Happy Friday! I have just finished entering grades for all my sectional classes; I have decorated my room for Halloween; I have my “to-do” list ready for next Tuesday’s “Choralpalooza” where, together with five area high schools, we will sing for each other, write comments for each other and listen to on-stage critiques provided by Chris Thomas of Rowan University. We will have lunch together (The whole reason for the day!) and then finish the afternoon with all the guys from each school, (which I think will number about 120-130 guys!) singing HOME by Philip Phillips, accompanied by 5 guitars, piano and box drum and all 450 singers will combine to sing Wilhousky’s BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC to complete the day.
It’s a lot of work!
Once Choralpalooza passes, we will do a little bit of pre-assessing in my Chorale class for their SGO and get interested singers ready for the Region II auditions in December. My portfolio assignment for COncert Choir and Chorale has now been turned in and I am in the process of listening to over 160 low and high scales, Turtle Dove Solos and Silver Swans. This assignment is always so eye-opening for me. It is also a GREAT way to communicate with every singer in my ensembles – one-to-one. It takes a lot of time, but the investment, for me, is worth it.
And finally, it was a special week of alumni connections. On Tuesday night, Rick and I ate at MY MOROCCO in South Orange – just a few steps away from SOPAC, which is owned and operated by Jennifer (class of ’91) and her husband Robert. Delicious food and a lovely evening out! And on Thursday we met Dale (class of ’85) in NYC for dinner and opera…One of my private voice students from a number of years ago and from another area high school, Amy, was making her MET debut in The Magic Flute singing the role of the First Lady! I was bursting with pride! After the performance, she arranged for us to come and say a quick backstage hello and we passed Julie Taymor in the hallway! (Apparently Julie mounted this production ten years ago and hadn’t seen it in that same amount of time! It had all the flying animals that you would expect from a Taymor production!) While it was filled with very special events, it was a week that seemed to have more hours in it than most!
Tomorrow I will return to Rutgers for week two of my ESL intensive certification class; 9-6p on Saturday and Sunday. My lesson plan on the verb “have” is ready to go and my flashcards are in order. It’s been interesting being a student again and it’s been interesting watching the efforts of my classmates of varying ages and teaching experience.
I hope your week was a productive one.
‘Til the next time!
Thanks for reading!
Barbara
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