OUT Audition Info

What: Choir Staff Musical Auditions
When: Monday, January 2, 2012 6:30-8:30 (or later if necessary).
How: Go to this google doc to sign up for an appointment time.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ak3DNiOy2azldDhQbmdta3NIb0hHcV9NZEY5LU9zdUE

Parts to audition for:
We are looking for the following characters or small groups.

Lissa: The assumed Queen of the Prom. Head Cheerleader. A very typically popular girl, but also full of personality and likeable. She sings about her challenges in the song “Don’t Hate Me Cause I’m Popular”.

Jordan: The assumed Prom King. Captain of the Football team. Kind of a dumb jock, but likeable and ultimately turns out to be a really good guy.

Lissa’s 3 friends: Amy, Sara, Brenda. Cheerleaders. Not very bright. Each should have a big over the top, individual personality.

Jordan’s 3 friends: Drew, Mark and Will. Jocks. Each should have a big over the top, individual personality as well.

Chives Back Up Singers/Dancers: 6 girls. Strong singers and dancers. They perform with Chives in a variety of costumes and musical styles.

Dream Song Contestants: We need a few small groups to perform short numbers at the Dream Song competition that the conservative group running the prom would find offensive. Not so offensive that we can’t include it in a Choir/Staff musical, but on the edge enough that the conservative leader can declare it inappropriate. (Single Ladies, Teenage Dream….that sort of thing.)

Audition Requirements:

Lissa: Sing a verse of Popular.
Be ready to read audition scenes 1, 2 or 3.

Jordan: Sing a verse of Popular
Be ready to read audition scene 3.

Cheerleaders: Amy, Sara, Brenda.
Sing a verse of Popular
Be ready to read audition scene 1.

Jocks: Drew, Will, Mark.
Sing a verse of Popular
Be ready to read audition scene 4.

Chives Back Up Dancers: You can audition alone or in a small group.
You can pick a short segment of a pop or musical theatre song (doesn’t need to be more than a minute or 2). Feel free to add movement to the song if you choose.
Needs to show that you can sing out and are comfortable with movement.

Dream Song Contestants: You should try and audition as a small group.
Look for an appropriate song for the scene and the story.
The story synopsis is listed below.


Audition Materials:
You can download the audition scenes and Popular lyrics here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X5fhE89j6k3_7vFMbBHU8aaJr7SPgQKfVUhTtxneddo/edit

You can listen to the song Popular here:

http://www.4shared.com/music/JRU3QsdB/Popular__OUT.html

Please come to the audition ready to answer questions about your availability and any conflicts you might have with rehearsing outside of school, including evening and weekend commitments.

Questions? Write me back.
Looking forward to it!
Best,
Bill Liberatore

Announcements

Choir Announcements/ Schedules/ Updates

Hey everybody. Happy Weekend! Happy two-day week coming up!!!
I wanted to put something together that would document all the dates coming up in choir. This window of time is super exciting, but a little crazy with the calendar. Hopefully having it all in one place will help you all to keep track. There are several things that all happen over the next two and a half months:

I.NYC: Tour registrations and deposits are due by Monday, November 28th.

II.In order to take a tour like that, we do a lot fundraising to support families who cannot afford it. In the next few days we will be kicking off our “Tour Sponsorship Campaign”. We are asking every family participating in the tour to solicit one donation from a business or family member. A $50 donation buys a business card size ad in the program. Bigger donations=bigger ads. It’s one way you can help make the trip possible for everyone. Ads for the Winter Concert program are due by Friday, December 9th.

III.Winter Concert: I think this is going to be one of the best Winter Concerts we have had in a long time. The repertoire is super cool and the instrumental music students are going to add a lot of excitement to these pieces! We will need to rehearse with them outside of class. Here is the schedule:

The Concert is Wed Dec 14th at 7:30 PM
Rehearsals with the instrumentalists are:
Tuesday Dec 6th and Monday Dec 12 we would follow this schedule:
5:30 Jubilant Song w/vibes player and Women's Choir
6:00 Diemer Gloria and Chichester Psalms with
Percussionists, Concert Choir and Treble Choir
7:30 Vivaldi Gloria w/ Chamber Orchestra, Concert Choir,Treble Choir
9:00 END

We will also run the pieces onstage right after school on the 14th.

Solo Auditions:
We will be auditioning soloists for these pieces at lunch on
Wed Nov 30th or Friday, December 2nd.

IV. Choir/Staff Musical: “OUT”, February 8/9, 2012
Important Dates for everyone:
Performances: Wed and Thurs February 8 and 9
Dress Rehearsals: Sunday, Feb 5, 12:00-6:00, Mon-Wed Feb 6-8 after school.
RETREAT: We will be at YMCA Camp Jones Gulch for our annual retreat to pull the whole show together Jan 28/29.
AUDITIONS: Auditions for the main speaking parts will take place during E period on Thurs and Fri Dec 15 and 16. There are 5 male speaking parts and 5 female speaking parts. (Character descriptions and plot summary will be out soon.) There is also a special group of 6 female singer/dancers, and of course the opportunity for some featured small groups.
If you are auditioning for a speaking part, you will be given materials (a song and a scene) to prepare for the in class audition on the 15/16. If you are auditioning for a featured female singer/dancer or a small group feature, those auditions will be Monday night, January 2nd at 6:00. You will be able to sign up in advance for an audition slot.

Below is the short synopsis of the show we are using for press releases etc.

Decent, Oklahoma is the little town where people are just slightly more American than anybody else. It seems like the ideal place to live until a high school senior boy named Chives starts rocking the pedestal by running for prom queen. Flamboyant and in-your-face, the gender bending Chives is determined to bring Decent into the new millennium no matter how many people he upsets. His antics are so outrageous that even his best friend Maddy Murphy, the most likeable girl on campus, is having trouble sticking by him. When Maddy argues that people are angry with Chives not because he’s gay but because he’s obnoxiously and provocatively gay, Chives calls her naïve and bets that if the All-American-Girl Maddy were gay, no one would like her either. It’s a challenge she can’t refuse and the game is on. What follows is a comedic roller coaster ride of tap dancing ranchers, Ellen DeGeneres leading a gospel choir and a potent test of the power of gay-dar. The result is not at all what Maddy is expecting from her town, her friends or herself. What she and Chives learn is a lesson filled with pain, joy and the realization that, despite all the challenges of adolescence, it really does get better.

V. Chamber Singers Caroling Performances:
Please mark these on your calendars!

Monday, December 5th, 7:00 Performance at the Creche Exhibit at the LDS Church
Tuesday, December 13th, Noon, 1:00 and 4:00 Concerts. Yes, three in a day.
Friday, December 16th, 8:00 AM Concert for the Rotary Club

WE NEED CHAMBER SINGERS PARENTS TO DRIVE ON THE 13TH AND THE 16TH. LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN HELP TRANPORT KIDS.

Reminder: There is no Women’s Choir or Chamber Singers this Monday night, November 21. If Chamber Singers could please hold Tuesday at lunch open, I would like to run the Gloria at lunch on Tuesday so we don’t go an entire week without running it. Women’s Choir, we will run Jubilant Song at the end of E Tues AM.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Great Fall Concert

What a fantastic way to begin the year. Wow!

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Translation: "In the year to come, as I sit on my porch and count the birds flying around, I will see children playing; running between houses and in the fields. You will see, you will see how good it will be in the year to come."
Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Great Performance!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out and sang Sunday morning. It was a fantastic turnout and a great performance. I really appreciate all of you (and your parents!) getting out of bed so early on a Sunday and making this happen. Using music to connect and to be of service to the greater Palo Alto community is a big part of what the Gunn Choir is all about. Thank you all so much for demonstrating that so well this morning.

You got a nice email from the mayor too!

Thank you for the wonderful performance at Sunday's 9/11 Memorial. I have received more comments about the choir's performance than anything else. Absolutely fantastic. Please extend my thanks to everyone.
Sid
--
SID ESPINOSA
Mayor, City of Palo Alto

And a note from Rena Allison, Choir Booster President:
What a fine performance and a wonderful event in which to serve their community….this choir is so passionate and committed. Their combined voices were so moving - on a beautiful Sunday morning for the ten year anniversary of 9/11. I look forward to listening to many more awesome performances throughout the year. Thanks Gunn Choir!!!
Rena Allison
President, Choir Boosters

Congratulations!
Bill Liberatore

9-11 Performance Tomorrow

Greetings! I hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous Saturday. I am writing to remind everyone of the performance tomorrow at the 9-11 Memorial Ceremony.
The Mayor and City Council are holding a special 10th anniversary memorial event to recognize those who lost their lives from the terrorist attack. We have been asked to sing. It is not only an honor but a great chance to demonstrate our commitment to community service and outreach.
The details:

8:30 AM Meet at the Children's Theatre, corner of Middlefield and Melville.
If you are driving yourself, you should consider parking near the tennis courts behind the theatre since the performance is at the corner of Embarcadero and Newell.

8:45 AM We will walk to the site of the ceremony.

9:00 AM Performance
The ceremony is only about a half hour long. At some point in the ceremony we will sing City Called Heaven. I am really grateful to the fantastic guitar players who are playing for us tomorrow: Carly Neugass, Taesu Pak and Tony Yin. If you guys could come a few minutes before 8:30 it would be good to run the song before the choir gets there.

9:30 AM End of Ceremony

Dress: We are not wearing choir attire for this. You should dress nicely like you are going to a job interview or a church service. No jeans if you can help it. There are often newspaper photographers at things like this so look your best.

Thanks for agreeing to do this. For those of you who can't come due to your own Sunday morning commitments, I totally understand. For those of you who have agreed to perform, I really appreciate it and I'll see you at 8:30 AM at the Children's Theatre.

If you need to practice the song, here is a youtube video of the choir singing the song with guitar accompaniment in Prague a few years ago.



Thanks!
Bill Liberatore

Concert Choir Announcements

Concert Choir Announcements:

Seating: I am going to work on a plan this weekend. This is a really big group for the size of this room, and I think we will have to try and figure out a 5 row way. 4 rows is just too cramped. Thanks for being patient with it. I am hoping to have folders with Fall Concert music on Tuesday as well.

Hearing the Men: There are a lot of new guys I have not heard yet. If you auditioned for Chamber Singers I do not need to hear you again. If you did not audition for Chamber Singers and you are a senior, can you please sing for me right at the top of lunch today? Any 9-11 grade guys I have not heard I will hear tomorrow during E while the seniors are at their meeting.

Chamber Singers: I am hoping to post the list on Tuesday. Again, thanks for your patience!

Choir officers: I am so glad there is a lot of enthusiasm for this idea! Now, how do we actually assign people to the jobs and move forward? I have made an application form. You must email your completed form to me by midnight Sunday. You can print a copy of the application here.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14IiLCtC8Jah1UhAcMZNgH64IdlDmj1I3at3UDtOycA8/edit?hl=en_US
Transfer the questions to a word.doc and email it to me when you are done.

9/11 Concert : We have been asked to sing a song at the City of Palo Alto Ceremony commemorating the anniversary of 9-11. It is on Sunday, 9-11 at 9:00 AM in from of the Palo Alto Art Center on Embarcadero. I am thinking we would do City Called Heaven. I need to know who is willing to commit to singing. (New singers, we will teach you the song either today or next week.)

Chamber Singers Auditions Monday 6:30

Hey everyone. Chamber Singers auditions are Monday night, 6:30 PM.
We are using Cum Sancto Spiritu as an audition piece.
You can download recordings of your part here:
www.mediafire.com/?vzju18nql74q8
There are individual tracks for each part and a file of all parts played together.
Good luck preparing. Hope to see you Monday!
Best,
Mr. Liberatore

Great First Week!

What a great first week! Lots of singers, lots of guys, lots of enthusiasm. It's going to be a great year! Here are the men on day 3, really knocking it out.

Dear Choir Members,
I am so happy to be welcoming you all back! I have had a wonderful summer and I can hardly wait to get started making music with you all again. I could not be more proud of the accomplishments of the 2010-11 Choir and I am really looking forward to continuing the fantastic level of excellence we were able to reach last year in Italy. For those of you who are new to Choir, here are just a few of the things you have to look forward to, besides great music, great trips, great friends, and the joy of singing as part of your school day!

Fall Concert, Sunday, October 23rd, 7:00 PM, Grace Lutheran Church
Be sure to mark your calendars now for the Choir’s debut performance on Sunday, October 23rd at 7:00 PM at Grace Lutheran Church, corner of Loma Verde and Waverley. It is always one of the most exciting concerts of the year as our choirs take the stage for the first time in a program of culturally rich and diverse choral music from around the world.
Winter Concert, Wednesday, December 14th, 7:30 PM, Spangenberg
I am very happy to announce that our Winter Program will be a set of pieces with the fantastic Gunn Chamber Orchestra. They are truly amazing and it will be a thrill to bring to life some of the great choral works for choir and orchestra.
Choir Retreat, YMCA Camp Jones Gulch
This is one of my favorite traditions at Gunn. This will be my 22nd year at Jones Gulch, and I enjoy it more now than ever. (The Saturday night talent show is not to be missed!). We are going to go up on the last weekend in January so we can rehearse extensively for the Choir/Staff musical!!!!!
Choir Staff Musical, Wednesday, Thursday, February 8th & 9th, 8:00 PM, Spangenberg
One of the biggest traditions at Gunn is our annual Choir/Staff Musical. If you have never seen one, you are in for a treat. It’s a crazy, song and dance filled night with fantastic costumes and show stopping performances by not only our students, but many of the Gunn Staff as well. This is a not to be missed Gunn event.
Spring Tour to New York City, May 24-27, 2012
I can honestly say that I think touring is one of the most important things we do as a musical ensemble. It creates a sense of purpose, a feeling of community and friendship, and shared memories that last forever. Nothing encourages us to work hard more than an upcoming tour, and I can’t wait to share the magic of New York City with all of our singers.
Spring Concert, Thursday, May 31, 7:30 PM Spangenberg
Our musical farewell to the class of 2012!

Looking forward to a great year of music making!

Bill Liberatore
Choral Director, Henry M. Gunn Senior High School

Two more weeks!

Only two more weeks till we are back in rehearsal and beginning to create the 2011-12 Gunn Choir! I assume if you are reading my blog you have been to the all new Gunn Choir website. (Thank you Lisa Kelly. It looks fantastic!) I am very excited by our terrific numbers for 2011-12 with more than 150 singers, and 40 guys!! I am so grateful to all of you who promote this program and encourage your friends to come and join us. It is going to be a great year! I loved the tour to Italy (best trip EVER!) but I am excited to start working on music other than the kind of repertoire you need to sing in Italian cathedrals during Lent! I hope everyone is enjoying their last days of summer, and looking forward to an exciting year of music making.

If you are looking for something fun to do in August, come check out the TheatreWorkes New Works Festival. It is an amazing array of new plays and musicals. Some fully staged, some in a reading format. I am working on a play called Upright Grand by a wonderful young playwright named Laura Schellhardt. It is a play about a father daughter relationship. The father plays piano in a dive bar, the daughter ultimately becomes a famous classical pianist. I get to play all kinds of styles and music throughtout, and I think it is going to be really cool. I encourage you to check it out, and all the other cool stuff that is being performed this week. Go to www.theatreworks.org for more info.

Can't wait to get started on a whole new year!
Best,
Bill Liberatore

Italy 2011

I cannot say enough good things about the choir trip to Italy. Glorious weather, fantastic accommodations, great kids, wonderful chaperones, the best tour guides, the best museums, the best food. Of course for me the part that mattered most was the music.
It is not a small thing to tour in April instead of June. Those two months are a lot of practice time. What a thrill to have the choir rise to the occasion in such a dramatic way. The singing was amazing, and the audiences could not get over them. Here's a little taste. There will be many more videos and recordings coming your way.
Many thanks to all the parts of our extended Gunn community that came together to make this possible.

Google Voice Assignment

To Concert Choir Students,

Here is your first google voice assignment! It will only take you a few minutes, and it will help me identify students who are going to need more help as we prepare for the festival in March, and the tour in April.

Instructions:
1) Download your part to this weeks assignment (Irish Blessing and Jubilate Deo)
http://www.mediafire.com/choir/googlevoice

2) Sing through it a few times and make sure you are warmed up and ready.

3) Dial my googlevoice number: 485-3531. It will ask for your name, and then it will forward you to my voicemail. At the beep, say your full name again, then push play on the accompaniment track you downloaded and sing your part for me. The excerpts are a total of only about a minute.

4) The assignment is not optional if you are traveling to Italy. Refusing to do these weekly checks will take you off the list of students traveling with the choir.
If you are not going to Italy, I will only ask you to sing the pieces we are working on for the March Festival. If you are not going to Italy and you do not do the assignments you are asked to do, you will not be eligible for an A in the class.

5) Students who cannot learn their parts on their own will be given extra coaching outside of class. This is going to make a huge difference towards our success in these upcoming performances.

II. Extra Rehearsals before Italy
In order to be ready to sing the concerts in Italy, we are going to have to put in some extra time outside of class. I understand that the singers in Kiss Me Kate have no time outside of class, so I am going to do this in two different ways.

If you are not in Kiss Me Kate, we will be having an extra Italy rehearsal on Wed March 9, 6:30-9:00. Please clear your calendar. If you can’t be free, you will need to
schedule a rehearsal with me sometime during that week to make it up.

For all singers going to Italy, including those in Kiss Me Kate, we will be rehearsing Tues March 22, 6:30-9:00 and Wed March 30, 6:30-9:00. If you have an unchangeable conflict with either, you will need to rehearse with me during the full hour of tutorial that week.

III. Spring Performance Dates: Please mark your calendars!!
Sunday, March 27, Invitational Choral Festival, San Jose Choral Project
Mission Santa Clara, 4:00 Performance
April 7-16, ITALY
Thursday, May 26, Spring Concert, 7:30 PM

Thanks!
Bill Liberatore

Choir/Staff Musical 2011

Braveheart and Soul: The Birth of Moortown Music

The Annual Gunn Choir Staff Musical is HERE! Wednesday and Thursday, February 9th and 10th, 8:00 PM. Don't miss our hero Braveheart (Mr. Deggeller) as he battles in song and dance against the evil King Edward the Longshanks (Blake Vesey) in a Motown Throwdown that will leave you laughing and humming all the way home. Tickets are on sale in the Student Activities Center or online at Gunnchoir.org.