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TGIF, and day after the Auction. I hope everyone had a brilliant time and the results are exciting. It all looked so beautiful.

THIS SUNDAY 11 March: The CHOIR OF MEN AND BOYS
REQUIRED FOR SENIOR BOYS
Optional for all Old (4th and 5th grade) and New (2nd and 3rd grade) Juniors.
Call time: 9:45 a.m. in the Chantry/Honor Room
11:00 Service to end about 12:20 p.m.
Lunch in the Honor Room following the service and Rehearsal for
all Senior Boys from 1:00 – 3:00 in the Chantry

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. HS Singers Rehearsal in Music Office.

ALL CHORISTERS (2nd through 9th grade, Boys and Girls) will attend the Thursday morning 15 March rehearsal slot to take photos for the Year Book. Even if your chorister doesn’t attend GCS we still want them in the annual portrait of the choir. So all choristers should attend.
We will take 3 photos
1. All Boy Choristers
2. All Girl Choristers
3. All Senior Choristers

FRIDAY MORNING 16 March there will be a morning rehearsal – OPTIONAL for all Senior Choristers and those younger choristers going on the Spain Trip. The time is the normal Friday rehearsal time.

REHEARSAL NOTE:
As we prepare for the Spain Tour – All Senior Choristers and any Junior Choristers who will be going on the trip are encouraged to come to as many Sunday afternoon Rehearsals as they can. The ones that fall on a Sunday when their choir is singing are required, the rest are optional, but can count as vocal coaching and help them really prepare strongly for the Tour – especially prior to Spring Break. Boys are welcome at Girl practices and Girls at Boys – we are all in the same repertoire preparing for the Tour.

AFTERSCHOOL VOCAL COACHING:
Thank you Erin Hussein! Erin has built a Sign Up Genius Page for After School Vocal Coaching – we have stopped using the bulletin board.

The site is open for business.
Here is the link so you will have it – http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e084cadaf2ba1fa7-after

More Vocal Coaching Opportunities:
In addition to the regular Wednesday and Thursday after school times, Seniors can get Vocal Coaching Credit by mentoring after school on Tuesdays and Fridays with the new Juniors and on Tuesdays at 5:00 with the old Juniors. They can also get extra credit by attending the Sunday rehearsals of the other choir.

All choristers are invited to sign up for vocal coaching. Only the senior choristers have an attendance requirement. It is optional for everyone else.

A FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITY! Thank you Cara Wall. Cara has offered the Choir Community a new long term fundraising opportunity through her store Clementine Consignment. A letter from her is attached with the details of how it works. She will have a fill in the blank tax donation letter for you to receive and fill in the amount you think the clothes are worth for your tax purposes. You receive the letter when you drop off the donations at the store. Again Thank you Cara for suggesting this great opportunity for the choir community. The choir will receive money from the store based on a percentage of what the clothes sell for. These monies will go into the Choir Special Projects Fund.

Here is the weekly schedule for the week of March 4th !

• March 9 (Friday) – Regular Afternoon Rehearsal for Boy Novices/ New Juniors
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

• March 11, Sunday Service, The Choir of Men and Boys singing
(Seniors REQUIRED, Juniors Optional)
Lunch and Rehearsal after church for all Senior Boys, ending 3:00 p.m.

• March 4, HS Singers Rehearsal, 1:00 – 2:00, Music Office

• March 13 (Tuesday) – Regular Morning Rehearsal. Senior Boys, 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

• March 13 (Tuesday) – Regular Afternoon Rehearsal Schedule for Girl Novices / New Juniors 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

• March 13 (Tuesday) – Tuesday Rehearsal for Boy and Girl Old Junior Choristers 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. EVENSONG, 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. in the Church.

• March 14 (Wednesday) – Regular Morning Rehearsal. Senior Girls, 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

• March 14 (Wednesday) After School Vocal Coaching today – Sign up in advance for each session with sign up genius. CHANTRY

• March 15 (Thursday) – SPECIAL REQUIRED REHEARSAL FOR ALL CHORISTERS – YEAR BOOK PHOTOS TO BE TAKEN, DRESS, as for school. 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

• March 15 (Thursday) After School Vocal Coaching. Sign up in advance for each session with sign up genius. CHANTRY

• March 16 (Friday) –SPECIAL Optional REHEARSAL FOR ALL SENIOR CHORISTERS – and younger choristers going on the Spain Tour, 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

SPRING BREAK! ENJOY!

EASTER SCHEDULE for SENIOR CHORISTERS
• March 31 (Holy Saturday) – Required for Senior Boy and Girl Choristers
 8:45 to 10:30 am: Rehearsal for Easter with The Adult Choir, The Parish Choir, The Choir of Men and Boys, The Girls’ Choir and Brass

• April 1 (Sunday, Easter Day) – Required for Boy and Girl Senior Choristers
 8 am: Call for All Choir Members
 9 am: Service with The Combined Choirs of Grace Church (12)
 9:45 am: Annual Easter Family Breakfast for Choir Families in GCS Dining Room.
 11 am: Service with The Combined Choirs of Grace Church and Brass (12)

Important Links:
Kathy’s Special Goggle Calendar – Choir Schedule Link Page: http://www.gchoirsched.info/schedules.html
Sign up Genius for Choir Parent Helpers: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040B4CA9A72DA64-choir3
Sign up Genius for After School Vocal Coaching:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e084cadaf2ba1fa7-after
Choir Family News
Friday 9 March 2018
THIS SUNDAY 11 March: The CHOIR OF MEN AND BOYS
REQUIRED FOR SENIOR BOYS
Optional for all Old (4th and 5th grade) and New (2nd and 3rd grade) Juniors.
Call time: 9:45 a.m. in the Chantry/Honor Room
11:00 Service to end about 12:20 p.m.
Lunch in the Honor Room following the service and Rehearsal for
all Senior Boys from 1:00 – 3:00 in the Chantry

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. HS Singers Rehearsal in Music Office.

FACE BOOK: Did you know there is a Music at Grace Church Facebook page?
There is. We use it to get the word out about all the musical offerings that take place at the Church especially those of the choirs!
HELP US build the community of followers and listeners to the choirs – FRIEND THE Music at Grace Church page and let the word spread 

RECRUITING is never over!
We have an amazing group of novice choristers for the fall term but…
If anyone asks, it is never too late to join the choir and they should reach out to me at: helfensteinch@yahoo.com.

For entering 4th and 5th graders it is also not too late to join as novices, we have had good luck at getting them up to speed quickly as your children are the best teachers. What schedule a 4th or 5th grader might follow would depend on the child and their family.

This year we will have a trial season for 2nd grade novices! These brave 2nd graders will remain novices the entire year and have their whiting at the normal time in their 3rd grade year. The pioneer class is smart and strong. It will be very exciting to have them in the choirs.

SIGN UP GENIUS: Melinda Weir has organized our sign up for helping with choristers activities through sign up genius. She does an amazing job at this, make sure you say Thank you! Sign up Genius has been very practical in making the sign to help as a choir parent helper easy and efficient.
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040B4CA9A72DA64-choir3

HOMEWORK FOR SENIOR CHORISTERS:

Please locate a recording with your parents approval and listen to:
1. BOYS: Rejoice in the Lamb, B. Britten
2. GIRLS: A CEREMONY OF CAROLS, B. Britten
3. BOTH: J.S. Bach Motet: “Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf” BWV 226
WEBSITE: www.gracechurchnyc.org
CLICK: MUSIC
CLICK: login
User Name: helfenstein
Password: Stanfordlives1894

CHOIR SCHEDULES 2017 – 2018: REMEMBER Kathy’s Link to our Goggle Doc Schedules, they are ready to go for 2017-2018:
http://www.gchoirsched.info/schedules.html

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:

• March 9 (Friday) – Regular Afternoon Rehearsal for Boy Novices/ New Juniors
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

• March 11, Sunday Service, The Choir of Men and Boys singing
(Seniors REQUIRED, Juniors Optional)
Lunch and Rehearsal after church for all Senior Boys, ending 3:00 p.m.

• March 4, HS Singers Rehearsal, 1:00 – 2:00, Music Office

• March 13 (Tuesday) – Regular Morning Rehearsal. Senior Boys, 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

• March 13 (Tuesday) – Regular Afternoon Rehearsal Schedule for Girl Novices / New Juniors 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

• March 13 (Tuesday) – Tuesday Rehearsal for Boy and Girl Old Junior Choristers 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. EVENSONG, 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. in the Church.

• March 14 (Wednesday) – Regular Morning Rehearsal. Senior Girls, 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

• March 14 (Wednesday) After School Vocal Coaching today – Sign up in advance for each session with sign up genius. CHANTRY

• March 15 (Thursday) – SPECIAL REQUIRED REHEARSAL FOR ALL CHORISTERS – YEAR BOOK PHOTOS TO BE TAKEN, DRESS, as for school. 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

• March 15 (Thursday) After School Vocal Coaching. Sign up in advance for each session with sign up genius. CHANTRY

• March 16 (Friday) –SPECIAL Optional REHEARSAL FOR ALL SENIOR CHORISTERS – and younger choristers going on the Spain Tour, 7:00 – 8:10 a.m.

SPRING BREAK! ENJOY!

EASTER SCHEDULE for SENIOR CHORISTERS
• March 31 (Holy Saturday) – Required for Senior Boy and Girl Choristers
 8:45 to 10:30 am: Rehearsal for Easter with The Adult Choir, The Parish Choir, The Choir of Men and Boys, The Girls’ Choir and Brass

• April 1 (Sunday, Easter Day) – Required for Boy and Girl Senior Choristers
 8 am: Call for All Choir Members
 9 am: Service with The Combined Choirs of Grace Church (12)
 9:45 am: Annual Easter Family Breakfast for Choir Families in GCS Dining Room.
 11 am: Service with The Combined Choirs of Grace Church and Brass (12)

SPECIAL LISTENING PROJECT:
Please find a time to watch and listen to these YouTube excerpts. They are from some of our fellow choirs around the world and are lovely and fun. They can help give us all a better idea of our tradition and celebrate the 1000 year old heritage that we participate in. I was in Wells this week and really, the church and choral tradition is just shy of it’s 1000th birthday! This year is the 120th birthday for our choir foundation.

King’s College Cambridge
“All Bells in Paradise”
“O Holy Night”

Wells Cathedral Choir
“God is Gone Up”(Finzi) — Choir of Wells Cathedral
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” – Choir of Wells Cathedral
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – Choir of Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral Choir – General Search

St. John’s College Cambridge,
A Guest in Cambridge
St. John’s College Cambridge

Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral Choir : Sanctus (Walter Alcock)
The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral Part2 – 2007

FIN – THE END
Please forgive the length of this newsletter. You all have lots of wonderful questions and this is my attempt to get us organized and put as much information as you have asked about in one place.

Have a wonderful safe remainder of the summer! The rain has stopped, the Swan has moved on to another boat and it’s time to head to the market for the shopping.

With all my love and anticipation of a great new season, Patrick

ONGOING INFORMATION SOURCES:

*Like us on FACEBOOK! Music at Grace Church in New York

*The Goggle Choir Schedule Calendar Link: http://gchoirsched.info/home.html

*Sign Up Genius for Choir Parent Volunteer Sign Link:
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040B4CA9A72DA64-choir3

*Accessing the Secure Choir Family Area of the Music Website:
www.gracechurchnyc.org
CLICK: MUSIC
CLICK: login
User Name: helfenstein
Password: Stanfordlives1894

*REMEMBER: If your contact information changes or you notice a typo in a communication don’t hesitate to let PA (P. Allen, not the Parents Association) know. “If you see something, say something”

*REMEMBER…please keep an eye out around the house and make sure you cash all choir checks you have received. When the books are closed at the audit for each operating budget year checks can no longer be redeemed