The Barton Pond music program had a productive month during the month of May! On Sunday, May 5th, 2024, the chorus and percussion ensemble performed at North Raleigh Presbyterian's annual Youth Sunday. The students performed "Sing We Hallelujah" by Franz Joseph Haydn and traditional hymns. On Friday, May 10th, 2024, the chorus performed the musical It's a Hit by John Jacobson and John Higgins at our annual spring concert. There were also performances by the ukulele club and percussion ensemble at this event. On Thursday, May 16th, 2024, the chorus and percussion ensemble performed at our school's annual Pond-a-Palooza event. The students had a great time performing outside for the staff, students, and parents of Barton Pond. We are looking forward to starting another great year in the fall!
On Wednesday, March 6th, 2024, the Barton Pond Chorus participated in the annual Pieces of Gold showcase. They performed the song "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman. The students had an exciting time participating in the show and enjoying performances from schools across Wake County. We want to thank all Barton Pond staff members, parents, and community members that supported us in this endeavor! Below you can see pictures from the night of the show!
On Friday, February 2nd and Saturday, February 3rd, 2024, we sent a delegation of students to participate in the 2024 Wake County Elementary Honors Chorus event. Max Allen, Lillie Boggs, Taylor Earnhardt, Mara Gauch, and Kali Gries were selected to participate in this exciting event. The clinician was Sally Albrecht. Sally is a distinguished and nationally renowned choral clinician. The songs included on the concert were "A Small Part of the World" by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse, "Sakura", a traditional Japanese song arranged by Sally Albrecht, "Dream Keeper" by Rollo Dilworth, "Tongo" arranged by Greg Gilpin, and "Cantar" by Jay Althouse. The 4th and 5th grade Wake County students that participated in this event did a phenomenal job. We are looking forward to participating in this event next year!
On Thursday, December 14th, 2023 at 6 p.m. we had our annual winter concert at Barton Pond. The chorus performed the musical Flakes by John Higgins and John Jacobson. There were also performances by our school's percussion ensemble and ukulele club. The kindergarteners ended our show by performing some holiday tunes in a grand finale. I want to thank Terri Nicotera, the minister of music at the North Raleigh Presbyterian church, for working with the percussion club this semester to prepare them for our winter concert. Cara Hahn, a former 5th grader at Barton Pond, returned from Pine Hollow Middle School to perform for us on the violin again. She performed movement one of Vivaldi's Concerto in A minor, Op. 3, No. 6 and did a phenomenal job. I want to thank our art teacher, Mrs. Annie Pakes, for creating snowflake necklaces and making a Flakes sign for our performance. I also want to thank Clyde Murray for making the Barton Pond weather report that preceded the show. The video was a creative way to start a musical about snowflakes! The North Raleigh Presbyterian Church hosted a reception for us following the event. We are grateful to them for their hospitality. We had a blast at this event and are looking forward to our spring concert! Above you can see pictures from the event and below you can see the weather report that preceded our concert.
On Friday, November 17th, 2023, the Barton Pond chorus kicked off the 2023 Raleigh Christmas Tree Lighting in downtown Raleigh with some holiday songs. The members of the chorus also got to enjoy holiday performances by a vocal ensemble from North Carolina State University and the Raleigh Youth Choir. Santa Claus made an appearance at this event and took pictures with many of the kids who attended the event. On the stage in front of the Meymandi Concert Hall, there was a live jazz band playing holiday tunes. There were also food trucks, vendors, festive lights, and a snow machine that created a fun holiday environment. The chorus had an amazing time at this event and we hope to participate in this event in the future!
Today the 4th graders at Barton Pond attended the annual 4th grade symphony field trip. Students heard works by Scott Joplin, Amy Beach, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Joseph Brackett, Jr., Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zequinha de Abreu, and Jacques Offenbach. I am looking forward to attending this field trip again next year! Below you can see pictures from the event.
From Saturday, November 4th, 2023 to Tuesday, November 7th, 2023, I attended the 2023 North Carolina Music Educators Conference in Winston-Salem at the Benton Convention Center. I was able to experience some great workshops that focused on ukulele, modern band, recorders, boomwhackers, incorporating fitness into drum instruction, integrating literacy into the music classroom, and music technology. Music educators attending the event also got to participate in an inspiring performance and presentation given by Grammy award-winning educator Mickey Smith, Jr., who is originally from Louisiana, and now resides in Florida. Smith encouraged teachers to keep on teaching and persevering despite challenging circumstances and to encourage their students to do the same. He also told the workshop attendees about his book titled The Adventures of Little Mickey: Keep On Going. The book explains how Smith was not a good musician when he first started playing the saxophone. He kept practicing and eventually became a talented musician. He now teaches middle school band in Florida and won the 2020 Grammy Music Educator Award. His book inspires readers to be relentless in the pursuit of their goals. At the conference, I also had the chance to talk to my middle school band teacher, Mrs. Heidi Sue Iseminger-Ross, who taught me music at East Wake Middle School. She was one of the reasons that I kept on practicing as a percussionist to reach my career goals. I had a phenomenal time at this event and I am looking forward to attending the conference next year! Below you can see pictures from the event and listen to Mickey Smith, Jr.'s book.
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