SPPS Arts Academy Showcases Talented Students

Above: A student at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Lexington enjoyed creating her own jewelry at the school's Arts Academy

Nanci Barnhart, Director of Fine Arts at SPPS School in Lexington, sent this update:

The 3D Arts Academy at Sts. Peter & Paul School ended with a showcase of talent on March 24.

An art display by our after-school Explore-More-Art class filled the downstairs hallways. The Jewelry Making class showed their newly created bracelets and necklaces, and included descriptions of the types of stones used in the beading process.

There were performances by the Hip Hop & Jazz dance class, and the Creative dance class.

Our “Twirling Eagles” advanced baton team performed, along with the new beginning baton class of 1st and 2nd graders.

We were treated to scenes from “Seussical” by our K-2 drama students, and chuckled at the antics of the Comedy & Improv class.

The Violin class amazed us with the amount of music they have learned in such a short time.

Our Middle School Band students performed their Distinguished solos and ensembles from the KMEA contest, and gave the younger children a glimpse of future possibilities.

The evening ended with a “bang” as our jump rope team, the Jalapeno Poppers, showed off their fancy footwork. We are looking forward to next year, when we will be in our brand new school, with an entire wing dedicated to the Arts.

Our Kindergarten students presented a celebration of spring for their parents with songs, poems, and dance. One of the highlights of the performance was “Whacky Spring Fever”, complete with rainsticks and boomwhackers. Several students danced with umbrellas while others made a rainbow of stars. Scenery for the occasion was made by the kindergartners themselves in Art class. Following the concert, parents and children enjoyed breakfast together and fellowship.

March Music at Christ the King School

Above: The Christ the King School chorus performed at the Area Concert at Pax Christi, Lexington, in February, 2010.

Music Teacher Jeremy Howard sent along this link to CTK School's March newsletter.

http://www.edline.net/pages/Christ_theKingSchool

Just go to the CONTENTS box on the right and click on "CKS March Music Newsletter" to bring up the whole thing.

LCH Choir Sings "By the Waters..."

Above: The Lexington Catholic Choir warms up before the spring concert. Notice the waves decorating the edge of the stage to help set the aquatic mood.

The Lexington Catholic Choirs were all in full voice for their big spring concert, featuring songs to take the audience "By the Waters..." The highlight of the evening was the world premiere of the choral piece "Psalm of the Sea," by composer David Childs. This beautiful work was commissioned by LCH!

Check out the photos of the pre-show entertainment, courtesy of Midknight M'Ladyes and After Hours.

At right and below, M'Ladyes rock the number "Have Mercy!"

Then the After Hours guys doo-wop along on the a cappella standard "Silhouettes on the Shade."

Out and About with the LCHS Choir

Above: The Lexington Catholic Choir sounded heavenly during their stop at the Cathedral of St. John Divine during their Big Trip to the Big Apple, March 11-13.

The LCHS Choirs are all in concert on Thursday, March 25. Come enjoy the sounds of 200 voices as they perform songs around the theme "By the Waters." The a cappella groups kick off the music out in the LCH theater hallway (always looking for that echo!) at about 6:30 PM, and then it's on to the main stage at 7 PM.

Choir members have been extremely busy of late. Here's an update from Choral Director Adam Beeken:
We had an extremely successful trip to New York City. Despite the heavy rain, spirits were high. We performed at the IBM Atrium and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (the largest gothic cathedral in the world). You may have seen some of our choir students on the Today show - you can see a clip below. [They're the spirited group - in their tuxedos, of course - performing an impromptu John Wall dance and CATS cheer for the somewhat confused Today bunch.]. Students also attended performances of the Lion King and had the chance to ask the performers questions, toured the city, did a workshop with Broadway professionals, attended Mass at St.Patrick’s Cathedral, and more. Thanks to Ron Roth, our tour guide, and all of the parent chaperones for a great trip.

Banding Together

Above: Bishop Ronald Gainer offers the Invocation to start off the Area Band Concert 2010 on a prayerful note.

This year's edition of the Catholic Schools' Area Band Concert brought together over 350 students and all those instruments (hundreds in the percussion sections alone) for an amazing concert experience. Students represented bands from Grades 5 through 8 at Christ the King, Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary, Saints Peter & Paul and Seton Catholic from Lexington and St. Agatha Academy in Winchester. The Lexington Catholic High School Concert Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Class Ensemble, and Morning Percussion Ensemble all played it up as well. Thanks to Band Directors Allison Weitkamp, Brad Kerns, Laura Fritz and Craig Potter for putting together such a great show and finding enough chairs and music stands for everybody.

At left: The 5th Grade band - 125 members strong - play "Dragon Slayer."

Below: The audience knew the dragon got his just desserts when they heard the gong.

Above left: The 6th Grade told us in the intro to their big number (appropriately named, "More Cowbell") "You can always use more cowbell!" The cowbell players worked hard on anchoring each end of the percussion section.

Above right: The LCHS Morning Percussion showed how to launch the wake up call on their "Bullseye" number. Obviously, no expense was spared to round up these percussion items (i.e., 5 gallon buckets from your famous home improvement store).

At left: The 7th grade trumpets announce the entry of "Lancelot."

Below: The 8th Grade percussion taps and tymphonies it out on "Greek Folk Trilogy" while the trombones set the bass tones.

The LCHS band featured Three French Horns (at left) and some heavy metal - tuba style (below). And check out the cool shades on the sax player.

At left: One of the two LCH band members who came rushing in from their baseball game to play their parts - such impressive dedication and versatility (and, the baseball team won!).

At right: Director Allison Weitkamp presented Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Bill Farnau, with a special plaque to honor him for his support of the band programs throughout the Catholic school system over the years. Bill retires later this year, so it was also a great time to thank him for his years of service to Catholic education in the Diocese of Lexington.

LCHS Band Kicks Off Spring Arts Extravaganzas

Above: Band members were a presence in space and sound at last year's 2009 Area Band Concert at LCHS

The wave of huge - and we do mean HUGE - spring arts events at our schools kicks off this week with the Catholic Schools' Area Band Concert at Lexington Catholic High School, Tuesday, March 23, at 7 PM in the Bueter Gymnasium.

This annual concert brings together the hundreds of talented and hard-working students in the school bands in the Lexington/outlying counties region. Each band will have a chance to showcase their special musical selelction, and then all the bands will play a big finale.

Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy!

Seton Singers in the Honor's Choir

Amy Black, Music Specialist at Seton Catholic School, Lexington, sends this report:

Seton students Kayla Duncan, Patrick Rodrigue, and Kyle McMillin (joined by a new friend) represented their school and state at the Southern Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association. As members of the Children’s Honor Choir, they worked under the direction of Dr. Sandra Snow.

Several Seton alumni were also members of the both the Children’s and High School Women’s Honor Choirs, participated in interest sessions for the benefit of the choral directors present, and sang as members of one of the guest choirs.

Congratulations!

A Wiz of a Show at MQHR

Above, Dorothy and her Friends discuss the best way to get to the Emerald City in the recent production of OZ! The Musical, staged by Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary School in Lexington.

Mark Flannery, music teacher at MQHR School, sends this update:


A cast of 40, a crew of 15, plus three directors, a sound/light tech, a terrific high school theater director, great administrators at both schools, and a bunch of dedicated parents put together OZ! The Musical for MQHR school on stage at Lexington Catholic High School, Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6. After losing three critical rehearsals to inclement weather and having to cut/paste parts of the script, the overall result was very positive. The large cast included Dorothy, Toto #1, Toto #2, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, Glinda the Good Witch, The Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard of Oz, numerous Munchkins, Citizens, Flying Monkeys, and Fighting Trees.


The story is based on the famous movie, The Wizard of Oz, but it had many twists and turns from the original. Some changes were Dorothy's Silver Slippers (not Ruby) and the Lion being taken captive by the Wicked Witch to be her maid. The crowd roared with laughter as the Wicked Witch sang about her "Castle of No Return." But Dorothy left the audience captivated by singing "I'm Going Home," her final farewell to her friends in Oz!

At left, Munchkins sing Dorothy's praises for ridding them of one Wicked Witch.

Below, the beautiful but dangerous Poppies get final instructions from the other Wicked Witch.

Choral Honors

Above: The 2010 SATB (that's Soprano, Alto, Tenor AND Bass, you know!) KY All State Choir at Whitney Hall in Louisville, February 2010.

Chorus Director Adam Beeken at Lexington Catholic High School sends along this update:

As you can tell from the picture above, we had a great time at the Kentucky All State Choir earlier this month [February] in Louisville. We had two students selected for solos - Catherine Wright and Carrie Burt. This is the first time our school has ever had a student selected for this honor. They represented us very well in performing to a packed concert hall.

The LCHS All State delegation show the great smiles that match their great voices, at left.

Above, Carrie Burt sings a beautiful solo.

Students Shine at the KMEA Festival!

Above: The totally talented band members from Lexington Catholic High School who participated in the recent KMEA Music Festival

Band directors Allison Weitkamp and Brad Kerns send this exciting news about the hard working band members in several of our Catholic Schools:

Congratulations to all the Diocesan Band students that performed at the Kentucky Music Educators Association District Solo and Ensemble Festival on February 20, 2010. All of our students earned either a Distinguished or Proficient Rating, which are the two highest ratings given at the assessment.

Lexington Catholic:
Proficient Ensembles
Riley Marshall & Julia Smith – Saxophone Duet
Megan Medley & Aaron Ayotte – Oboe Duet


Distinguished Ensembles
Amelia Thorne & Kelly Rice – Flute duet

Asope Sokan & Trey Poe – Trumpet Duet

Allison DeLetter & Kiera McEvoy – Bassoon Duet
Josh Winner, Riley Marshall, Julia Smith, Megan Ferrell, and Arayo Sokan –
Saxophone Quintet


Proficient Solos
Tyler Wells – Alto Sax
Corey Wells – Percussion

Distinguished Solos
Boyoon Choi – Flute
Megan Hailey – Flute
Zack Howell – Alto Sax
Hayce Jeon – Flute
Min Jung Koh – Flute
Hannah Ruggles – Flute
Sara Sproull – Trombone


Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary:
Proficient Ensembles
Liz Noonan & Carly Biega – Saxophone/Trumpet Duet

Distinguished Ensembles
David Yackzan & Jacob Burger - Clarinet Duet

Mattie Fogle, Anna Rideout, Gina Valentino, & Lauren Heister – Clarinet/Trumpet Quartet

Elise Maul & Molly Mace – Flute/Clarinet Duet

Abbi King, Emma Casey, Carly Biega, & Rachel Yeager – Flute/Trumpet/ Percussion Quartet

Abbi King, Emma Casey, & Katrina Dunn – Flute/Clarinet/Percussion Trio

Elise Maul & Caroline Quigley - Flute Duet

David Yackzan, Jacob Burger, & Evan Terhune - Clarinet/Trombone Trio

Molly Mace & Anna McAvo – Clarinet/ Percussion Duet

Proficient Solos
Olivia Bodart - Flute Solo
Helen Holthaus - Flute Solo

Distinguished Solos
Zach Estus - Alto Sax Solo
Emma King - Clarinet Solo
Molly Mace - Clarinet Solo
Elise Maul - Flute Solo
Connor Noonan - Trumpet
Liz Noonan - Alto Sax Solo
Caroline Quigley - Flute Solo
Kate Renaud - Trombone


Sts. Peter & Paul:
Proficient Ensembles
Abby Zanone, Casey Kennedy, Abigail Winfield – Flute/Clarinet Trio

Thomas Hayes, Adam Spanier, Lauren Phillips Percussion Trio

Distinguished Ensembles
Will Kelly & Joe Webb - Trumpet Duet
Rachel Buckles & Danielle Doering - Trumpet Duet Hannah Martin & Suzanne Miller – Flute/Percussion Duet

Olivia Payne, Victoria Poole, Danielle Doering, Amelia Spanier – Flute/Trumpet/Percussion Quartet Rachel Buckles & Sydney Scruggs – Trumpet/Clarinet Duet

Abby Zanone & Sydney Scruggs - Flute/Clarinet Duet Baigin Thiel, Emily Clemmons, Amelia Spanier - Percussion Trio

Hannah Martin, Tiffany Wright, Samantha Thomas, Rachel Greenwell - Woodwind Quartet

Samantha Thomas & Rachel Greenwell – Saxophone/Clarinet Duet

Proficient Solos
Duncan Naylor – Trumpet Solo
Hannah Martin - Flute Solo
Grant Noffsinger - Percussion Solo
Thomas Doering - Clarinet Solo
Sydney Scruggs - Clarinet Solo

Distinguished Solos
Will Kelly – Trumpet Solo
Rachel Buckels – Trumpet Solo
Paul Adams - Alto Sax Solo
Hattie Nunely - Clarinet Solo
Robert Kederis – Trombone Solo
Thomas Hayes – Percussion Solo


Seton Catholic:
Distinguished Ensemble
Emily DeLetter, Taryn Koury, Madison Hickey, Hannah Warren, Shelby King, Claybrooke Springer, Anna Ord – Woodwind Ensemble

Distinguished Solo
Jake Carrico – Percussion Solo