Nicole Tuma

Announcements

Eighth Grade Liturgical Choir: Easter 2017 Practice Links

Because Easter Sunday was so late this year, we’ll be celebrating the Easter Season until the last week of school. Our two biggest liturgies will be May Crowning (May 8th) and Eighth Grade Graduation (June 2). I will do my best to make sure that every choir member who wants a solo gets to sing a solo at Graduation (most likely, these solos will happen on “Alleluia, Sing Now With Gladness,” “This Is the Day,” and possibly “Go Light Your World.”) Tell me as soon as possible if you’d like to sing a solo at Graduation.

The Grand People Day Prayer Service (May 5) and Last Day of School Mass (June 7) will be sung by the seventh graders, as they prepare to step into their new role as school leaders next year. Thank you, eighth graders, for offering your voices week in and week out throughout the 2016-17 school year. Your joy, enthusiasm, and hard work have made our school masses truly special!

Here are some less-familiar songs that we’ll be singing between now and the end of the year:

Alleluia, Sing Now With Gladness (Warner): This song was written by Steve Warner, who directs the Notre Dame Folk Choir. Here is a recording of his group singing the song. Future Domers take note – this could be you some day! We’ll initially be singing the verses in unison, but I’d like to eventually use cantors on the verses, especially at Graduation. The descant begins at 1:40.

Lift Up Your Hearts: We sang this back in Ordinary Time, and we’ll be bringing it back in the weeks to come.

Go Out, Go Out (Stephan): Here’s another song that we sang at the beginning of the year. We’ll be singing it a couple more times before the end of the year.

O Healing River: We’ll be singing this with an echo, as demonstrated at 0:48. This recording includes sheet music, so you can easily use this to practice.

Jesus, Give Us Your Peace: We sang this during Lent, but never learned the verse. Hopefully, we’ll be able to learn the verse this time around!

Go Light Your World: The Choir will be singing this song at Graduation. Listening to it a few times is by far the easiest way to learn this song.

This Is the Day: Psalm for Graduation

May the Road Rise to Meet You (Lori True): The whole eight grade class will be singing this song at the very end of Graduation. We’ll sing the first refrain and the verses in unison. After the first refrain, we’ll add a descant (sung by sopranos/Group 3. In the recording, it starts around 2:50). EVERY EIGHTH GRADER NEEDS TO HAVE THIS MEMORIZED!

Class Schedule

Music at St. Giles

“You do not have to love a work of art or a style to criticize it, but you do need to understand its attraction for someone who does…Criticism has no significance and not importance if it is not accompanied by understanding – and that implies the comprehension of at least the possibility of love.” – Charles Rosen, music critic

Music at St. Giles

Human beings have been making music for thousands of years. In that time, countless styles of music have been created to fulfill countless purposes. In studying music, we gain a greater appreciation for the many ways that different people and cultures have responded to their own life journey and cultural moment. Studying music gives students a chance to compassionately engage with the unfamiliar, while music performance gives students an opportunity to learn the value of discipline while gaining poise and self-confidence.

Each student at St. Giles has a music class once each week – 30 minutes in grades K-4 and 50 minutes in grades 5-8 (students may also opt to participate in the Band Program). Weekly music classes combine singing, Orff instrument performance, music theory, and music history to provide students with a grounding in basic musical concepts. Each grade level has its own area of focus:

Kindergarten: steady beat, high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, comfort with using the voice, nursery rhymes.
First Grade: Musical Instruments, African and Native American folk music
Second Grade: Medieval and Renaissance periods, Chinese and Japanese folk music
Third Grade: Baroque and Classical periods, European folk music
Fourth Grade: Romantic and Modern periods, American folk music
Fifth Grade: World Music (Central Asia, Middle East, North and South America, Africa, India, East Asia, Indonesia)
Sixth Grade: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods
Seventh Grade: Classical, Romantic and Modern periods
Eighth Grade: Music Careers, Electronic Music, Musical Creativity. Eighth graders also produce a full musical theater production.