Sunday, September 18, 2022 by Julie DeBoer | Uncategorized

Here is our Choir Camp 2022 Slideshow! This video is unlisted, so only those with a link are able to view it. Enjoy!

Choir Camp 2022 - YouTube

Wednesday, August 18, 2021 by Brian Glosh | Uncategorized

Good morning Chorister Parents,

As we start to get ready for the upcoming year and choir camp here is the important Uniform Information for 2021-2022.  

CHOIR CAMP SHIRT

For our scheduled outdoor concert on Sunday and for our final excursion on Wednesday, Choristers will need to purchase/wear the previous choir camp shirt found here: https://www.customink.com/g/qnq0-00ca-ca3g (Leadership with Music for Worship) Orders can be made for the next 8 days so that we can get them to choristers on time for the concert.  I do have some extra stock at the Cathedral and will be in the office on Thursday to check for current sizes.  The Cathedral will cover the cost of this shirt for Choir Camp! 

Preparing for Worship Services – Need to have by OCTOBER 3rd

Each chorister is provided with vestments that are worn for services and concerts. They consist of a purple cassock, a white surplice, and a white neck ruff. The cassock and surplice is a distinctive uniform that has been worn by choir members since the earliest times. Black shoes and socks are required when wearing the vestments. Choristers are responsible for the good upkeep and care of these vestments. 

A chorister also is required to wear a Cathedral Chorister uniform when on the Close for services and concerts that are not part of the school day, including Sundays; the uniforms are also required for any occasions where the choir is performing off the close. Choristers are responsible for maintaining a tidy appearance at all times. 

The Cathedral Chorister uniform (components listed below) is available through Lands’ End: www.landsend.com/school. Create or sign in to your account. The Preferred School Number for Washington National Cathedral Choir is: 900164815. You will see the specific required items on your page. You can also call 1-800-469-2222 any time to order. If you are unsure about sizing, you can go to Lands’ End  where an associate will help you with sizing.  POLO SHIRTS ARE NOT REQUIRED!  THERE IS ALSO A LANDS END SALE RIGHT NOW!  

We do have a small supply of gently used blazers, shirts, skirts and slacks in varying sizes that have been returned to the music office by former choristers. Chorister families who would like to check on these available items, or would like to donate gently used uniforms, should contact myself.  Now is the time to have your chorister try on those old uniforms and see if they still fit!  If they don’t, bring in those freshly washed uniforms pieces and we may be able to find you a one that does fit!  We also have Black Shoes that were left since Spring Break 2019…

TIES – Please visit https://www.ties.com/american-necktie-co.-purple-and-silver-purple-tie-for-boy

Uniform for Boy Choristers  

Navy blazer with embroidered choir logo 
Choir Tie (Not purchased at Land’s End) 

White Oxford shirt (long or short sleeved) with logo 
Grey dress pants 
Black socks 
Black dress shoes 

Uniform for Girl Choristers 

Navy blazer with embroidered choir logo 
White Oxford shirt (long or short sleeved) with logo 
Grey box pleat skirt 
Skin-Colored (neutral) stockings (not knee-highs, not opaque tights) 
Black dress shoes (closed toe, no more than 1" heel) 

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!!!