Welcome to Chorus!

2012-2013 Mr. Bensen

About your teacher Mr. Bensen has been at PCHS since it

opened and worked at 2 other schools before that (one was a middle school)

This is my 15th year of teaching Went to Virginia Tech (Bachelor of

Music Ed) and ECU (Master of Music Ed)

Married & have 2 kids Like working out, road biking, working

on home projects, playing with my awesome dog, Ryleigh, etc.

Our first Sing-a-long!

Apologies to those with GOOD musical taste!

Hey, I Just Met You…

Hi!

And This IS crazy…

But Here’s My Number: 3.1415926535897932384

And Here’s my baby:

Braeden

Bensen

My family:

This Semester will be Awesome!

Chorus is a community– a group of people who need each other to be successful; it is an opportunity to make your best friends and requires us to be civil at all times– a good attitude, patience, and tremendous effort will be necessary to make this a class you want to come to…but those requirements are WORTH IT!!!

Things you need to know…This is important– please pay attention!

Chorus is a class. It is fun, it is fairly stress-free and it may very well be the highlight of your day. BUT, it is a class that has notes to take, concepts to learn, quizzes to complete and occasional homework to turn in. It is not recess and you should take it seriously– the grade in this class effects your overall average as much as English or Geometry.

Class Descriptions

Mixed Chorus

Women’s Ensemble

PCHS Chamber Choir

NEW: PCHS Goes A Cappella!

New A Cappella group (collegiate style): Cadenza Ear Candy

Auditions next Wednesday and Thursday during SMART lunch and after school

Size will determined by quality of auditions

Open to all 3 classes (chorus students ONLY)

An audition form is online at our website: www.panthercreekchorus.com

Stuff we need for class…

Every Student Needs: Water bottle Pencils and lined/loose-leaf paper (music

manuscript paper will be provided) At least 1 colored pen or pencil (for grading

purposes) WE need the following to be donated:

Tissues! 9v and AA batteries Hand sanitizer Glass wipes #10 size envelopes

Class Rules

All Panther Creek rules apply Cell phones may be used ONLY when

instructed. Otherwise, you will get a warning to put it away and then it will be confiscated if it is being used after the fact.

Bathroom Pass: 1 student out ata time; nobody allowed during first10 min of class. Try to limit to twice per week.

Class Rules, cont’d

Tardy policy for school: If you are not in the class when the bell rings, you are tardy. 1-2 tardies= warning; 3 tardies = Lunch Detention (in 1600 hall); 4 tardies= office referral for after school detention, etc.

All absences must be followed by bringing in a note to the attendance before 7:25am the day you return. 2 days grace; after = office referral.

CONCERTS

2 per quarter;-- Oct. 25 and Dec 20 at 7pm. These are mandatory events. Sickness is usually the only excused absence, which must be made up by completing an essay on a given topic. See handbook for specific guidelines.

Admission is charged = $5. Concert PunchCard is available-- $35 for 10 uses/tickets. Also bypass the ticket booth!

For those with “financial needs,” a free concert pass is available from me on the day of the concert

What we gonna wear???

Mixed Chorus: Girls: -White dress shirt w/ribbon belt ordered in class $30.00-SOLID black ankle or floor length skirt OR slacks-SOLID BLACK DRESS shoes (closed toe)  Guys: -Black dress pants with visible black belt (shirt should

be tucked in)-Black dress shoes and BLACK socks-White long-sleeve dress shirt with traditional collar. -Black tie (provided by chorus dept. to be returned

immediately after the concert).

What we gonna wear???Women’s Ensemble:

-Black polysatin dress Cost: $68.00 -Black closed toe dress shoe with heel 2” or less (purchase on own) -Pearl necklace and earrings $10.00 TOTAL: $78.00

What we gonna wear???PCHS Chamber ChoirGuys:-Black tuxedo outfit (from Savvi formalwear) consisting of:

-white mandarin-collar tuxedo shirt w/ black studs and top button -black tuxedo adjustable-waist pants-black 1-button tuxedo coat-solid black dress shoes and black socks (purchase on own)-Black vest (borrow from choral boosters and TURN IN at end of year!)

TOTAL: $135.00; includes alterations for present and future! Note: Outfits will be ordered slightly larger to accommodate some

future growth.

Girls: -Black velvet/crepe back satin dress: Cost: $85.00 -Closed-toe black DRESS SHOE with heel 2” or less (purchase on own) - Necklace, earrings and optional hair pins: $10.00 TOTAL:

$95.00

What you gonna learn us?

I have 2 major goals for you this year:

1) How to be a better singer with expressive ability, strong music reading skills and sensitivity to ensemble needs

2) How to be a gangsta, yo. For shizzle.

New Curriculum

Chorus classes will all focus on the following objectives: Singing Technique Development of literacy skills (reading

and writing music): new system being implemented this semester– “Takadimi”

Evaluative skills relating to ensemble performance

Cultural aspects of musical repertoire

So is this really a change? No– not really. However, what will be new is

that throughout the semester you will be evaluated on a variety of elements, such as: Technical ability Knowledge Artistic process and contributions

These elements will be assessed on a scale of Beginning, Intermediate, Proficient and Advanced criteria and you will receive an overall rating for the semester. This rating will be the major guiding principle to determine class placement for the future.

Honors Credit?

Also new this year (as determined by the Dept. of Instruction), all those enrolled at the Proficient and Advanced levels will AUTOMATICALLY receive honors credit

A new Honors Credit assignment will be used to justify this credit, but it is much less work than previous semesters

A copy of the new Honors Credit guidelines is already available on our website

What Type of Music Will We Sing?

The purpose of the class is to teach musical literacy (reading/writing music skills), and to develop both ensemble and technical singing skills. Music selection is based on these objectives– chosen to help you learn these things

Music selection is not about entertainment or giving everybody an opportunity to sing a solo!

Repertoire includes music from the 1500s to today. Emphasis is on historical style and learning music you DON’T know!

Grading

Grades will be determined as follows: Classwork and infrequent homework =

20% Concert involvement = 20% Quizzes (include singing quizzes) = 30% Class Participation = 30%

SMART Lunch

SMART Lunch sessions are required for all classes.

Each class offers at least 2 days per week where activities/make-up, etc. are available.

Expectation is attendance at 4 sessions, per class, per 9 weeks

MUST SIGN-IN when attending. Chorus includes several sectional

rehearsals (required) plus Listening Lab activities…

Listening Lab

Listening Labs are activities that require you to listen to a given choir/singer and answer questions about what you heard.

Take place EVERY THURSDSAY during the 1st half of lunch (A). Friday B is the other day for make-up work, extra help,

Graded assignment, but can also be completed at home (posted on Blackboard approx. 1 week before the due date, which is always 2 days before the end of a quarter).

Easiest way to fulfill this grade is to come and complete on Thursdays

Fairshare and Fundraising

Because we have many financial needs beyond that which the school instructional monies can support, we collect a FairShare fee $36 Mixed Chorus (Pd. 2) $61 Women’s Ensemble and Chamber Choir

(3/4 Pd.) Can be fundraised, obtained through

a community donor, or paid outright by check or cash

To Do List:

Read Chorus Handbook and return signature page

Check out our website: www.panthercreekchorus.com

Return Day 1 Letter with money, as appropriate

Enroll on Blackboard and change to correct email address

Let’s Get Excited!

This class is what you make of it! Be excited, work hard and have a

good attitude= SUCCESS! Let’s have some fun!!