NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR

We at SCC want to wish all of you a safe and happy Thanksgiving, and we want you to know how grateful we are that you, parents, volunteers, and choristers, are what makes us possible. We strive to ensure that we teach and present repertoire that helps us explore times, places, and cultures—real or imagined—in a journey that helps us develop empathy and understanding.  We teach that every voice matters, be it the main idea, accompaniment, or waiting to be heard, which we take literally in music but acts as metaphor for engaged citizenship. Ensemble singing is at its core group service and community, a way to contribute our best to create something beautiful that cannot be done by any one chorister alone. And, we lean into being thankful, thankful for collaborative pianists and talented singers, dedicated teachers and collaborative musicians, all of whom work tirelessly for the beautiful children that music helps shape.

We need your help to keep going and to keep growing!  Our mid-season audition dates are Monday and Tuesday, December 19 and 20. Please share the link below with friends and family who may also enjoy singing in our chorus.

And, as you think about charitable giving, monies you donate to SCC fund more possibilities for how we engage students, collaborate with other community arts ensembles, and deliver on bringing excellence, integrity and joy into our choral music education and performance program. 

With great appreciation,

Michael


SCC Mid-Year Audition Registration opens November 15! 

Please share!

(current members do not need to audition)

REGISTER FOR AUDITIONS

WINTER CONCERT: WITH BELLS  ON


Please purchase tickets to our upcoming performance, With Bells On at Strathmore Music Hall, December 15, 7:30pm.  Students do not require a ticket.

PURCHASE TICKETS

WARDROBE


Thank you for participating in our Dress Rehearsals last week. Please note that all students need to wear black socks or black tights (no patterns), and black, soft-soled shoes. Please no patent leather (shiny) shoes and no heels!

If you have any questions, or need assistance with your wardrobe order, please email sbagheri@strathmore.org. 

Shoe Suggestion Links: Women / Girls / Men / Boys

Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet


We have several dedicated and talented singers from across Apprentice, Treble, and Concert Choruses working Thursday afternoons to learn the Waltz of the Snowflakes and an opening selection that SCC is contributing to a performance of Tchaikovsky's famous ballet at the Music Center at Strathmore 3pm and 7pm Saturday, November 19. Participating singers include Apprentice Chorus members Andrés Chavarría Iglesias, Maria Kleinow, Isabella Reyes, Ethan Xia and Juliana Zarate; Treble Chorus members Malaurie Dieudonne, Tian Feng, Natalie Habib, Anna Ibrahim, Zafina Matin, Sophia Neufeld, Katelin Paige Velasquez, and Marilyn Zhang, and Concert Chorus members Melina Fotopoulos and Heidi Gohari.

For tickets, please click the button below. Please use the code, SING for a 20% discount!

Nutcracker Suite Tickets

WELCOME!

SCC welcomes Ann Bartlow, our newest Associate Accompanist! Ms. Bartlow attended State University of New York College at Fredonia where she received a Bachelors of Science in Music Therapy and a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance. She has a Masters in Education from Towson University.  Ms. Bartlow is a Special Education Teacher with Montgomery County Public Schools and is the accompanist in a church in the Rockville, MD area.


MASK MANDATE INFO - TBD for Winter Concert

PREPARATORY CHORUS UPDATES

by Ms. DuBose-Li

Preparatory Chorus rehearsals are in full swing now and the students have risen to every challenge placed in front of them. They are utilizing their practice tracks to help learn and memorize their music quickly so we can use our rehearsals to advance our music making beyond teaching notes and rhythms. We have worked on balance between parts, our ideal vocal sound for each song and our musicianship. Students have shown so much improvement that we will be adding a fourth concert song to our repertoire to sing with the full chorus. We are very excited about this! 

We will have our first tech rehearsal in the performance hall on November 22. We only have five more regular rehearsals together and two technical rehearsals before our concert December 15th. Families, please do everything you can to have your Preparatory Chorus members attend them all. Students should keep practicing and memorizing their music as well as working on their rhythm dictation skills with their Secret Chicken videos. In rehearsal, we will continue to work on our presentation of the songs, including some light choreography, balance between parts, and refining our overall sound. Our concert is shaping up to be fantastic, and we can’t wait to share all our hard work with you!  

PREPARATORY INFO

APPRENTICE CHORUS UPDATES 

by Dr. Wu

Most of our Apprentice Choristers had a blast singing in Halloween costumes late last month. They are putting the polishing touches on a song celebrating Diwali, a song from notable African American choral composer Jester Hairston, and a lullaby from Venezuela. We are singing two independent vocal lines in most of our pieces, and we are doing that with more accuracy and confidence every week.



APPRENTICE INFO

TREBLE CHORUS UPDATES

 by Ms. Wardell

We had a fun Halloween rehearsal and I am impressed with the level of musicianship our singers are showing! 


 

TREBLE INFO

CONCERT/TENOR BASS CHORUS UPDATES 

by Dr. Wu

Concert and Tenor Bass Choruses have learned most of their repertoire for our December 15 concert. We have music to represent Hanukah, Christmas and winter; we sing pieces from the Ukraine, from England, from Germany, from the African Kituba dialect, and even a piece by an SCC parent and award-winning composer, Dr. Joshua Fishbein. Our choristers in each ensemble sing more than four independent vocal lines at once, and they have developed a strong sense of the worlds of music we aim to present at this and every concert.  

CONCERT/TENOR BASS INFO

IMPORTANT DATES!

November 22 & December 12: TECH REHEARSALS

Preparatory and Apprentice: 5:15PM TO 6:30PM
Treble/Concert/Tenor Bass: 6:15PM TO 8:30PM

Strathmore Concert Stage - Traffic Circle drop off and pickup

December 15: WINTER CONCERT: WITH BELLS ON

CALL TIME ALL ENSEMBLES: 5:15PM

Strathmore Concert Stage - Traffic Circle drop off / Pickup in Lobby