Choral Curriculum Assignment- High School

Womens Choir
Womens Choir is an auditioned ensemble of about 20-30 singers. Freshman
through seniors are all eligible to audition. We meet Tuesday and Thursday before
school. This is an elite ensemble and all member must be involved in either mixed
choir or concert choir.
Ave Maria- Biebl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV7l0uqOD_8

SoloistChant like phrasing

Antiphonal choirs
Latin
Iconic choir repertoire
Beautiful harmonies
A Capella
Easy to learn because its repetitive as far as notes,
o We could take more time on achieving tall vowels, working on
intonation, proper phrasing

All Which Isnt Singing is Mere Talking- Dominick DiOrio, poetry by e.e. cummings
http://www.jwpepper.com/All-Which-Isn%27t-Singing-Is-MereTalking/10049144.item#.VleyHnIQVMs

Stark contrast between staccato and legato

Clashing harmonies
Word painting (dizzy)
Intense dynamic shifts
Rhythmic independence in parts
Octavescould be a challenge to tune
o Working on vowels to help tune

Ukuthula- SSAA Andre van der Merwe

Soloist
Meaningful text
Easy to learn
Fun for students to sing
Teaching momentdiscussion of South African history
Zulu traditional piece

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/0145129/details.html

Fun to sing
Crowd pleaser

Jazz rhythms
Clearly pronouncing word while singing fast

Concert Choir
Concert Choir is a large ensemble of about 40 singers. We sing SATB music.
The choir is made up of sophomore or older students. Some sophomores who arent
ready may be held back to sing another year in mixed choir.

Insalata ItalianaRichard Genee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2IVm7LESY

Theatrical introduction to opera

Good way to teach musical terms
Singing with a more mature tone
o Work on vowel shapes

River In JudeaLinda Marcus and Jack Feldman, Arr. John Leavitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukwd4jinW3s

Leaps without scooping

Traditional spiritual
Meaningful lyrics
Opportunity for solos or ensemble
Melody trades off from women to men
Key Change
Could involve bass and drums

Sure on this Shining Night-- Lauridsen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icp4bNb7TDI

Melisma
o Working on stresses
o Keeping melisma from sounding clunky
o Keeping high point in melisma light
Vowel shapes
Phrases
o Long phrases
night sure shining
o Good opportunities to achieve a more mature sound

Tres Cantos Nativos Dos Indios KraoArr. Marcos Leite/ Earthsongs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh7bhmCkxZQ

Vocal exploration
o Stark differences between darker and brighter sections

1.

2.

3.

4.
5.

o Rainforest noises
Multi-cultural
Movement
Syncopated rhythms
Theatrical elements
Percussion
Overall Goals for the 6 weeks
I want students to be able to transfer the knowledge and emphasize the
importance of vowel sounds with more space to all the pieces we sing.
a. This will help improve intonation and make the choir sound more
mature.
b. I want to work on this not only in pieces but through warm-ups that
encourage tall vowel sounds.
c. Show them the difference in vowel sounds by having one singer sing
tall vowels and the other more closed vowels.
i. Give them an example of what matched vowels and nonmatched vowels actually sounds like.
I want my students to improve their overall skills in sight-reading
a. Warm ups that include practicing singing whole steps and half-steps
can help this
b. Daily excercises from Essential Sight-Singing by Emily Crocker
i. This book has unison and divisi exercises for choirs to practice
sight-singing
I want my students to be able to read the text of the pieces and express the
text through musical expression.
a. I want them to have a part in deciding how we express text.
b. Analyze choir music as a form of poetry
c. Appreciate the imagery and metaphor.
d. Try different word stresses and pick which one best expresses the text.
I want my students to sing a variety of music from different time periods,
different cultures, and different historical contexts and understand the deeper
context of the piece.
I want to improve the choirs response to a conductor.
a. Watching for dynamic cues
b. Watching for cutoffs and consonants endings
c. Understanding tempo and meter changes
These main goals achieve the Nebraska 6-8 Fine Arts Standards in
Music
Students understand how elements of music convey expressive
intent
o Identify and define the compositional devices
o Connect music to historical and cultural contexts
o Perform music of increasing difficultly using proper tone
quality, phrasing, dynamics and articulation
o Develop and refine ensemble performance skills using
guided self-evaluation and feedback from others.