Spring Choir Updates

Congratulations to our 6th Grade Choir for receiving straight "Superior" ratings at State Choral Performance Assessment on April 5th! 🎉🙌😄

The spring concert date is Tuesday, May 15th. The full calendar is in the previous post.

Fine Arts Night has been moved from April 17th to April 26th due to a conflict with spring testing dates. Show Choir will perform at Fine Arts Night.

Choir will perform at Awards Day during the school day on May 21st. 

Brock’s Gap Choir Calendar

2017-2018

SEPTEMBER 28^th and 29^th (Thurs. & Fri. 3:00-5:00): BGIS Show Choir Clinic and Auditions (optional) in the BGIS choir room after school until 5:00 pm, (show choir practices begin the following week on Tuesdays until 4:30)

**OCTOBER 30th, 2017 (Mon.): BGIS Choir Field Trip: Alabama National Fair Choral Competition in Montgomery. Depart 8:00 am, Return by 4:30 pm.

**NOVEMBER 9^th, 2017 (Thurs.): Choir performs at Veteran’s Day Assembly (during school)

November 30, 2017 (Thurs.): BGIS Show Choir performs at Bumpus for Cadence Dinner Show fundraiser, Bumpus Lunch Room 6:00-7:30 pm

**NOVEMBER 30th, 2017 (Thurs.): BGIS Choir performs at SSC & DV Elementary Schools, depart school at 8:00, perform at 8:15 am & 9:20 am (during school)

**DECEMBER 7th, 2017 (Thurs.): BGIS Choir performs at TC Elementary School, depart school at 8:00 am, perform at 8:15 am (during school)

**DECEMBER 11th, 2017 (Mon.): Fall/Holiday Concert - 6:30 BGIS Competition Gym, students report at 5:45

**DECEMBER TBA: Choir performs at the BGIS Holiday Assembly (during school)

FEBRUARY 9th, 2018 (Fri.) 6:00pm: Hoover Schools Show Choir Showcase, Spain Park High, 6pm

**APRIL 4^th or 5^th, 2018--(one of these days only)--TBA: State Choral Performance Assessment at Moody Music Building University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa

APRIL 17^th, 2017 (Tues.): Brock's Gap Intermediate School Fine Arts Night, 6:00PM (Brock's Gap Show Choir performs at 6:15 in the gym, students report at 5:45)

APRIL 27^th-28^th, 2018 (Fri. & Sat.): Young Voices Festival Field Trip (select students only), University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa

**MAY 15th, 2018 (Tues.): Spring Choral Concert - 6:30 BGIS Competition Gym, students report at 5:45

**MAY TBA: Choir performs at Awards Day (during school)

** These events are required and for a grade.

Choir Updates-October

Choir Updates - October

Alabama National Fair Choral Festival: October 30th - cost: $47-payable on myschoolfees.com

 Monday, October 30th, 2017

7:30 am                              Choirs report to the practice gym in uniform

7:50-8:00 am                          Load Buses and Depart BGIS

9:15 am                              Arrive in Montgomery

10:10 am                                      Warmup Room

10:30 am                             Competition Performance

11:45 am                                      Awards Ceremony                

12:10 am – 2:45 pm                           Free Time at the Fair and lunch

3:00 pm                                      Buses Depart for BGIS

4:30 pm                                       Arrival at BGIS

The charter bus rules allow students to bring clear drinks and snacks for the bus ride. Drinks must be clear and have a screw on top. NO sunflower seeds, Doritos, Cheetos or gum. These are the charter bus rules regarding snacks and drinks.

Parents should pick their students up at BGIS no later than 4:30. We will call you or have your student call you on the way home if we are running early or late.

The students will stay in groups of 10 with a chaperone throughout the day. We are aware of all students with medical needs and will carry needed medication or emergency meds/instructions on the trip. A nurse is going with us on the trip.

Feel free to drive down on your own and watch our performance at 10:30 and if you want, you can find your student's group afterwards and stay with us at the fair for as long as you like. Adult general admission at the door is $12. Even if you are planning to drive down, your student must ride the bus to and from Montgomery with us. Students will be put in groups with a chaperone and must stay with their group the entire time. 

This is an all day trip and we will return to the school at 4:30. Students must have someone pick them up at BGIS at 4:30. If you cannot pick your child up at 4:30, please arrange for your child to have a ride. Students will purchase lunch at the fair on their own from the food trucks and will need cash (approx. $10-$15)on the day of the trip for that. Students may also pack a lunch if they choose not to purchase a lunch. 

Students will wear their choir t-shirts for this performance and khaki pants. (Khaki pants are purchased on your own). I do have extra shirts if you still need to pay the $15. Since it is past the deadline, it is not online--please just send in a check or cash and I will send a shirt home with them. Students should wear tennis shoes.

Students must wear their black choir t-shirt with khaki pants to school on Monday, October 30th.

Here is a picture of our group performing at the fair.

Congratulations to the following students who made Show Choir:
The first practice will be Tuesday after school.

31
18
6
35
30
26
29
34
17
21
22
36
23
5
16
27
10
19
28
14
38
32
41
20
4
37
3
1
7
25
39
40
9
8
33
12
2
15
24
42
11
43
13

show choir tryout choreography 2017

Here is the link to show choir tryout choreography.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5BuVcVZaUepMmJGU2Ytdm9lMGc

Show Choir Auditions are Thursday, September 28th from 3:00-5:00 and Friday, September 29th until 5:30. Auditions are here in the choir room at BGIS. Auditions are not open to parents/family/friends. Please make sure that your student has a ride home if they plan to stay for auditions.

About Show Choir Auditions.... 

1. Students must individually sing one minute of a song of their choosing.
2. Students will learn a choreography routine on Thursday and audition with it on Friday in groups of 4 or 5 students at a time. (We designate the groups.) See details below. 

Each student will receive a score from an experienced singing teacher judge not associated with Hoover City Schools. 

If your student is chosen to be a part of the group, practice will be on Tuesdays after school until 4:30. 

Accompaniment For Your Audition Song
There are three choices when it comes to accompaniment:
1. Sing a cappella (no instruments or recorded instruments).
2. Bring a recorded accompaniment (CD or flash drive).
3. Accompany yourself on the piano, guitar or ukelele.

Your Audition Song Should Show Your Strengths First
When given a choice, always choose the best song you have to offer. Don't necessary choose a song you like, but rather a song that shows the strengths of your voice. There are plenty of songs we may like but don't perform well, because they are not in our range or don't show off our voice. Choose an audition song that is within your comfortable singing range – this is not the time to stretch for a note, either too high or too low. The judge will expect you to show off the very best you have to offer, and this means performing a song that is well rehearsed. For some ideas, search You Tube Karaoke. If you choose to use a Youtube Karaoke link, email the link to Mrs. Walker at linwalker@hoover.k12.al.us

Choreography  
The choreography for the dance part of auditions will be taught during the clinic after school on Thursday. Students will be put into small groups for the dance part of the audition. Students will be scored individually on choreography even though they are in a small group. Individuals will not be penalized if others within their group do not perform well. Each student is responsible for executing the choreography well on an individual basis.

Welcome to 6th Grade Choir! We have a great group this year. We have gotten off to a wonderful start!

 

Requirements for Choir:

There are no tryouts for choir. Everyone is welcome to choose choir no matter what their ability level is. However, your child MUST be willing to try to sing and follow directions given by the teacher. Your child will be graded on participation (singing every time, correct posture, following directions, etc.), music literacy skills (taught in class) and performance at concerts. Choir, like any performing ensemble, requires discipline and focus. Choir should not conflict with athletics, however, should there be a conflict with sports or some extra curricular activity,  your child will be required to miss non-school related sports practice to attend the two required concerts per year.  There are only two evening concerts a year that are required (for a grade), one in December and one in May. Everything else is during school hours. Please talk to me if you have concerns with this. You will be given these dates months in advance to ensure that you can plan for these dates accordingly. Band also requires students to attend two night concerts a year for a grade. Choir is a performance based class and performance attendance is graded. We will have a few field trips (day trips) where we perform at a venue other than the school. More info about grading procedures, discipline, an auditioned extracurricular show choir, field trips and uniform will be given out the first week of school.

Supplies/Uniform Needed:

Students were required to bring a 1/2" (half inch) 3 ring hard cover WHITE binder for choir within the first week of school. This is the smallest binder width available. This binder will stay in the choir room and cannot be shared with another class. The choir uniform consists of a choir t-shirt ($15) and is not included in any fees paid at registration. I do not need this money now, but I wanted to go ahead and make you aware that I will be asking for it in mid to late August. I will send more information on the type of pants to wear soon. The only other expenses for choir are minimal and are needed for some of our field trips. (There is a $20 elective fee paid at registration for any elective. This $20 covers sheet music that is purchased, paying our accompanist, festival registration fees and other classroom supplies. This does not cover the t-shirt or field trip expenses.)

I will be emailing you frequently throughout the year. In fact, email will be my primary method of communication with you. I want to go ahead and get some dates to you so that you can begin to have an idea of what our choir calendar will look like for this school year. A full calendar will be distributed at the Choir Parent Meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, August 28^th: (PTO meeting/Open House at BGIS 6-7) Choir Parent Meeting 5:30 in the choir room

September 28th and 29th: I will hold auditions for show choir for any students interested in Show Choir. After this, BGIS Show Choir will practice after school on Tuesdays.  

Monday, October 30th: BGIS Choir Field Trip: Alabama National Fair Choral Festival in Montgomery via charter bus. Depart at 8 am, return to school at 4:30 p.m. https://alnationalfair.org/choral-festival/

Tuesday, December 11th: Fall/Winter Concert, BGIS Competition Gym, 6:30

Remaining Concert Dates and Times

May 4th, 2017 (Thurs.): BGIS Show Choir performs at BGIS Fine Arts Night, arrive 5:30, wear show choir shirt and jeans

MAY 9th, 2017 (Tues.): BGIS Show Choir performs at Bumpus Cadence Concert, 6:30, show choir arrives 6:00

**MAY 15th, 2017 (Mon.): Spring Choral Concert - 6:30 BGIS Competition Gym, required for all students: choir students report at 6:00, show choir reports at 5:30, all students wear khaki pants and choir t-shirt (show choir wears show choir t-shirt & khaki pants)

**MAY 23rd: Choir performs at Awards Day (during school)

Link to "Rise"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec_PCut2M3Y

State Performance Assessment

Here is the schedule for Monday, March 20th:

10:00 Depart BGIS for lunch

10:25 Arrive at lunch site

11:20 Depart lunch site for Gardendale

12:15 Arrive at Gardendale Mt. Vernon UMC 

1:00 Warm-up time 

1:15 Performance on stage

1:30 Sight-read

1:40 Depart Gardendale Mt. Vernon UMC

2:20-2:30 Arrive at BGIS

Students will wear black their BGIS Choir t-shirt with khaki pants and tennis shoes TO SCHOOL on that day. Students are not allowed to bring a change of clothes, however they may wear a jacket or sweatshirt on the bus. Shirts must be tucked in with a belt if possible. This is a judged assessment. Students are required to behave accordingly and represent our school well. Should students make poor choices either on the bus, during lunch or at the assessment site, consequences will result upon their return to school. Students will need cash for one meal. A maximum of $10 is suggested.

Please see my previous email pertaining to lunch and to electronic devices not being allowed on this trip.

BGIS Choir Calendar Spring Semester

JANUARY 20th 3:00-7:00: Choeography Workshop (choir room)-Show Choir only

FEBRUARY 24th, 2017 (Fri.) 6:00pm: Hoover Schools Show Choir Showcase

**MARCH 20th, 2017 (Mon.): State Choral Performance Assessment at Gardendale Mt. Vernon UMC

May 9th (Thurs.): Brock's Gap Intermediate School Fine Arts Night, 6:00PM (Brock's Gap Show Choir performs at 6:15 in the gym, students report at 5:30)

APRIL 29th-30th, 2017 (Fri. & Sat.): Young Voices Festival Field Trip (select students only), University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa

MAY 9th, 2017 (Tues.): BGIS Show Choir performs at Bumpus Cadence Concert, 6:30, students report at 6:00

**MAY 15th, 2017 (Mon.): Spring Choral Concert - 6:30 BGIS Competition Gym, students report at 5:45

**MAY TBA: Choir performs at Awards Day (during school)

Show Choir Video from Hoover City Schools Show Choir Showcase

Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/spainparkchoir/videos/698365377020012/


Our Show Choir did a great job!

BGIS Choir Calendar Spring Semester

JANUARY 20th 3:00-7:00: Choeography Workshop (choir room)-Show Choir only

FEBRUARY 24th, 2017 (Fri.) 6:00pm: Hoover Schools Show Choir Showcase

**MARCH 23rd-24th, 2017--(one of these days only)--TBA: State Choral Performance Assessment at Moody Music Building University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa

APRIL 18^th (Tues.): Brock's Gap Intermediate School Fine Arts Night, 6:00PM (Brock's Gap Show Choir performs at 6:15 in the gym, students report at 5:45)

APRIL 29th-30th, 2017 (Fri. & Sat.): Young Voices Festival Field Trip (select students only), University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa

MAY 9th, 2017 (Tues.): BGIS Show Choir performs at Bumpus Cadence Concert, 6:30, students report at 6:00

**MAY 15th, 2017 (Mon.): Spring Choral Concert - 6:30 BGIS Competition Gym, students report at 5:45

**MAY TBA: Choir performs at Awards Day (during school)

** These events are required and for a grade.

Choir Updates-October

Choir Updates - October

Alabama National Fair Choral Festival: October 31st

 Monday, October 31st, 2016

7:30 am                              Choirs report to the practice gym in uniform

7:50-8:00 am                          Load Buses and Depart BGIS

9:15 am                              Arrive in Montgomery

10:10 am                                      Warmup Room

10:30 am                             Competition Performance

11:45 am                                      Awards Ceremony                

12:10 am – 2:45 pm                           Free Time at the Fair and lunch

3:00 pm                                      Buses Depart for BGIS

4:30 pm                                       Arrival at BGIS

The charter bus rules allow students to bring clear drinks and snacks for the bus ride. Drinks must be clear and have a screw on top. NO sunflower seeds, Doritos, Cheetos or gum. These are the charter bus rules regarding snacks and drinks.

Parents should pick their students up at BGIS no later than 4:30. We will call you or have your student call you on the way home if we are running early or late.

The students will stay in groups of 10 with a chaperone throughout the day. We are aware of all students with medical needs and will carry needed medication or emergency meds/instructions on the trip. 

Feel free to drive down on your own and watch our performance at 10:30 and if you want, you can find your student's group afterwards and stay with us at the fair for as long as you like. Adult general admission at the door is $12. Even if you are planning to drive down, your student must ride the bus to and from Montgomery with us. Students will be put in groups with a chaperone and must stay with their group the entire time. 

This is an all day trip and we will return to the school at 4:30. Students must have someone pick them up at BGIS at 4:30. If you cannot pick your child up at 4:30, please arrange for your child to have a ride. Students will purchase lunch at the fair on their own from the food trucks and will need cash (approx. $10-$15)on the day of the trip for that. Students may also pack a lunch if they choose not to purchase a lunch. 

Students will wear their choir t-shirts for this performance and khaki pants. (Khaki pants are purchased on your own). I do have extra shirts if you still need to pay the $15. Since it is past the deadline, it is not online--please just send in a check or cash and I will send a shirt home with them. Students should wear tennis shoes.

Students must wear their black choir t-shirt with khaki pants to school on Monday, October 31^st.

Here is a picture of our group performing at the fair.

Show Choir Audition Results

Congratulations to the following students.

Show Choir 2016-2017

23
9
11
21
3
17
4
8
20
7
18
12
22
14
16
25
10
2
6
19
1
5

Rehearsals begin after school on Tuesday, September 27th until 4:30 and continue every Tuesday. There is a required choreography workshop on Friday, October 14th from 3:00-7:00 where we will learn our choreography for this year's show.

September Choir Updates

Choir Uniform
Students must purchase a choir t-shirt this year. This will be our uniform for all performances. We sized t-shirts this week. Shirts should come in in a couple of weeks. The shirts are $15 and you can pay on myschoolfees.com or send in a check or cash. We will wear these with khaki pants. Khakis must be pants--no shorts or capri pants. Tennis shoes, Sperry's, or Tom's are the only approved shoes to wear at performances--no Chacco's, flip flops or sandals of any kind.

This was not paid at the beginning of the year. If you already have a shirt from a friend or sibling, your student may wear that one and does not have to buy another one.

 

October Field Trip

Our big field trip this year is to the Alabama National Fair Choral Festival in Montgomery on Monday, October 31st. The cost of this trip is $45 and goes to pay for:

charter bus transportation-(aprox. $2,000)

wristbands for students to ride unlimited rides ($20/student)

admission to the fair ($5/student)

I will have this on myschoolfees.com next week. The deadline to pay for this trip is Friday, October 7th because I must pay for the tickets, wristbands and buses in advance. Please let us know if you need financial assistance and we can usually work something out. An itinerary for the trip and more details will be coming your way soon. We will also need chaperones for this trip, so please be thinking about that if you are available or are able to take off work to join us. Chaperones must ride the charter buses with us, however, parents who are not chaperones may drive down to see the performance. It is an all day trip for students.

 

Show  Choir Tryouts

Show Choir tryouts for students that did not tryout in May are Friday, September 23rd after school. Students must sing a song of their choosing. Packets of information about show choir will be available  for students to pick up next week.

 

September Choir Updates

Choir Uniform
Students must purchase a choir t-shirt this year. This will be our uniform for all performances. We sized t-shirts this week. Shirts should come in in a couple of weeks. The shirts are $15 and you can pay on myschoolfees.com or send in a check or cash. We will wear these with khaki pants. Khakis must be pants--no shorts or capri pants. Tennis shoes, Sperry's, or Tom's are the only approved shoes to wear at performances--no Chacco's, flip flops or sandals of any kind.

This was not paid at the beginning of the year. If you already have a shirt from a friend or sibling, your student may wear that one and does not have to buy another one.

 

October Field Trip

Our big field trip this year is to the Alabama National Fair Choral Festival in Montgomery on Monday, October 31st. The cost of this trip is $45 and goes to pay for:

charter bus transportation-(aprox. $2,000)

wristbands for students to ride unlimited rides ($20/student)

admission to the fair ($5/student)

I will have this on myschoolfees.com next week. The deadline to pay for this trip is Friday, October 7th because I must pay for the tickets, wristbands and buses in advance. Please let us know if you need financial assistance and we can usually work something out. An itinerary for the trip and more details will be coming your way soon. We will also need chaperones for this trip, so please be thinking about that if you are available or are able to take off work to join us. Chaperones must ride the charter buses with us, however, parents who are not chaperones may drive down to see the performance. It is an all day trip for students.

 

Show  Choir Tryouts

Show Choir tryouts for students that did not tryout in May are Friday, September 23rd after school. Students must sing a song of their choosing. Packets of information about show choir will be available  for students to pick up next week.

 

Welcome to 6th Grade Choir 2016-2017 at Brock's Gap Intermediate!

Welcome to 6th Grade Choir 2016-2017 at Brock's Gap Intermediate!

Hi 6th Grade Choir Parents,

My name is Lindsay Walker and I am the Choral Director at Brock’s Gap. If your child attended Brock’s Gap last year, they went to music twice a week, once with me and once with Lisa Vines. In the past, Lisa has taught choir with me, but this year she is returning to teaching in the EMT rotation. I am happy to announce that Micah Brooker will be teaching choir with me this year. I am excited see all that he will bring to choir this year. We are so happy your student has chosen choir as their elective! We are going to have a great year together. Your child will benefit greatly from having two teachers for choir.

My philosophy as a choral director is that everyone can sing and singing is a teachable skill. Whether your student has a lot of experience singing solos in front of a crowd or just sings in the shower or with the radio, we are all going to get better at singing and reading music together. 

 Requirements for choir:

There are no tryouts for choir. We are happy to have your child in choir no matter what their ability level is. However, your child must be willing to try to sing and follow directions given by the teacher(s). Choir, like any performing ensemble, requires discipline and focus. Choir does not conflict with athletics. This is a very common misconception. There are two evening concerts a year that are required (for a grade), one in December and one in May. Everything else is during school hours. Please talk to me if you have concerns with this. You will be given these dates months in advance to ensure that you can plan for these dates accordingly. Band also requires students to attend two night concerts a year. Choir is a performance based class and performance attendance is graded. We will have a few field trips (day trips) where we perform at a venue other than the school. More info about grading procedures, discipline, an auditioned extracurricular show choir, field trips and uniform will be given out the first week of school.

Your child needs to bring a 1" (one inch) white 3 ring hard cover binder for choir. This is not on the school supply list. The flimsy covered binders do not work for us. This binder will stay in the choir room and cannot be shared with another class.

I will be emailing you frequently throughout the year. In fact, email will be my primary method of communication with you. I want to go ahead and get some dates to you so that you can begin to have an idea of what our choir calendar will look like for this school year.

Please note the following dates for the first months of school on your calendar:

Thurs., August 25th: (Meet the teacher night at BGIS) Choir Parent Meeting 5:15 in the choir room

Sept. TBA: BGIS Show Choir Tryouts (optional) in the BGIS Choir room (for anyone who did not tryout in May)

Monday, November 7th: BGIS Choir Field Trip: Alabama National Fair Choral Competition in Montgomery via charter bus. Depart at 8 am, return to school at 4:30 p.m.


I will be sending out more info on the above dates very soon and the calendar will be discussed at the Choir Parent Meeting on the 25th. If you need to contact me prior to the first day of school, please contact me via email.
We are so excited your child is going to be in choir with us this year! I met some of you last year and I look forward to meeting all of you personally soon. We will also need your help and support throughout the school year. Micah and I are committed to making choir a positive experience for your child this year!


Sincerely,

Lindsay Walker
Choral Director
Brock's Gap Intermediate School

BGIS 6th Grade Choir Spring Concert Reminder May 19th

BGIS 6th Grade Choir Spring Concert Reminder

Thurs., May 19th 6:30, BGIS Gym, Spring Choral Concert- REQUIRED FOR ALL CHOIR STUDENTS (counts for a large grade) 

Athletic practices or lessons are not excused, so please reschedule those. Coaches are required to excuse a player for a school event that is graded. Students must have an excuse in writing (preferably doctor's excuse for sickness) should they miss the concert due to sickness, family emergency or approved prearranged absence form with the school. No other excuses will be accepted. Cadence clinic will end by 5:15 at the latest to allow our students trying out for Cadence to get over to BGIS. 

Call times:

Students report at 6:00

Doors open to parents and friends at 6:20. Parents, please wait outside the gym until we open the doors. We must do some rehearsing before you come in.  The concert will last about an hour.

Attire for choir students: Black Choir t-shirt, khaki pants with belt and tennis shoes

Attire for show choir students: Grey Show Choir t-shirt, khaki pants with belt and tennis shoes