DIRECTOR’ S PODIUM MARCH 2016 (VOL. 143 OF 143)Dear parents and students,Third quarter has just ended so we are now heading quickly into the last quarter of our choral year! We have had such a fabulous year so far and there is still more to come! HIGHLIGHTS1. Mid-Winter Choral Concert took place on Thursday, February 11th

in the Performing Arts Center to a very appreciative audience. Treble Choir, Mixed Choir, Women’s Chorale, Concert Choir, Jazz Transit, Essence and Bellaphonics, did a wonderful job singing their varied repertoire for the evening. This was a super fast concert to prepare for and I was SO proud of the student’s performances and efforts! The groups are really coming into their own right now so I am excited for many of our groups to sing at IHSA Contest in April and sing their final concert in May! Thanks so much for coming to support the students!2. IHSA Solo/Ensemble Contest took place on Saturday, March 5th at Joliet Central High School. We had a wonderful day of performances from all of our students and we ended up with 8 first place events, 10 second place events, 5 third place events and 3 fourth place events. Special congratulations to the Varsity Madrigals who had an almost perfect score!Here is a list of all the students who performed that day (*are first place winners):Gabriella Vazquez** Krystal Larson Jon-Carlo Manzo* Chris Garcia*DJ Hilt Kayla McComb** Nate Zurawski** Ben Dow*Christian Jackson** Francesca Raddatz* Devin Baxter* Nate Garner**Hannah Cichon* Hope Smith Joy Fink Amy Tondini* Kendra Link Kathy Patino* Taylor Swank* Joe RhoadesDakota Coffman Lizzy Murray** Kelli Anderson* Zach MitcheffJillian Munsell McKenzie Frost Emily Maruszak Tyler Richart**Carmella Russell* McGwire Holman Maddy Holloway Kayla Feigl*Skylar JermolowiczKara Thorne Irene Torres

Katie GreenlandSkye Pinnick

Congratulation to all our MCHS Choir students on their great performances that day! I am so very proud of their work!3. Vocal Jazz news and performancesOn Sat. Feb. 20, Essence attended the Millkin Vocal Jazz Festival and did a great job performing for 20 other groups on the stage at Millikin University. They received a clinic from clinician Kate Reid after their performance to add some more jazz techniques to their songs. It was a great day!

On Sat. March 5, Essence and Jazz Transit performed at the MCHS NHS Sr. Citizen Prom and were warmly received by the adults and students who attended. They did an awesome job! On Fri. April 22nd, both Jazz Transit and Essence will be singing at the Night of Entertainment. Students need to meet at 5:30pm in our Choir Room and will be doing a sound check from 5:40-6:10 in the Cafetorium. Students are reminded to wear their vocal jazz outfits to sing in. I am excited to announce that we have hired a new director for Jazz Transit for the remaining of this year. It will be Mrs. Holly Hunt who previously taught high school and junior high choral music and is one of our voice teachers here at MCHS. She is very excited to get started and I am very excited to see her work with our students! Jazz Transit rehearsals begin again Mon. 3/21 from 3-4:00pm (Sectionals) and Tues. 3/22 & Wed. 3/23 at 3:05-4:15pm. Jazz Transit will rehearse on these days the rest of the year. Please note that I have attached their schedule in this newsletter with some Mondays now being cancelled, so please note the changes. Essence rehearsals continue on Tues. 3/24 & Thurs. 3/26 from 3-4:30.4. Bellaphonics and Vocal Menace return to rehearsal starting the week of March 21st. Please have your students check their rehearsal schedules to lock those dates in as they will be performing and Night of Entertainment and the Spring Concert. Thanks so much!UPCOMING EVENTS1. “Les Miserables”-Spring Musical Wed. March 16 11:30am Matinee (for Sr. Citizens); Thurs.-Sat. March 17-19 7:00pmOpening night is only a few days away and our spring musical is expected to be a wonderful show filled with memorable songs, an amazing story and an event you will not want to miss! Seating is reserved (opening night!) for Thurs. March 17th and seating is reserved for Fri. and Sat. March 18-19th. Cost is $10.00 for Adults and $8.00 for students and senior citizens and you can purchase tickets at www.showtix4u.com or at the door that evening. Tickets are almost sold out for Friday and Saturday so don’t delay! Sweet & Treats will be available at evening shows to purchase food and water will be sold by musical crew members. Make this a musical you won’t want to miss!2. “A Night of Entertainment” Friday, April 22nd 6:30pm Cafetorium $8.00 Adults/$5.00 Sr. Citizens & Students (before 4/9); $10/$7 at the doorThis fun evening of favorites sung by our students and parents and families includes some “yummy” desserts and goodies to munch on in the elegant café setting in our Central Cafetorium. If you are interested in auditioning to perform that evening, you must bring in a song memorized with accompaniment (if needed) and sign-up for an audition time. Auditions will be held on Mon. April 11 4-4:15pm; Tues. Apr. 12th

(4:30-5:00), Wed. Apr. 13th (3:30-4:15) and Thurs. April 14th (4:30-5:00) in the Choir Room. Auditions are held in the Choir Room and those making the show will be announced by the end of the day Friday, April 15th with a posting on the Choir Room door and to parents by e-mail. Students who received a first place at IHSA Solo and Ensemble Contest have the option of singing their song for this event. Those wishing to sell reservations, contribute desserts and help working the event can begin signing up at our March 22 Booster meeting. A flyer is attached to the newsletter with reservation forms to go out before Spring Break. Come be a part of this fun night!3. West Side Story Musical Trip Thurs. April 7 4:30-11:00pmThe MCHS Choirs will be heading to the Paramount Theater to see West Side Story. Cost for the event will be around $75 including a dinner at Olive Garden and ticket to the show. Students can take money out of their accounts to pay for both dinner and the show and should pay or take money out of their account before Spring Break. Parents are invited to come to see the show and help chaperone and should send in a check for $75 to cover the cost by March 24th. Make checks out to MCHS Choir Boosters! Hope you & your student can come!4. IHSA Organizational Contest- Manteno High SchoolSat. April 16th Concert Choir, Essence, Treble Choir, Mixed Choir, and Women’s Chorale will perform in the morning or afternoon and will be attending our yearly mandatory state contest at Manteno High School. Times will be forthcoming right after Spring Break, but students are asked to block out the above time to attend this important contest! We will be leaving early in the morning to get there by school buses and as soon as times are available, we will let you know when they will need to leave and return to MCHS. Buses will be transporting students to Manteno HS and parents are encouraged to attend to support our MCHS Choirs! Thanks!5. Honors Music Recital Sun. April 24th 1:30pm PACOur Honors Choir and Band students will be performing solo selections that they have been working on and performing them for the public. Please come join us in supporting these students. Please note the time change from 2:00pm to 1:30pm that was previously published. The event is free. See you then!6. Spring Choral Concert and Choir Awards-Tues. May 5th Central Campus Performing Arts Center Our Choir Awards ceremony begins in the PAC at 6:00pm with the Spring Choral Concert “American Choral Compsers” to follow at 7:15pm. Hope to see you there!7. Madrigal and Vocal Jazz Auditions Mon.-Wed. May 16-18

Auditions for JV Madrigals, Jazz Transit, Varsity Madrigals and Essence will be held after school each of these three days. Audition materials will be available around Spring Break time and sign-ups will go up in early April. 8. MCHS Graduation Sunday, May 22 7:00pmConcert Choir will be performing one vocal selection and Seniors will be singing the National Anthem during the ceremony. Arrival time is 5pm for Concert Choir.

I hope you will be able to make our last few upcoming choir events and performances! I appreciate all of you for your help at our events and fundraisers this year!

With much thanks,Randy Benware

CHOIR BOOSTER NEWS/FUNDRAISERS

1. MCHS Choir Booster Meeting-Tues. March 22nd 7pm Career Center2. MCHS Choir Booster Scholarship for graduating seniors who will be heading into a vocal music or music program in college are eligible to apply. Students can pick up an application from Mr. Benware and are due back to him before Spring Break and will be evaluated by our Scholarship Committee.3. 2016 - 2017 Uniform CommitteeWe are currently setting up the uniform committee for the 2016 - 2017 school year. We are looking for at least one representative to help assist with fitting all the choirs and another parent to head up fitting Madrigals. We also need a uniform committee chair. If you are interested in joining the uniform committee for the 2016 - 2017 school year, please contact Brenda Cichon at beans70@sbcglobal.net or Wendy Anderson at rwakanderson@sbcglobal.net if you are interested and for a copy of the job description for each position. Thank you!4. Mattress Sale-Sat. April 30 10am-6pm Central Campus CafetoriumThis fabulous fundraising opportunity will take place this year at the end of April. We are excited with the profit opportunity for this sale but need to get the word out with our friends, neighbors and the community. Attached is a flyer with the information about the event. We will promote this event on Facebook and try and push this as much as possible on social media platforms.  The Facebook event is called “Minooka Choir Mattress Fundraiser” and has already been created.  Our goal

is to get as many possible people to confirm they are going to attend the event and “share” and “like” all that our representative will post leading up to the event.  This is a great way to stay current with our target audience leading up to the event. Students will sign-up to work the event and a handful of parents will be needed as well!

5. Vocal Camp Scholarships Would you like to make your summer count and sing with other high schoolers that love to sing? Investigate summer choir and musical theater camps that will take your singing to new heights! Choir Boosters offer scholarships to allow students to attend summer music camps and applications for the scholarships will be available after Spring Break. 6. Choir Booster Choir Officers Nominations-Begin this month with elections to take place at our May 17th Choir Booster Meeting. Bring your names of possible candidates to the meeting or let Nadine Baxter, President, know.

Senior Moment

Name: Kara Thorne

Age: 18

Senior in which MCHS Choir: Women’s Chorale

Hobbies: Sing, play on my laptop

Activities involved in: Choir, Floral design, Animals & their environment

All time favorite song: Not sure....!

Why did you join choir: I like to sing!

Future goals: To have a family of my own and have a career

Greatest memory of choir: Blast-off, Madrigal Dinner

Favorite quote: I don’t know...

What will you miss most about choir when you graduate: My friends

Name one thing you hope the choir will continue to do: Blast-off and Car Wash

Your thoughts on going on tour to LA last year: I did not go

I leave to this Fall to attend JJC!