From Page to Stage: Arranger in Residence for My Choirs
My students need to work with a professional music arranger. We have an alum who now serves in that capacity arranging for more that 50 choirs across the United States. He has agreed create our arrangements.
My singers come from diverse backgrounds and attend a large urban high school of more than 3,800 students. More than 60 percent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Approximately 30% of our school are English language learners (ESL), including a large refugee population.
Approximately 25% of my students have special needs with an individual instruction plan. Many students are not able to pay choir fees or provide their own supplies due to finances. As teachers, we strive to provide almost everything that the choir students will need for performances so that all 425 singers can participate with pride.
Many of the students have language barriers, making it hard to communicate with parents regarding costume needs. Although we have great parent support, it is not possible for parents to pay or donate all the funds needed to train and equip a choral program with more than 425 singers.
Our choirs provide a community and global connection for students. My students are very proud of their performances and want to look and sound their best on stage.
My Project
We will invite alumni superstar and professional arranger, Garrett Breeze to design, arrange and customize a musical theater collection of songs for the choirs. He will also serve as a consultant and make adjustments to his arrangements that fit the voices of once he has heard the choir sing through their music. Through selecting music and creating arrangements that are of interest to the choirs, the singers will certainly perform more confidently on the stage. They will understand the process of choral arranging by their first-hand experiences and they will premier selections not generally sung by other choirs. The choirs and their parents will be reminded of the value of music in our schools as they hear how Mr. Breeze started his elementary music training in our school district. The singers will improve from the critiques that Mr. Breeze prepares for the choirs during the rehearsals he visits as he will give them tips on how to execute the arrangements. I, as the instructor will benefit from the broad prospective presented by Mr. Breeze while developing the our medley for the choirs as Mr. Breeze arranges music for choirs all over the United States. He has worked with more than 50 choirs of all levels and has vast experience in helping them sing musically and accurately. He will also write band arrangements for a small students instrumental combo that will accompany the singers. All songs that he arranges will have the rights approved and paid for through Tresona Music.
The students will perform more confidently as they will have a full understanding of "page to stage" process since the arrangements were designed for the them and will execute the notes with more beauty and enthusiasm.
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