SCVA Newsletter (on-line version) - November 2010
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Message from the President - Rodger Guerrero
Is it just me, or do directors simply talk too much during rehearsals? Do we enjoy the dulcet tones of our speaking
voices that much or have we just developed longtime bad habits? Today I rehearsed four different
choirs. I gradually began to notice
that it took me longer to explain musical concepts to the singers then it took
for them to actually achieve them! The
more they achieved, the more I spoke of new concepts. The endless circle eventually established a talking-to-singing
ratio of about 2:1. This meant that
I was speaking for 30 of the 45-minute rehearsals. Those poor singers! They
didn't join choir to spend so much time listening to me lecture!
If this situation sounds similar to yours, try a few well-established tricks of the trade. First, use a stopwatch throughout rehearsals (I use one from my phone) to time the talking-to-singing ratio for yourself. Better yet, let one of your trusted singers do it for you. Even more, make sure to inform your singers of your intent, that is, to train yourself to establish a 1:2 (or more!) talking-to-singing ratio during choral rehearsals. Tell them that you value their musical development so much that you are making every effort to give them as much singing time as possible. Do this and you will win their trust and respect forever.
If this method is too public for you, try to video tape your rehearsals (I just bought a Flip video camera with a two-hour time limit). Take time to sit, compile talking-to- singing data, and analyze where you might make strategic teaching changes to alter the ratio. While this technique is time extensive, it can teach other valuable lessons as well (conducting gesture, conductor-singer communication, etc.).
Finally, if we have to talk, we should make every effort to talk with and not to our singers. We should involve them in each discussion, questioning, prodding, and encouraging them at every possible moment. Wilbert McKeachie's Teaching Tips offers that studies clearly indicate that "discussion methods are far superior to lectures in student retention of information, transfer of knowledge to new situations, development of problem solving, and in motivation for further learning" (McKeachie, pp. 55-56).
So friends, keep the talking to a minimum and let your singers have a voice in every discussion. Most importantly, let them sing because that's what they come to choir to do. Besides, isn't choral singing what we want them to do for their entire lives?
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Young Women's and Young Men's Harmony Festivals - Mark Freedkin,
VP - Barbershop Harmony Festivals
We are pleased to invite you to this year's Barbershop Harmony
Festivals for Young Women and Young Men.
Both events will be held at the Robert B. Moore Theater on the campus of
Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. The
6th annual "Diva Day" Young Women in Harmony Festival,
sponsored by the Harborlites Chorus, will be held on Saturday, February 5, and
the 11th annual "Young Men's Harmony Festival" will be held on
Saturday, February 12, sponsored by the Masters of Harmony. Both of these
events will provide a unique musical opportunity for your singers and will
provide a positive boost to your choral music program.
Each event will consist of morning and afternoon clinics and rehearsals, followed by a public performance in the evening with the respective adult choruses. There will also be a clinic for music educators who would like to participate in a hands-on demonstration of how the barbershop style is taught and how it can be used to attract more young men and women into your program.
The early application fee is only $20 per singer for applications that are submitted by November 12. After November 12, the application fee is $25 per singer. The sponsoring choruses will cover the remaining costs for all sheet music, practice CDs, rehearsal facilities, guest clinicians and performance costumes. Each singer will receive a commemorative tee shirt. We will also provide lunch and dinner for the singers, choral directors and any adult chaperones accompanying the singers.
Please download and print the appropriate application forms from the SCVA website. Complete and return the applications and forms, along with payment by cash, check, or money order payable to Harborlites (for "Diva Day") or Masters of Harmony (for the Young Men's Festival). Each event will be limited to a maximum of 250 participants, so be sure to submit your applications early. Note that these festivals are separate events, and you must send the appropriate forms and payments to the proper recipient.
Young Women's Festival Only:
In order to accommodate more schools, we are limiting the number of singers
per school to twelve (12). Ideally we suggest 1-2 tenors, 3-4 leads, 2-3
baritones, and 3-4 basses. This will allow you to perform the music as a group
and use this group to help your other students learn the joy of singing
four-part harmony, barbershop style. Send applications for all students you
wish to participate, indicating those students beyond the initial 12 that you
wish to put on the Waiting List. We will try to accommodate as many as we can.
Young Men's Festival Only:
There is no limit to the number of singers from your school who wish to
participate, but please submit your applications early to ensure that all of
your singers can be accommodated. We also request that you select your better
singers to help maximize the musical quality of the event.
We look forward to receiving your applications. Please contact us if you have any questions about our festivals.
"Diva Day" (Young Women's Festival) Young Men's Harmony Festival
Karen Ridout Mark
Freedkin
Harborlites Chorus Masters
of Harmony
Home: (714) 847-0787 Home:
(949) 559-9621
Cell: (714) 319-2325 Cell:
(714) 357-1187
E-mail: kridout@socal.rr.com E-mail: mfreedkin@yahoo.com
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Website News - Mark Freedkin, SCVA Webmaster
On-Line Application Processing Goes State-Wide
Over the past several years, we have greatly expanded the ability to
register or apply for various SCVA activities and events using online
forms through our website. Students,
directors and event coordinators have all benefited from the efficiency
improvements that these on-line systems provide.
Thanks to the efforts of Tammi Alderman and Mark Alberstein (webmaster for the California ACDA), we've been able to leverage the technology that we have been using for our on-line Honor Choir Audition Application system, and we deployed similar systems for the Central and Coastal Regional Honor Choirs. For this first year, there were 493 applications for the Central Region and 291 applicants for the Coastal Region. Everything worked very smoothly.
In the Fall 2010 issue of the California ACDA newsletter "Cantate",
Shirley Nute wrote:
This year, high school students who wish to audition for either the ACDA
Central or Coastal Regional Honor Choirs may fill out their applications
online. With the generous contribution of his great talents as SCVA Webmaster,
Mark Freedkin has helped us install an online registration system that will
make the honor choir process very convenient for students and their directors,
and it will save Regional Chairpersons an enormous amount of time, making their
work much easier, more accurate, and very efficient.
I am honored to be able to share this technology with your colleagues throughout California.
Miscellaneous Requests for Proper "Netiquette"
Netiquette (a term referring to "network etiquette" or
"Internet etiquette") is a set of social conventions that facilitate
and improve interaction over computer networks ranging from mailing lists to
blogs and forums. Below are some
requests from your humble webmaster that will improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of our on-line communication.
1. The broadcast e-mail messages that you receive from admin@scvachoral.org are actually automated messages that are generated by our web-server, based on textual input from one of our Executive Board Members. When you reply to one of those messages, the response actually gets returned to me (as webmaster). I then need to forward those replies to the intended recipient. Instead of replying directly to one of those automated messages, it would be helpful if you could send your response directly to the original sender (which means you'll need to look-up their e-mail address on the Officers page of our website).
2. Many of the official rosters for our events are generated automatically from the information that is entered through the on-line application forms on our website. Therefore, it would be helpful if we could all remember that the first letter of proper names should be capitalized, and that you are yelling WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL UPPER-CASE LETTERS. I can understand (sort of) when our students do that as a result of what text-messaging has done to the English language, but all of you people are highly-educated professionals who understand the importance of effective communication. It's not really all that difficult to operate the SHIFT key on your computer keyboard, is it?
3. Finally, if you ever observe any unexpected behavior from any of our website on-line forms, please copy-and-paste the error message into the body of an e-mail message to me, so I can diagnose the problem quickly. Simply telling me "it didn't work" doesn't give me enough information to determine what went wrong. Most of the error messages will appear in the following format:
The
command was: <bunch of techno-babble>
The result was: <another bunch of techno-babble>
There was a database error when executing: <even more techno-babble>
This information will help me to quickly pinpoint the problem and get it fixed. So please send me an e-mail message at mfreedkin@yahoo.com and I'll respond as soon as possible. You can also call me at (714) 357-1187 if you ever experience any urgent problem with our website.
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The Southern Regional Honor Choirs Are Here!
Tammi Alderman VP - High
School Honor Choirs
Three years ago this month, during his first year as the SCVA VP in charge of the Honor Choirs, Rodger Guerrero wrote an article concerning maybe our toughest job as choral educators: playing the role of counselor to students faced with recent disappointment or failure. I would like to include an excerpt from it here in the hopes that it might assist any colleague in helping singers to find solace after failing to audition successfully into the Honor Choirs. Please feel free to contact me if you need a perspective from another source.
The Highs and Lows of the Audition Results
The auditions have been completed and the Honor Choir lists have been
posted. Packets containing music to be
performed, practice CD's, instructions, directions, and congratulatory letters
have been mailed out and received.
Directors, brimming with pride at the achievements of their singers,
have perhaps publicized their students' success via school newspaper articles,
bulletin announcements and assemblies.
Singers are excitedly learning the music as fast as they can, bursting
with anticipation of that first rehearsal (October 30th at California
Lutheran University)!
On the other side of the aisle, letters to those who did not audition successfully were also mailed out and have been received. For these singers, the endless practice of scales, sight-reading, tonal memory, and Italian arias was only met with disappointment and "failure." These singers are perhaps sluggish to get back to work, seeking new goals and new sources of self-confidence. Those who teach these singers must dig deeply into their bags of motivational tricks to help them cope, sometimes seeking miracles to aid them in this restorative process. It is the part of the choral teaching job that no music school can ever prepare one for and for which no amount of money is sufficient repayment.
It's Always about the Journey
John Jay once said, "Experience is a severe preceptor, but it
teaches useful truths, and however harsh, is always honest. Be calm and dispassionate, and listen to
what it tells you." In time of
disappointment, it is easy to complain or rationalize away negative results as
being the fault of others. It's much
harder to look failure in the face, compose oneself and calmly say
"Alright, maybe I had a bad day.
Maybe I did not perform as well as I had hoped. I can and will do better the next
time." All successful journeys
contain at least one breakdown along the way.
For as Robert Shaw once wrote, "There is no easy-on, easy-off
button for Truth. There is no
landscaped approach to Beauty."
Teachers can more effectively aid students in quickly returning to the
path by daring to share with them failures they have personally experienced and
recovered from. Share with them
obstacles that you have overcome.
Enable them to see that failure should never result in a fear of
trying. Help them to gain a healthy
perspective about this experience by revealing to them personal examples which
exemplified your ability to maintain balance when something in your life didn't
go as planned. Be honest with them
about your life, and they will respond in kind.
Honor Choirs by the Numbers
Having looked at the score sheets of every singer who auditioned, I began
to see how well-prepared our singers seemed to be this year. I attribute this to two important factors:
First, SCVA High School Directors did a phenomenal job of teaching! We already know that some of the finest
directors of high school programs in the country exist here in Southern
California. Secondly, our students are
talented, intelligent, dedicated, and determined. Most importantly, they care about choral music. I've also left the 2009 numbers for those of
you who are interested in further comparison.
Take a look:
SCVA Mixed Choir 2010 SCVA Mixed Choir
2009
Soprano Average: 87.47 Soprano Average: 87.3
Alto Average: 82.87 Alto Average: 79.9
Tenor Average: 82.43 Tenor Average: 86.7
Bass Average: 82.13 Bass Average: 86.8
High Score (Women/Men): 100/100 High
Score (Women/Men): 99/100
Low Score (Women/Men): 74/69* Low
Score (Women/Men): 71/80*
SCVA Women's Choir 2010 SCVA Women's Choir
2009
Soprano Average: 88.88 Soprano Average: 85.8
Alto Average: 83.68 Alto Average: 81.2
High/Low Score: 100/74 High/Low Score: 98/71
SCVA Men's Choir 2010 SCVA Men's Choir
2009
Tenor Average: 82.06 Tenor Average: 73.1
Bass Average: 81.14 Bass Average: 74.5
High/Low Score: 100/69* High/Low Score: 80/66*
* Please note that the disparity between the Men's scores from 2009 to 2010 are because of the placement of all the highest scoring men into the Mixed Choir in previous years. Starting with the 2010 Honor Choir, men are placed at random into the Mixed or Men's honor choirs and scores are not a factor. Men who are in the honor choir for more than one year alternate between the two choirs (this is also true for the women).
Final Thoughts About the Numbers
There is one negative result from the audition numbers this year. According to our statistics, 568
singers from 97 schools actually showed up to audition out of 644
singers from 101 schools who registered online. While the total amount is a good one, I am concerned about the
percentage (12.9%) who sign up but do not show up. I'm sure there are many legitimate reasons for this, but it's
still a problem in my mind. This number
is down from 17.9% last year and in my mind in should be nearer to 5%. I would love hearing from SCVA members
about possible solutions, so feel free to contact me if you have any.
We Need Your Help!
The weekend of November 19th and 20th is quickly approaching. Please consider volunteering to help us with
something during that weekend. Consider
that while we love being able to provide a phenomenal music experience for such
a large group of singers (271!), it is extremely tough to manage that many
teenagers when the singer to teacher ratio is somewhere between 50:1 and
100:1. So many of you have already
given so much by hosting or adjudicating during the auditions, and we are
immensely thankful for this! It
must be noted that Wyant Morton (California Lutheran University) and Jeffe Huls
(Santa Monica High School) are going way beyond the call in hosting the
rehearsal day and concert weekend.
THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU!!
All directors with multiple students in the choirs should seriously consider helping. Help is needed setting up chairs, picking up food, taking attendance, with riser and seating deportment, acting as "the ears" in on-stage rehearsals, running errands, ushering during the concert, cleaning up after the concert, helping to move equipment on and off of the stage, acting as a personal assistant to one of the conductors, and MUCH, MUCH MORE! We need help at the October 30th rehearsal as well as during the Honor Choir Weekend on November 19th and 20th.
Please contact Tammi Alderman at tammialderman@gmail.com or John Hendricks at jhendricks@buckley.org ASAP and offer to help out!
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Vocal Solo Competition: Make A Joyful Noice! - Dr. Rich Brunner, VP,
Vocal Solo Competition
Last month I discussed some of
the changes possible regarding the SCVA Vocal Solo Competition. The most exciting change would be to
encourage more students who are interested in singing to participate by
expanding our scope and including different genres.
At the Board meeting in September we discussed the following thoughts:
- How can the whole experience be
broadened and made more inclusive?
- Could we create a model for solo
competition that would include Vocal Jazz Performance and Musical Theater
Performance?
- Students who place in the Vocal Solo
Competition tend to be from affluent schools.
- How do we get better performances out
of our students, especially those with little or no access to good teachers
and/or accompanists, either because of location or monetary constraints?
- Why is the final performance during
the Middle School/Jr. High School Honor Choir?
To bolster audience attendance?
Because the Honor Choir concert is a rather short program? Shouldn't the Honor Choir be about the kids
in Honor Choir? If we want the young
singers to be exposed to good singing, what if we brought in a professional
choir or an excellent college choir to perform at the concert?
Of course, we are going to start slowly with just a few changes this year and see how they work. Please look over the following information and note what has changed. It is the hope of the Board that these changes will broaden our understanding of the solo voice, help foster a more inclusive and supportive atmosphere, and encourage those students who, in the past, have viewed this competition as exclusive and unapproachable.
Online Application Instructions:
APPLY ONLINE BY DECEMBER 10, 2010
Please use the online application and note the following:
- Auditionees must be available for all
required dates.
- Participation is open to students in
Jr. High/Middle School (grades 6-8) and High School (grades 9-12).
- Auditionees must be ACTIVE MEMBERS of
a school choral program. REMEMBER: our
goal is not only to support and encourage fine, young singers, but also to
enhance the quality of our choral programs through solo vocal education. Chorus membership must be confirmed by the
choral director.
- There is a non-refundable application
fee of $20.
- Applications must be accompanied by a
school check or money order payable to SCVA, or an SCVA e-Payment receipt. NO PERSONAL CHECKS or CASH.
- Directors must be current members of
SCVA.
PRELIMINARY PRACTICE SESSION SATURDAY, JANUARY 15th
This is something new. There
will be two sites, one north and one south.
THIS IS NOT MANDATORY! However,
it seems that a great number of students might benefit from having a chance to
work through their pieces in front of an audience of other singers and get some
preparatory suggestions from a voice teacher or coach. This will help ensure that students don't
have to perform for the first time at the Preliminary Auditions. And though it is encouraged that you bring
your own accompanist, there will be one on hand to help out, if needed.
PRELIMINARY AUDITION SESSION SATURDAY, JANUARY 22nd
There will be 6-8 sites covering all areas of Southern California. The following regulations are still in
place, with a few changes and enhancements:
- Each auditionee will sing a classical
art song or aria.
- Selections should be appropriate to
the singer's age and experience level.
- NOTE: Teachers should be very careful
about choosing repertoire. We are not
looking to hear Verdi or Wagner arias by 15 year olds. There is a master class component, so LESS
IS MORE – no five-minute arias, please!
We are looking for fine singers with solid technique, not pyrotechnics
or hysterical over-singing.
- Each auditionee should provide a
skilled accompanist. If a singer has no
access to an accompanist or needs some guidance in finding one, please contact
me and we will try to work something out.
If needed, we will try and have someone available to play at each site.
- Each auditionee must stay for the
entire day of auditions. NO EXCEPTIONS.
- One or two Jr. High/Middle School
students, and between 2 and 3 High School students from each site may be chosen
to participate in the Final Concert Performance.
FINAL COMPETITION AND CONCERT PERFORMANCE SATURDAY, MARCH 19th
On March 19th, all of the students chosen to move on from the
preliminary rounds will present a concert of their songs and arias. During the concert-style performance, each
student will be adjudicated. While the
scores are being tabulated to award the one Jr. High/Middle School winner and
the six High School winners, some promising young college singers will delight
us with their vocal acumen. The evening
will end with the awards ceremony and a short reception.
Any questions, thoughts or comments please contact Dr. Rich Brunner, VP Vocal Solo Competition at rbrunner@oakwoodschool.org
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Junior High Honor Choir - Vanessa Ventre, VP, Junior High honor Choir
Dear Colleagues, Students, and Parents,
The Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA) has been hosting the Junior High Honor Choir for a number of years. Membership in this prestigious choir is open to students who are enrolled in their school choir and are currently in 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th grade. High school BOYS in 9th grade are especially needed for a solid bass/baritone section. As its name implies, this is an HONOR CHOIR and we are looking for the best and brightest singers in Southern California who are responsible and dedicated.
I am pleased to announce that the director for this year's Junior High Honor Choir is Mr. Lou De La Rosa, Director of Choral and Vocal activities at West Valley College. Mr. De La Rosa has been a guest conductor for CMEA and we are fortunate to have him conduct this year's SCVA Junior High Honor Choir! This is going to be a wonderful experience for your students and I hope that you'll encourage ALL of your best singers to audition for this year's Honor Choir.
AUDITION INFORMATION:
Membership in the Junior High Honor Choir is based on a successful
audition. Singers must be able to
demonstrate that they can perform the following:
1. Sing a major scale up and down (a cappella)
2. Sing a major triad and a minor triad (a cappella)
3. Sing an octave (a cappella)
4. Sight read one melodic and one rhythmic example
5. Sing tonal memory patterns
6. Sing "America" / "My Country 'Tis of Thee" (a cappella)
You will need to go onto the www.scvachoral.org website to fill out the Honor Choir application and register for an audition day and time. There is a $5 audition fee. The easiest way to pay is using PayPal, through our website, but you can also pay with a school booster check or money order. NO personal checks will be accepted!
Registration and payment must be completed and received by January 7th. The web application will close itself automatically, so please make sure you register early. Audition assignments (location and times) will be posted on the website by January 14th.
AUDITION SITES AND DATES:
SATURDAY JANUARY 29
Lincoln Middle School-Santa Monica
Arlington High School-Riverside
Bernardo Yorba Middle School-Yorba Linda
Manhattan Beach Middle School-Manhattan Beach
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 5
Mesa Robles Middle School-Hacienda Heights
McFadden Intermediate School-Santa Ana
*If you are interested in helping to adjudicate please contact me ASAP!!
Results will be posted on the SCVA website by FEBRUARY 18. Please note that there will be a Participation Fee to help pay for your music, the conductor, accompanist, and other expenses.
PARENTS: We have made every attempt to make the Honor Choir rehearsals as "driver friendly" as possible. This year there will be only TWO rehearsals and one of them should be close to your area. We depend on your commitment to these two rehearsals so that we are able to have a successful performance.
Students who do not attend one of the regional rehearsals will be removed from the Honor Choir.
REGIONAL REHEARSAL (attend ONE near you)
- March 19 @ John Adams MS from
9:00 AM to NOON (2425 16th St., Santa Monica 90405)
- March 26 @ Mesa Robles MS from 9:00
AM to NOON (16060 Mesa Robles Dr., Hacienda Heights 91745)
FINAL REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE - APRIL 30th
You MUST also attend the all-day rehearsal on APRIL 30th. The sessions will be from 9:00 – Noon and
from 2:00 – 5:00 pm. The Honor Choir
Concert is at 7pm that evening. Both
the all-day rehearsal and performance will be held at Lincoln Middle School in Santa
Monica. Students will be asked to bring a sack lunch from home that day. SCVA will host dinner and snacks for the
singers.
STUDENTS: If chosen for the
SCVA Junior High Honor Choir, I agree to:
1. Attend and be on time for ONE Regional Rehearsal
2. Attend and be on time for the April 30th Rehearsal with Mr. De La Rosa
3. Be fully prepared with my music MEMORIZED for the April 30th rehearsal
4. Be polite and respectful toward everyone associated with the Honor Choir
If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Vanessa Ventre: vventre@smmusd.org / 310-393-9227 ext 73156
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SCVA Vocal Jazz Festival - Christine Tavares, VP, Jazz Choirs
Tuesday March 8th, 2011 - Include your students in an incredible day of
learning and growth in Jazz!
With Guest Artists from Audio Radiance, South Western Community College, Jason
Smith, Director
You may choose to have your performance scored (Superior, Excellent, Good). Note: This festival is not a ranked/placement festival. It is adjudicated on the same basis as all SCVA festivals.
At 7pm, Audio Radiance will close the evening with their performance! This will be a great gathering of vocal jazz students and teachers throughout Southern California. For those participating in competitions later in the school semester, students will also get great exposure and coaching from our very experienced clinicians. Applications are being accepted now, space is limited so do not delay! If you have any questions please email me at cenns@hartdistrict.org Please put this date on your calendar!!! The festival is open to all levels, novice through advanced. The fee is only $150.
Location: Valencia High
School, 27801 N. Dickason Dr. Valencia,
Ca. 91355
Time: 1:30pm
– 6:30pm with concert beginning at 7pm (may change slightly based on the number
of groups attending)
Equipment: 16 microphones
Provided: Piano, Bass Amp
Cost: $150
per group (includes evening concert with guest artist Audio Radiance!)
Application Deadline: February 11, 2011
Printable application will be available on the SCVA website soon. Check back.
ANNOUNCING the 2011 All-State Jazz Choir
Directed by Darmon Meader of "The New York Voices"
CBDA, Fresno CA, February 16-20, 2011
Auditions materials must be postmarked by November 15, 2010
For more information contact Christine Guter: cguter@csulb.edu or (562) 985-8138.
There is a $15 fee to audition. Those who are selected will pay a participation
fee, which will be approximately $350.
IMPORTANT: Your school music director must be a member of CAJ in order
for you to participate in the CAJ All State Jazz Choir. To join, go to: www.cajazz.org, or include payment made out
to "California Alliance for Jazz" for $50.00 along with this
application.
See the Audition Instructions page for information about the required recording. Students selected will perform in a concert, with a few days of rehearsal, in Fresno, CA on February 18, 2011.
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AN SCVA HISTORY QUIZ
Directions: Match each quote on the left with its source and author
on the right.
|
"You have sensed, as I have, the evident need of such an organization [as SCVA], where instructors in the vocal field may meet…for round table discussions and demonstrations of practical problems concerning…the choir." "We have music on our side to inspire and guide us. The approach must be to focus on the students…with the music acting as a means...to help them develop a sense of fulfillment and importance." "California is known to have had music in the schools as far back as 1849. [In] 1920, the State Board called a meeting of the leading music teachers… 'Standards' and 'efficiency' were the chief concerns of educators…Note reading and the curing of monotones were the leading topics at the meetings." "…Education in general, and we as choral directors in particular, are in the throes of difficult and negatively charged times...This is not the first crisis to arise in education… I am convinced that life is structured in such a way that both positive and negative experiences are necessary to provide the sense of ongoing purpose and vitality that we all seek." "...the music educator is concerned with the world of inner space: the development of man's resources within himself, the enlargement of his aesthetic and spiritual nature, and the release of his creative and imaginative powers." "Never in the history of school music have music educators faced more serious problems, or been blessed with richer opportunities than at the present time." "We hope you will not conduct a chorus unless you cannot be happy without it. It is one of the most soul-satisfying, exasperating, exhilarating, discouraging, thrilling experiences that a musician who loves choral music and students can have." |
Ralph Peterson founded SCVA in 1939, and served as the first president 1939-41. Excerpt from letter inviting choral directors to the first meeting of the new SCVA. He was choral director at LA City College (1935-65). Howard Swan's opening comments as conductor of the 1978 SCVA Honor Choir. He was discussing the challenges faced by the Occidental College Music Dept during WWII, and ways that these experiences could assist music teachers after the passage of Prop 13. Halstead McCormac, SCVA President (1949-53). His master's thesis A History of the Southern Californa Vocal Association and its Choral Festivals was completed at USC in 1963. Mr. McCormac was director of choral and instrumental music at San Gabriel HS. Donnelly M. Fenn, SCVA President (1978-80), SCVA Newsletter, April 1979. Mr. Fenn was choral director at West HS in Torrance (1962-84). Jane Skinner (Hardester)'s master's thesis A Suggested Vocal Music Program for High Schools with Special Reference to El Monte High School, USC, 1959. Jane Skinner served on the SCVA board while she was choral director at El Monte HS in the 1950s. She then became choral director at El Camino College. Dr. Louis Woodson Curtis, Director of Music, Los Angeles City Schools. Article in the SCVA newsletter, April 1943. The first SCVA meeting was held in Dr. Curtis' office in 1939. Max T. Krone, The Chorus and Its Conductor. Dr. Krone was music professor and Dean of Fine Arts at USC (1939-68). He adjudicated the first SCVA festival in April 1940 at Occidental College; the other adjudicators were Howard Swan and Mae Nightingale. |
ANSWERS IN NEXT MONTH’S NEWSLETTER!!
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Other Important Information
On-Line SCVA Membership Application
Calendar of Events