TJ’s most advanced choir plans to reach out to the community this year.
The TJ Choir will perform this Wednesday, October 7, at 7:00 pm. photo by Rebecca Holt
Wouldn’t it be great if you could make a difference just by singing? This year, Monticello choir will be doing just that.
Monticello is made up of the cream of the crop of vocal musicians at Thomas Jefferson High School, all of whom were chosen for their experience and leadership abilities. The members of Monticello must be highly qualified because the music Monticello will be learning this year is harder than that of recent years. “There’s a bigger demand than the other choirs and it’s the ultimate prize of the choir program once you make Monticello,” said Edwina Hebert, TJ’s resident choir director.
This year, Monticello will be participating in a wide range of events in addition to school concerts. Every Monticello member will have at least a little to do with Cabaret, which is a part of the RenT ProJect. Cabaret will be taking the place of the fall play this year and will serve as a fundraiser for Rent. Cabaret will be on November 10th at the Dazzle Jazz Club.
In addition to their regular classroom learning, Juniors and Seniors in Monticello choir will be auditioning for All State Choir and All State Jazz Choir. Eleventh and Twelfth grade singers from all across the state will be auditioning for a part in the choir, so the competition is pretty tough. The audition for each consists of learning one solo song (opera for All State, jazz for All State Jazz) and several technical scales. Additionally, auditioners will be expected to be able to “sight-read”, wherein the students are expected to be able to look at a sheet of music they’ve never seen before and sing what they see. People who are called back will also have to improvise in front of a panel of judges. Last year, Thomas Jefferson had the top-scoring tenor in the state of Colorado for the first round of auditions, Ky Snow.
“We’ll hopefully be going out into the community a lot more than we have in the past just to show people what TJ can do as far as choral music goes,” said Hebert. The choir this year wants to show the School Board how far TJ music and arts have come in the past few years, and what better choir than Monticello to do just that?
During the holiday season, Monticello choirs will be visiting and singing for people at retirement homes. In past years, both Advanced and Monticello choir went, but due to an increase in members of both choirs, only Monticello will be able to go this year.
“Last year, Monticello had been scheduled to perform at a bunch of places, like the symphony, and we’re hoping to keep up that trend. We want to do some middle school outreach as well,” said Hebert, who really hopes to get good news out into the community about Thomas Jefferson Performing Arts and, more than that, to draw new students into the choir, hence the middle school outreaches.
Monticello choir is more than just a choir: it is a family, and the members are willing to devote hours of their time to learning and performing seemingly impossible songs, as Berthold Auerbach said, “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life,” and it couldn’t be more true in this case.
Monticello Schedule First Semester
September
17: Board of Education Performance, 5pm, 900 Grant St.
TBA: Citywide Choir Auditions
25: Sing Anthem at Homecoming Game, 7pm
21-29: Record All State Jazz Audition CD
October
1-3: All State Choir Auditions, Wheatridge HS
7: Fall Concert, 7pm, Auditorium
8-9: Cabaret Auditions, Choir Room
November
5: Cabaret Dress Rehearsal, Auditorium
7: All State Jazz Callbacks, Smoky Hill HS
10: Cabaret, Dazzle Jazz Club
20-21: Citywide Choir
December
10: Winter Concert, 7pm, Auditorium
TBA: Community Outreach, 12-3pm, Heritage Club Senior Center
