Plans for 2009-2010

As summer winds down, the steering committee of the chorus is putting the final touches on plans for the coming year. Here's how the rehearsal day is shaping up:

The building is open at 1:00, and singers are asked to arrive by 1:15 to greet each other, use the bathroom, find their music, etc. At 1:30 the chorus is called into the main rehearsal space, and warm-ups begin. At 1:40, work on the year's all-chorus (adults and kids together) songs begins. At 2:10 the adults are free to have social time, and the kids split into two groups by age: ages ten and up will stay in the main rehearsal room for Festival Chorus rehearsal until 2:45, and ages nine and under will go to a different room for Primary Chorus rehearsal. After rehearsal is finished, kids are free to play an active game in the gym or hang out in the quiet games room until 3:15, when clean-up begins. The building is closed at 3:30 p.m.

The directors are enjoying looking at the music choices available to support this year's theme, "Poetry in Song." So far we have songs with lyrics by Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, A.A. Milne, and Robert Louis Stevenson in the works. For a sample of one of the songs we'll be singing, go here and click on Mp3 Audio.

Consider joining us this fall! We invite interested parties to attend the first two rehearsals to see what we're all about. Please email cedarlaneacademy at yahoo dot com for more information, with ATN Chorus as the subject line.

The Big Sing

This past April, our Festival Chorus, which is made up of students in grades five and up, performed at the second annual Big Sing in Boston.

Our group was one of about ten children's choruses that performed for a packed house. Other groups included the Boston Children's Chorus, directed by Anthony Trecek-King, and the Boston City Singers, under the direction of The Big Sing organizer, Jane Money, as well as other school and community choirs.

Like the other choruses present, the ATN Festival Chorus sang songs for their peers, the audience members, and an adjudicator who gave feedback in written form sent to each chorus's director after the concert. The ATN Festival Chorus's song choices were "Camelot," from the musical of the same name, and "Ease on down the Road," from The Wiz. The kids did a fantastic job in front of the largest audience most of them had ever performed for previously. At the end of the concert, our kids joined the other children's choruses to sing When I Close My Eyes by Jim Papoulis in a combined chorus of over 280 voices.

It was a fabulous experience for all of us involved--kids, parents, and directors. We are already looking forward to The Big Sing 2010!

May 2009 concert

Back in May of this year, our chorus of twenty member families with over fifty singing voices performed a benefit concert of songs from musicals at a local church. The concert, titled "Together Wherever We Go," consisted of songs from The Music Man, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and Carousel, among others.

In addition to singing all together, the chorus also split into sub-groups to perform. Last year our sub-groups included Youth Chorus, Adult Chorus, Festival Chorus, a small girls' group, and Harmony Cats, our a cappella harmony group. The little girls sang "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," from My Fair Lady, and pretty much stole the show with their cute Cockney accents.

In lieu of purchasing tickets, audience members were asked to contribute to a donation benefitting a local food bank.

Intro.

Hi, and welcome to the informal website of the All Together Now Family Chorus. We are a group of homeschooling families that loves to sing together! As time allows, I'll be posting about some of our recent performances, as well as letting you know what is down the pipeline for us.