Special Choir Guidelines

by Mrs. Burgess

SPECIAL CHOIR GUIDELINES

Commitment

Students involved in special choirs must be committed to their involvement with consistent attendance in rehearsal sessions and performances. Attendance will be taken at rehearsals. When a student reaches the point where they have missed more rehearsals then they have attended, the student may be excluded from a performance and replaced by an alternate for the rest of the year. Academic ineligibility guidelines will be applicable to singers.

Cost

There are costs associated with being involved in special choirs. A choir outfit and t-shirt are purchased In addition to the dress, the ladies will need nude hose and black shoes. The men will need black pants and black shoes. There are also fees for clinics and other events that may also need to be paid by the student. We try to keep these costs minimal. However, since we are essentially borrowing money from the school and I have had difficulty collecting money in the past, the students must have their money paid before they may participate in an activity or performance.

Conduct

The goal of our special choirs is that we are working for excellence and growth as singers. For musicians, working toward excellence should be what is fun about being involved in special choirs. Poor conduct wastes rehearsal time and affects the entire choir negatively. Students will be asked to attend detention after school when their conduct during practice is poor. We will be utilizing a three strike rule. Examples of poor conduct would include: disrupting the class by talking, and acting out; being disrespectful to the teacher or other students, and/or, not participating when we are working. Student conduct is an essential component of the success of a special choir. Tardies and skips will be dealt with as they are in any class.

Cooperation

When the students are admitted to a special choir, they must be sure to remember that working cooperatively within the group is an essential component. They are in the group so that they can promote the success of the group. All decisions are made for the benefit of the group. Continued vocal dissent or lack of participation because the student disagrees with the decision is extremely counterproductive and will be treated as poor conduct.

Courtesy

It is required that the students remain courteous to one another, negative comments will be noted as poor conduct. it is also required that the students are courteous to the teacher, keeping in mind that the teacher/director is in charge and will make all final decisions involving song selection, solo selection, and choreography.

Communication

Notes will be sent home with details about performances. Whenever possible, notes will be sent to your home. However, there are times when things come up suddenly and there is not time to send a note. In that case, students will be responsible for relaying information to their parents.

Choreography

I like to give students the opportunity to use their creativity and skills to choreograph songs. Those students who volunteer to choreograph a song will be given a deadline to have the song choreographed by. As the director, I will be making the final decision and changes to any choreography. Students need to keep in mind that arguing over choreography or criticizing other student choreography will be regarded as poor conduct.

Other considerations

Students are responsible for practicing solo parts or special clinic music outside of school, as time usually does not allow us to work extensively on solos. Students will be given several appropriate choices to choose from, but they are limited to those selections. It is my goal to make every singer sound their very best.

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