Hi, and Welcome to our West Texas Children’s Chorus page!
I hope that the school year is off to a good start for all of you. Whether your family is engaging in face-to-face, virtual or home-schooling, there are certainly new challenges and adventures in learning! Are you looking for a great way to add or supplement your kids’ music experiences? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
Our WTCC staff has been meeting throughout the summer, attending virtual professional development sessions, educational webinars and summit meetings with community and national arts organizations. We’re closely following research findings related to Covid transmission and singing. We’re gearing up to meet our own challenges, but we’re pleased to share our current plans for the 2020-2021 season. We’re ready to get the ball rolling, and we have a lot going on, starting right now!
WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?
ALL WTCC ENSEMBLES WILL BEGIN REHEARSALS on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6! Our season’s theme is “Postcards from West Texas.” Rather than preparing for in-person concerts (which may or may not be possible), we are planning virtual and video productions of a number of selections; each one representing a different “postcard.” In order to do this, we will be working with our students both in-person and online, with small-group, full-choir and semi-private lessons. We’ll be gathering at various locations for recording sessions, photoshoots and video productions throughout this fall and spring to create some unique and special projects, including a live music video to a custom arrangement of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On.” (Hint: Did you know that Joyland has been around since the 1940s, during Buddy Holly’s childhood and teen years?) We’re also planning a fun event in May at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In to premiere our “Postcards.” Our previously scheduled performances are tentative (TTU Carol Concert, LSO and Buddy Holly Hall), because, well, everything is pending! We will rehearse, we will perform, we will learn. But we will have to be creative and flexible. It’s very important that we find a way to move forward, so that when the world opens up to us, we will be ready to sing!
WHEN & WHERE ARE REHEARSALS?
We’re extremely grateful to LakeRidge United Methodist Church for providing a home for the WTCC. At this time, LakeRidge is phasing in its church activities gradually, and is not quite ready for outside organizations (like WTCC) to return. Because the church is such a large space, we feel safe returning for in-person, socially-distanced, masked rehearsals when they are ready for us. For now, though, extra activities strain the resources of the church’s custodial services. They’re diligently keeping the building clean and sanitized, and it takes a lot to make that happen in a big building. We know that the church has the best interest of both its congregation and our singers in mind, and we plan to resume our meetings there as soon as LRUMC administrators feel confident in having us there on Tuesdays. We hope that can happen sooner rather than later this fall, but these decisions are made day-by-day, and are subject to change. If necessary, we will begin online and schedule intermittent group gatherings at various locations in the community. We will meet together when we can, and we are prepared to pivot into online rehearsal when and if it is necessary. We appreciate your patience as we navigate logistics, but we have a firm start date of October 6.
SO, WHAT'S NEXT?
We’re going to sing! (And we need your help to get started.) We will be filming tor the “Rave On” video starting in October! So it’s absolutely essential to get our singers enrolled and get them started learning the music for this project ASAP.
Here’s what to do:
1. PLEASE REGISTER YOUR SINGERS! We're updating and revising our website, thanks to our new Coordinator of Publicity and Communication (and WTCC alum!) Emma Caffey. You’ll find a fillable registration form under the MEMBERSHIP/REGISTRATION tab, or by clicking here. Please be sure that your email information is correct. Include ALL contact information for parents, guardians, and anyone else who needs to receive our Constant Contact emails. It is vital that we have this information, and we appreciate your getting it to us as soon as possible. ALL SINGERS (INCLUDING HS & COLLEGE Bellas and Bros) MUST REGISTER ONLINE. You’ll notice that the payment plans have changed slightly (tuition and fees remain the same, but have been combined for your convenience). We also now have an option to pay by credit card. Details are on the website, along with information about uniforms and an updated 2020-2021 WTCC Handbook.
2. WATCH YOUR EMAIL for instructions on placement auditions. We’ll provide super-easy directions for your singer to make either a Flip-Grid or schedule a 10-minute Zoom appointment. (Singers in K-2 will automatically be added with no placement needed). We’ll provide a very short sing-along practice track, and ask the singers to choose one of the two pieces. We just want to see their smiling faces and hear their voices before we get started. No pressure, no stress, nothing fancy. Once they submit their video or complete their ZOOM-sing, they’re all set!
3. BRING YOUR SINGERS for a drive-by photo op and WTCC MUSIC BAG pick-up. Your singer will have a personal bag containing their own WTCC masks, name badge, music, musicianship materials, pencils, t-shirt and other cool WTCC swag. This event will be held on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 in the LRUMC parking lot, from 4:30–6:30. Staff members will be on hand to say hi, hand out bags and answer any questions you may have. We will have a follow-up drive-by on September 29 for new members who miss the deadline. Be sure to get your singers registered in order to receive their bags and swag!
4. SPREAD THE WORD! We’ll be happy to provide flyers, postcards and other publicity material for you to share. We’ve designated the month of September for outreach and recruiting, and we really appreciate your help getting the word out about WTCC, especially in this very different season.
5. SAVE YOUR TUESDAYS FOR US! We’ll begin rehearsals on October 6, rain or shine! Whether we’ll begin online or in-person will be determined closer to that date, but either way, we are ready to get started. We’ll hold a ZOOM parent meeting October 13 to provide updates on where things are at that time.
IN OTHER EXCITING NEWS . . .
Last spring, we were notified that the WTCC was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Covenant Grant Foundation, and more recently, TWO grants totaling $65,000 from the CH Foundation. These generous funds have been allocated for staff salaries, university intern scholarships, diversity and inclusion initiatives and travel to the National Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, DC. Realistically, it’s unlikely that the event will be held this year, and our invitation to attend in 2021 stands. We are confident that our funding will be deferred until we’re able to go. However, festival organizers are planning a televised special, and we have been invited to prepare our performance as a video that will be aired nationally. We’ll be choreographing and developing this very cool video project as the big culminating project in our “Postcards” series. Thank you for your interest in this wonderful organization. We are excited about the opportunities ahead, even as we are working around the current Covid complications. We’re optimistic that we can create a meaningful experience and close-knit community for our singers. Can’t wait to see you on September 22!
Best wishes,
Susan Brumfield, Artistic Director and the WTCC Staff
I hope that the school year is off to a good start for all of you. Whether your family is engaging in face-to-face, virtual or home-schooling, there are certainly new challenges and adventures in learning! Are you looking for a great way to add or supplement your kids’ music experiences? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
Our WTCC staff has been meeting throughout the summer, attending virtual professional development sessions, educational webinars and summit meetings with community and national arts organizations. We’re closely following research findings related to Covid transmission and singing. We’re gearing up to meet our own challenges, but we’re pleased to share our current plans for the 2020-2021 season. We’re ready to get the ball rolling, and we have a lot going on, starting right now!
WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?
ALL WTCC ENSEMBLES WILL BEGIN REHEARSALS on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6! Our season’s theme is “Postcards from West Texas.” Rather than preparing for in-person concerts (which may or may not be possible), we are planning virtual and video productions of a number of selections; each one representing a different “postcard.” In order to do this, we will be working with our students both in-person and online, with small-group, full-choir and semi-private lessons. We’ll be gathering at various locations for recording sessions, photoshoots and video productions throughout this fall and spring to create some unique and special projects, including a live music video to a custom arrangement of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On.” (Hint: Did you know that Joyland has been around since the 1940s, during Buddy Holly’s childhood and teen years?) We’re also planning a fun event in May at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In to premiere our “Postcards.” Our previously scheduled performances are tentative (TTU Carol Concert, LSO and Buddy Holly Hall), because, well, everything is pending! We will rehearse, we will perform, we will learn. But we will have to be creative and flexible. It’s very important that we find a way to move forward, so that when the world opens up to us, we will be ready to sing!
WHEN & WHERE ARE REHEARSALS?
We’re extremely grateful to LakeRidge United Methodist Church for providing a home for the WTCC. At this time, LakeRidge is phasing in its church activities gradually, and is not quite ready for outside organizations (like WTCC) to return. Because the church is such a large space, we feel safe returning for in-person, socially-distanced, masked rehearsals when they are ready for us. For now, though, extra activities strain the resources of the church’s custodial services. They’re diligently keeping the building clean and sanitized, and it takes a lot to make that happen in a big building. We know that the church has the best interest of both its congregation and our singers in mind, and we plan to resume our meetings there as soon as LRUMC administrators feel confident in having us there on Tuesdays. We hope that can happen sooner rather than later this fall, but these decisions are made day-by-day, and are subject to change. If necessary, we will begin online and schedule intermittent group gatherings at various locations in the community. We will meet together when we can, and we are prepared to pivot into online rehearsal when and if it is necessary. We appreciate your patience as we navigate logistics, but we have a firm start date of October 6.
SO, WHAT'S NEXT?
We’re going to sing! (And we need your help to get started.) We will be filming tor the “Rave On” video starting in October! So it’s absolutely essential to get our singers enrolled and get them started learning the music for this project ASAP.
Here’s what to do:
1. PLEASE REGISTER YOUR SINGERS! We're updating and revising our website, thanks to our new Coordinator of Publicity and Communication (and WTCC alum!) Emma Caffey. You’ll find a fillable registration form under the MEMBERSHIP/REGISTRATION tab, or by clicking here. Please be sure that your email information is correct. Include ALL contact information for parents, guardians, and anyone else who needs to receive our Constant Contact emails. It is vital that we have this information, and we appreciate your getting it to us as soon as possible. ALL SINGERS (INCLUDING HS & COLLEGE Bellas and Bros) MUST REGISTER ONLINE. You’ll notice that the payment plans have changed slightly (tuition and fees remain the same, but have been combined for your convenience). We also now have an option to pay by credit card. Details are on the website, along with information about uniforms and an updated 2020-2021 WTCC Handbook.
2. WATCH YOUR EMAIL for instructions on placement auditions. We’ll provide super-easy directions for your singer to make either a Flip-Grid or schedule a 10-minute Zoom appointment. (Singers in K-2 will automatically be added with no placement needed). We’ll provide a very short sing-along practice track, and ask the singers to choose one of the two pieces. We just want to see their smiling faces and hear their voices before we get started. No pressure, no stress, nothing fancy. Once they submit their video or complete their ZOOM-sing, they’re all set!
3. BRING YOUR SINGERS for a drive-by photo op and WTCC MUSIC BAG pick-up. Your singer will have a personal bag containing their own WTCC masks, name badge, music, musicianship materials, pencils, t-shirt and other cool WTCC swag. This event will be held on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 in the LRUMC parking lot, from 4:30–6:30. Staff members will be on hand to say hi, hand out bags and answer any questions you may have. We will have a follow-up drive-by on September 29 for new members who miss the deadline. Be sure to get your singers registered in order to receive their bags and swag!
4. SPREAD THE WORD! We’ll be happy to provide flyers, postcards and other publicity material for you to share. We’ve designated the month of September for outreach and recruiting, and we really appreciate your help getting the word out about WTCC, especially in this very different season.
5. SAVE YOUR TUESDAYS FOR US! We’ll begin rehearsals on October 6, rain or shine! Whether we’ll begin online or in-person will be determined closer to that date, but either way, we are ready to get started. We’ll hold a ZOOM parent meeting October 13 to provide updates on where things are at that time.
IN OTHER EXCITING NEWS . . .
Last spring, we were notified that the WTCC was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Covenant Grant Foundation, and more recently, TWO grants totaling $65,000 from the CH Foundation. These generous funds have been allocated for staff salaries, university intern scholarships, diversity and inclusion initiatives and travel to the National Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, DC. Realistically, it’s unlikely that the event will be held this year, and our invitation to attend in 2021 stands. We are confident that our funding will be deferred until we’re able to go. However, festival organizers are planning a televised special, and we have been invited to prepare our performance as a video that will be aired nationally. We’ll be choreographing and developing this very cool video project as the big culminating project in our “Postcards” series. Thank you for your interest in this wonderful organization. We are excited about the opportunities ahead, even as we are working around the current Covid complications. We’re optimistic that we can create a meaningful experience and close-knit community for our singers. Can’t wait to see you on September 22!
Best wishes,
Susan Brumfield, Artistic Director and the WTCC Staff