Thursday, August 1, 2019 by Brian Glosh | Uncategorized

Good afternoon Chorister Parents!

The fact that it is the beginning of August is surreal, but time never stops and we only have 21 more days until Choir Camp!

If you have not logged onto your MyMusicStaff Account, please do so and make sure that you have the access you need and that all of your contact information is up-to-date.The entire 2019-2020 chorister school year calendar is live and can be viewed. Some of our private teachers have also starting to put in their private lesson schedule as well for students to view.If you have already setup the sync feature, these calendar dates should already be updated.Attached you will also find a list of Important/Highlighted events for the year in two different versions.One is a list and the other is in a month format (Thank you Sandy Caracciolo!!!)Events that are associated with the schools can also be found on their individual websites.Please also review our attendance policy in the Chorister Handbook.As always, we will do our best to give parents and students at least a two-week notice to any changes that happen on the Chorister Calendar.

Today is when we begin to accept Grace Day Request for the 2019-2020 School year.

Grace Day

Families shall be granted one grace day per year, to be taken at their discretion.A grace day may be taken on a weekday or a Sunday and will apply to the whole day.No grace day may be taken for a REQUIRED call, and no more than two girl choristers or one boy chorister may have a grace day on the same date.Grace days will be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis.Request for a grace day should be made by email to the Chorister Program Manager, or requested through MyMusicStaff. An unexpected special service will void any requests for a grace day on that date.

Uniforms

Our current formal uniform is NOT changing for the upcoming school year. Choristers will need their Formal Uniform for Choir Camp.You can find the ordering information on MyMusicStaff.We also have a collection of uniform items at the Cathedral for choristers to use as well.Please schedule a time to come in for a fitting before August 10 ^th .

Choir Camp (T-Shirts and Medical Forms)

Stay tuned for the Choir Camp Guide which will include the full schedule, packing list, Roslyn information, rooming lists, and so much more! Choir Camp is August 22 ^nd – 28 ^th at the Roslyn Retreat Center in Richmond, VA.In the meantime, we need your chorister’s T-SHIRT SIZE so we can order camp shirts.Also please make sure that all of your medical information required by NCS or STA is completely up-to-date for an overnight trip.Ms. Hammes, Ms. Harper, and myself will begin to email families soon to make sure everything is ready.

Looking forward to an amazing year of music making at the Cathedral!

Things to do:

1. Check MyMusicStaff Account and update contact information
2. Review Important Dates
3. Request Grace Day
4. Check Formal Uniform Fitting
   1. Schedule Cathedral visit and/or
   2. Order uniform from Land’s End

1. Reply to email with Chorister T-Shirt size
2. Check and update Required School Medical Information 
3. Stay Tuned for Choir Camp Guide

Thursday, May 30, 2019 by Brian Glosh | Uncategorized

Dear Musicians and Parents,

With our year-end juries in voice and piano quickly approaching, here are some details to aid you in preparing to sing or attend.  Juries will take place according to the following schedule:

Friday, May 31, 2019

BOYS SCHEDULE

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Please let us know ASAP if you will be traveling or otherwise unavailable on May 31 or June 1. Also, senior girls, please let Mr. Glosh know if you will be taking a makeup exam on Friday afternoon, so we can include you on Saturday’s schedule.

Juries are open to parents and other singers – please plan to support your children and colleagues! In lieu of written comments, Mr. McCarthy, Ms. Edwards, Ms. Mondel and Ms. Stuart will provide remarks for voice juries, and Mr. Goen, our colleague from St. Albans School, will provide comments for piano juries. Repertoire requirements for all choristers are:

VOICE

-3 Repertoire selections as assigned by voice teacher, from memory

PIANO

-3 pieces as assigned by piano instructor (not memorized)

For both juries, choristers will choose their first selections, and the panel will then request parts or all of the additional selections. It is quite possible that you will not perform each of your three pieces in its entirety. For voice juries, please be prepared to explain the meaning of each of your pieces in a sentence or two, and know the title and composer of each piece.

We are very pleased to have our own Mr. Fergus accompanying the voice juries. Although there will not be a rehearsal opportunity with Mr. Fergus prior to juries, singers will be given a chance to set tempi before singing.

Aural skills testing, which includes sight-singing, as well as piano scales and arpeggios have already been tested by piano instructors during regular choir rehearsals the previous week and will not be part of the public presentations.

Thank you for your preparation! We look forward to hearing you. 

Thursday, February 21, 2019 by Brian Glosh | Uncategorized

Good morning,

Hopefully you have already registered for the Sacred Music Festival this weekend!However, if you haven’t, you can still come on Saturday with $25 and I will have music packets for your son/daughter. The most important thing is to let me know about your lunch requests so that we can make sure we order enough food over the weekend.You can do this by following this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmOJzXaKtDCSR-lDoaHd-cwUkw18zFQVimpFafP17NEtDhnw/viewform

A reminder that we have been working on most of this music through our Novice rehearsals and this would be a wonderful experience to sing with other Choristers from across the DMV.

Youtube Practice:

Since we didn’t have any novice rehearsals this week we missed our final touch up before the actual festival!Here is the link again to the youtube channel with all of the music from the festival:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OgZCCoXWc&list=PLNoGJE8QhsZmu2x7Z7K0HAMrDmxWVFJLX

The Novices will be singing:

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Bach

Non Nobis Domine – Byrd

Keep Your Lamps – Victor Johnson

Risen Lord – Rose

Love one Another – (Blessed be God and Father)There is a middle section that is a treble solo that they will join the Cathedral choir.

If your chorister would prefer to take the music home and practice, please let me know and they can come and pick the packet up today or tomorrow.

Uniforms:

On Saturday, children should be dressed in school appropriate clothing.We will be in rehearsals most of the day with some games that will require movement.Think layers as the Cathedral can get warm and cold in different places.

Sunday, Novices should wear a white-button down shirt and black pants/long skirt for the evensong service.If boys have a sports coat and tie that would be great.I have extras of both if you do not have one.Black shoes!

Schedule:

The entire schedule can be found on this online pdf: https://cathedral.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Festival-Schedule-and-Rep.pdf

If you have any questions, please let me know!!!

Monday, November 5, 2018 by Brian Glosh | Uncategorized

Good afternoon Parents,

We are a month away from Messiah!This means tickets are on sale now for Messiah and chorister parents have the opportunity to purchase two tickets at 50% the cost.You may use the Cathedral’s online ticket site by going to https://cathedral.org/what-to-do/concerts/ and selecting which performance you would like to see.Insert HANDELFRIENDS in the code to receive the discount.You may also call Sarah Rockwood at (202) 537-2234 and mention that you are a chorister parent.

Important Note: There is a 4 ^th performance of the Messiah called the Family Messiah on Saturday at 12:30 PM.The Choristers will not be performing at this performance. 

If you have any questions regarding tickets, please be sure to ask either myself, Sarah, or Sandy Caracciolo.

Thank you!

Friday, August 10, 2018 by Brian Glosh | Uncategorized

Good afternoon Choristers and Parents,

You will find the 2018-2019 National Cathedral Choir Camp Handbook in the Library and Downloads section of MyMusicStaff.  This handbook includes a suggested packing list, full schedule of choir camp events, contact information for myself and the Roslyn Retreat Center, rooming lists, and other important information.  For those who have experienced choir camp before, there are a couple of changes that are different from the past couple of years. 

Thursday, August 23 ^rd   Opening Day

The morning will feel similar to parents as we will still have breakfast and a family oriented Eucharist and a 9:15 am parent send-off.  The choristers will then begin their Cathedral Orientation.  This will include vestment fittings, a meet and greet with important Cathedral Close staff, fire and safety drills, processional practice, and a Cathedral tour, which will extend our time at the Cathedral.  We will hopefully have lunch in the Bishop’s Garden and then depart for Roslyn to arrive around 3:30 PM.

More information about expected fees for food, breakfast and opening day business to come…

Sunday, August 26 ^th Concert at RRCB

In the past, this concert has been placed on Monday, after Kings Dominion.  We have moved our schedule around this year so that Kings Dominion and the Community Service Project happen after the concert.  This fits better with RRCB’s schedule as well and hopefully will allow the choristers to have a bit more energy for the concert!  Parents are welcome and invited to come.

Wednesday, August 29 ^th

We have added two items to the schedule at Roslyn that will make our arrival time later in the afternoon. (4:30 PM)  As a department we felt it important to spend some time discuss with the Choristers before they return to school and begin to manage their chorister and academic schedule and share some advice on how to ask for help, what to expect for the first weeks, and answer any questions they may have.  We will also be creating a Choir Camp Wrap-up video to look back on the all of the fun times and to reinforce our theme for the week. 

Important things to do:

1. Make sure that you have a Chorister Uniform that fits for Choir Camp!  If you need help ordering or would like to come try on some uniform pieces please let me know.
2. Update and complete all required medical forms for the schools.  This is required for any students to travel on a school trip!  If you have a doctor’s appointment set up it is also helpful to let the nurses know so that they can expect the incoming information.
3. Get excited!  This is one of the best parts of the year in the program.  Encourage your son/daughter to start thinking of talent show ideas and practicing their dance moves.  We are going to have a blast!

I am available all of next week and will be at the Cathedral to answer any questions you may have.  

Thank you,

Brian Glosh