Tour rehearsals
The choir is hard at work with guest Andy Miller, working on Loch Lomond by Jonathan Quick

Choir Tour 2014

The St. Mary's Central High School Concert Choir is going to Florida and the Bahamas. 

We depart June 6. Come join us at SMCHS in the small gym for Catholic Mass and a concert. Mass is at 5:00 p.m. 

Some highlights of the tour include:

• Singing at St. James Cathedral in Orlando on Pentecost Sunday 9:00 Mass June 8
• Singing the Star Spangled Banner in St. Petersburg for the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Seattle Mariners MLB game 1:40 June 8
• Disney World Performing Arts Concerts June 9
• Carnival Cruise June 12-15

We'll try to post some updates and pictures during the tour. 

Congratulations to our State Star Vocalists 

All ratings for the festival are posted below:

Solos:

I-Excellent   Catherine Bopp - O del mio dolce ardor

I-Excellent  Jessica Johnson - Quella fiamma

Star  Alexandra Streifel - Alleluia

Star   Juliana Keller - Ah, Love But a Day

Star   Dominick Goettle - Lydia

I-Excellent  Ben Porter - I Attempt From Love's Sickness

I-Excellent Kendra Weigel - Chanson d'amour

Star   Rachel Goettle - La volubile

Star   Sara Friedt - Die Forelle

Ensembles:

I-Excellent  Pie Jesu - BVE3

I-Excellent  Frobisher Bay - GVE3

Star   Crucifixus - GVE2

I-Excellent   I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked - MVE2

I-Excellent   Ave Verum Corpus - MVE7

Star   Caresse sur l'ocean - GVE12

Star  Dulaman - BVE12

Star  O Vos Omnes - MVE12

You are wonderful singers!  25 of you received a star rating today! Congratulations on your hard work!

A year later...

Well, it has been an entire year since my last blog.  I had better change that! Today was a very good day. We took 47 students to the West Region Vocal Music Contest. We spent the day at Century Baptist Church. (and we learned a few things - like...carpet doesn't resonate, and...Baptists don't believe in the saints) OK - anyway... I get to post results for the day and share some thoughts.

First... ALL OF THE SENIORS ARE GOING TO STATE! 

Next... 27 students will be at University of Mary on April 27. 

Also... I have 59 certificates of superior rating in my possession. 

I will start with solos!

Congratulations to:

Catherine Bopp - O del mio dolce ardor

Jessica Johnson - Quella fiamma

Alexandra Streifel - Alleluia

Juliana Keller - Ah, Love But a Day

Dominick Goettle - Lydia

Ben Porter - I Attempt From Love's Sickness

Kendra Weigel - Chanson d'amour

Rachel Goettle - La volubile

Sara Friedt - Die Forelle

Now, on to the ensembles:

Pie Jesu - BVE3

Frobisher Bay - GVE3

Crucifixus - GVE2

I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked - MVE2

Ave Verum Corpus - MVE7

Caresse sur l'ocean - GVE12

Dulaman - BVE12

O Vos Omnes - MVE12

And... there you have it! Congratulations to all singers. 

Those NOT listed above received either a I or a II rating. I will hand out ballot sheets on Tuesday. Please be thinking of a time when your ensemble can practice on a regular basis before state.  I would like to work toward a couple "best of the day" awards, because you are the best part of my school day! ;-)

West Region Vocal Contest Results

Wow! What a day. The Singing Saints participated in the West Region Vocal Contest. It was held at McCabe United Methodist Church on April 7. I'm posting results for the state bound students. They will be traveling to Jamestown April 29 and competing with other vocal solos/ensembles throughout North Dakota. Lots of hard work, late night practices and major memorizing went into this process. I am so proud of the many who put in additional time outside of the choir class to prepare! That's what makes a difference. OK... We'll celebrate in class and the ballots will be available for review.


BVE 2-3...
3 Ave Verum

BVE 4-6...
5 Quiet Joys

BVS...
Dominick Goettle- Widmung
Michael Berger- Bright is the Ring of Words

GVE 2-3...
2 Tulerunt Dominum meum

GVE 4-6...
6 Heidenroslein
6 Heart, We Will Forget Him

GVE 7-12...
12 In Paradisum

GVS...
Alexandra Streifel - Seguidillas Religiosas
Amanda Wentz - Se tu m'ami
Brittany Dunnigan- Non so piu
Juliana Keller - Die Mainacht
Rachel Goettle - Amorosi Miei Giorni
Sarah Porter- Vaghissima sembianza
Sommer Wild - Chi vuol la zingarella

MVE 2-3
2 Wir gehn nun
2 Ave Maria

MVE 4-6
4 Legenda

MVE 7-12
8 Ave Verum

Singing My heart out.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. The choir is working on Midwinter music for our February 27th concert. We are singing Chesnekov, Randall Thompson, Calwell & Ivory, and Klouse's "The Prayer of the Children". News worthy items about this year? The choir is sending 4 students to the National ACDA Conference in Chicago! Bravo to Christian Boechler, Rachel Goettle, Nick Van Sickle, and Nicholas Boechler. We also just had our ND ACDA Conference in Dickinson. I had the pleasure of taking 11 students. 6 guys in the Men's HS/Collegiate Honor Choir; Jace Carroll, Christian Boechler, Michael Berger, Dominick Goettle, Alex Willey, and Ben Porter. 5 students in the JH/MS Honor Choirs; Rachel Goettle, Alanna Carlson, Jenna Smith, Nick Van Sickle and Nicholas Boechler (though I can't claim Nicholas any more - he is Miss Jessi Maher's student). She is a former student of mine. How cool is that? They were fun! The drive home was not! Snow fog=scary!
We participated in the University of Mary Jazz Festival. I have been a part of that festival since 1983. Yikes. Vijay Singh and Michelle Weir were awesome. I had the youngest high school choir with the newest students and they upheld the tradition of excellence for St. Mary's. We debuted our first ever guys group. Fun! The NDMEA All State lists came out. We have 9 students in the choirs and 1 alternate (we're hoping to get him in too!) Jazz Choir= Brittany Dunnigan, Kendra Weigel, Christian Boechler; Mixed Choir=Rachel Goettle, Sarah Porter, Dominick Goettle; Women's Choir=Alexandra Streifel, Juliana Keller, Maureen Bry. Way to go Saints!
Here's hoping you have a beautiful time with someone you love in the next week, celebrating Valentine's Day.

Wonderful Start

We are just completing the first quarter of school. Last spring is still a fog. I can't even remember who recorded the spring concert. Wow. It was such a difficult spring. The tour was a success, but it was tough to give myself permission to have fun. My heart still aches when I look across the room. But I have been truly blessed with the best students. They are great people with personality. It is going to be a wonderful year. I auditioned them for the NDMEA conference. We used last years pieces. (minus the spring concert - never did find it) I know that so far they have risen to the challenges. I'll try to keep people posted on this year's journey.

Links to NYC tour site.

Hi everyone! We have 1 day before we depart. Here is a tinyurl to get to our site. This will be active during the tour and shortly afterward to share photos. http://tinyurl.com/2b2belr Otherwise you can type in the long name. http://sites.google.com/site/singingsaints2010/
We depart at 9:00 a.m. Sunday. Enjoy!

Choir Tour 2010

Hi everyone. We are counting down the days until choir tour 2010. We actually have 12 days as I write this post. We depart Bismarck on June 6th. I'll keep in touch a bit as we go. I'll see what I can do about a picture gallery. You are welcome to join us for a Tour Mass on June 5th at St. Mary's Central High School. Prelude music begins at 8:00 (our idea of a concert). Fr. Joshua Waltz will celebrate mass. We are traveling to NYC; Sandusky, Ohio; Mackinaw Island, MI. Stay "tuned" for more details.

Ratings posted... advancing to state!

OK Everyone. We have had a crazy month. First of all... thanks to all the awesome students that have auditioned for honor choirs this year. You are amazing! Congratulations to the 12 wonderful vocalists that were selected to North Central ACDA. Also, NDMEA All-State? Can you believe that 14 students were selected? I can! You are to be commended for you hard work and dedication. The concerts were so enjoyable. Rosanna Eckert, Dr. Seelig and Eugene Rogers sure must have been great to work with as conductors, because you all progressed quite nicely from the first rehearsal. Now... The NDHSAA West Region Vocal Contest results. Not much time to get ready. I hope you felt like you could all take something away from today and will be better singers. Here is the list that will go on to state in Jamestown. I will bring the ratings to school tomorrow. I will take time in class and you'll get a chance to view the rubrics. I felt there were a couple others that might have been selected to advance, but I'm not the judge. So... Enjoy the list and congratulate each other.

• Sarah Porter - Ridente la calma GVS
• Rachel Burckhard - Sebben crudele GVS
• Alexandra Streifel - Vergorgenheit GVS
• Paige Willey - Helft mir ihr schwester GVS
• Christian Boechler - Si tra i ceppi BVS
• Catherine Bopp - Du ring an meinem finger GVS
• Kendra Weigel - Nel cor piu non mi sento GVS
• Brittany Dunnigan - Che fiero costume GVS
• Juliana Keller - In torno all'idol mio GVS
• GVE 5 - Bright Morning Stars are Rising
• BVE 5 - The Lord Bless You and Keep You
• GVE 2 - Bel tempo che vola
• GVE 11 - Je le vous dirai
• BVE 2 - Zion Hears the Watchmen Singing

"Sing a New Song"

Just thought I'd let you know about our upcoming SMCHS Concert Choir Performance. Here's the info:
St. Mary's Central High School Presents: A Christmas Choral Concert Thursday, December 10, 7:30 P.M. at Saint Anne Church in Bismarck.
"Sing a New Song" conducted by Vicky R. Boechler - featuring the concert choir including performances by the concert choir women, St. Mary's men, and the St. Mary's Blues.
Works by Rheinberger Gabrieli, and GF Handel along with Christmas favorites! Free and open to the public. A reception will follow the performance.

A life filled with sound

The Messiah, Cathedral Church Choir, Voices+, St. Mary's Central High School Choir, St. Mary's Blues, school liturgies and the choir tour... Wow! OK - So I know everything will turn out just fine, but I think I'll learn how to delegate a bit more. I think the toughest part of it is keeping everyone informed. My computer has become my other right arm with the audio files, lesson plans, spreadsheets for fundraising, posters and program preparation, grade book, liturgy slides and major form of communique. LOL! Well, if I can get a computer to do my workouts, I'll be set. I hope people are able to take time to enjoy all the beautiful music that the wonderful singers are preparing.

Our next big SMCHS Choir thing is November 20 out at U-Mary. It will be a great retreat day for the singers. On Sunday, November 22, the choir sings at 3:00 in the Cathedral for the Feast of St. Cecelia Concert. I get to combine my church choir AND my school choir. Should be fun! That evening at the Kirkwood Mall, the St. Mary's Blues will sing carols from 6-9 PM. They will be taking part in the "Season Premiere". We are selling tickets for admitance. $5 gets you into the mall and also registers you for a $1000 shopping spree. Let me know if you want a ticket.

We requested our performance at Ground Zero. This week we also pick broadway musicals to attend. Amazing fun and learning.

Touring is definitely a great experience. The Saints are working to pay for their trip. When I listed all the fundraisers they have already had, I was surprised. I thought I'd let you know what's up in case you're looking for a way to help. Tuesday, October 20th from 4:30 - 6:30 the students were planning to tailgate with baked potatoes. They will serve them at SMCHS since we are having unseasonably cold weather. Come stuff a potato. Proceeds go directly to the students. If you can't come, you can help by telling others. And, if you want to have a great coffee, just see any student to order your fresh roasted bean from them. They'll help you find the best type for your enjoyment.

OK - enough. The Messiah starts in a little more than a week. I know the 80th will be amazing. If you want to sing - check out the link for rehearsals. Join us at TLC.

For fun - I've included a clip of a really neat stairway. You'll see what I mean. :-) Enjoy. Here is the link to youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26-aZd4uv_o

Breakfast News and more

Today we served french toast, sausage, and fruit for breakfast to all guests at SMCHS. Our chair couple did a great job. The parents were awesome volunteers and the students definitely got the task done. It was a nice collaboration of music parents. I saw a lot of smiles and heard good things about the food and workers; (better than McDonalds-lol). So, I will be taking a class in Mandan for the next two days and I guess that means I'll tell you how we did financially on Wednesday. We did serve 384 adults and 74 children. The bake sale was a success. I hope everyone feels as good as I do about a job well done.

We start selling coffee on Wednesday. When I get back to class I will hand out forms and information. The link to the coffee company is here. All money will be turned in by October 26. Next week... We'll pick two broadway musicals from the many options available. You'll be voting for your top choice.

Congratulations to all 12 students that were accepted by recorded audition to be members of the ACDA Honor Choirs in March! Excellent work! Remember, North Central ACDA Honor Choir members, your forms are to be postmarked by October 15th. If you need the forms, here is the link. It's a .pdf file. I'll also have these available at school on Wednesday. Minneapolis and the Real Group will be quite an experience!

Have a great couple of days. I'm looking forward to continue my coursework, learning to be a better teacher.

Thanks for the kind acts!

Today I was the recipient of agape. Agape is the love of the bible - not the mushy emotional feeling we get from those that attract us. It's a VERB. So... I hope the people know who they are. How do you thank them without sounding silly? One student was so kind, she raised funds for my son to help with his tour costs. It will really help. Another decided to create the fun and not wait for it to happen, so he shared music and food with those around him. I sure enjoyed rehearsal more. I hope he felt the change in the others around him. An adult told me last week that she can't make a difference any more. She doesn't have the energy left to do this. I'm sad for her and those she would help. And, my mother-in-law has a roomate for six weeks. She is extremely kind and thoughtful. She's making changes and we can see the fruits of her labor. Just simple acts of love. We have all these gifts. I think we look to give the gifts that others have instead of identifying our own talents and sharing what God gave us. Each one has so much to share with another. One person CAN make a difference. We may not notice what effect we have had on the situation until later, if at all. But, Mother Theresa was heard to say "do it anyway".

I love teaching. I am gifted everyday with the blessing of being around the students. I pray I never lose that! As I continue to work on being a better listener, I also learn to receive from others. Thanks for reading to the end. Go show love! :-)

Well, I'm very excited to have this week arrive. I get to work with my St. Mary's Central High School & Cathedral students. I will spend Wednesday evening with the Cathedral Church Choir. Anyone wanting to join us, click on the informational link on the side of the page. A great thing to happen... Father James Shea will be installed, this week, as the 6th president of University of Mary. Sister Thomas Welder has been such a tremendous mentor. I'm lucky to have been a student during her presidency. More excitement... I am hiring soloists for the 80th Messiah production and my boys have soccer & football games to enjoy. Sometimes the business is filled with great energy and lots of joy. Anyone who needs something to do on Saturday, September 19th? The SMCHS Choir will have a food booth under the canopy at Eckroth Music. We'll be there from 10 - 3:00 PM. They're having a sidewalk sale. I think there will be an open mic. Come have some fun and support the choir on our journey toward our June 2010 Choir Tour to NYC. The picture I included is from Capitola CA. Just a great place to hang out. Travel is so wonderful.

Rest - Sometimes the best part of music is in the silence.

It's labor day. A day of rest after Sunday, another day of rest. It's funny. Sometimes, when teaching a new piece of music, the choir does very well, until they come to a section with rests. They let go completely and forget to feel the time in the rests. So, they don't come back in at the right time. I think life is the same way. What we do with our time of rest says a lot about us. Do we fill it with as much activity as possible? Try to fit in all the things we've just been waiting to do? Or, do we just enjoy being present with those around us? Just food for thought. I know that as Tuesday arrives, we'll have so much activity in our lives that we may even have to take time to breathe. How to balance the sound and the silence... Good luck to you with hurried lives. I will keep my students and their families in my prayers. I am extremely excited to start the Blues rehearsals this week, and to begin the Cathedral Church Choir next week. Apparently it will be quality rest over quantity. :-)

The year is here!

So, 62 wonderful students, an accomplished accompanist, and an eager conductor filled with creative ideas...

The students are going to have the time of their lives this year in our choir. I just had a meeting with their parents and a 7 minute mock class. I used to hand out folders, make them warm-up, sit in the right seats and sing something. The class was a bit longer back then. Now, we just push the information out and get everyone geared up.

This blog will definitely get used. I plan on linking enough stuff to it to keep the students in the know. I have a few tricks to figure out, so if you're a parent that is web saavy and isn't afraid to coach me, let me know. This is not old html.

The jazz choir auditions are coming up on the 31st of August. We're going to run jazz band and jazz choir both in the same evening for selecting our groups. The band gives up first Wednesdays each month. Ours will start with everyone at 6:00 PM and then individual auditions (bring any jazz/pop song) will be in timed slots until we are done. You can sign up in the choir office.

I'll write more often. Just wanted to thank all the great parents for the help with our lock-in and for showing up tonight in support of your son/daughter. Keep them practicing.

Peace...

I've just returned from the International Peace Gardens where I had a great time working with vocal jazz students at the International Music Camp. It's on the border between the USA and Canada. I took this picture of the peace towers. They also have part of the twin towers from NYC. It was my second summer conducting vocal jazz with Jennifer Parker. I mention Jen in an earlier blog. She's at McNally-Smith. We had 2 groups - one SSA and one SATB, then combined them for a gospel jazz number. I hope to keep in contact with the awesome singers. It rained a couple days so we really appreciated the sun when it finally did peek out on Saturday. -------When I arrived home, I made it just in time to check out University of Mary's 50th year alumni reunion activities out at Buckstop Junction. Great band - Rift. They play well. All alumni of course. I got a chance to sing in the alumni choir this morning for their concert and the mass. Tom did such a nice job. We all came from a variety of conductors within the school's history, so we didn't have the same trainging. There's a video link up on facebook. Very nice. So, I'm definitely at peace. I'll keep praying for my colleage, Bill Schmidt, and for all the students & their families. Peace to you!

Independence Day - freedom to relax

Happy Fourth of July!

Summer is here. I can just feel myself relaxing. On Monday - Nick Schneider, Russ Kovash, and Josh Ehli were ordained. The music was very special. A lot of work went into the selection, by Nick and Bill Ruelle. The choir was made up of 38 singers from Saint Anne, Cathedral, and even St. Patrick's in Dickinson. We even had additional guests playing-singing with us. The singers were extremely dedicated and really sang well. Some music was not even available on recording for those who like to learn that way. I think they are starting to trust me and that will make a difference in preparation. Muriel was awesome, jumping back and forth between organ & piano with the blink of an eye. The choir had 3 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba, and oboe for accompaniment. I really am proud of the singers and instrumentalists. We sang "Praise His Holy Name" as postlude and while the newly ordained were getting pictures taken with the most Reverend Bishop Zipfel and I think I caught him dancing with his crozier while we sang the last page. :-) Everyone really did their best and it paid off. Wow. So, now I'm filing music away - looking for all the lost music - and getting ready for my week at the International Music Camp. I'll be conducting vocal jazz and working with wonderful faculty. It's a real treat. The Singing Saints cleaned diamonds for the McQuade Tournament also this past weekend and we turned in 155 pounds of aluminum. We'll need some decent fundraisers this year if we plan on getting to NYC in June 2010. Some of my singers will be with me at IMC. That's always nice. Well, fly the flag. I'll have my flag out. Sing the national anthem at the top of your lungs. Make someone join you.