Photo op before the big day starts...Erie, are you ready for this???
Audience Participation time at Roosevelt!
Performing at Perry Elementary
Dr. Bishop addresses the audience at Perry Elementary
Relaxing after a long day!
Throughout the day, our Cantare training chorus visited three different schools in the Erie area: Roosevelt, Perry, and Pfeiffer-Burleigh. The choristers began arriving at Penn State at 7:00 a.m., and had a busy schedule until the day ended at 4:30 p.m. After all of the choristers had arrived and were dressed in their concert attire, it was time to begin warming up and discussing our schedule for the rest of the day. By 8:30 we were off to our first school: Roosevelt, where we sang for the 7th and 8th graders. The performance was very well-received, and we even had the middle school students up and moving as we taught them a fun warm-up song!
Following the Roosevelt stop, we made our way to Perry Elementary where we sang for grades K-5, and the students loved all of our songs. We also had the students participate in a warm-up, and no one - not even the teachers - was left out of it!
After Perry, the singers were transported back to campus (via a very loud bus filled with Cantare's version of Miley Cyrus songs), where we had lunch and more rehearsal time. It was important for the singers to discuss each performance throughout the day to continually improve on each song so that every time we performed, we were evolving and learning from our experiences.
Our final stop of the day was at Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary, where we sang for a gymnasium full of students. This time we were able to teach them two of our favorite warm-ups, and it was great to see all of the excited faces as everyone, adults included, joined in the fun!
During each visit, Dr. Bishop and Mrs. Beichner spoke about YPC's upcoming Honor Chorus Festival (by the way, the registration deadline is approaching, check out our website to register!), how students could join the chorus if they liked what they had seen that day, and we even had some of our choristers come up to the mic to give their own testimonials! All in all, Cantare did a great job representing the organization, and we are all very proud of them!
After the singing was over, we returned to campus for snack time, coloring, and a "nature walk". Dr. Bishop received some coloring pages of a crazy-looking conductor (hmm...was this a hint???), and some choristers began calling Mrs. Beichner their "music mom" during the nature walk. (She really would like to know why it couldn't be "music big sister", but I suppose it doesn't have quite the same ring to it...)
It was a great day, and would not have been possible without the help and support of so many people. Thank you to all of the YPC staff, the volunteers, the choristers, the teachers and administrators of the participating schools, and all of the students who made such great audiences! We are already looking forward to our Spring 2011 Tour of Schools!
