All-State Elementary Chorus

On November 29, 2007, I put the final touches on my first-ever "Five Year Plan" and submitted it to my principal.  Our theme that year was "Dreams Begin Here" and I was dreaming big-time.

One of my long-term goals was to send a student from Chets Creek Elementary to Tampa, Florida to participate in the All-State Elementary Chorus.  That was three years ago.  I had no idea what was involved in the audition process, but was willing to give it my best.  I am very happy to say that my dream finally came true this fall for a very sweet young lady named Katie.

Katie and Mrs. Tamburrino

Katie is a fourth grader at CCE.  She is currently learning to play the recorder and she has a lovely singing voice too.  Last year as I was rehearsing the 3rd grade musical, Katie always sat in the same seat, right in front of the piano.  I could tell that she was able to maintain pitch and was very quick to learn the material.  She kept coming to mind over and over again as I thought about who I might audition for All-State this year.

I approached her parents over the summer and asked for permission to audition Katie.  I had never attempted anything like this before, but they were willing and I was excited to try.  Students must be able to sing "America" a cappella and as a solo, sing "Are You Sleeping?" in a round with the teacher and maintain their part and must also be fairly proficient with tonal memory (teacher plays an example on the piano; student sings it back correctly).

Over the summer, I asked my media specialist if she would assist me by downloading a free software program (Audacity) onto my laptop so I could use it to make an audition CD for Katie.  I purchased an external microphone and recorded a rehearsal CD for Katie to use to learn the required audition pieces.  Once the official "2010 tonal memories" were uploaded to the FMEA website, I arranged for an audition with Katie.  This was back in September.  We had to wait six weeks before we knew whether or not she had been selected to participate.

Katie was one of three public school students from Duval County selected to participate in the 2011 All-State Elementary Chorus.  Her family is so proud of her and we are all extremely excited about this musical opportunity for Katie! 

Her concert music arrived in my box today and I can't wait to get started on it! She will be part of a 200-voice choir that performs on January 14th and I will be sitting in the audience cheering her on.  Katie is one of those kids that makes an entire learning community extremely proud to call her one of their own!

Until next time...