The Heathcote Winter Chorus Concert

The 4th and 5th grade choruses under the direction of Ms. Katherine Bescherer have been hard at work since September preparing some wonderful music for their recent winter concert. Every 4th and 5th grade student is a member of his or her grade level chorus and was part of this performance on the night of January 19th.

The 4th grade chorus performed 3 songs: “Muziki Vuma,” which is an upbeat song in Swahili which included a small percussion ensemble. “America, Of Thee I Sing!” which is a lovely partnering of a melodic version of “The Pledge of Allegiance” and “America, The Beautiful.” And, their show stopper which was “Lights!” which included choreography and was "outrageously funderful."

The 5th grade chorus has also prepared 3 songs: “O Desayo” which is an Angolan folk song also with a

percussion ensemble. “Blowin’ in the Wind/America ” which is another partnering of two songs combining the power of Bob Dylan’s song with the beautiful anthem “My country ‘tis of thee...” And, the 5th grades’ show stopper was Rodgers and Hart's “Johnny One Note” from the musical Babes in Arms.

The parallels in the two chorus' repertoire allows both the singers and the audience to engage in critical thinking as they evaluate not only the performance but the musical content presented by each group.

For their finale, the students performed as a combined chorus and sang and danced to “Rockin’ Robin,” a hit song recorded by Bobby Day in 1958, and again by Michael Jackson in 1972.

It was an evening of many smiles, wonderful music, and the audience absolutely loved it!

 

 

Top Photo: Heathcote Principal Maria Stiles welcomes everyone to the concert

Photos courtesy of Jon Thaler. To see more, go to www.jonthaler.com