Back in April, the kids & I participated in three EVMCO (East Valley Millennial Choirs & Orchestras) concerts. It made for a very long, but rewarding weekend. Peacock & Turkey sang Oh Happy Day & Onward, Christian Soldiers with their choirs. Penguin's choir sang Peace Like a River, River in Judea, Holding Hands Around the World, & He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.
Watch the following video to learn more about EVMCO (which is growing to two new cities this fall) and listen to our latest recording of How Great Thou Art:
We found out late last night that my cute Penguin made it into the live & final round of auditions for the Honors Recital. Yea!! She's so excited & I'm so proud of her!!
We've never done something like this, but my understanding is that teachers can submit videos of their students ... so any instrument, small ensembles, singers, etc are all welcome to audition. I still have no idea what the competition is like or what to expect, so we'll see what happens.
It's 11:44pm and I'm finally finishing up Penguin's audition videos for an honors recital. This was a somewhat painful project. I had to record her playing two pieces which we did on three different nights. Recording is frustrating because we kept trying and trying for a perfect recording, which just ends up being frustrating for both of us. I tried to keep recording sessions short because I found that her best recordings were usually the first few ... after that I think she gets tired ... I don't blame her!
After I recorded Penguin on a few occasions, I probably had about 50 videos to go through and I had to choose which video was best for each song. I kept nodding off, getting up for breaks, etc but I think I found two winners ... well, I hope these videos make Penguin a winner. :)
We've never done something like this before & we have no idea what the competition is like, so I have no idea what to expect from the judges. I think 3-4 judges review these videos and then some kids are invited for a live audition, so at this point, all we can do is wait ... and practice, practice, practice! :)
So ... here is my Penguin after playing the harp for 6-months - probably about 6 months exactly. I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to see where she's at after playing for another 6 months!!
Peacock participated in a school concert Thursday night. The entire 4th grade played about 15-minutes worth of music on recorders, which was pretty cute.
When the 4th graders were finished, the kids in grades 4-6, that choose to go to school early and attend choir, had their spring choir concert. The choir kids sang songs from different decades and they did a great job. I knew Peacock had a solo part, but she never practiced it at home. I expected her to get up and sing in her sweet choir voice, but when this came out of her mouth, I about fell out of my chair! I asked her where she learned to sing like this and she told me she sings under her breath with the radio. What a hoot!
Penguin
has been learning to play the harp for the past {almost} 6 months.
Yesterday she played at the spring recital for the local American Harp
Association. She did an awesome job!! I'm so proud of her & all
her hard work. This next month she'll be busy auditioning for an honors
recital and hopefully passing off grades 1, 2, & 3 to an examiner. For each grade she has required scales, arpeggios, and three pieces to perform, so she'll be polishing-up nine songs this month. She'll be busy!!
Last Thursday evening, I got to take part in a little bit of history in the making. At our EVMCO rehearsal, this video was played for us:
If you'd like to show your support for the Consolari Concert Hall & music education in the Phoenix area, please complete the survey HERE.
Our organization's name has been changed to East Valley Millennial Choirs & Orchestras and a third concert has been added to the line-up for this weekend. If you'd like to attend a concert, please go HERE for more information. If you want tickets for a sold-out show, please let me know and I can probably help you find some.
Newspaper article about the concert hall can be found HERE.
This video touched me this morning. I loved this song when I was a young girl. I should teach it to my children because it's one that I don't hear very often these days.
We have a new, rising star at our house. Penguin ... on the harp!
In our part of the country, we have fall break ... a week off of school in October cause the weather is so nice here! It's finally cool enough to go outside, but still quite warm. We decided to take a road trip to UT for part of fall break to visit my grandparents for a few days. While we were there, Penguin bugged my aunt for a couple harp lessons and now I have a harp sitting in my living room and harp lessons to attend. Harp was not my choice, suggestion, or something I would've ever come up with, so this is all Penguin's doings & after 6 or 7 lessons, I'd say she's doing quite well! We took some quick videos with my phone to send up to my aunt so she could see how Penguin in progressing with her new-found hobby. Please excuse our out-of-tune harp ... tuning it is not high on my favorite things to do list. :)
The first two pieces are being prepared for the ABRSM Grade 1 exam in May & the last song is the one she performed at the Christmas recital a few weeks ago.
A beautiful video & tribute was made using a song by the group my kids & I perform with, Mormon Choral Organization, for the victims on Newtown, CT. Enjoy & God bless!
Hope you are all enjoying a great summer!! We're busy here with trips to the library, museums, swim team, dance classes, music camp, playing with friends, swimming several times a week, etc, etc, etc.
My 9-yr old went to a birthday party a few weeks ago. She came home and introduced the other kids & me to Carly Rae Jepsen's song, Call Me Maybe. We're having fun listening to it around the house & in the car when we're on the go. If you're looking for a fun, upbeat song, you can buy it right now on Amazon for $0.25!
It's concert week!! Yesterday I practiced my violin for 4 hours. Today I could only get in two hours ... my brain was somewhat dead. My Turkey is practicing standing still in concert position for 15-minutes a day ... a very hard task for my wiggly boy. My Penguin is gearing up for a little solo part that she will perform (in Hebrew!) in front of 1000's of people Friday night. And Peacock is ready to go! We are all super excited for our Friday night concert and we hope you'll grab one of the few remaining tickets to come see us perform!!
If you love the classics of the masters and Broadway tunes, this is the concert for you! We will be performing everything from Rachmaninoff to Mozart and Les Mis to Sound of Music.
The 8pm concert is currently sold-out (but keep your eyes peeled because sometimes seats might pop up if tickets are sold back to the arts center) and the 5pm concert has limited seats, so if you are interested in attending, get online and buy your tickets now! If anyone is interested, I have one ticket for the 8pm concert.
Here are a couple songs that I'm looking forward to performing ...
I am thrilled to announce that "Messiah in America" (www.messiahinamerica.com) has debuted at #1 on Billboard's Traditional Classical charts. This is the CD that my organization (EVMCO) recorded this past summer in Salt Lake City.
A couple newspapers have printed articles on our accomplishments:
"Messiah in America" is available through iTunes, Amazon or the Messiah in America website. If you have a child between the ages of 4-18 years old who would like to participate in EVMCO, you have two more days to register them for this semester. The theme for our next concert is Classical to Broadway. I've already heard some little voices in my house singing Mozart, Bach, Sound of Music selections, etc. It should be very educational and tons of fun!
The East Valley Mormon Choral Organization has been working hard since August to prepare for our upcoming Christmas concert. I've been meaning to blog about the concert for a while now and I hope I'm not too late for some of my faithful concert-goers because both concerts are almost sold-out. As of right now, there are some "limited view", back-row seats, and a few other odds & ends left for both nights.
If you want to purchase tickets online go HERE. I recommend the Saturday night performance and seats that are at least 10 rows back from the stage.
The concert will knock your socks off, but I don't think I have to do much talkin' cause the fact that about 3000 seats have already sold for a concert that's more than a month away speaks for itself! Don't miss out!!!
Today is the 2nd Annual Book of Mormon YouTube Project. Please watch this video sometime TODAY between 12:00am-11:59pm and then share it with your friends and family to also view today. You can repost this video on websites, email, Facebook, blogs, etc. Our goal is to get at least 250,000 views today.
And while you watch the video, please enjoy the music by my own EVMCO and OCMCO! The CD of this recording is going to be released on October 25th, so mark your calendars!
I will be performing in the symphony for Lamb of God on September 9 & 10 at Gammage in Tempe, AZ. Both shows start at 7:30pm. You can not afford to miss this and you should be able to get tickets for less than the cost of going to a movie. This will be uplifting and you will get to enjoy the talents of a great choir, incredible soloists, and a professional-level symphony ... that's hard to find at the movie theater! You will not be sorry for making the effort to be there.
No matter your religion, please come and partake of this amazing music.
Learn more about Lamb of God and the composer Rob Gardner HERE.
For my friends in the East Valley who have been considering the East Valley Mormon Choral Organization ... registration is currently open and new participants are being accepted. Kids can start as young as 4 years old and adults are welcome to audition and participate in the adult choir or orchestra.
Children, adults, and families of all faiths & backgrounds are participating and enjoying top-notch musical experiences. I've done a lot of music stuff around town and nothing comes close in comparison to the EVMCO. I could go on for pages with reasons of why you should participate and I'd be happy to talk with individuals who are contemplating the idea. I think kids (4-18 yrs old) can attend a rehearsal for free and with no commitment, if they'd like.
All three of my kids will be participating this semester and they are counting down the days until the first rehearsal. This organization is one of the very best things my kids have in their lives right now, so we hope you'll join us!
