2/22/2010

On February 10, some member of Country Day’s Middle School Chorus and Upper School Advanced Chorale performed at the Louisiana Music Educator’s Association Solo and Small Ensemble Festival for schools in the Association’s New Orleans area district. This year’s event was held at Academy of our Lady school in Marrero. Middle and Upper School Choral Director Beth Rota was their accompanist.

The solo/ensemble contests provide student musicians an opportunity to perform a solo or an ensemble in front of an adjudicator and a limited audience, and to receive constructive comments, both spoken and written, from the adjudicator. The primary benefits to the students are the experience of performing alone or in a small group, and a critique from someone other than their regular music teachers.

The Middle School Small Ensemble was made up of eight students this year. The group sang “When I Close My Eyes.”

Nine students made up this year’s Upper School Treble Ensemble. The girls group sang “o salutaris.” Soloists sang “Cross the Wide Missouri,” “Homeward Bound,” “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes,” Scarlatti’s “Se Florindo e fedele,” and “Scarborough Fair.”

The students’ hard work paid off with superb results at the Festival. Superior ratings (the highest rating) were awarded to both the Middle School Small Ensemble and the Upper School Treble Ensemble. Four soloists were also awarded Superior ratings, and one was awarded Excellent, the rating immediately below Superior.

Department Chair Katie Antis praised the achievement in an email: “That is fantastic and a huge success for you and the students. Please tell them that I congratulate them and know how hard they have worked.”