High School Choir Review Essay

The “Fall Choral Concert” was held in Pasadena City College, on Friday November 4, 2016 at 8pm. The concert was an hour and half long and was performed in the Westerbeck Recital Hall (CA 140). The performs of this concert were mostly students of Pasadena City College, whom according to their teacher and conductor Mr. Guerrero managed to put an amazing performance in only 6 weeks.

This song seemed to require the most work from the performers as it used a wide range of dynamics, pitches, and tempo. The last song of the evening, and probably my favorite (not just because it was the last), was “Folk Dances”. This song, just like the first, had a very festive feel to it. The upbeat tempo, lead by the flutes and clarinets, made the song very enjoyable to hear and also had a very happy feel to it, which, in my mind, made it a very appropriate closer. The song started with a great tempo but a relatively soft dynamic. This quickly changed about half way through the song when the dynamics picked up. The loud dynamics with the fast tempo at the end of the song had a very grandiose sound and left the audience with a great taste in their mouths.

Brittany Russel sang “Nobody Love”, she sang with magnificent range and gave the audience a nice pair of chills down their arms, because you could tell she sang from a personal perspective. She carries this certain style where it’s very raw and emotional. To bring an upbeat into the room Madison Slamka and Gillian Marino’s performance of The Beatles “Come Together” allowed the audience to release their worries and stress of the week that lay behind them. Their duet performance was entertaining and colorful, the two girls added their own style which gave the performance an extra twist on the song. This allowed the girls to not just sing the same style as the original artist, but to take the next step and recreate a clever, melodic song into something that was their own. One of my favorite performances of the night was The A Cappella Group. Their three numbers were amazing and left me wanting so much more. Even though Callie Atkinson was a featured soloist performing Hold my Hand, the groups back up was essential for the emotional feeling of the song. As incredible as their performances were, there was this one distractions to the group. The random movement of their upper bodies drew attention away from the

Since I was raised in a small, country town in Oklahoma I definitely heard my fair share of country music. For the most part I wasn’t a fan of mainstream country music because it all sounded very similar, in my opinion. I found Blue Grass music or more Folk inspired country music to be more interesting. But when I was offered the opportunity to attend a Jason Aldean concert with a few friends this semester I didn’t want to miss out. I knew what to expect going to a Jason Aldean concert and that was a lot of boots and a lot of pearl snaps, and I was definitely correct. Jason was in Oklahoma on February 5th for his “We Were Here” tour. I had never been to a country music concert before and was looking forward to the new experience.

We were this close to being stripped of our "Undefeated" title. The band sat there in the bleachers, stunned as the announcer pulled up the scores and was ready to reveal first place. Blood rushed through my veins and the butterflies in my stomach were more active as ever. After all of our hard work, it would have been a shame if we did not conclude the season with a bang. The announcer raised her microphone and everything seemed to come to a halt.

The pieces were quite odd for me at the first time, first hearing, but I got used to it at the end of the each piece. “The Gospel Train” and “Little David, Play On Your Harp” were African-American Spiritual songs, which I kind of enjoyed, because I was also, very spiritually active. The last song, “Precious Lord Take My Hand” was very calming songs. I liked the lyrics of the song. The lyrics were very touchy that it made me ponder after the applause.

1. Thirty pounds of metal resting on my left shoulder, I marched for hours in the blistering hot sun. The sousaphone was my greatest enemy. In 6th grade I was chosen to play tuba for our middle school band, I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. Two years later, I had gotten pretty good. I made all state band, won some awards, and was 1st chair. I had no intention in joining the marching band my freshman year.

Sixteen thousand two hundred and twenty-four dollars is the average cost to attend Jacksonville State University per year. That comes out to three hundred and twelve dollars per week an athlete is being compensated by the university for the athlete’s contribution to the university. Considering three hundred and twelve dollars per week amounts to take home pay. Therefore, the student athletes would have worked 52 weeks for forty hours per week at a job paying approximately eleven dollars per hour, for most college athletes that is a fair compensation. However, what if the student athlete comes from a family that is unable to provide them with any financial aid help with things as basic as personal hygiene or transportation home on the holidays?

When I was went to the concert, I sat in the middle of the concert hall so I had a good view of the performers and hear the music clearly. So I had very wonderful night and a good memory for music valuable. The last choir concert, here at NDSU. "The LAST concert" made me sad, but I really enjoyed the moments. Cantemus is a terrific and wonderful women's choir!

This afternoon at 12:30, I went to the listening hour, a free noontime concert, at the Music Building. The concert of the day is SJSU Saxophone Studio and Dr. Victoria Lington’s Saxophone Ensemble Concert. Since it is just a one-hour noontime concert, most of the students there just where their t-shirts and jeans to the concert. The SJSU Saxophone Studio students have played six pieces of music in one hour. They began the concert with Sonata no.3 composed by George Frideric Handel (1685-1789). The second piece is Quartett (Allegro de Convert) composed by Caryll Florio (1843-1920). Then the third piece they played is Saxophone Concerto. After that, they played Premier Quartet op. 53 that composed by Jean Baptiste Singelee and Cello Suite No.1 BVW 1007 that composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. The last piece is Rondo, composed by Zdenek Lukas (1928-2007). All of the music performed today is classical music. Only the first and third piece play by alto saxophone with piano accompaniment. And the second, fifth and sixth piece is quartet that include soprano, alto, tenor and baritone. At the concert, I think I am a referential listener. I would think of a scene when I heard the music to understand the music and its mood according to the dynamic changing. For example, in the piece of Premier Quartet op. 53, I would image that people are dancing in the ballroom. When I heard the slow tempo, I think that people just began to dance or have the rest during dancing. When I heard a

I nervously explained to the counselor, “I’m having some trouble finding a class that is a good fit.” She suggested that I try something out of my comfort zone, to “try new things” -whatever that means-. Sitting up confidently in her chair, she then proceeded to pull up open classes on her computer. After explaining what each one entailed for a good half hour, I wasn’t very impressed by the options. Clearly frustrated and defeated she suggested, “Choir?” The very last one on her list was the class that made me who I am today.

The most important activity I have done in my high school career is chorus. During school hours, we spend time preparing for concerts, and outside of school we have rehearsals, performances, extracurricular choirs, and concert tours in which we devote much of our time.

The overall concert offered a wide verity of choir song, from classical pieces composed by Mozart to musical show tunes. The combination of which resulted in an overall enjoyable experience. The concert was not the first choir concert I had ever attended so I went in expecting it to be similar to the high school choir performances I have seen before. I was not expecting the scale of the concert to be so large. Instead of being one choir and an hour-long program there were four groups along with a much longer program. Each of the choir groups had a different dynamic, sound and feel to it. The differences made it interesting.

On Tuesday March 1, 2016 at 7:00pm, I attended a Spring Choir Concert back home put on by the Oswego East High School Choral Department. It took place in the Performing Arts Center where the lights turned down and the stage lit up. The different choirs from acapella to ambiance to Voice Activated sang songs from a range of various musical stylings and genres. Some sang pop while a different choir would sing .They sang their songs one after the other. Going into this concert I was very excited, because a few of my friends who are still in high school were singing, and they would be songs I’d enjoy. My favorite songs are very popular and the fact that three of the songs they sang were I Will Wait, Pompeii, and Stitches

Somehow, no matter what we are facing we always seem to pull it together during the concert. I loved the 2 soloists in 1-2 and how much courage they had to give it their all even though it was their first time being in choir. Choir 3-4 always amazes me with their rich sound. They sound so sophisticated and mature. It was also interesting to hear them perform another rendition of a song we had sang last year. Also, the middle schoolers did wonderful with their carol of the bells. In terms of our set list, I would say Gborn was our best piece. I heard the most feedback from the audience about how that song was beautiful, angelic, and just rich overall. I think we could have worked on dynamics at times but it is definitely a song that should be taken to tour. My personal favorite was “Merry Christmas Mozart” because it showed the fun side of us and gave the audience some perspective. Plus, as I looked around during that song I saw nothing but smiles. The most touching part of the performance was when the alumni came on stage and sang “Carol of the Bells” with us. It brought back memories of them being with us. It also signified how much of a family we are even after we go to