Tag Archives: Choir

Sweet Adelines win two medals in singing contest in Cleveland

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Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Interim Director Judy Westers with their two medals. (Courtesy, Sweet Adelines)



By Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines

greer@wktv.org


Grand Rapids Chorus of Sweet Adelines (GRSA) took home two medals at the Sweet Adelines Great Lakes Harmony Region 17 contest in Cleveland this past weekend. GRSA won third place Division AA (mid-size choruses) and fourth place overall.

This was Interim Director Judy Westers first time on the contest stage as Music Director.


“Our dream came true on that stage because we worked so hard to be prepared and that gave our singers so much confidence on the contest stage,” Westers said. “I couldn’t be more proud of this chorus for what we accomplished. The bonus was that our audience loved the performance.”


Westers also performed as a baritone with an all-GRSA Quartet, “Chime In,” at the Sweet Adelines contest in Cleveland.

The chorus sang two Disney songs: “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Almost There.” The Chorus is fortunate to have an “in-house” music arranger, Penny Hock, who adapted both songs for GRSA.



Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines at Region 17 Contest. (Courtesy, Sweet Adelines)



“It is a privilege to be the in-house arranger and be able to adapt an arrangement to fit us perfectively,” said Hock, who’s also the assistant director and a lead for the Chorus.. “It’s the chorus singers who adapt and evolve constantly, until they create the pulse and breathe life into it.”

“GRSA is an energetic A Cappella chorus of nearly 60 women who perform 4-part harmony in the barbershop style of music.” The Chorus has entertained countless audiences across West Michigan and overseas in the Netherlands, Italy and France. GRSA will perform in Ireland and Northern Ireland this Fall.

If you are interested in joining the Chorus, click HERE.

The Ford Airport will be filled with holiday music

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By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org

Area choirs will be performing that Gerald R. Ford Airport this week. (Pxhere.com)

As holiday travel continues at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport, local school choirs are set to fill the Ford Airport with festive cheer for passengers and guests.

The 26th Annual Holiday Music Festival will take place Dec. 5-9 in the airport grand hall, located just before the TSA checkpoint. Daily performances run from 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

A total of 20 West Michigan choirs from grades first through 12th are scheduled to sing 20-minute song sets throughout the day. All festival performances are free and open to the public.

Some of the local groups performing are 

Legacy Christian Honors Choir, 9:30 a.m. Dec. 5

East Kentwood High School Varsity Voices, 12:30 p.m. Dec. 5

Calvin Christian Chroale, 9:30 a.m. Dec. 6

Lee High School School Choir, 11 a.m.. Dec. 6

Wyoming Junior High Concert Choir, 11 a.m., Dec. 7

Wyoming High School Honors Choir, 12:30 p.m, Dec. 7

Legacy Home School Alliance Choir, 2 p.m,, Dec. 7

U-Prep Choir, 10:15 a.m. Dec. 8

Potters House High School Choir, 2 p.m. Dec. 8

South Christiaan High School Madrigals, 2 p.m. Dec. 9

The full schedule of performing choirs is at FlyFord.org.

“Thank you to the many local school choirs for your preparation and participation in bringing joy to the Airport,” said Tory Richardson, Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority president and CEO. “We hope our passengers and guests can pause from the hustle and bustle of the season to enjoy these performances.”

Girls Choral Academy gives West Michigan girls a voice

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By Lori Tennenhouse, Girls Choral Academy

 

Girls Choral Academy’s (GCA) mission of Giving Girls a Voice is accomplished by providing a safe place where girls of all ages regardless of race, religion, or socioeconomic status can gain a strong choral education. GCA has served over 2350 girls in the 20 years it has been in West Michigan with over 150 girls being served this year.

 

GCA is dedicated to creating quality performances and providing quality arts education, as well as providing a place where girls can form a positive sense of self as they experience the rewards of successful planning, hard work, and goal accomplishment. GCA encourages girls to develop self-esteem, self-confidence, and leadership skills through mentoring, opportunities to perform solos, as well as work as a team and building a community of like-minded artists.

 

Through its programs, both singers and audience members experience a wide range of musical styles, genres, origins, and cultures, including traditional, jazz, gospel, multicultural, classical, and contemporary music. GCA provides a safe, loving and nurturing environment for singers, and a high-quality artistic experience for its audience members, while contributing to a growing arts community in Grand Rapids.

 

Girls develop vocal technique, musical skills, creativity, expressive artistry, and an awareness of music from many cultures. The Campus Choir program encourages girls to respect the uniqueness of others, to take risks that foster individual growth, and to collaborate as a team and create something bigger than themselves. In addition to performance, girls have opportunities to attend choir camp and travel.

 

In 1999, the Grandville Avenue Girls Choir (GVA) was founded as a non-tuition after-school choir program for girls who attend Grand Rapids Public Schools in the southwest urban area of Grand Rapids. The three choirs that make up GVA Choir meet at Cesar E Chavez School, Southwest Community Campus School, and Buchanan School. Close to 100 girls participate in this structured after-school music education program on any given year. Our Grandville Avenue Girls Choir after-school programs give girls the opportunity to learn the values of perseverance, teamwork, commitment, respect, and friendship—all through the medium of excellent music-making in a nurturing, positive environment.

 

In addition to offering a high quality of vocal education, our mission further centers on personal growth due to exposure to new experiences through competitions and collaborations. In the most recent season, the choir programs’ programming included:

  • Participating in the Treblemakers’ Showtunes Showdown competition in the fall.
  • Participating in Celebrate! A Community Arts Day with the Artists Creating Together Choir and Drum Troupe and the Grand Rapids Youth Ballet.
  • Visiting Calvin College for campus tours.
  • Singing at Porter Hills and Clark Retirement Homes.
  • Singing the National Anthem at a Grand Rapids Griffins game.
  • Singing at the Roosevelt Park Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony.
  • Taking a trip to the city of Chicago which included: attending My Fair Lady at the Lyric Opera Theatre, having pizza at Giordano’s and visiting Navy Pier.
  • Visiting Mackinac Island and performing at the Grand Hotel and the Little Stone Church.
  • Performing for various companies, organizations and fundraising events, including the University Club Scholarship Breakfast, the Kiwanis Club and Pridgeon & Clay.

On April 21, the GCA will collaborate with the Chicago Children’s Choir at St. Cecilia Music Center at 6:30pm to present “Voices Rising”, a concert open to the community. Then in May, the Grandville Ave Girls Choir will travel to Chicago for “Canto Latino” where they will sing with the Chicago Children’s Choir Humboldt Neighborhood Choir. They will also visit the Chicago Aquarium, and enjoy Giordano’s Pizza.

 

The Campus Choir program will have all 4 choirs, ages 6-18, perform their Spring Concert at First United Methodist Church (224 Fulton E) on May 21 at 3pm.

 

GCA is fortunate to have wide ranging financial support from foundations, corporations, and individual donors. Those funding us include among others: Amerikam, Amway, Cook Foundation, Douglas & Maria DeVos Foundation, Pridgeon & Clay, Sebastian Foundation, and Wege Foundation.

 

For more information, go to www.girlschoralacademy.org or www.facebook.com/girlschoralacademy

Musical Tradition and Timeless Memories: Handel’s ‘Messiah’ Dec. 5

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Holiday Celebration “Musical Tradition and Timeless Memories: Handel’s Messiah”

holiday3When: Monday, Dec. 5, 7:30 pm

 

Where: Fountain Street Church, 24 Fountain St. NE, Grand Rapids, MI

 

FREE and open to the public

 

One of the greatest delights of the Christmas and holiday season is the chance it brings us to revisit cherished and familiar traditions. For many, it is the recollection of much loved musical gems that most completely provides the festive and warm mood to which we enjoy returning year after year.

 

This year, celebrate the holiday season as the Grand Valley State University Arts Chorale and Orchestra perform the music of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.

 

Messiah, as Handel penned it in 1741, was nothing more than an unstaged drama with all of the musical and theatrical ingredients of an opera, but without the costumes and physical movement. The first part of Messiah, the Christmas section, which is centered on the prophecy and the story of the birth of Christ, will be performed along with other holiday favorites for orchestra, vocal solo, and choir.

 

From the majestic tenor recitative, Comfort Ye, to the reverential, smoothly flowing melodic lines of the Pifa, to the brilliance of the Hallelujah Chorus, you’ll enjoy immersing yourself in Handel’s timeless music, especially within the magnificent acoustic environs of Fountain Street Church.

This year’s Grand Valley Fall Arts holiday celebration promises a not-to-be-missed performance — a musical holiday gift from the faculty members, students, and staff members of Grand Valley State University to our West Michigan community and friends.

You Won’t Believe Your Eyes (or Ears): The Singing Christmas Tree is Back for its 31st Year

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Singing-Christmas-Tree-4x5

By Victoria Mullen

Imagine, if you will, a singing Christmas tree. That’s right, a 67-foot-tall Christmas tree festooned with 240 young singers stacked from tip to toe. (The remaining 35 singers perform from under the tree.) It’s a strange sight and an unforgettable experience, so you won’t want to miss the Mona Shores Singing Christmas Tree at the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, 425 W. Western Ave., #200, Muskegon, MI 49440, December 3-5.

I have questions, and maybe you do, too, such as: How do the singers stay in place? Do they get vertigo? What happens if one should faint? Are there singers in the back of the tree and, if so, do they mind that no one sees them? And how do the singers get up there anyway? These questions–and more–will not be answered here because Christmas is magic and so are this tree and this choir.

As a consolation prize, here are some quick, fun facts:

  • The person at the top of the Tree is known as “The Tree Angel” and is always a high school senior, selected by the director. This hard-working choir student exemplifies the spirit of the Mona Shores Choir.
  • Over 1,500 linear feet of electrical wiring runs throughout the tree to more than 25,000 colored lights, and
    over 5,000 linear feet of special greenery imported from Germany is “fluffed” and put on the tree prior to the
    decorations.
  • More than 200 volunteers started working on this year’s production in early October. Many worked around the clock from Sunday morning through Monday evening to prepare for technical rehearsals and get the tree presentable for its annual performance. Now that’s dedication!
  • The first Singing Christmas Tree ever created happened 50 years ago in Southern California. It was 16 feet
    high and held 25 singers. Many communities across the world have Singing Christmas Trees, but none are as
    tall as this one.

This is the thirty-first anniversary of the Mona Shores Singing Christmas Tree. There are only three days of performances, so get with the program quickly: Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 pm; Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 pm; and Saturday, Dec. 5 at 3 pm & 7 pm.

Tickets are $15.00 and $10.00 on sale through Star Tickets and the Frauenthal Box Office.

get-tickets