Seattle Girls' Choir - News & Information 

October 2012 
In This Issue
Jean-Marie Kent
Barbara Halliday
Key October Dates
Featured Article
Musical Me - Fall Session
Performance Dates Added
SGC w/Arts Crush
Schedule Fitting
Chinook Book for Sale!
Editing our new CD
Introducing Moodle


Welcome Jean-Marie
We are so pleased to have Jean-Marie Kent join us as accompanist and theory teacher for Vivissimi ! Jean-Marie is the music teacher at Madrona K-8 in Seattle. She recently completed her doctorate in choral conducting from the UW specializing in collaboration and community engagement. Recognized for her ability to get to the heart of singing, she is frequently sought after as a clinician for high school and community choirs. Before moving to Seattle, she taught music in New York and Vancouver Island where she developed public school music programs for gifted children. She has also conducted several orchestras and choirs.
Welcome Barbara
We are very excited to have Barbara Halliday join us as our new Concert Manager. Barbara has been singing in choirs since high school and particularly values the amazing sounds that emerge when voices are joined together. She has sung with the Seattle Choral Company, the Goodwill Games Choir and most recently, Alki UCC. Her performance experience both on and back stage was honed when she helped design, manage and perform in "Mysterian" a million dollar magic show with her husband master magician, Steffan Soule and a cast of nine. Barbara still performs magic at corporate events, private parties and school shows often running the lights and sound and managing the cast for larger shows. Prior to her magic career Barbara was an elementary school librarian and still loves children's literature and books of any kind. She's excited to have this opportunity to work with the Seattle Girls' Choir.
Parking Lot Safety
Reminders
Please honor the handicap spot

Ideally, walk your daughter into building & pickup in the lobby after

Remember it is a one way driving loop

Do not pull up to front door - girls coming & going can't safely see around your car

Drive slowly!
Thank you!
 
Camp Thank You!
The SGC Camp Committee sends a huge "thank you"
to the many parents and SGC alumnae who contributed to the success of our overnight camp at Fort Flagler.   
 
There were a few items left behind.  Please check the lost and found box on the shelf above the coat rack near the main floor restrooms. 
 

October Highlights
Chinook Book Sales
Cantamus & PV through Oct. 17th

You Can SING!  

Sat, Oct 20, Allegra


Fall Open Houses

Mon, Oct 22
     Cantamus & PV
Thurs, Oct 25
     Vivissimi & Allegra

Tues, Oct 30
     Dolcine

Uniform Fittings
Oct 27 & 28
Nov 3 & 4

Updated Rosters

You can now find updated rosters on the Choir Info page of our website.  The lists are password protected.  You can find the password in the New Family folder you were given at auditions, or you can email Stacia for a reminder.

Carpools and Play-dates await!
Prime Voci - Outside the Kaiser Whilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin
June 2012
mme colorMusical Me is our pre-school music class for girls and boys ages 4 and 5 designed to develop and instill a love of music.

We are taking Fall Session registrations now!
  • Classes are Tuesdays from 4:30-5:00
  • Starting October 2nd through December 4th
  • Cost for the 10 week session:  $150

Just fill out this registration form or call the office today!  206.526.1900  

Updated Performance Schedules 
Updated schedules, by choir level, can always be found on the Choir Info page of our website. 
Of note are additions for Dolcine and Vivissimi:

Dolcine - Sunday, December 9th, will perform for the Trinity Lutheran Church congregation as a thank you from SGC for their continued support. Trinity allows us to use their space throughout the year for auditions.

Vivissimi - Sunday, December 9th, has been invited to sing at the Make-A-Wish Foundation Santa Breakfast.

Cantamus & Prime Voci - Friday, December 21st, Lessons & Carols
You Can SING!
Do you know a 3rd-5th grader who loves to sing?
 

Invite them to join us for our FREE singing workshop, You Can SING, on October 20th at the Garfield Community Center. Free registration through Garfield CC over the phone at (206) 684-4788, or through SPARC registration 

Saturday, October 20th, 2012 - 10:30-12:30
    Seattle's Garfield Community Center

    2323 East Cherry St

Register for this free event through the Garfield CC over the phone at (206) 684-4788, or through SPARC registration

 

Uniform Fittings!
All Choir Levels Participate
Schedule Your Appointment Now

It is time to start planning for uniform fittings!  Here are the details:

 

Fittings are held at the SGC Office -1910 E Spruce Street 

15 minute slots are available on Sat. Oct 27, Sun. Oct 28, Sat. Nov 4, Sun. Nov 5.

Simply click on this Scheduling Link  and enter your daughter's name in an available slot/cell, and you will receive a reminder a week before your fitting date.

 

Items to bring to the fitting:

Returning choristers - if you did not return your uniform in June please bring it washed and hem removed to your appointment.

 

Dolcine & Vivissimi - black patent shoes (mary janes or similar simple style), white sheer stockings.

 

Allegra - black patent shoes, nude stockings, black pants, black shoes & socks, red SGC sweatshirt if already been issued one.

 

Cantamus - black 'character' shoes, nude stockings, black pants, black shoes & socks, red SGC sweatshirt if already issued.  

 

Prime Voci - black gown, black character shoes, black stockings, black slacks, black shoes & socks, red SGC sweatshirt, cathedral gown w/cape, black slippers and nude stockings optional.
Get Your Chinook Books!
Prime Voci and Cantamus taking orders now!
 

Prime Voci & Cantamus are selling Chinook Books  and Mobile Apps (iPhone, Android) to support SGC and the Cantamus trip to PICCFEST next summer in Eugene, OR. Both the book and the App have tons of useful and fun coupons ranging from travel (2 for 1 Amtrack) to groceries, and many arts events (Seattle Symphony, ACT, SAM, PNB, Children's Museum and more). Either version will quickly pay for itself. Orders are due by October 17, and books will be delivered shortly thereafter.

 

Girls will be in the lobby of the church on Tuesdays and Thursdays the week of October 1st and 8th to make ordering easy!

(You can also contact Aimee Mell to place an order) 

 

Thank you for your support of SGC!  

Editing Our Upcoming New CD:
Carmina Angelorum
 

The editing phase of the new CD from Prime Voci (PV) is almost done, after which it will be sent off for mastering and manufacturing.  What exactly is editing though?

 

In February, PV held two recording sessions at Holy Rosary Church in West Seattle.  For a single song, they would record two to three complete takes (running the song start to finish).  After that, they would go back and re-do specific parts if necessary.  The end result is that each song (typically about three minutes) has about twenty minutes of recorded material.

 

This material was then loaded into a computer.  SGC's Artistic Director Jake Winkler listened to each take of each song, identifying the best performances for compositing into the final recording.  Sometimes this meant taking the first half of a note from one take and carefully cross-fading into the second half of the same note from a different take so that the end result is seamless.  Figure 1 shows one song from the CD:  Each of the vertical lines represents a different splicing of different takes.  Figure 2 shows a close up of one of these splices, showing the cross-fading between takes.  The horizontal bands are tracks, and each represents a different microphone in the room:  Three up front for the choir, one close mic on the harp, and two about forty feet out into the room to capture the ambience.

 

The beautiful acoustics of Holy Rosary mean that no artificial reverbs were needed to sweeten the sound.  Occasionally, though, a few other tricks were called for.  In this example, for example, the fourth verse featured a soloist.  For that verse, the microphone she was closest to was doubled onto another track, very subtly compressed (a process that narrows the contrast between loud and soft), then added back in to make the soloist appear ever so slightly louder in the mix.

 

Look for Carmina Angelorum on sale at the holiday concerts this year!
SGC Theory Technology: Introducing Moodle

Starting this Fall, SGC is taking a big step into the future with the implementation of Moodle into the theory curriculum. Moodle is an open-source e-learning software package that allows teachers to create effective online courses, boasting over 57 million users worldwide. We will start our integration of Moodle at the two senior levels of the choir, Cantamus and Prime Voci.

 

For the time being, we will be using Moodle to conduct weekly quizzes over the weekend (or, as we see it, "That huge gap in rehearsals between Wednesday and Monday!"). In addition to keeping those theory brain-cells active, the quizzes will provide the girls with a means of practicing ear-training at home, which has traditionally been very challenging to do.

 

Over time, we will also begin using Moodle to present material online as interactive activities, and implementing some of its other features such as discussion forums and custom Wikis.

 

For more information about Moodle, check out  www.moodle.org.

PV parents - ask your daughter to show you this weekend's quiz!