Hi Parents!

I am writing to say that I am VERY excited about the talented group of students we have in choir this year. They are doing a great job in class, and I know you will enjoy hearing them perform throughout the year.

Please read all of my email so that you can be sure to respond to all needed requests:

Parents, 20% of your child’s choir grade is based on mandatory choir performances. I have already announced concert dates in class, but I wanted to contact you to make sure you can put these required events on your calendars.

Our required performances happen at the end of each term. We also will be participating in the school’s second annual Music Festival, which should be held in May.

Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 23; Wednesday, December 18; and Wednesday, March 12. These are the definite dates for our first three concerts. We usually begin at 6:30 PM for our concert, and students are asked to arrive usually by 6 PM. Concert attire will be determined in advance of each concert, and I try very hard to pick items for students to wear that they already have at home without asking you to buy anything extra. We typically have a short, required after-school dress rehearsal the day before the concert. (In these cases, Tuesday, October 22; Tuesday, December 17; and Tuesday March 11). We also perform an assembly during school for the 5-6th graders during the school day on those Tuesdays and for the Jr. High on those Wednesdays.

Parents, the tradition at SAA has been that we perform our concerts as the choir on the same nights as the bands perform. We are actually even planning to do some collaboration with some special musical numbers this year involving both the choir and the band. So, our dates for the first three concerts should (most likely) remain the same as the band concert dates. As for now, our final concert is set for Wednesday May 21. I will do my best to notify you well in advance if there could possibly be any change in this date. We also do not know yet the date for the Music Festival for this year. I will let you know as soon as I find out.

There will be at least one other performance that the choir is invited to participate in, which is not required by grade, but I would love as much participation as possible. This will be at Barnes & Noble, but I do not have an exact date/time on this. I will get this information to you as soon as I can.

I realize this is a lot of information, but please do take note of these dates and the requirements.

Four additional important things to mention:

1: I have started a blog where students can visit to read and be reminded of assignments and upcoming events. My goal is that I can get to a place where you as parents and students make a habit of visiting my blog regularly to stay updated on this type of information. As a participation grade for your student, I am asking that they visit my blog, click on Choir on the right side of the page, click on comments at the bottom of the assignment box, and then leave a comment for me to show me that they have visited my blog. I am asking that they post this comment by September 24. My blog address is:
blogs.syracuseartsacademy.org/mburke

2: Your students will receive CDs and sheet music for most of the music that we work on in class. PLEASE encourage them to practice often with their CDs. Also, please know that they are responsible for taking good care of their sheet music, or they will need to pay to replace the sheet music.

3: Please take the time to write me a reply to this email so that I can verify that you are receiving my emails and are aware of all that has been included in this email.

4: Our first parent/teacher conference days are approaching quickly. They will be September 25 and 26. Please contact me in advance if you would like to set up a time to meet with me as I must set up my schedule for those days in ahead of time. I will notify you if there are any problems which need to be discussed in advance, however, I feel that everyone is doing a great job participating at this time.

If you have any questions about the above or anything else, please feel free to email me, call me, or even post a comment on my blog.

Thank you,

Melissa Burke