High School Choral Students, Parents, and Guardians,
This choir handbook has been written for choir students and parents, with the intent of giving a clearer picture of the expectations and responsibilities of the student musician. It includes the general policies of the high school choirs. Each parent and student is requested to be familiar with these policies. Parents and Guardians, please remember that your participation, guidance, and encouragement are vital to your student’s success. Updated news and information can always be found on my website below. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions, concerns, or comments.
Phone: 641.892.4461, ext.1190
CHOIR MEMBERSHIP
To be a member in good standing, the choir student must currently be enrolled in the class and be under no restrictions, either through disciplinary or academic difficulties. Those students who have failing grades will have restricted involvement within the choir. Specifically, a student who is under academic, attendance, or disciplinary restriction cannot attend vocal festivals, honor choirs, participate in Solo & Ensemble contests, or audition for All-State or Opus. Concerts are required as part of the grading process; therefore, the student will not be required to miss a performance for either academic or disciplinary restriction. A list of mandatory performance dates are listed in this handbook.
COURSE OFFERINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS
Concert Choir: The Concert Choir a mixed vocal ensemble is open to grades 9-12. It is an academic class which meets during 1st block period on A days. See the calendar below for required dates as a member of this ensemble. In this choir, students will learn about posture, breathing, tone production, expression, and many other foundational aspects of choral music. Male and female members of this choir will also prepare men’s and women’s choir pieces, respectively. The following supplies are important for participation in this class: black folder, pencils, black dress shoes, black socks, and black dress pants.
Chamber Choir: The Chamber Choir is a small, auditioned ensemble. Chamber Choir meets at 7 AM every Tuesday when school is in session. The first week will be open auditions. See the calendar for events in which Chamber choir performs.
Show Choir: The Show Choir is an extracurricular ensemble that combines singing with dancing during performances. Show Choir meets at 7:00 AM every Thursday when school is in session. The first week will be open auditions. See the calendar for events in which Show Choir performs.
Voice Lessons: High school choir students are provided with the opportunity to have voice lessons during the school day. Voice lessons are designed to improve personal and group success in the ensembles. Lessons will be taught on a one-on-one or small group basis and will include vocal techniques; help with choir music; and preparations for college auditions, contests, or competitions if the student chooses.
Honor Choirs: There will be several opportunities for students to attend honor choirs throughout the year. These opportunities include All-State, NCICDA, and Meistersinger. Student nominees will be selected at the director’s discretion. If chosen to participate in an honor ensemble, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure he/she attends any additional rehearsals and lessons provided to him/her and is prepared for the festival. Rehearsals for these ensembles will take place at 7 AM on Mondays as announced by the director.
Solo and Ensemble Contest: Solo and Ensemble contest takes place every year in April. It is a chance for students to sing solos or in small groups, get comments from other directors, and receive a rating. Students have the option to help choose their music with the director and will prepare during lesson times and additional times as needed. Those performing in this event will meet for additional work times at 7 AM on Mondays as announced by the director. Any student who signs up for participation and doesn’t participate/performs at a subpar level due to lack of effort or poor time management will be required to reimburse the school the cost of the entry fee.
On the day of the festival, the bus will leave at 6:45, with or without you! You may leave with a parent when your events are completed, but you must let one of the teachers know. Warm-ups are 2 time slots prior to your scheduled performance time. Your accompanist will meet you at the warm-up room. At this time, you need to have with you the judge’s copies of your books (labeled with your name), the accompanist’s copies (unlabeled), and your ballot. You are encouraged to introduce yourself (name, school, accompanist) and your pieces (titles and composers) right before you begin to sing. Announce the songs in the order that you will sing them. I recommend starting with your fast piece, unless you feel more confident on your slow piece. If your performance goes past 6 minutes, please be aware that a timekeeper will call “time” and you will have to stop. This will not penalize you in any way - unless you do not stop when told. There will be concessions available for purchase, so you will probably want to bring some money along. You need to dress nicely (no jeans) for your performance, but you may want to bring along a change of comfy clothes and/or a pillow or blanket for the remainder of the day.
Musical: Due to department constraints, there will be no school musical this year.
CHOIR COUNCIL
The choir will designate a student-representative council to govern it. The choir council will consist of 4 section leaders. The role of these section leaders is to provide a connection between the director and the students. Section leaders are charged with leading by example in their sections, checking in with their section members from time to time for any concerns, and communicating any issues to the director. Elections for council offices will occur at the beginning of the school year.
Various classroom jobs and responsibilities will also be assigned. These simple tasks, completed during class time, will help everyone stay involved in the day-to-day procedures of the class.
GRADING POLICY
Grades will be figured using the standard grading scale used throughout the school: 100 A+ / 99-93 A / 92-90 A- / 89-88 B+ / 87-83 B / 82-80 B- / 79-78 C+ / 77-73 C / 70-72 C- / 69-68 D+ / 67-63 D / 62-60 D- / 59-0 F. The grade is divided into several components:
Rehearsal Attendance and Participation (20%): Students receive 1 point for each rehearsal at which they are present. Students who are absent from a rehearsal may earn this point back by completing a make-up practice sheet. Students also receive 1 point for each rehearsal in which they are an active, engaged member with appropriate behavior. This point may also be earned back by the same make-up sheet as above. The following expectations have been set for class.
Check the plan on the board when you enter the room so that you are ready to go with each activity. Be in your assigned seat with your folder and a pencil when the bell rings. Complete the bell-ringer activity within about the first 5 minutes of class (if applicable). Listen quietly when I am talking, raise your hand to ask questions, and follow directions. Do not disturb or distract others. Respect the sheet music and other materials.
Concert Attendance and Participation (20%): All students are expected to attend all of the performances for all of the ensembles in which they are participating unless they were excused from school or have some kind of emergency the day of the event. Because Concert Choir is an academic class, students may not miss any of the required performances for that class, even for school extracurriculars, sports, work, etc. The smaller, optional, extracurricular ensembles may be dealt with on a case-by-case basis if any conflicts arise with other school extracurriculars. Every effort has been made to ensure that as few schedule conflicts as possible are in the overall school schedule.
Excused absences can be made up with a project/paper. An unexcused absence will result in an automatic “F” for the quarter that contains the performance. Required absences from any performances, with the exception of concerts, due to academic or disciplinary restriction will be dealt with on a case by case basis at the discretion of the director. Additional alternative assignments may be given. Project Option 1: Write concert notes on any 3 of the songs, clear them with the teacher, the teacher will read them aloud at the concert as part of their speaking (if a last-minute emergency, write the notes about the next upcoming concert). Include biographical information about composers. Include connections between each song and the overall concert theme. Include commentary on the specific song and its meaning and/or style. Project Option 2: Design two unique posters for the concert, clear them with the teacher, print them, post them around school and town (if a last-minute emergency, make the posters for the next upcoming concert). Include the basic when, where, who, what. Use a variety of fonts and sizes to emphasize important information. Use a color scheme and pictures that work well together to make cohesive artwork
In-class Assignments (20%):
Students will be given time in class to work on a number of sight-singing assignments and other educational activities.
Out-of class Assignments (20%):
Students will fill out a Concert Report in the fall semester and write an Essay in the spring semester. Some time may be given in class to work on these assignments, but students are expected to do the majority of the work outside of class. Students are expected to help work concessions at two home football games. Concert Choir is responsible for the first half of football games (5:15 through half-time), and Concert Band is responsible for the second half (2nd half through clean up). The money earned at the football concessions stand is a large part of the income for the music department each year. Students are also required to sing the National Anthem at one home sporting event, either volleyball or basketball. They may perform with others for this event. This provides some nice visibility of the music department in the school and community.
Individual Voice Lessons (20%):
Each student will be required to attend a minimum of one lesson every three weeks. More lessons will be available to students preparing music for an audition or event. It is the responsibility of the student to schedule lessons for a time that works for them, to ask for permission from the teacher whose class they will miss to attend the lesson, to make up any work necessary from that class, and to stay aware of their lesson time.
Each lesson is worth three points. One point is for attendance. One point is for participating in the activities of the lesson as requested by the director. And one point is for demonstrating preparedness by successfully completing a practice log. Students will be given an assignment to work on over the 3-week period between lessons, and must log a minimum of 150 minutes of practice during that time.
CHOIR LETTERING
Each student will begin the year with 0 points. Students may earn a letter by participating in any combination of a variety of vocal activities and reaching a total of 18 points. A student must pass each quarter with a C- or above to earn a letter. These eligible activities include out of school events, such as college vocal auditions, participation in summer vocal music camps, participation in church choir or community theater, and private voice lessons from a professional other than the director. Please present any suggestions for list additions to the director. Others may be added at the director’s discretion.
PERFORMANCE DRESS CODE/CHOIR ROBES AND STOLES
Pride is visible. Whenever in the “public eye”, students are expected to be in nice, clean clothes. A council member will fit students in a robe and stole. Robes and stoles are kept at the school and are handed out before each concert. Concert Choir wears robes and stoles for each concert, unless otherwise specified in advance by the director. Under the robes, Concert Choir members should wear a t-shirt with sleeves that does not show above the collar of the robe, black dress pants, black socks, and black dress shoes. Please use make-up and jewelry conservatively at concerts. The focus should be on the ensemble as a whole, not on any individual student. Deodorant=yes, perfume=no. Show Choir uniform expectations will be discussed prior to each performance. Uniform expectations for additional performances that do not require robes will be discussed prior to each performance.
Students disregarding the dress code will not be permitted to participate in performances, and will have their grade negatively adjusted accordingly. If for any reason, a student is unable (financially or otherwise) to obtain the required clothing items or shoes for their performances, they are expected to discuss this with the director at least two weeks prior to an upcoming performance, and the director will help to locate the proper items for the student. This will be done in a completely confidential manner. In any case, the singer is expected to dress in a manner that demonstrates respect for others, but more importantly, a respect for self. The manner in which you perceive and treat yourself serves as the precedent for how others view and treat you!
Another issue that comes up at home concerts is parking. On the evenings of home concerts, please park on the far east and far west points of the south parking lots. We have a lot of elderly fans that support our students, and since parking is limited, it is a nice gesture to have as many available spots as possible on the east side of the building and near the center area of the new parking lots.
SCHOOL EQUIPMENT POLICY
All regulations in the student handbook regarding school equipment will be followed in the choral program. Damage to or misplacement of choir property, such as robes, stoles, music, folders, pianos, chairs, recording equipment, and other items will be dealt with in accordance to the school handbook. Students may be required to reimburse the music program for any damages incurred.
MUSIC DEPARTMENT TRIP
The choirs and bands will be traveling to Minneapolis during the spring of 2019. The following expectations have been set for the trip: All students must be paid in full in order to attend the trip. The trip will be financed by each student individually; however, fundraising opportunities will be available for each student to fund the cost of their trip. Because this is a school-sponsored activity, students must follow all school rules as stated in the student handbook. Students are prohibited from bringing or using tobacco products, alcohol, or any illegal substance on the trip. Students must obey the chaperones’ directions at all times. Chaperones may edit or add rules as they feel necessary to accommodate the situation at hand. If there is a major problem, parents will be notified and responsible for transporting their child home. Major discipline problems will be dealt with following the trip by school officials.
Students must stay at the location designated on the itinerary. If a student will need to take any medication (prescription or over-the-counter), the student must check the medicine(s) with the chaperones. The parents must include all medication information on the emergency contact information form. Students are expected to respect the rules and policies of all the places we are visiting. Students are expected to respect the other visitors not in our group. Students will not be allowed to rent movies or video games on the TVs in the hotel rooms. Students may not make phone calls outside the hotel from the telephones in the rooms. The student will pay for any damages or extra charges they cause. Neither the music department nor the school will be held financially responsible for any damage or stolen goods. Students will be responsible for their property while on the trip. The school and music department will not be responsible for lost or damaged items.
All students will be required to provide a reference card with emergency contact information, medical treatment consent forms, health insurance information, and liability release prior to the trip. These documents must be turned in to Miss Wilson before departure. More information will be provided to parents and students within the first semester.
CALENDAR
- Home Volleyball Games, August 23, August 30, September 18, September 27, October 2, October 8
- Fall Concert, October 18, 7 pm
- All-State Auditions, Hampton, October 20, all day
- 7-12 NCICDA Honor Choir, NIACC, November 5, all day festival, evening concert
- WFHS Veteran’s Day Ceremony, November 12, 8:30 am
- All-State Festival, Ames, November 16-17, all day
- Christmas with Waldorf, December 2, 2 pm
- Home Basketball Games, December 4, 11, 18, January 4, 11, 18, 25, 29
- Christmas Caroling, December 7, afternoon
- Winter Concert, December 13, 7 pm
- Meistersinger Honor Choir, Wartburg College, January 20-21
- Pops Concert, February 28, 7 pm
- Scholarship Benefit Concert/Workshop, March 1-2
- State Solo and Ensemble Festival, March 30
- Broadway Master Class, Clear Lake, April 10
- State Large Group Music Festival, May 4
- Spring Concert, May 9, 7 pm
- Rest Home Performances, May 10, afternoon
- Music Department Trip to Minneapolis, May 11
- Fine Arts Night, May 13, 7 pm
- Baccelaureate, May 15, 8:00 pm
- Graduation Ceremony, May 19, 2:00 pm
- Memorial Day Ceremony, May 27, 11 am
Key: Required events for those registered in Concert Choir. Chamber Choir only. By audition only. Seniors only. Optional for anyone.
Note: Dates and times are subject to change as school circumstances dictate. Any changes will be announced as soon as they are known. Extra credit will be offered for optional and auditioned events.
