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Brent M. Holl, director  
    The Stewart Choir and Orff Ensemble
 

Highlights of the Stewart Choir and Orff Ensemble

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More Highlights

of

The Stewart Choir and Orff Ensemble

Brent M. Holl, director,
Dottie Westhafer, accompanist
Click on the links below to hear Real Audio highlights of the concert.

 

8th Grade Orff Ensemble

Street Song                                                                         Carl Orff/Gunild Keetman

7th and 8th Grade Choir

                                       

Now For the Song of the Singing School                        George F. Root & C. C. Case

7th Grade Choir

Gospel Train                                          Traditional Spiritual, arr. Patsy Ford Simms

Alexander’s Ragtime Band                                                                         Irving Berlin

Hey Ho Nobody’s Home                                Traditional Folks Song, arr. Greg Gilpin

7th Grade Orff Ensemble

Toy Rondo                                                 Carl Orff/Gunild Keetman, arr. Brent Holl

Walkin’ The Buzz                                                                                            Jon Madin

The Hey Hey Jam                                                                                           Brent Holl

8th Grade Choir

Wade in the Water                                   Traditional Spiritual, arr. Roger Emerson

Down to the River To Pray                   Traditional Gospel Song, arr. Sheldon Curry

It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing 

         Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, arr. Mac Huff

8th Grade Orff Ensemble

RIP                                                                                                            Walt Hampton

Tsokashata                                                                                              Walt Hampton

Pumpkins                                                                                                          Brent Holl

Stewart Honors Choir

                                                                                                               

Dowidzenia                                                        Polish Folk Song arr. Andrea Schafer

Cedar Swamp                                               Appalachian Folk Song, arr. Jay Broeker

The Little Beggarman                      Traditional Irish Folk Song, arr. Emily Crocker

                                                                                                                               

The Stewart Choirs

                                                            

My Own Song                                         Crystal LaPoint Kowalski

Let the Rain of Your Presence                                                           Danny Chambers

The Performers

The Stewart Choir and Orff Ensemble is the performing group of the choral department of Stewart Middle School. These seventh and eighth grade singers and percussionists perform together three times during the school year, once in the fall and again at the Spring Concert and the Pops Concert at the end of the year.

The Choir always begins the year learning the basics of choral singing. The choristers are trying to achieve the five points of the choral "Star" - Posture, Diction, Breath, Tone, and Sparkle. Many activities and songs help the choir to learn how to improve all of these techniques. The choir also works hard to learn the basics of musical notation by studying Music Theory and Solfege. The students learn to sing, at sight, melodies using hand signals for the tone syllables, do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, and do. The study of Theory and Sight Singing helps choristers understand and use the written language of music to learn music faster.

The Orff Ensemble begins by learning about the instruments in the percussion family. They practice technique and find out how the instruments can be used in musical arrangements. Many different styles of music are played to reinforce this idea of orchestration. Students are also compose their own pieces using music they have learned as models. The students this year are using computers to learn the Finale notation system.  Every student will be able to compose music of their own on the computer and then teach it to the class using the Orff instruments.  Some of these pieces may appear at concerts later in the year!  The Orff Ensemble also works at beginning recorder technique and Music Theory.

The Stewart Choir and Orff Ensemble will perform again at the Spring Concert on April 14 and 15, 2005, and at the Pops Concert on June 1 and 2, 2005.

The Program
 


The Choral Department theme for the year is Our Own Song. Working in class towards a successful performance teaches the choristers discipline, teamwork, focus, and concentration.  The satisfaction of singing or playing well in front of an audience makes this a valuable experience for all of the students.  When they perform successfully in concert, they learn genuine pride and self-esteem.  Research shows time and again that students have only to gain from involvement in the arts.  A well-organized sustained education in music gives the children intellectual and creative skills that last a lifetime. 


Our concert tonight begins with the processional, Street Song, the anthem of the Orff Ensemble. It is an original song based on a 15th century lute piece perhaps played in the streets of Salzburg or Vienna. Any student in the Orff Ensemble since 1981 has learned this beautiful song.  Tonight’s version includes four solo improvisations by selected members of the ensemble as the choir processes to the risers.  Students take turns improvising during this song with different soloists for each concert.


All 96 singers of the Stewart Choir and Orff Ensemble sing Now for the Song of the Singing School.  This interesting canon lets you know what the students have been studying so far this year.  Almost everything is mentioned in the song so listen carefully!


            The 7th grade choir sings the traditional spiritual Gospel Train in three-part harmony.  This is quite an accomplishment for this beginning choir and they do it well!  Alexander’s Ragtime Band is one of the very first pop songs ever written.  Irving Berlin is one of America’s greatest musicians.  Hey Ho Nobody’s Home is an English Folk Song often sung as a part of the holiday tradition of singing carols.  It is also in three-part harmony.


            The 7th Grade Orff Ensemble shows the beautiful tone colors of the instruments in Toy Rondo from the original volumes of the Orff-Schulwerk.  This melody was included in that text as a model for melodic improvisation and the development of orchestration.  A 7th grade class several years ago helped to arrange the melody by adding the interesting accompaniment patterns.  This year’s students added the “toys.”   Walkin’ the Buzz is a rollicking township jive from Australia. The Hey Hey Jam, an original composition from Mr. Holl’s book Wood Songs, is played loud and fast in the Zimbabwean marimba style.


            Wade in the Water sung by the 8th grade choir is a traditional spiritual from the tradition of the Underground Railroad.  The students have learned about some of the songs that helped gain the freedom of the slaves in the South before and during the Civil War.  The hit movie O Brother, Where art Thou provides the inspiration for the song Down to the River to Pray.  The song carries a wonderful message of hope and perseverance for the middle school choristers.  It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing is a fun song that helps the choristers express their love for music and singing!  Just exactly what is it that makes the “tune so sweet?”


It wouldn’t be a Stewart Middle School concert without a couple of Walt Hampton's great tunes.  The 8th grade Orff Ensemble plays two of our favorites from his books Hot Marimba and Marimba Mojo, RIP and Tsokachata or as the kids call it, “Funky Monkey.”  The ensemble finishes up with another of Mr. Holl’s pieces from Wood Songs, Pumpkins.  The inspiration for this mysterious sounding tune was the changing of the seasons from summer to fall woven into the Latin rhythm of the Guaguancó.


The Stewart Honors Choir is a new addition to the Fall Concert. This group has 6th, 7th, and 8th grade singers and meets after school once a week for 90 minutes.  They start with the lovely Polish folk song Dowidzenia. Cedar Swamp is a fun arrangement of a traditional Appalachian Folk Song.  It’s very complicated with many harmonies and melodies mixing together with a wild ending!  The Little Beggarman is a traditional Irish folk song that extols the simplicity of the life of a gypsy.

The concert this evening closes with My Own Song, a beautiful, energetic piece sung by the combined choirs that expresses the joy of singing and music, followed by the choir’s favorite gospel tune; Let the Rain of Your Presence. The choristers and I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed yourselves this evening and that you truly appreciate the value of experiences like this in the lives of the children.  Thanks for coming!


I want to sing my own song; I want to sing in my own rhythm,
 I’ve got a tune inside my soul that keeps me goin’ strong!
I don’t know where it comes from, this magical music deep inside me,
 But I know if I keep on singing it, I can’t go wrong!
          


Brent M. Holl, Director
Stewart Choir and Orff Ensemble