Happy Halloween week!

We'll be back at Pius XI high school tomorrow night from 7:00-8:30. Our two fall events are as follows:

Present Music Concert
This is an optional event with a singer honorarium of $20 to each participant. We will rehearse:

• Nov. 3: 8:30-9:00
• Nov. 10: 8:30-9:00
• Nov. 17: 8:30-9:00

I will bring music this week to rehearsal. Your mp3 is available here

Present Music rehearsals with all the instruments and other singers will be:

• Nov. 21 (Fri. evening)
• Nov. 22 (Sat. morning)

The concert is Sunday, Nov. 23 at 4:00 pm at the St. John the Evangelist Cathedral.

Lessons & Carols at the Cathedral (with Pius XI High School Choirs)
This will take place on Friday, Dec. 12 at the St. John the Evangelist Cathedral at 7:00 pm. Since we will not be part of their dress rehearsal (it takes place during the day) I'll ask you to get there at 6:00 pm to rehearse.

Last thing for this week: We're planning to invite MCC and VAA alumni to join us next May for our final concert. As part of this, we would like to you share your favorite choir pieces from years past that you might like to perform again on this concert.

Go to this link to take the survey: MCC/VAA survey

Hello singers & parents,

REMEMBER - no rehearsal tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 20 due to the Pius XI Open House. We'll see you on Monday, Oct. 27 for regular rehearsal.

Upcoming events:

PRESENT MUSIC PREPARATION REHEARSALS
We will have preparation rehearsals for the Present Music Hammers & Whistlers piece on three Monday nights: Nov. 3, Nov. 10, Nov. 17 from 8:30-9:00 pm, after our regular rehearsal. In addition, you are expected to spend time rehearsing the music on your own.

You can download the music here: Present Music score
(I will also bring hard copies to rehearsal next week.)

You can download the audio mp3 for here: Hammers & Whistlers mp3

See you on Oct. 27!

Emily Crocker

Hello singers & parents,

Two things for this week:

1. NEXT WEEK, October 20, there will be NO rehearsal due to the Pius XI HS Open House. VAA rehearsals will resume on Oct. 27.

2. I have updated information for the Present Music concert. You can view/download the info form and I will have hard copies available tonight at rehearsal.

Present Music UPDATED info

See you tonight!

Emily Crocker

Hello all!

Hope you are having a great week!

I don't have too much to report this week except to remind you of the post from Thursday about the Present Music concert. I will have more information this week at rehearsal, or you can check out this info sheet:

Present Music Info

This opportunity is available to both boys and girls, and if you would like to invite a school choir friend to be part of the experience you can have them sign up too!

There is also an opportunity for a treble soloist to sing a section of the work. When we sang it back in MCC days, I think Mikaela was the soloist! It is not a difficult solo, but requires good rhythm. Just let me know if you would like to be considered for this solo.

See you tomorrow night!

Emily Crocker

Special opportunity for singers

We have a special opportunity for VAA singers to sing with the Present Music Ensemble at their Thanksgiving concert on Sunday, Nov. 23 at St. John's Cathedral. All singers who participate in this event will earn $20.00. (You can put it on your resume that you are a professional singer!)

You will be singing a wild and crazy piece called "Hammers and Whistlers" along with singers from other groups (Homestead HS, Muskego HS and professional singers) and the exciting instrumentalists of the Present Music Ensemble.

The composer of this work is Kamran Ince, who is a contemporary Turkish-American composer and he writes very interesting and modern music.

There will be two rehearsals, Nov. 7 and Nov. 9 and you will need to be present for at least one of those rehearsals. I will help you learn the music on a couple of evenings to be announced in late October and early November after our regular rehearsal.

If you are interested in being part of this experience, please email me at emily@vocalarts.us or I will have sign-up forms at rehearsal on Monday night.

It will be fun and we'll have pizza downtown after the concert!

Here is a recording of Hammers & Whistlers:

Hammers & Whistlers

Dear singers & parents,

Thanks for a great start to Vocal Arts 2014-2015!

A few updates:
1. We have a schedule update for October. There will be NO rehearsal on Monday, Oct. 20, due to the Pius IX High School Open House that night. Please update your calendars.

2. Be thinking about your favorite songs from VAA or from MCC. We're going to program them in the spring, so we'll try to pick as many as possible.

3. Try to arrive on time for rehearsal. I know you are all super busy and involved in many school activities. If you are going to miss rehearsal, email me at emily@vocalarts.us.

4. You can start bringing solos for Mrs. Stosur & I to evaluate for class and community programming. Mrs. Stosur will need her own copy.

Have a great Sunday evening. Do your homework and see you tomorrow.

Emily Crocker

Greetings, singers & parents!

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful Wisconsin Autumn! The city of Milwaukee cut down my giant maple tree, but for some reason I still have leaves on my lawn!

Here is a new piece we will be starting tomorrow night, performed by VAA in December, 2010, "Sing We Now of Christmas" arranged by John Leavitt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awZhgml9nPs

Please place this date on your calendar:

December 12, 2014, 7:00 pm - Vocal Arts will be performing at the Festival of Lessons and Carols at St. John's Cathedral. Also on the program, Pius High School choirs and orchestra and the Pius Fine Arts Academy singers. I will be directing that group and they will join us on at least one of our songs.

See you tomorrow, 7:00-8:30 pm at Pius.

Emily Crocker