handled online. Please do not send any money in yet. A parent meeting will be held in-person (masks required) on Thursday, November 18 at 6:30pm in the chorus room, where I will go over trip details and be available to answer questions. If you are interested in chaperoning, please reach out to me directly. The chaperone fee will be different from students, and there is an option for chaperones to have their own room for an additional fee. Please note that we are restricted with the number of students that can go due to the cost of the busses involved. When students fill out the trip interest form, it gives me the opportunity to plan and possibly create solutions if we have more student interest than seats available. More details will be shared at our parent meeting. Please let me know if you have any questions! Thank you, Mr. Still Greetings Brookwood Chorus families!
Our fall in-person concert is next week! Here are a few details/updates: Required Afterschool Rehearsal (Test Grade) Monday, September 27 - Starting at 2:25pm Location: Brookwood Theatre After reviewing our progress from this previous week, I've determined that not everyone will have to stay for the entire length of the rehearsal. Students are welcome to stay and watch the rest of the rehearsal quietly instead of leaving early. All students should leave via the Maroon Gym/Theatre Lobby entrance (car riders). Students do NOT need to wear the chorus uniform. 2nd Period - Dismissed by approximately 3:25pm. 3rd Period - Dismissed by approximately 3:35pm. 5th Period - Dismissed by approximately 3:50pm. 4th Period - Dismissed by approximately 4pm. Honors Chorale will rehearse until about 4:15pm. Fall Concert (Test Grade) Tuesday, September 28 - 6pm Location: Brookwood Theatre Students will need to report in concert uniform for warm-up by 5:15pm. The theatre will open for audience seating by 5:50pm. Per GCPS policy, masks are required in all GCPS facilities. Uniforms All students are required to wear a solid black mask as part of our uniform for the fall concert. Find one you like and one that stays in place when you sing! All students are required to wear the formal chorus uniform, as per the Chorus syllabus and the uniform information guide (see previous newsletters). Due to COVID-related supply chain shortages, our formal ware has been delayed in shipment. While we were supposed to receive our order by September 15, our uniform company was unable to ship like normal. As of this writing (9/23/2021), our uniform order is in route to BHS via UPS. My goal is to have everything distributed to students during class on Monday, September 27. While I would most certainly prefer to have everything to your student sooner, I am at the mercy of our vendor and their suppliers. Remember - you will need to provide black dress shoes. Read more here. If your child enrolled in chorus late, or is concerned they did not order the proper attire, they will need to speak with me directly. Students not in appropriate attire will not be permitted to perform. Photographer We are looking for a volunteer photographer to take pictures during our fall concert! If you would be willing to help out, please email Mr. Still, and thank you! Videographer I provide the camera, but I need a someone to help record the concert. The concert video lets students see how they look and sound from the audience's perspective, which helps us with future concerts. If you can help, please email me! Please contact me with any questions or concerns. I am looking forward to next week! Thank you, Mr. Still Chorus families –
This past week has been an absolute joy. I have so enjoyed working and singing with our students this week! Yesterday evening, the Brookwood Performing Arts Boosters (BPAB) held a parent meeting. It was wonderful to meet so many of our chorus parents! I am including a recap of yesterday’s meeting below. 1. BPAB is now ready to accept chorus dues. Chorus dues are $26, and help to cover the cost of sheet music, accompanist fees, Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) trip costs, and include the BHS Chorus 2021-2022 t-shirt. Please click here to pay chorus dues. Please make sure to include your child’s full name in the “note field” so they get credit for the payment! Chorus Dues Payment Deadline: August 31, 2021 2. BPAB encourages everyone to become a member and provide additional support to the choral program. BPAB is an invaluable resource of parent volunteers that assists the chorus program. When you pay chorus student dues, you are able to become a member of BPAB. Please view the BPAB membership form here. Please contact Mr. Still or [email protected] with questions. Does your company do a corporate match for non-profits? Please reach out to us, and we can help you get set up! You can also donate dues for other students. Learn more about BPAB: bpaperforms.com 3. Chorus Uniform Ordering information is now available! Please click here to view all uniform and ordering information. Please order by the deadline, as we do not stock extras, nor are we able to make exchanges. Note: Students will be able to look at / try on dresses during class next week, and measurements will be taken in class for students needing to order option 2 or option 3. Chorus Uniform Payment Deadline: August 22, 2021 4. You can view the full chorus syllabus, with dates included, at this link. The chorus calendar is embedded in the syllabus, available on the website, or you can subscribe to our digital calendar here. 5. View the 8/12 BPAB Booster General Meeting/Presentation here. 6. View the 8/12 Chorus Only Presentation here. 7. Auditions for District Honor Chorus, All-State, and Honors Chorale started after school on 8/13. They continue into next week. If your student was interested, they should have signed up in class. Dates & details for these events are available in the syllabus. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to me! Musically, Mr. Still Brookwood Chorus Students and Families,
It has been such a delight to see our new Chorus Broncos, and I was extremely excited to see everyone back in person today! We are returning to a more normal rehearsal and concert schedule this school year, with performances returning to the Brookwood Theatre. A few notes:
Follow us on facebook! Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to see you Thursday evening! Musically, Mr. Still Our spring show will be before you know it! There are a few items for students and parents to complete prior to next week. You do not need to print or return any forms to the school - everything is done digitally. The field trip packet/permission form and emergency contact information will be completed via mypaymentsplus.com. Please note that there is no charge for this event for students or audience members.
The Spring Show & Dress Rehearsal will be held at the Lawrenceville Lawn: 210 Luckie Street, Lawrenceville, GA. 30046 April 29: Dress Rehearsal, 4-6pm (Check in between 3:45pm and 4pm) April 30: Spring Show, starts at 6pm. Check in between 5:15 -5:29pm; call time is 5:30pm. 1. Read the Field Trip Packet here 2. Students should select in-person or digital performance - this was done in class today at this link. (4/14). 3. DUE APRIL 22: All students performing in-person MUST have their parents complete the field trip form on mypaymentsplus.com. See below for an image of where you can find the form, located under field trips. Parents, can you help on 4/29 or 4/30? Click here to sign up to volunteer. Even though tickets are not being sold for this show, we still need your financial support! Please click here to donate to the Brookwood Performing Arts Boosters and give to the Brookwood Chorus! Make sure to select "Chorus" in the drop down menu. Donations will be used to offset our spring show performance fees, like sound equipment and the outdoor stage rental. We are using this outdoor space to give our students the ability to perform for an in-person audience for the first time since March of 2020. Please let me know if you have any questions! Musically, Mr. Still BHS Chorus families,
The chorus has been busy rehearsing and performing over the past several weeks! Read below: LGPE Concert Please click here to view our LGPE concert! Brookwood Chorus students met after school earlier this month (across multiple days) to record our latest concert for Large Group Performance Evaluation. This year, judges will receive our performance virtually and offer feedback instead of assigning ratings. It was a pleasure getting to see so many of my online students, and hear everyone sing! Each ensemble rehearsed each piece together for ten minutes or less before recording. This was the only time entire classes have performed this repertoire together, and I am immensely proud of what they have accomplished during these unique and challenging circumstances. A huge thank you to Brookwood Senior Ethan Schloss for serving as our video editor and running the camera! Spring Show I am thrilled to announce that our Spring Show will be outdoors, live, and able to accommodate an in-person audience! This year, our show centers around music from the movies and TV shows. The Brookwood Chorus is going on the road, and will be performing in Downtown Lawrenceville on stage at the recently updated Lawrenceville Lawn! Date: April 30, 2021 Time: 6pm Location: Lawrenceville Lawn 210 Luckie Street, Lawrenceville, GA 30046 Parking: Free Limited parking is available at the Lawrenceville Lawn. Additional parking is available in the free parking deck at 225 Luckie Street, which is across the street from the Lawn. Tentative student schedule: Students will rehearse at the Lawn on Thursday, April 29, from 4-6pm. On April 30, call time for students is 5pm. Students will need to bring a chair (lawn chair / camping chair). The dress rehearsal is a test grade. The spring show serves as the performance final exam for this semester. Students should wear their Brookwood Chorus 2020-2021 t-shirt and jeans. Students will be required to wear a mask while performing. Only soloists who are on stage by themselves will be allowed to sing without a mask. Students will be spaced out during the performance to allow for social distancing. Some groups will be to the sides of the stage, in front, or on stage depending on the song. A professional sound company is managing microphones and pro sound equipment so that our students can be heard. No transportation will be provided by the school. Parents are responsible for providing timely transportation to and from the Lawrenceville Lawn. Students should be picked up promptly at the conclusion of dress rehearsal (6pm on 4/29) or the end of the show (approximately 8pm on 4/30). A permission form will be sent home in April. As with our past concerts this school year, parents can select if their child will perform in person or digitally. That form will be released next week. Audience members should wear a mask and social distance while viewing the show. At this point, we are asking audience members to be limited to students’ immediate families. Your support is needed! Performing outdoors presents an additional financial burden on the chorus. In a normal year, we would not have to pay for our venue (school theatre) or sound equipment. This year, to give our students the opportunity to perform safely for an audience, we are taking on additional expenses. If 100 chorus families contributed $20 each, our new expenses will be covered. If you are able to contribute to the Chorus account of the Brookwood Performing Arts Boosters Association, please click here. Thank you in advance! In addition, we will need parent volunteers to assist with the outdoor performance. I can’t do it alone, and value your help! Please stay tuned for the ways you can assist our students perform! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Musically, Mr. Still |
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