Getting Along Through Song: Teaching R.E.S.P.E.C.T Though Choral Music
Help me give my students a custom arrangement of a high energy mini-musical that reinforces themes of kindness and an anti-bullying message that the singers can perform in multiple settings with an instrumental combo.
My singers come from diverse backgrounds and attend a large urban high school of more than 3,800 students. More than 50 percent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Approximately 20% of our school are English language learners (ESL), including refugees and students new to our country. Approximately 25% of my students have special needs with an individual instruction plan.
Most of my students do not have formal training in the performing arts or experience being in ensembles so I try to provide these opportunities by creating mini-musicals with a message and story-line that requires costuming, dancing, acting as well as great singing.
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 400 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 that reinforce kindness, caring and an anti-bullying message. He will select high energy musical theater styles of songs that will promote opportunities for dancing, acting, and singing. The students will be able to sing with a message and promote, "Getting Along Through Song." He will also serve as a consultant and make adjustments to his arrangements that fit our voices once he has heard the choir sing through the music. By selecting music and creating arrangements that are of interest to the choirs, the singers will certainly perform more confidently on the stage.
The singers will understand the process of choral arranging by their first-hand experiences as they premier selections not generally sung by other choirs and will learn that through performance, singers can change attitudes and inspire audiences.
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. The choir will be transformed into not only singing beautiful harmony but working together harmoniously. Mr. Breeze will write band arrangements for a small students instrumental combo that will accompany the singers and singers will learn how to collaborate and work together to complete a finished product.
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