OCTOBER NOTES

We are coming up on all our recitals and I am so excited to show case my students! You are doing so well. Please push yourself these last weeks before our recitals. You need to be memorized THIS WEEK!!! All music is off-book. As this week are the last lessons of October please remember that payment is due next week. There is a $10 late fee.

Each student was handed a paper this last week of all our important dates coming up. It was also emailed to you. Please read it and email me any questions you have. I need a head count of how many people you are expecting to come to the Fall Recital so we can plan out our number of chairs and food. There is a part on the important dates paper you can fill this number in and return to me this week. The important dates are listed below for your convinience.

IMPORTANT DATES:
-By Tuesday October 27th all music is memorized.
-Thursday October 29th- Group Students Fieldtrip to Noah Webster Basic School. Please arrive at my home by 4pm and please pick-up at my home at 5:30pm.
-No lessons November 9th-13th.
-Studio Rehearsal Thurday November 12th 6-8pm at Calhoun Residence (21259 E. Via del Palo in The Villages at Queen Creek). Your accompanist fee is due at this lesson ($25 for Group Students, $40 for Private Students). THIS REHEARSAL IS MANDATORY TO BE IN THE RECITAL.
-Saturday November 21st FALL RECITAL at 5pm at the Calhoun Residence. Call time for students is 4pm. There will be a reception to follow the recital. Students need to wear church dress for this recital.
-November 23rd-27th- No lessons for Thanksgiving Break.
-Monday November 23d- Special rehearsal with Private Students for Christmas. Please sign up with me for your 20 minute time slot for rehearsal with Jen.
-Saturday December 5th- Queen Creek Christmas Celebration. Our studio has been invited to sing at 2pm. Call time is 1:30pm for ALL students. Please wear your Christmas dresses for this performance.
-Christmas Break is Sunday 6th of December to Monday January 4th. Lessons resume Tuesday January 5th as scheduled.
IMPORTANT: There will be a split in my group lessons. Because of the overwhelming response to these lessons I will be doing the younger group students lesson (7-10 year olds) on Thursday from 4-4:45pm and the older group students (10-13 years old) on Friday at 4-4:45pm. I am accepting new students for these lessons now so please spread the word!

That's it. Please email me with any questions. Thank you for all your hard work!
Sincerely, Jamie

Accompanist CD's

You all have received your Accompanist CD. This CD was put together by your accompanist, Jen Thacker and I to help you practice your Recital Songs easily at home. Please do not lose it! It's like gold! You need to be practicing with your CD every day so you are more prepared for our Studio Rehearsal in just 5 short weeks! This is the month to memorize your songs. Work hard and it will pay off! Have fun with those CD's!

IMPORTANT DATES

Please make sure these important dates are on your calendars:

October 11th-18th- FALL BREAK- no lessons

Thursday October 29th- GROUP STUDENT LESSON AT NOAH WEBSTER- 4-5pm (no private students)

November 8th-14th- NO LESSONS- Studio Rehearsal Week

Thursday November 12th 6-8pm- STUDIO REHEARSAL- MANDATORY dress rehearsal for Fall Recital

Saturday November 21st 5pm- FALL RECITAL- Students arrive at 4pm

Monday November 23rd- 20 MINUTE PRACTICE LESSONS- my home with Jen Thacker for Private Students

November 24th-29th- THANKSGIVING BREAK- no lessons

Saturday December 12th 11am- CHRISTMAS RECITAL

December 13th- January 3rd- CHRISTMAS BREAK

Monday January 4th- SPRING SEMESTER BEGINS

September Voice Notes

What a wonderful month of learning! I am so impressed with what everyone accomplished these last 4 weeks- Private and Group lessons! I am looking forward to another great month. Please remember to bring your books, warm-up sheets and a pencil to every lesson. I need you all to come prepared as we are going to go into reciatl mode this next month.

A couple more things to remember:
October Break is coming! My Studio's October Break is the 11th to the 18th. There are no lessons that week. There are lessons the week before when I know some schools have off. Please call and let me know if you are not coming to your lesson. Group Students will have their regular lesson that week but Private students are welcome to reschedule to an earlier time in the day or a different date during that week. I will only reschedlue if you call in advance!
Payment is due at the first lesson of the month. October fee is $75 for Private students and $40 for group students. Please remember fees not made on time will incur a $10 late fee.

For Private Students:
Your Women's Composer Project is due Thursday October 1st. Please see the blog enrty with the instructions for your project below.
You all have done very well with your Technique this month. We worked on your breathing and I hope you will continue your exercises as they strengthen your core sound, vowels and resonation. In October we will be working on posture and resonating. I know you will master this just as well as you did breathing!
Keep in mind that you must sing in public before the studio rehearsal on November 12th. You have your group songs for the Christmas Recital. Please start working on those songs in your regular practice time. You also received your Accompaniment CD this week. Work with it every day!!! You're the best!!!

For my Group Students:
You have done so well this month! I am so proud of you! You have learned all your songs for both our recitals and you just got the best CD ever... your accompaniment CD! Please use this to practice all the time! You will get so much better at your songs as you do! Parents: I assigned solos, duets, trios and group parts this past month. Please work with your daughter on her part. I am so excited that I have so much talent that I could actually assign pasts this semester! Next month we will be working on breathing, posture and vowels.

Fantastic job this month! I can't wait to see what we can accomplish in October! Thank you for all your hard work!!!
Jamie

Women Composer Paper- Private Student Semester Project

My Private Students need to complete their semester project by October 1st. Please write a paper about your female composer. If you have several female composer songs you are working on, choose one or you can be ambitious and do all of them!! Here are some examples of information I would like you to consider writing about:
1. Her full name, birth date, death date, place she was born, if she was married and to who and anything about her family.
2. Where she studied music and with whom.
3. Her other works of music.
4. Her leading roles in any performances and dates.
5. Her native language and when she was first published.
6. All information about your song: if it is part of a cycle, an opera, a musical...; if it is in another language please translate it providing a poem for both languages; the general feeling of your song; the scene in which it takes place; who are you while you are singing the song?. (There is so much to this category. Please provide as much information as you can!)

You can use your music, Google- the internet is great!!!, books, ask me anything! Remember to have fun with this! We will be sharing your paper with all the students so make it a good one! Remember this project is due October 1st!

Senior Students

Chelsea LaRee Duke is a senior at Queen Creek High School. She has been involved with music her whole life and has taken private voice coaching for five years. Chelsea has grown and flourished through coaching and plans to minor in music this coming fall. She debuted her talent in Romeo and Juliet: The Seussical as Juliet and has continued buliding her repertoire on stage as a Sister in Pirate of Penzance at Queen Creek High School. Her other musical and acting credits include: Aladdin, To Tell the Truth, Check Please, and A Thousand Cranes. Chelsea has been involved in Queen Creek High School choirs and had the honor if being placed in the high school's top choir, Bull Dog Singers. She plans on joining the EVMCO High School Choir this fall. She has also participated in her Ward and Stake Choirs. Chelsea enjoys performing and hopes to continue building her already impressive repertoire. Along with her minor in music she hopes to major in law and teach voice lessons.

Vanessa Vernice Lunt started taking voice lessons last fall and she has enjoyed every minute of it! She loves to sing and has been in various choirs at school and church since she was very young. She espcially enjoys music theatre, participating in such productions as Pirate of Penzance, as a daughter of the General and Aladdin as Jasmine at Queen Creek High School. Vanessa has played the violin for 9 years and during that time had the privilege of being part of the Southwest Symphony, joining them on their European Tour. She is joining the EVMCO Orchestra this fall and is teaching her own violin studio. Throughout high school she has been vigorously involved in extra-cirricular activities including cross country, track, student council, choir and orchestra. Music is the most important part of Vanessa's life next to her testimony of the Savior and her family. Vanessa is hoping to continue with music in college and hopes to continue to grow musically for the rest of her life.

August Notes

At the end of each month I will post notes of accomplishments and what we need to work on as a studio so parents and students are aware of their accomplishments. You should all be so proud of yourselves! I am so proud of what you have achieved this first month of voice instruction! I will start with my private students: great first month!!!! What talent you all have! You have all been given solos, you know your female composer you will be studying this coming month, and you have your specific warm-ups and sight-singing exercises! Bravo! Please practice every day and remember to begin working on your female composer paper. I would also like to see each of you pick a sacred song this coming month and schedule a date to perform in public. My group students: WOW!!! You did so well this month! Bravo to you! I am so overwhelmed with the talent we have in our group this semester. You have learned 4 new warm-ups, studied rhythm, learned solfege hand signs, and you have learned 6 new songs! Please remember to fill out those very important frog practice charts! Remember we are aiming for "high 5" each week! 5 days of practicing, 10 minutes each. I will be assigning solos this month. I hope you will be excited about that! Please remember to use your practice CD at each practice session you have. That CD is so important! Great job this month to all of you. I am so excited for September!!!