All I ever really needed to know I learned in . . .  On Thursday, April 30th, at 6:30 p.m., students in PreK – 2nd grade will present their spring music program.  We will celebrate many things we have learned in school. More details to follow.

Wow!  Thank you to the students in grades 5-8 for an awesome show last night.  I am so proud of all of you.  You rose to the occasion and performed at your best.  You should be very proud of yourselves. Thank you for all your hard work these past few weeks.  You’re great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

February 17th is the big day.  5th – 8th grade students will present an All-American show for your evening’s entertainment.  Students are to dress in red, white and blue, or military camouflage, or scout uniform  The show starts at 7:00 p.m in the school gym.  Students please report to the risers no later than 6:50 p.m.  I will be putting together a slide show featuring family members and friends who are serving or who have served in the military.  Please send pictures to school by Friday, February 6th so that I might begin work on this project. We invite all veterans to attend this evening’s show, as we would like to dedicate a song to the brave men and women who risk their lives for the safety and security of our country.  Thank you for all you do for us.  See you on the 17th!

Thank you to all the students who performed at Christmas Village.  I am SSSSSSOOOOOOOO proud of all of you!  You have worked so hard these past few weeks and it all paid off today.  I am truly blessed to be your music teacher.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Music Notes:

Please mark your calendars for Christmas Village.  All students in K-8 will perform on Saturday, December 6th.  This is a wonderful day for all involved and I am anxious to see everyone there.  Students in K-4 are asked to dress nicely for this event.  Students in grades 5-8 are asked to wear jeans and a Christmas-colored shirt (red, green, and/or white).  This is a part of your music grade, so attendance is mandatory.  This is the schedule for the day:

9:30 a.m.  5th & 6th Graders
10:15 a.m.  7th & 8th Graders
11:00 a.m.  3rd & 4th Graders
11:45 a.m.  Band

12:15 p.m. Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Graders

I look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas Village.  Thank you!

Choir Notes:
Reminder that we do not meet this week due to no school on 10/31.

We are singing at the Book Fair on Sunday, November 23rd at 2:30 p.m.  Please meet at Barnes & Noble at 2:15 p.m. wearing your choir t-shirts and jeans.

We will not sing at the 9:00 a.m. mass on Sunday, November 16th.  Instead, we will sing at the 9:00 a.m. mass on November 30th.  Please meet at 8:30 a.m. in the church choir room wearing your t-shirt and uniform pants.

Thank you for all you do!

I can’t believe we’ve made it through 3 weeks of school already!  Time flies when you’re having fun.    Thank you to all of the students for your hard work.  We’ve been learning about high and low, playing instruments while keeping a steady beat, reading music, exercising our voices to get the most notes in our vocal range, Do and Re, freeze-dancing, squishy musical chairs, treble and bass clef notes, computer presentations . . .

Choir – Thank you for leading music at the all-school masses.  I really appreciate your leadership, dedication and sharing your talents.  We’re off to a great start.  Just a reminder that choir is open to any student in grades 2-8.  No audition is necessary – just a love of singing.

I’m very excited to begin another school year at St. Raphael’s.  I hope everyone had a great summer and is ready to get back to singing, dancing, reading, writing, composing, listening and playing instruments.  For all you 2nd – 8th graders who love to sing, we would love to have you in our choir.  The Angel Song & Joyful Noise choir will meet on Thursdays after school starting September 11th.  We will meet in the Ed’s room and walk over to the church choir room for rehearsal.  Parents may pick up their child(ren) at 3:15 at the Marian Hall entrance.  We will be singing at Friday all-school masses as well as one weekend a month mass and any other special occasions that may arise.  See you on Tuesday!

Thank you to the 3rd & 4th graders as well as the band students for a great performance on Tuesday, May 20th.  We really came together to present a fabulous show.  You should be very proud of yourselves and what you accomplished.

Choir – Thank you for all of your hard work this year.  It has been great working with all of you and I look forward to seeing you next year for bigger and better things.

8th graders – I want to wish you the best of luck as you move on to high school.  Take what you’ve learned here at SRS and do the very best you can with what God gave you.  Keep in touch!

See you next fall!

3rd & 4th graders have been working hard to prepare for their Tuesday concert.  Our theme is “Bein’ Me.”  God made each of us very special and we need to do the best we can every day.  We will present a dress rehearsal for the school at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20th in the school gym.  Students may be out of uniform if they are wearing their concert clothes (fun, springtime clothes that show off your personality – out of uniform rules apply).  The evening concert begins at 7:00 p.m.  Students are to sit in their assigned spots on the risers and wait for the program to begin – being on their best behavior.  Thank you for all of your hard work.  This will be a great program and I look forward to seeing it all put together.

Students in grades 5-8 are finishing up their guitar unit.  We have continued to work on holding our instrument correctly and playing it to the best of our ability – getting better each class.  We have worked on a variety of tunes from the “Star Wars Movie Theme” to “Amazing Grace” to Miley Cyrus’s “See You Again.”   It’s great seeing and hearing the improvement over the last couple of weeks.

PreK-2nd graders are working on different activities which help reinforce their singing voices as well as reading music and playing instruments.  Do they remember driving the Greased Lightning car with rhythm sticks?  How about walking with a partner during “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”?  We played drums and triangles on “An American March” and have recently played Bingo.  Did your child play Music Styles Bingo or Rhythm Bingo with instruments?   Ask them.  We’ve got some great musicians here at SRS!  Keep up the good work!

Choir – just a reminder that we are singing this Sunday, May 18th at the 9:00 a.m. mass.  Please report to the church choir room by 8:30 a.m. to warm-up our voices, hearts, and minds.  This is our last Sunday to sing.  Thank you for going the extra mile this year to share your musical talents that God gave you.   You’re wonderful!

Students in K-8 have been listening to several American Composers. Ask them about Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown,” or “Variations on America” by Charles Ives. Do they remember “Scherzo” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story?  How about “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson?  William Grant Still’s “Afro-American Symphony” was full of call and response, and we finished our unit by listening to one of the great female American composers – Amy Beach, who wrote “Piano Concerto.”  Students in grades 5-8 had a listening test over these composers (hopefully they took good notes) as well as some general music theory that they reviewed in Jeopardy.  Students in PreK-2nd grade are working on rhythms by using their names.  3rd & 4th graders are preparing for their 5/20 program.