Dear Choir Parents, October 8, 2021  

Our first big show for all choirs will be the SwingFry Choir Fundraiser.  This will be the first time our full choirs hit the stage.  Swingfry is a concert/dinner/fundraiser all rolled into one!  The Middlebury Community really supports this fundraiser and thousands show up for a very big “party” on Saturday, November 13^th.  SwingFry takes place at Northridge High School.  We have every middle school and high school choir singing 3-4 songs, each show choir performs, as well as special soloists between each group.  This is an unconventional concert in that our audience comes and goes in between each group.  You can watch the groups that you want to watch and then duck out for dinner in the cafeteria.  The dinner that we serve for Swingfry is Dan’s all you can eat Chicken or Fish dinner along with homemade desserts.  (The pie is AMAZING)!!  Our choirs raise money from the number of dinner and concert tickets sold, along with a huge bake sale, a concession stand, and  a “to go” coffee shop.  All of the funds raised help the NHS Choirs and NMS Choirs function for the rest of the school year.

As we said, this is a huge party!  To pull this off, the high school choir parents volunteer their time in the early to late afternoon shifts, and the middle school choir parents volunteer their time during the early evening hours.  That way, each parent gets to watch their child perform and also volunteer their time to run this big shindig.   We are hoping that all of our middle school choir parents roll up their sleeves for an hour or two and chip in to make this party a success.   Before signing up, you should check the estimated performance time for your child.  Please sign up for a shift that doesn’t interfere with a chance to see your child! 

6^th graders will perform at 3:00 p.m

7^th graders will perform at 3:40 p.m.

8^th graders will perform around 4:00 p.m.

Just the Guys (all boys in Choir) will perform around 4:20 p.m.

Knight Light Show Choir will perform around 6:40 p.m.

To be prepared for SwingFry you will need to do the following.   

1. Go to https://northridgechoirs.com/swingfry/
2. Sign up for a volunteer position.
3. Locate the choir outfit for your son or daughter.

Outfits: (Picture examples can be found on the choir website www.nmschoir.org)

The girls will need: a black knee length skirt, a long sleeved white blouse that has a collar and buttons down the front, and black shoes.  They will be given a Rosette tie. 

The boys will need:  black dress slacks, black socks and black shoes, a long sleeve white dress shirt with a collar that  buttons down the front.  They will be given a tie.

Dress Rehearsal will take place after school on Thursday, Nov 11.  

1. Parents sending in treats or water for Dress Rehearsal should have their child drop them off in the choir room that morning.
2. Students will be either walking over to the high school, or riding buses, depending on the weather.  Students should bundle up for the short walk! After the rehearsal students will be dismissed to a specific door for pickup in hopes of reducing the waiting lines in the parking lot.

Concert Day, Northridge HS Auditorium Saturday, November 13^th!!

Choir Arrival and put on ties Warm-Up in Home  Room                 Perform

NMS 6^th Grade Choir 2:25 2:35 3:00

NMS 7^th Grade Choir 3:05 3:15 3:40

NMS 8^th Grade Choir 3:25 3:35 4:00

Just The Guys X 4:05 4:20

NMS Show Choir X X 6:40

****Students will be asked to watch at least two other choirs perform their set before going home.  Our choirs learn so much by watching other choirs perform! This will help them complete their written critique on Monday.*  If you can’t stay for them to watch the two 20 minute performances, we have a make up assignment that they can be given to complete at home.  A list of all NMS and NHS Choral performances may be found on the back of this letter. The groups that they watch are up to you, and your own schedule.  We encourage our parents to sit with their children to monitor their behavior and enjoy this experience together.   If you are working a volunteer shift or unable to sit with your child we would like our students to sit in the reserved seating made available for them so that they can be monitored.  

Volunteers:  If you volunteered for SwingFry on Sign up genius for treats, water, or chaperoning you will receive a phone call reminder a week before the event and specific information to help you perform your duty.  The Concert Day volunteers who sign up for slots via the enclosed link will receive reminder calls from their committee Chair Person.  Again we ask that all of our choir parents volunteer for one slot on performance day so that the high school parents can watch their kids perform.  The shifts are short and go quickly!  Sign up now so that you get the slot you want. 

Conflicts:  If your son/daughter has a conflict with concert day please read about the make up assignment they will need to complete to take the place of this mandatory performance.  Conflict forms are available at the nmschoir.org website or in the choir room.  These are due by Friday, October 22nd to be excused.  

Sincerely,  Mrs. Armington and Mr. Norwood

Please spread the word that the annual Swingfry Fall Fundraiser is this Saturday. It will be held in the back band parking lot from 3 to 7 p.m. We desperately need all of our choir families, their friends, and neighbors to come. Dinner will be served in a drive through setting (4 lanes!). Dan’s chicken and fish will be served with the meal. We have a 15 slots for volunteers that have not been filled yet. If you, or your son/daughter would like to fill a 30 minute position for us please click the link below. Thanks! See y’all Saturday!!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4daaae2aa2f4c52-parent

Hey all! Mrs. Norwood wanted us to send out a reminder that the 2020 show choir summer camp is still set to go in June! There is also an Early Bird Special for registrations postmarked by June 1st!

More information can be found here —>2020 Show Choir Camp FLYER <—

If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Norwood (574sing@gmail.com)

We would like to post our top videos so that all of you can see our talented kids!  As soon as our judges select the top 3 performers we will post the results!   In the meantime leave them some positive comments about their performances.  We will review all comments before allowing them to be posted.

Here are two audio recordings that were submitted too!

Madi Troup 6th grade

Ava Boals 6th grade

Along with the change to the meeting for 8th grade students interested in high school show choir earlier today. The parent meeting for parents of potential high school show choir students in the 2020-2021 school year who might have questions regarding aspects of the program, schedules, etc., will still be at 6:00 PM, but at the new Zoom Link posted below.

Zoom Meeting Code: 942-175-185

Password: is 691163

The meeting with the high school directors has been asked to change from a Zoom Meeting to a Google Meet. With the change, the meeting with 8th grade students interested in auditioning for the high school show choirs will begin at 2:30.

New Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/ijy-tzbd-eqg

Or to join by phone, dial +1 615-608-4199 and enter this PIN: 970 344 708#

This is an announcement for all 8th grade students at NMS. The high school choir directors have sent out information on signing up for choir next year at Northridge High School! Attached below is a survey form for indicating your interest in participating in the NHS Choir Program. If you have an 8th grade friend not currently participating in a choir at NMS and who you think may be interested in being in choir next year, then please reach out and encourage them to fill out this form.

If you are interested in auditioning to be part of the high school show choir groups (Starlights and Northern Lights) there is a digital audition to be selected for these groups. The audition is made up of a vocal audition, dance audition, and Audition Application form. The directors are requesting that recordings of these auditions be submitted by April 2nd to be considered for a spot in the groups. Information and guidelines for these auditions, as well as rehearsal/practice help can be found at (https://northridgechoirs.com/show-choir-auditions/).

If you have questions please feel free to email the directors (Mr. Baker – bakerd@mcsin-k12.org; Mrs. Manglos – mangloss@mcsin-k12.org) or email Mr. Norwood or Mrs. Armington.

High School Choir/Show Choir Survey

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but yesterday we received word from the ISSMA Executive Committee and the Indiana State Department of Health that all ISSMA organizational contests will be cancelled through the beginning of April.:( Unfortunately this means that all of the times and schedules and info that we sent home over the past couple of weeks can be disregarded for next Saturday. This does not mean that all of the hard work that the kids have been putting into getting their songs ready for contest will go to waste however! They will still be performing these pieces for you all during the Final Blast concerts in May, so try to keep a lid on your anticipation until then!:) Sorry for the disappointing news! Hopefully everyone can now plan a nice, peaceful, and relaxing Saturday next weekend (filled with lots of sleep and hand washing)!

We’ve had a great week here in choir beast land as we’ve jumped back into the swing of things! In case you are looking for something to do this weekend, the kids (I can still call them that right:) ) over at high school hit the ground running as well as they’ve been preparing to put on their performance of the hit musical “Newsies”! They would love to see you there! Here’s a little bit of info to pique your interest!

And just like that we’re in the swing of things again! Coming home today with your daughter/son is a parent letter detailing important dates coming up this semester, so be on the lookout for that today! However, just in case the locker elves happen to get a hold of it, I’ve attached a copy here for your convenience. Here we go!

2nd Semester Start Off Parent Letter