Introduction
IT'S YOUR TURN.
Do you ever wonder why a conductor chooses the music they do? Have you ever sat in a rehearsal singing a piece you hate for the thousandth time thinking, "If I were the teacher, we'd be singing COMPLETELY different tunes"? Well, here's your chance. You get to choose the six selections for the spring concert program.
You are choosing for our choir and our situation. Keep in mind the number of singers, the ability level, and how the sections are balanced. You can choose one for each lunch as we'll be performing this year or have the whole choir sing all the selections. Remember: the purpose of the course is to expose students to a variety of musical genres and time periods and you still want to entertain your audience. Lots to think about... are you ready?
Task
You will need to find 6 different pieces that will be performed by the choir at a spring concert. In order to succeed, you're going to need to keep a couple of things in mind:
1. Is the music at the right level for our choir? Will it challenge them without it being too hard?
2. Who wrote the piece? What time period and/or culture does it come from? Have you chosen a variety of works?
3. Who is the piece written for? How many parts are there? Will it fit the whole choir best or just one of the lunches?
4. What does the piece sound like? Will it be enjoyed by our typical audience?
Resources
-You are welcome to browse our own music library for ideas. If you find a piece, you can always search YouTube for a recording of the arrangement so you can hear what it sounds like.
-jwpepper.com is the website where I usually purchase most of our music. The majority of the pieces have recordings with them and there are often preview pages. It also has a variety of search options genre and by voicing.
-sheetmusicplus.com is another website you can use to browse for music.
Process
You are going to create a PowerPoint to present to the class outlining your concert program.
Repertoire must include:
-1 folk song from any culture
-1 song from contemporary pop culture
-1 Western Classical music selection from any time period
-1 selection from a musical or opera
-2 others of your choice
For each piece, your PowerPoint should include:
-A slide with the title and composer/arranger of your piece
-A slide with a short biography of the composer, including any interesting facts you may find
-A slide explaining what genre the piece is from and what the voicing is
-A slide explaining what the "big ideas" are that can be learned from the piece and why you think it fits our group
-An audio or video link to a good recording of at least an excerpt of the piece
You will present the PowerPoint to one of the lunches during the week of May 16th. Feel free to be creative! Base your concert around a theme if you'd like or just pick some of your favorites. Your suggestions may be used for future concert programming!
Evaluation
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Beginning – 1 pt
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Developing -2 pts
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Accomplished – 3 pts
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Exemplary – 4 pts
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Score
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Found the 6 genres of music listed in the process
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Student did not select 6 pieces of music.
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6 pieces of music were chosen but they do not follow the guidelines as set.
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6 pieces of music were chosen and 4 of them follow the guidelines as set.
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6 pieces of music were chosen and all of them follow the guidelines as set.
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Organization/Presentation of PowerPoint
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Assignment is completed in no apparent order. Pieces of information are missing. It is difficult to find the pieces of music. The presenter is unprepared.
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All information is present but not organized in such a way to be understood by the audience. The presenter shows little preparation.
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All information is present and clearly understood by the audience. The presenter is moderately confident and seems prepared.
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All information is present and clearly organized. Additional information is provided and an extra effort was made to enhance the style of the PowerPoint. The presenter is obviously confident and gives a poised presentation.
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Quality of Information Gathered
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Many missing pieces of information
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The information included is very basic. There are still missing parts of at least half of the pieces listed.
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All information that has been requested is included at a very basic level. No additional details have been provided.
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All information that has been requested has been included. Each piece has been thoroughly researched.
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Composer Biography
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Less than half of the biographies are present.
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3-4 of the biographies are present
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All of the biographies are present and include very basic factual information about each composer.
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All of the biographies are present and include interesting facts about the composer beyond what is requested.
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“Big Ideas”
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Less than half of the big ideas identified were appropriate.
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3-4 of the big ideas identified are appropriate to the pieces.
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At least one big idea has been correctly identified for each piece.
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More than one big idea has been correctly identified for each piece.
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Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully created a program for the spring concert! As you now understand, it is a hard task to find music that will challenge students and be enjoyable at the same time. Hope you've enjoyed seeing what kind of choral literature is out there to experience in the future!