Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas

There is so much that is newsworthy for CCGD:

• All of CCGD sang beautifully on February 28 – plan now to attend our final concert of the season, “Our Lives In Song” on Sunday evening, May 9 at the Meyerson Symphony Center.
• Concert I’s performance with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra was outstanding!
• CCGD’s Outreach Chorus sang at 8 DISD Elementary schools in March.
• Auditions for the ‘10-‘11 season begin in May. Please invite your friends to join CCGD! You are our best PR! Tell your music teachers, make copies of the fliers, post the information in your PTA and home school newsletters! Detailed audition information is given below.
• If you want to “move up” to the next chorus, you must audition. If you want to stay in your same chorus, just let the office know. Detailed audition information is given below.

2010 – 2011 is taking shape! Mark Your Calendars:

October 24 CCGD at the Mesquite Arts Center

November 28 CCGD at the Meyerson

February 27 CCGD at the Meyerson

May 15 CCGD at the Meyerson

Thank you for the beautiful music making every Monday night!

Ms. Nott

Seems as if this year has gone by so quickly!

Our music for the Meyerson performance is interesting and delightful and your children are singing with beautiful sounds – I know this concert will surely be a treat. Getting to know and work with your children this year has been a pleasure for me and I look forward to seeing you May 9th. Be sure to get your tickets early.

With only a few more rehearsals until our concert it is important that everyone be as committed to rehearsal attendance as possible.

See you on Monday.

Mrs. Harley

Blessings, Terrie Preskitt-Brown

Prelude Calendar

Apprentice Calendar

Concert II Calendar

Concert I Calendar

Youth Chorus Calendar

Women's Youth Chorus Calendar

We need your help in spreading the word about CCGD. Boys and girls and young men and women entering grades 4-12 in 2010-2011 can sign up now to audition for CCGD's 2010-2011 season. Click on the Audition flyer to copy it and share it with young singers you know. Don't be shy. Give it to your PTA, schoolmates, neighbors - be creative! Hand out copies at your place of worship. Post a flyer at your library. Remember you will receive a $75 tuition credit for every singer you personally recruit who actually joins CCGD!

Our Summer Singing Camp is a wonderful opportunity for a young singer entering grades 4-7 to become familiar with our program. The fee for the camp is $125, but it's free to any child enrolled in a DISD school. Click on the Camp flyer to copy it and share it, along with the audition flyer.

Thanks for helping CCGD bring all children of Dallas together in song!

Prelude
Taylor Hines
Alora Lieck

Apprentice
Apphia Philips
Beracha Philips

Concert II
Hannah Clifford

Women's Youth
Anna-Christina Amason
Jessica Lewis
Alyssa Wolverton

Youth Chorus
William Biesel
Julia Greene
Gates McClinchie

FUNDRAISING NEWS

We continue to close in on our $150,000 goal. A big step was a $28,000 TACA award. Thanks very much to TACA, who continues to be our largest individual donor. We also were delighted to receive a $5,000 gift from long-time supporter the Harold Simmons Foundation. Several other individual and institutional gifts have put our total to date at $127,000 which is 85% of our goal.

Current projections are that we will fall about $12,000 short of the goal. However, our Gala results exceeded goal by more than this amount (see Gala report elsewhere in this newsletter) and we are projecting achieving break-even status again this season. Thanks are due to all institutional and individual donors who have helped us meet the challenge in these economically difficult times. Please note that these are still projections – if you were planning to make a donation this season please do so before June 30 2010.

Over the last two seasons we have doubled the number of CCGD choirs and have increased singer participation by about 50%, all while increasing our operating budget by just 15%. Our singers have had fabulous artistic experiences, including performances at two national conventions, at the opening ceremonies of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and with many of the area’s finest musicians. Singer geographic, economic and ethnic diversity has increased substantially. Our reputation for excellence is growing both locally and nationally. The Chorus has progressed to the point where our board is already beginning – two years ahead of schedule - to develop our next Long Range Plan (LRP). In short, it’s been an amazing two years!

• Group 1: June 23 - leave Dallas at 6:55 a.m.; arrive Washington 10:40 a.m.June 27 - leave Washington at 3:40 p.m.; arrive Dallas 5:50 p.m.

• Group 2: June 23 - leave Dallas at 8:15 p.m.; arrive Washington 12 noon. June 27 - leave Washington at 7:40 p.m.; arrive Dallas 9:34 p.m.

We are staying at the Comfort Inn University Center, 11180 Fairfax Blvd.,Fairfax Va., 22030. Telephone is 703-591-5900.

We expect the San Antonio Children’s Chorus to bring between 35 and 40 people who will be with us the entire tour.

The schedule is pretty well set, except for Thursday evening - we are still looking for a free or modest-cost performance to attend that night. Highlights include laying a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, a dinner cruise on the Potomac River, and visits to several of Washington’s historic sites. Our guest clinicians, Joan Gregoryk and Dr. Barbara Baker, will work with children and youth singers respectively. The Saturday night concert at Metropolitan United Church will involve CCGD, San Antonio and Ms. Gregoryk’s touring choir, who will be going on tour the following week.

The airlines have added baggage fees ($25 for the first bag, $35 for the second), so plan for a one-bag trip. We are still working the detail, but it looks like you will not have to give your child $50 in cash for baggage. More on this later.

We do plan to take plenty of pictures and post them to our website during the tour so parents can keep up with their singers as they experience our nation’s capital.

If you are planning to attend either or both Orpheus concerts please note that you will be able to purchase tickets through CCGD at a discounted rate. Please be sure to buy your tickets through us because our performance fee comes from these ticket sales.

We will be selling tickets at the following prices:

• For one concert: priority (first 12 rows) $25, general admission $15, student $10

• For both concerts: priority $40, general admission $25, student $15

Orpheus prices at the door are: priority $30, general admission $25, student $10.

You can purchase tickets from Terry Harley at the April 26 rehearsal between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. or by calling Terry at the CCGD office (214-965-0491). If Terry is not in the office leave a message on his voice mail and he will get back to you.

An example - a family with a singer in the Apprentice choir could cover all of its tuition (except the $50 deposit) by recruiting 4 friends to CCGD. For more details about the RTC program please go to our website.

Many thanks to this year's Outreach Chorus:

Meagan Aguirre - Prelude
Haley Armstrong - Concert II
Mick Atkins - Apprentice
Abigail Atkins - Prelude
Claire Barber - Concert I
Emily Baschab - Prelude
Natalia Botello - Concert II
Caroline Burchfiel - Apprentice
Alex Calandro - Concert II
Karla Camacho - Apprentice
Aaron Chan - Prelude
Hannah Clifford - Concert II
Hannah Danforth - Prelude
Athena Davidson - Apprentice
Drew Echols - Concert II
Aldo Enriquez - Concert II
Chloe Gilpin - Prelude
Caroline Harris - Apprentice
Taylor Hines - Prelude
Ariana Holly - Apprentice
Raven Jones - Concert II
Margaret King - Apprentice
Alora Lieck - Prelude
Bobby Mahurin - Prelude
Gabriel Martin - Prelude
Kailey McNeal - Prelude
Elisabeth Miller - Concert I
Emilie Miller - Prelude
America Molina - Apprentice
Cameron Morris - Prelude
Lindsey Muñoz - Prelude
Amber Otto - Apprentice
James Otto - Concert I
Daejah Richard - Prelude
Carla Schwarz - Prelude
Caleb Scott - Concert I
Bailey Scruggs - Prelude
Rachael Shima - Concert II
Elizabeth Sitler-Elbel - Prelude
Spencer Stowe - Prelude
Karen Wemhoener - Prelude
Tess Wight - Concert II
Vivienne Williams - Apprentice
Clayton Williams - Concert I
Rachel Winnenberg - Concert I