Our choir students have been hard at work over the last two months! Having finished the in-class portion of their recording project, a gospel setting of
"Bridge Over Troubled Water," we've been deep in preparation for our upcoming Spring Concert!
Our choristers are making steady progress on their repertoire. Using solfege, they've been working on a rendition of "Lion Sleeps Tonight" which involves singing in 4-part harmony! While this song is really repetitive, we've gotten the chance to use it to flex our audiation (inner-ear) skills, rehearsing and performing in 'mixed' seating, meaning students are seated next to people who are not in their voice part.
Our second piece is "I'm On My Way," a traditional spiritual that has proved challenging. This piece is a bit deceptive-- while it seems repetitive, each phrase is slightly different than the others, giving this song a unique level of difficulty! It's taken a lot of time and effort, but we're making good progress!
The final piece we've been working will be performed with the 7/8th Grade Chorus. It's a Serbian piece in 9/8 time called "Niska Banja." This fun and unique tune has allowed us to explore Eastern-European performance traditions. While the score of this piece is quite daunting (repeat signs, a coda section, and segnos galore), our students are not easily intimidated! They've artfully mastered the melody, lyrics, and form, and this is sure to be a highlight at the concert!
(Updated 5/14)
