Chorus
Teachers
Elise Eskew Sparks
Intermediate Women’s Chorus
Advanced Women’s Chorus
Men’s Chorus
Musical Theater
Bio
Chorus Overview
Chorus is a performing arts course open to all male and female students. Students have varied amounts of previous experience in singing and the choral arts. Each chorus will have as their objectives: (1) singing and performing a varied repertoire of music including diverse styles and genres including historically-significant works, (2) daily skill development in breath support, range, tone, intonation, blend, balance, diction and part-singing, (3) reading pitches using solfège, and (4) becoming a caring and supportive choral community within choruses, between choruses, and among the DHS arts and academic community at large.
Resources
Students will be assigned music and formalwear. Both should be kept in excellent condition and returned at the end of the year.
Assessment
Students will be assessed on these four categories: (1) class engagement, (2) performance attendance, (3) knowledge and understanding, and (4) reflection and evaluation. As with other musical ensemble classes, the first two grading categories are the most important. Class engagement, in particular, is key to success in performing arts classes.
Students perform four concerts each year, in October, December, March, and May. One concert each year is a joint performance with the 7th- and 8th-grade choruses of Renfroe Middle School. The March concert coincides with the Georgia Music Educators Association’s Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE).
Opportunities
Chorus has partnered with the DHS Band to travel internationally (Ireland, February 2015), and with Theater to travel to New York City (May 2017).
Each year, select chorus students participate in All State Chorus, All State Orchestra, All State Reading Chorus, and District IV Honors Chorus.
Support
The DHS Performing Arts Association is a parent booster organization that promotes and supports Chorus, IB Theater, and Musical Theater classroom activities and extracurricular activities at Decatur High School.
The DHS Performing Arts disciplines (band, chorus, and theater arts) are committed to excellence. We believe that students’ daily engagement facilitates their learning through performing. As Aristotle said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” Therefore, DHS Performing Arts disciplines expect regular (excellent) participation from all students. Non-compliance may result in a student’s removal from the rehearsal space, even if a student’s non-compliance is not actively disruptive to learners around them. |