Full-Year Curriculum

HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT CHOIR

Kinsey Volk
Music 512
10/23/20

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Program Description …………………………………………………………………………….. 3

Course Description ………………………………………………………………………………. 3

Course Goals …………………………………………………………………………………….. 3

Course Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………... 3-4

Skill Development ………………………………………………………………………………. 4

Scope and Sequence …………………………………………………………………………... 5-6

Concert One: Music Around the World …………………………………………………….... 7-10

Concert Two: Holiday Concert Literature ………………………………………………….. 11-13

Concert Three: Contest Literature ………………………………………………………….. 14-16

Concert Four: Spring Concert ………………………………………………………………. 17-19

Assessment …………………………………………………………………………………. 20-21

Concert One ……………………………………………………………………………. 20

Concert Two ………………………………………………………………………... 20-21

Concert Three …………………………………………………………………………... 20

Concert Four …………………………………………………………………………… 21

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Program Description:
● Provide the best possible musical education and experience for each student.
● Nurture the personal growth of each student, both as a human being and as a musician.
● Help students learn the proper singing techniques and demonstrate them in a performance
setting.
● Instill in each student a lifelong appreciation for many different types and styles of music.
● Assist students in becoming musically literate.
● Provide students with high-quality performance ensembles.
● Demonstrate proper concert etiquette, both as a performer and audience member.

Concert Choir Course Description:

Concert Choir is a non-auditioned, intermediate choir for this music program. This choir is
non-auditioned for sophomores through seniors; freshman music audition if they wish to
place out of Black and Gold Chorale. Students are expected to internalize relevant
information about the music to make informed, critical, musical descriptions, and encourage
philosophical discussions. Members of the Concert Choir are expected to practice outside of
rehearsal, sing music at their highest musical and technical ability, and most importantly to
have a meaningful musical experience by making music with friends.

Course Goals:
● Experience and internalize a variety of pieces and be open to new styles and composers.
● Aim to perform at a high level of musicality and accuracy.
● Establish helpful practice skills and routines.
● Make cultural connections through music in and outside of class.
● Work as an ensemble to create a meaningful musical experience for other students and
audience members.
● Participate in quality choral music performances.
● Make musical judgments based on critical listening and analysis.

Course Objectives:
● Students will increase their sight-reading proficiency in music.
● Students will understand the historical context of all pieces performed and accurately
apply historical performance style.
● Students will perform music in a foreign language with proper diction and style.
● Students will understand the meaning and emotion of the text and express that meaning
and emotion to the audience through their performance.
● Students will understand basic music theory and musical terminology as they apply to
repertoire rehearsed.

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 ● Students will continue to develop proper singing techniques and learn to apply
appropriately to choral singing.
● Students will understand the necessity of shaping vowels properly and matching them
with the rest of the ensemble to create an overall blend.
● Students will perform from a variety of cultures to gain a broader worldview.

Skill Development:
● Singing pedagogy and characteristic tone
● Reading music
● Aural skills (listening, error detection, dictation)
● Technique (exercises and articulations)
● Musicality (expression, artistic qualities)
● Performance showmanship
● Music Theory
● Music History
● Composing, arranging, and improvising
● All styles of music
● Peer collaboration (rehearsals, small ensembles, composition projects, community
service)
● Leadership and individualism
● Respect for music, oneself, and others

Students will develop these skills throughout the semester. When coming into the
program some of these skills should have already been taught, but I hope to improve
them even more. I want to help my students grow in their knowledge of the fundamentals
of music-making such as singing pedagogy, reading music, aural skills, and technique. In
the class, I want to expose the ensemble to new cultures and learn about different
historical periods. This will be done through the repertoire for each concert. Overall, I
want my students to work together to create something amazing.

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 SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
Concert One Concert Two Concert Three Concert Four

Bonse Aba (arr. Personent Hodie The Pasture (Z. Requieum: 1.

Andrew Fischer) (arr. John Rutter) Randall Stroope) Requiem
aeternam (John
Loch Lomond The Coventry Zigeunerleben Rutter)
(arr. Jonathan Carol (arr. (Gypsy Life)
Quick) Victor C. (Robert The Pasture (Z.
Johnson) Schumann) Randall Stroope)
Dirait-On
Music (Content (Morten O Magnum Set Me As A Seal Zigeunerleben
Selections Lauridsen) Mysterium (Richard Nance) (Gypsy Life)
(Morten (Robert
Ain’t Got Time to Lauridsen) Schumann)
Die (Hall
Johnson) Go Where I Send Set Me As A Seal
Thee (arr. Paul (Richard Nance)
Caldwell and
Sean Ivory) Cloudburst (Eric
Whitacre)

Concert
Concert One Concert Two Concert Four
Three

Rhythm Loch Go Where I Set Me As A

Cloudburst
Lomond Send Thee Seal

Melody O Magnum Requiem

Dirait-On The Pasture
Mysterium aeternam

Harmony Ain’t Got Go Where I

The Pasture Cloudburst
Time To Die Send Thee

Musical Texture Loch The Coventry Set Me As A

Cloudburst
Elements Lomond Carol Seal

Timbre Loch O Magnum Requiem

The Pasture
Lomond Mysterium aeternam

Form O Magnum
Bonse Aba The Pasture Cloudburst
Mysterium

Musical Go Where I
Dirait-On The Pasture Cloudburst
Expression Send Thee

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 Concert Concert
Concert One Concert Four
Two Three

Traditional
English
Zambian
Carol
16th-Century
Styles/Genres Requiem
Scottish Folk Style
Spiritual/
Gospel
Spiritual

African
American
Spiritual
Historical Piae Early
Contemporary
Periods Cantiones 19th-Century
Classical

Musical Contemporary
Topics
Traditional
Zambian Folk
English
Carol
Scottish Early
19th-Century
Cultures African
French German
American
Music
Folk
African
Tradition
American
Spiritual

3, 5, 7, 8, 9,
Standards 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11 7, 8, 9, 10 5, 7, 9
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 CONCERT ONE: MUSIC AROUND THE WORLD

Content:
Bonse Aba (Traditional Zambian Song)
Arr. Andrew Fischer
Alliance Music Publishing
SATB - A Cappella

Loch Lomond
Arr. Jonathan Quick
Cypress Publications
SATB - A Cappella

Dirait-On
Morten Lauridsen
Text: Rainer Maria Rilke
Peer Music Classical
SATB

Ain’t Got Time to Die

Hall Johnson
G. Schirmer, Inc. SATB-A Cappella

Musical Elements:
Bonse Aba
● Melody: Call and Response with Melody Line
● Harmony: A cappella so need to listen for proper tuning
● Form: Call and Response between soloist and ensemble
● Musical Expression: Tall and Unified vowels
Loch Lomond
● Rhythm: Syncopation
● Rhythm: Complicated Rhythms for accompaniment in the B section
● Harmony: A cappella so need to listen for proper tuning
● Texture: Begins TTBB then moves to SSAA
● Timbre: Tuning within the section and throughout the ensemble
● Timbre: Vowel Shapes
● Musical Expression: Work on the are the unification of vowel shape
● Musical Expression: Musicality by shaping phrases and adding space in the text when
needed

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Dirait-On
● Melody: Connection between the arts and importance of the text as well as the melodic
line
● Melody: Syllabic to fit the text
● Texture: Utilizes melodic word painting (melodic lines flows in between each part like
the text describes)
● Texture: Two verses are in unison
● Timbre: Vowel Shapes
● Form: AA’BA’’
● Musical Expression: Imitative counterpoint and overlaps layers of repeated melodic
passages and fragments
Ain’t Got Time to Die
● Rhythm: Syncopation
● Harmony: A cappella so need to listen for proper tuning
● Musical Expression: Louder dynamics than other pieces in concert

Musical Topics
Bonse Aba
● Styles/Genres: Traditional Zambian Song
● Culture: Traditional Zambian Folk Song
Loch Lomond
● Styles/Genres: Scottish Folk Song
● Culture: Scottish Folk Song
Dirait-On
● Culture: French poem written by a German author
Ain’t Got Time to Die
● Styles/Genres: Spiritual
● Historical Periods: African American Spiritual

National Standards Addressed: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11

Lesson Plan Activities:

Bonse Aba
● This song uses a call and response form. I want to dive deeper into this so students can
get a good feel as to how it should sound when performed. To do this, I will split the
ensemble in half and have them stand on opposite sides of the room facing each other.
One half will sing the solo line while the other side stays on their part. They will sing
through the song and try to match the same style that was sung before. After they have
sung through it once, they will switch so they are on the opposite part they were on

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 before. I also plan on talking about how this form is used in African tribal culture so they
know how and why this song is written like this.
Loch Lomond
● I want to work on this song in sectionals. This would be a good opportunity to work with
the trebles and men separately. I would focus on the color the two different parts should
be creating. This will transfer to the parts in the music when it is TTBB and SSAA.
Dirait-On
● Before digging into the heart of this piece, I want to have 2 or 3 volunteers to read the
poem in English. The students will reflect on the meaning of the poem. We will then
discuss what they believe the poem means to them. There are no wrong answers because
it is just an interpretation of the poem. These interpretations can lead to how the song will
be expressed as an ensemble. This will address Standard 8.
● One challenge in this piece is executing the style of the piece by accentuating the
imitative counterpoint used and lining up the rhythm of all four voices. Another challenge
will be having each voice staying in tune, especially when the ensemble is singing the
dissonant chords correctly.
● I will always have my students start every piece on solfege because it lines up chords and
vowels easier than on text. This song, in particular, will need to start this way. The French
language can be challenging to students especially if they have never been exposed to it
before. The balance and harmony between the four voices in the B section are the most
difficult to master. The baritones and basses will already have learned the opening
melody. The first tenors have a new melodic line in this section. The second tenors will
have to stagger breath while sustaining the pedal tone.
Ain’t Got Time to Die
● To introduce the syncopated rhythms in this piece, I will have students clapping and
counting various excerpts that include syncopation. They will do this as an ensemble and
within small groups. I will have a metronome going to have a steady beat. I will begin by
describing how we can break down the rhythms into smaller microbeats so it is easier to
understand them and be successful.

Rationale:

The theme of the fall concert, “Music Around the World,” allows students to experience music
from four very different cultures and provides me the opportunity to teach them the history of the
music in those cultures and how to give a historically and stylistically accurate performance of
the music. One of the main focuses of this section of the year will be diction. Students will be
singing in French, Bemba (the original language of Zambia), as well as English in a Scottish
dialect and the African American Vernacular dialect. We will spend a lot of time working on the
proper pronunciation of each text to provide an accurate representation of what music in all four
cultures sounds like. The ensemble will use technical accuracy and expressive qualities while

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performing a varied repertoire of music from diverse cultures and styles and will address
Standard 6.

The first selection, Bonse Aba is a traditional Zambian folk song that incorporates call and
response between the ensemble and a soloist. At this point, I will discuss the form of call and
response and how it is used within the African tribal culture, which addresses Standard 4.

Loch Lomond is a great a cappella Scottish folk song that requires students to continue working
on listening across for tuning. With this song, it will be very important to work on the unification
of vowel shape for chords to lock properly since the voices are more exposed since they are a
cappella. This song is also a great exposure to different textures and timbres. After the tenor
soloist, the song begins in a TTBB texture and then moves to an SSAA texture. At this point, I
would like to teach the students the nuances of singing in these specific textures and the different
timbres these textures have with what they sound like in an SATB arrangement. For example,
SSAA sounds much lighter and brighter compared to the more mature, darker sound women
have in an SATB arrangement. These smaller textures allow students to achieve Standard 2.

Dirait-on is a beautiful setting for Rainer Maria Rilke’s poems Les Chansons des Roses. The best
part about this piece is the way it utilizes melodic word painting. The poem mentions how the
petals of a rose envelope and wrap around each other and the piece replicates that with each
voice having the melody at several points in the song and they overlap and alternate throughout
to create the same effect. This provides the opportunity to teach about the connection between
the arts and the importance of the text as well as the melodic line. In doing so, Standard 11 will
be taught.

Ain’t Got Time to Die is a fun, upbeat, syncopated spiritual for a cappella voices. This piece
allows us to continue working on syncopated rhythms as well as tuning and listening across
when singing a cappella. This piece has a much louder dynamic than the previous pieces on the
concert, which provides the opportunity to address singing at a forte dynamic in a healthy way
without straining or pushing.

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 CONCERT TWO: HOLIDAY CONCERT LITERATURE

Content:
Personent Hodie
Melody and words from Piae Cantiones (1582)
Arr. John Rutter
Hinshaw Music, Inc.
SATB
The Coventry Carol
Traditional 16th Century English Carol
Arr. Victor Cohen Johnson
Lorenz Corporation
SATB
O Magnum Mysterium
Morten Lauridsen
Peer Music Classical
SATB-A Cappella
Go Where I Send Thee
Arr. Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory
Earthsongs
SATB

Musical Elements:
Personent Hodie
● Texture: Homophonic
● Timbre: Tall vowels with Latin text
● Musical Expression: Performed with a small brass ensemble
● Musical Expression: Tall and Unified Vowels
● Musical Expression: Latin Text
The Coventry Carol
● Texture: TTBB and SSAA (like Loch Lomond)
● Timbre: Vowel Shape
● Musical Expression: Unification of Vowel Shape
O Magnum Mysterium
● Melody: Bringing out the line when having the melody or the moving line
● Harmony: A cappella so need to listen for proper tuning
● Timbre: Straight-Tone signing and how to do so in a healthy way
● Form: AA’BA’’C
● Musical Expression: Unification of Vowel Shape

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Go Where I Send Thee
● Rhythm: Syncopation
● Rhythm: Difficult rhythms
● Harmony: Intricate Jazz Chords
● Textures: Complex echoes
● Musical Expression: Style modulations which require students to learn to listen to each
other and the piano
● Musical Expression: Alternating dynamics throughout the score

Musical Topics
Personent Hodie
● Style/Genre: Ancient Carol from Piae Cantiones
● Historical Periods: Discuss the history behind Piae Cantiones and what was happening in
1582
The Coventry Carol
● Style/Genre: English Carol
● Historical Periods: History behind Coventry Carol and the meaning of the text
● Culture: English Carol
O Magnum Mysterium
● Historical Periods: History behind O Magnum Mysterium and the meaning of the text
Go Where I Send Thee
● Style/Genre: Spiritual/Gospel
● Culture: African American Folk Tradition

National Standards Addressed: 7, 8, 9, 10

Lesson Plan Activities:

Personent Hodie
● To perform this piece successfully the students will have to understand the background of
the piece as well as the style. I would have students work in small groups and create a
presentation for the class on the Piae Cantiones and 16th-century music style.
The Coventry Carol
● To understand this piece, I will have to make sure my students understand the history of
the carol and the meaning of the text. This can be done by having students reading the
text and discussing what it means to them.
● The biggest thing in this piece is listening to one another to get proper balance and blend.
I would have the students standing in a circle and by someone that is not in their voice
section. This immediately makes the student listen to other parts as well as blending with
the person beside them.

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O Magnum Mysterium
● It is important to know who has the melody in this song. To help get a better
understanding of this, I will have the students sing to portray historically accurate musical
expression, which incorporates more of Standards 7.2 and 8.1.

Rationale:

Personent Hodie is strictly homophonic and performed with a small brass ensemble; which are
both different aspects of texture than the students have been exposed to thus far in the year. With
this piece, it will be important to discuss the history behind Piae Cantiones and what was
happening in history in 1852 when it was written, which addresses Standard 7.

Johnson’s The Coventry Carol is a hauntingly beautiful arrangement of the familiar English
carol. This piece is excellent for continued work on singing in specific textures, as introduced
with Loch Lomond. For students to connect to the text, it is important to discuss the history
behind the Coventry Carol and the meaning of the text, which addresses Standard 7.

When introducing O Magnum Mysterium, it will be important to introduce what the timbre of
straight-tone singing sounds like when done correctly and how to sing straight- tone in a healthy
way without pushing down on the vocal cords to keep them from vibrating. Straight-tone singing
is necessary when performing a piece with as thick of a texture as O Magnum Mysterium has at
times and at the low dynamic it stays at throughout most of the piece. Since the melody of this
piece transfers between each vocal part, while the rest of the ensemble has counter melodies and
dense harmonies, it will be necessary to discuss the importance of bringing your line out if your
part has the melody or a moving line.

Go Where I Send Thee is an upbeat spiritual that exposes students to singing gospel. There are a
large amount of gospel-style modulations within the piece that will require students to learn to
listen not only to each other but also tune in to the piano accompaniment very intently to hear the
modulations and keep them in tune. The text references several stories from the Bible that are the
basis for other African American spirituals.

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 CONCERT THREE: CONTEST LITERATURE

Content:
Set Me As A Seal
Richard Nance
Walton Music
SATB
Zigeunerleben (Gypsy Life)
Robert Schumann
Walton Music
SATB
The Pasture
Z. Randall Stroope
Text: Robert Frost
Aberdeen Music Inc.
SATB

Musical Elements:
Set Me As A Seal
● Rhythm: Mixed Meter (4/4, 9/8, 12/8, 4/4, 2/4, 4/4)
● Melody: Phrasing
● Texture: Accompanied by piano and french horn
● Timbre: Tall vowels
● Musical Expression: Unification of vowels
● Musical Expression: Musicality, tone, blend, balance
Zigeunerleben
● Melody: German Diction
● Timbre: Deep dynamic expression
● Musical Expression: German text and vowel shaping
The Pasture
● Rhythm: Mixed meter (4/4, 2/4, 3/4)
● Melody: Clear vocal lines
● Melody: Legato
● Melody: Arch Contour
● Harmony: Rich Harmonies
● Harmony: A lot of the piece is in unison
● Texture: Occurs when sections are divided between men’s and women’s parts
● Timbre: True legato singing with a warm richness (focus must be placed on blending and
pure vowel placement)

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 ● Form: Strophic verse-refrain form
● Musical Expression: Purposeful shaping and phrasing of the legato line
● Musical Expression: Dynamics swell deliberately, especially at the climax points in the
refrains

Musical Topics
Set Me As A Seal
● Historical Periods: Text from Song of Solomon
Zigeunerleben
● Style/Genre: Romantic Era, Schumann
● Historical Periods: Early 19th-century German music
● Culture: Early 19th-century German music
The Pasture
● Historical Periods: Meaning of the poem

National Standards Addressed: 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10

Lesson Plan Activities:

Set Me As A Seal
● This piece requires the students to know where each phrase is going. I will lead a group
discussion and go through each phrase with the ensemble. We will talk about where the
phrase is leading, how we want the phrase to sound, and how we can achieve this sound. I
will let the students do most of the talking so I can check their understanding. I will give
them some ideas on how they could approach a phrase if they get stuck.
Zigeunerleben
● To sing this piece correctly, the students will need to learn about Schumann and his style
of composing music. They should also know about other music written in the same time
period. We will discuss how this song should be light and bouncy, instead of dark and
heavy to keep the song moving.
The Pasture
● I would like to spend time in sectionals with this piece. The women and the men each
have a separate section before they come in together. This would allow me to work with
both while the other group is practicing.
● To help with musicality, I will have the students practice this piece in a circle. This will
help with balance, blend, tone, and musicality. I will also stress phrasing, especially in the
long drawn-out phrases. An important aspect for the students to think about is creating
pure vowels and good consonants.

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Rationale:

Set Me As A Seal is a beautiful setting of chapter eight of Song of Solomon in the Bible with
piano and French horn. This piece has a very deep dynamic expression to match the depth of the
text. As in almost every piece mentioned above, it will be important to focus on Standard 7 so
that students can make historical and literary connections to the piece, rather than just
understanding that it is a love song.

Zigeunerleben is a wonderful way to introduce Schumann and early 19th-century German music
to young singers. Since this will be their first exposure to German diction this semester, it will be
important to spend quite a bit of time perfecting the diction for contest. This piece is very
“wordy” and tells the story of gypsies in Germany in the early 19th century. It will be very
important for the ensemble to know exactly what they are singing and the history of gypsies to
portray historically accurate musical expression, which incorporates more of Standards 7 and 9.

The Pasture is a wonderful setting of Robert Frost’s poetry that is very expressive with clear
vocal lines and rich harmonies. This piece includes several meter changes, which will allow for a
review of rhythm and meter at the end of the school year. Since the meter changes are at a slow
tempo, it also provides a great opportunity to work on freedom and motion through the melodic
line while singing legato.

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 CONCERT FOUR: SPRING CONCERT

Content: Elements and Skills Addressed

Requiem
1. Requiem aeternam
John Rutter
Hinshaw Music, Inc.
SATB
Set Me As A Seal
Richard Nance
Walton Music
SATB
Zigeunerleben (Gypsy Life)
Robert Schumann
Walton Music
SATB
The Pasture
Z. Randall Stroope
Text: Robert Frost
Aberdeen Music Inc.
SATB
Cloudburst
Eric Whitacre
Text: Octavio Paz
Walton Music
SATB

Musical Elements:
Requiem aeternam
● Melody: Switches between lyrical and fanfare styles in the melodic line
● Texture: Can include other instruments to accompany the ensemble
● Timbre: Vowel shape with Latin text
● Timbre: Expressive Dynamics
● Timbre: Legato Singing
● Musical Expression: Imitative
● Musical Expression: Latin Text
Cloudburst
● Rhythm: Long, sustained notes with text to be spoken at random by each sing

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 ● Rhythm: Mixed Meter
● Melody: Phrasing melodic line
● Harmony: A cappella then accompanied by percussion in the B section
● Harmony: Tight Dissonances
● Texture: Performed with percussion in the B section
● Texture: Sustained dissonances
● Timbre: Expressive dynamics
● Timbre: Phrasing
● Form: AB
● Musical Expression: Unified vowels, especially on drawn-out notes
● Musical Expression: Spanish text
● Musical Expression: Includes some body percussion
● Musical Expression: Sound like a rainstorm

Musical Topics
Requiem aeternam
● Style/Genre: Switches between lyrical and fanfare styles
● Style/Genre: Requiem
● Historical Period: Discuss the meaning of the text
Cloudburst
● Historical Period: Discuss the meaning and background of the poem
● Culture: Spanish poem

National Standards Addressed: 5, 7, 9

Lesson Plan Activities:

Requiem aeternam
● I want to expose my students to large-scale choral work, so I would need to go into detail
about this work as well as what a “Requiem” is. This is probably the first time students
have heard of a requiem.
● I want to discuss with my students the different styles of singing that take place in this
piece. It switches constantly throughout the song from a fanfare or dark sound to a very
lyrical style of singing. My students need to understand how these styles are different and
how we should approach them. This would be a group discussion with the teacher leading
it. I would encourage their thoughts to help my understanding of what they already know
and what I need to teach.
Cloudburst
● My students need to be confident in their notes in this piece. There are a lot of
dissonances and if they are unsure, the chord will sound wrong or shaky. To help reaffirm

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 the notes, I want to have them practice this within sectionals so they can have a better
idea of their part. When practicing as a group, I will have them stand in a circle so they
can hear each other better. Once the notes are getting easier, I will split them up so they
are listening to one another and challenging their ear.

Rationale:

I chose to program the first movement of John Rutter’s Requiem because I believe it is important
to expose students to large-scale choral works. The necessity for the organ in this piece would be
a great way for our choir to reach out to the community and perform in a community venue that
has an organ for this concert.

I chose to reprogram The Pasture, Set Me As A Seal, and Zigeunerleben since State Large Group
Contest is usually during the middle of a weekday and most parents and community members are
unable to attend. This will also be a great way to showcase what the ensemble did to earn the
(hopefully) wonderful rating they received at state.

Cloudburst is a piece with the richest texture the ensemble will have encountered throughout the
year. The piece includes piano and a large ensemble of auxiliary percussion to create musical
imagery of an actual rainstorm. The vocal texture is also larger, as each voice part splits into
three in the climactic chord of the piece. The text is a setting of a poem by Octavio Paz that it
will be important to understand the meaning of it to present the text properly (Standard 7.2).

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 ASSESSMENT

Concert One:

Tools: Composition, Rubric

After discussing call and response with Bonse Aba, I would give an assignment where students
will work in groups and compose their basic call and response piece to teach to the class, which
meets Standard 1 and 2.

To assess students on rhythmic accuracy for the syncopated rhythms of Ain’t Got Time to Die, I
will select a few pages and have students clap and count the rhythms with a metronome
individually. I will allow students to clap the selected pages for me twice if needed and will take
the better score out of the two because I understand that it is very difficult to get back on the beat
if you make a mistake with syncopated rhythms. I will assess them using a rubric and it
addresses Standard 4.1.

To assess harmonic accuracy in Ain’t Got Time to Die and Loch Lomond, I will have students
sing in quartets of one per voice part for the class, evaluating with a rubric. This assessment
addresses Standard 4.3 by making interpretive decisions based on their understanding of the
context and expressive intent.

Concert Two:

Tools: Rubric, Reflections, Written Feedback

Since Coventry Carol, O Magnum Mysterium, and Personent Hodie are all pieces that are fairly
popular and have been performed in many different arrangements and texture I plan to assess
Standards 7, 8, and 9 by playing several recordings of each piece for the class and having them
listen and evaluate rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, timbre, form, and musical expression
through a rubric that allows them to rate and leave comments on each. This way I can assess
their understanding of the concepts and what they are hearing and not hearing when listening to
music.

Vocal health is very important to stress over and over to singers, especially young ones. I plan to
assess each student’s straight-tone singing technique and timbre while working on O Magnum
Mysterium to make sure they are singing it in a healthy manner. I will either meet with each
student for five or ten minutes outside of class during a study hall or pull them out one by one
during the sectional time to listen and write out specific feedback on producing a healthy tone.
This will be very time-consuming, but worth it to preserve the vocal health of my students. I also

20
plan to assess the students’ understanding of the melody and the necessity of bringing it into the
foreground. This will be a quick in-class assessment where I will simply ask the class to sing
through the entire piece, but only sing text when you have the melody or a moving line and ask
everyone else to sing on a neutral vowel at a pianissimo level when not singing the melody.

Concert Three:

Tools: Sight-Singing, Rubrics, and self-reflections

When introducing Set Me As A Seal, I would like to assess Standard 3.2 by assessing the
students’ sight-singing. I plan to assess in sections according to the voice part and have students
write-in their solfege and then have them sight-sing the piece while only playing chords
underneath and see how far they get. Students will already have background experience with
sight-singing because they will have sight-singing exercises as bell work at the beginning of each
rehearsal.

To assess the musical expression of The Pasture, Set Me As A Seal, and Zigeunerleben, as well as
make sure they are ready to be performed at contest, I plan to have students split into octets and
perform the pieces for the class and have the class evaluate them on rubrics for their dynamic
contrast, facial expressions, body language, stage presence, note, and rhythm accuracy, and
blend. I also plan to video record the octet performances and have the students watch their
performances and complete self-evaluation rubrics with the same criteria. This will allow the
students to address Standard 5.

Concert Four:

Tools: Rubric and feedback

To assess the proper vocal texture for Cloudburst, I plan to split the ensemble into sections and
have each person experiment with singing all three of the different notes when their lines are
split into three during the climax. The other sections will also listen and assess and give their
feedback on which voicing they believe sounds the best (Standards 5.3 and 9).

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