Seattle Children's Chorus

Camerata Performing Rutter's Gloria

Camerata, conducted by John Hendrix, joined by Brass Reflections, performing Rutter's Gloria. (December 2007)

Once Upon a Dream
SCC Auction

Saturday, April 19th

Your 10th annual SCC Auction, Once Upon a Dream is coming up on Saturday, April 19th from 6:00 – 9:00 pm at a new location, the beautiful Lynnwood Convention Center, located on 196th just West of I-5 in Lynnwood.

This is our most important fundraising event of the year and this year we are pulling out all the stops with not only a new location, but a new format for participation by our choristers. If you like Disney, Broadway and musical theater, you’ll love the entertainment our choristers will be providing! Fabulous food and fellowship with other choir families and friends are all part of the fun.

Tickets are $45 per person or $420 for the table and the registration deadline is April 5th, in order to get our menu selections to the Convention Center.

We have learned that a large number of invitations, sent out by bulk mail, were never delivered. An invitation and response card are enclosed in your April newsletter for your convenience.

Thank you for your help in sharing this information with any friends or family who may not have received their invitation in the mail.

Our choristers have also been getting involved in the fun – each choir is collecting items for theme baskets to be auctioned off at the event. Theme baskets include:

Camerata Handyman Basket
Shoreline Arioso Camping Basket
Everett Arioso Summer Entertaining Basket
Shoreline Intermezzo Garden Basket
Everett Intermezzo Romance Basket
Shoreline & Everett Brio Scrapbook Basket
(Cash donations are also being collected to purchase items for these baskets.)
Plan now to bid on these fabulous items!

Camerata and Arioso choristers will be providing the entertainment, along with selected soloists and ensembles that will delight guests with fabulous renditions of their favorite Disney, Broadway and Show Tunes. Choristers are “dressing up” for the night; we are suggesting modest formal wear for the girls and suits, tuxes or dress shirts, vests and ties for the boys. Participating choristers can be dropped off at the Convention Center at 5:00; enter from either the north or southeast side of the building.

An Auction Information Table can be found at each choir rehearsal location. Parent volunteers will be on hand to sell tickets, receive donations, answer questions or help you decide what you can do to help! Auction donations must be delivered by April 10th to be included in the catalog.

We anticipate that this year’s Benefit Auction will be another successful fundraising event while continuing to build the spirit of music and community among our choir families.

Honors for Kris Mason

Recently, Kris was the recipient of the Medallion Award, an honor presented by the Seattle Pacific University Alumni Association. The Award was based on her work with Seattle Children’s Chorus for the past nineteen years. We thought the SCC community might be interested to know some tidbits about our organization as presented in Kris’ acceptance speech:

As I receive this honor, I must really share it with companions who make this journey with me: my husband, John, my three daughters, my mom and sisters, dear friends and a whole circle of people who make up the Seattle Children’s Chorus community. The story of SCC, I call it the “Story of US”, really started over thirty years ago on the SPU campus.

As I walked onto the SPU campus, I knew this institution had much to offer educationally, vocationally, socially and spiritually. Little did I know my education here was just the stepping off place for dreaming big dreams. Little did I know how much my connection with precious college friends would impact my life and work.

Cherished memories for me:

~Pausing at the practice room doors of Crawford Music Hall to revel in the genius piano playing of Dianne Beckman (Engelbrekt) and Randi Teigland (Hendrix)…. counting the days until their recitals!

~Watching John Hendrix expertly conduct for Choral Conducting class, (a course he was already qualified to teach), or tutoring a circle of desperate, artistic-type girls (I was in that group) trying to survive a Physics of Sound course, or on a lighter note, John drawing a crowd in the Cafeteria for a jello-slurping demonstration…..

~Marcie Ochsner (Fosse) and I greeting each other in the hallways of our dorm or singing proudly together in the 2nd soprano section of the concert choir….

~Sharing a microphone with a very nice, good-looking boy named John Mason in the SPU singers for a year….singing cheek to cheek set the sparks flying for us……

It is the great privilege of my life to be working shoulder to shoulder with these talented, highly gifted, big-hearted SPU friends. Yes, SCC was a God-inspired dream I had about 22 years ago; a dream for connecting young musicians with high caliber choral training , a dream for incorporating beautiful sacred choral literature into the program, and most importantly, a place to nurture and impact the “wholeness” of every chorister who passes through our doors.
But it could not have happened without this remarkable team! It is great work! I’m proud of SCC and what we accomplish. And I know with a deep certainty that SCC has made a lasting difference in this city! This is something to celebrate!

Concert Etiquette

Just a few helpful hints to make each of our performances an enjoyable event for our audiences.

Our performances are all offered as Festival Seating. Early arrival means a choice of seats, although seats in all our venues will be good.
Please do not attempt to save seats for your large party. Festival seating means those who arrive late must find their own seats upon arrival.
If you or a family member is handicapped and require special seating arrangements, please contact an usher to arrange for seating.
Seattle Children's Chorus concerts are designed to reach a broad spectrum of the music-loving public. They are aimed at an audience of mature children and adult listeners. Babies and toddlers are not conducive to the goals of these performances.
The concerts are often professionally recorded for archival purposes and any additional noise lowers the quality of the recording. All cell phones and pagers should be turned to the off or silent position during performances.
Video or audio taping are prohibited during concerts. Taping a performance is an infringement of the music copyright law.
Refrain from taking photographs during a performance. This distracts the choristers and audience members.
No food or beverages are allowed in any of our concert venues.

Thanks so much for your help in these important matters!

SCC CD's and Merchandise on Sale Now

CD - Voices of Christmas Past
CD - How Can I Keep from Singing
CD - A Young Poet Sings
CD - A Candlelight Christmas
SCC Logo Fleece Blanket $25
Black Fleece Logo Vest $30-$40 (adult and child)

All items can be purchased at the concerts or special ordered by calling the office.

Randi Teigland-Hendrix, Piano Lessons

Randi Teigland-Hendrix, one of our accompanists, wants you to know she also teaches piano! She has had many years of teaching out of her home in Edmonds and is willing to teach all levels from beginning to advanced students. Homeschoolers and adults might be especially interested. You may contact her at home 425-778-4396 or by email at jphendrix@msn.com .

Sheri Erickson, Vocal Coach

Sheri Erickson directed the Brio training chorus level of Seattle Children's Chorus for 6 years before she was recently hired as our first Vocal coach. Sheri, as a lifelong vocal soloist, student and teacher, offers special expertise in the field of vocal pedagogy, having studied under Charles Peterson, a highly regarded master teacher and vocal therapist of the Seattle area. She is a graduate of the University of Washington and also holds a Master's Degree in Music Education from the University. Sheri has sung with the Northwest Chamber Singers and the Seattle Symphony Chorale and has performed as a soloist in various churches and community events. She has had over 25 years of teaching experience at the elementary and junior high levels and is currently teaching choral music at Bothell High School.

Voice Classes Begin in October. Our voice classes are ready to begin soon, but there is still time to register your chorister for this enriching supplement to your son/daughter's vocal education. Classes will begin the week of October 3rd and continue for 8 weeks, concluding the week of November 21st.

Cost for each 8 week session will be $100 ($150 for non-SCC choristers) payable on the first day of class. Checks should be made out to Seattle Children's Chorus and should be brought to class. Students are also responsible to purchase and bring a pencil and spiral notebook.

Each voice class will be limited to no more than 7-10 students. Classes will be made up of students ages 10-13 or 14-20. We are offering several options of times and locations; however, our final voice class schedule will depend on the number of students signing up for each time slot. The Tuesday class is ONLY offered to Intermezzo choristers.

Mondays at Grace Lutheran Church in Lynnwood 4PM and 5PM. Tuesdays at First Presbyterian Church in Everett at 5PM.

If you are interested in private voice instruction, please call the office (206) 542-5998 or 1-888-561-7139 and we will let you know how to get in touch with Sheri.

Absence Messages. Thank you, parents, for your absence messages when you know your chorister will be missing a rehearsal! Remember we allow two excused absences per half year (September-December and January-May) and these can always be made up at our alternate location. We appreciate your diligence in keeping us informed and your commitment to having your chorister make up missed rehearsals. We always like to know that everything is OK with your son or daughter and your call to the office helps us a great deal. Thanks!

Choir Moms. We want to extend a huge thank you to the following parents who have agreed to be our “Choir Moms” for this year. These parents assist during rehearsals by helping take roll, distributing music, collecting forms, assisting our fundraising endeavors, and serving as an extra hand to our directors. If you ever have questions, feel free to ask them for help.

Everett: Brio – Kasia Merchel Intermezzo – Amy Hoffman Arioso – JoyAnn Wise

Shoreline: Brio – Debbie Jordan Intermezzo – Terri Stewart Arioso – Bonnie Lloyd Camerata – Carla Hoover

Thank you! We couldn’t manage without your help!

SCC Board Members. The following are currently serving as SCC Board Members. Several are parents of choristers and we are including the branch of the chorus, and the level of their chorister.

Marilyn Mortenson (president) (parent of alum)
Sonja Erickson (vice president) (alumnus)
Joe Runte (treasurer) (Shoreline--Camerata/Arioso)
Ian Alvarez (Shoreline--Intermezzo)
Kevin Corwin (Shoreline--Camerata/Arioso)
Jamie Haskins (parent of alum)
Nancy Schultz (Shoreline--Camerata)
Anna Stueckle (community member)

What Do I do with My Old Uniform?

Choristers have a way of "growing like weeds" over the summer months, and it is very important that we make sure their uniforms still fit! Enclosed in this mailing is a Fall Uniform Check Form. ALL choristers are REQUIRED to complete this form and return it to rehearsal on the first day. Any chorister planning on turning in a used uniform should also return it to rehearsal during the month of September. Any uniforms being returned must be clean and have the Uniform Check Form attached.

Here are the guidelines for determining fit and the conditions under which we will accept used uniforms for a rebate:

Brio: Skirts should fit well around the waist; don't worry about length. Returned pieces should be cleaned and hung with safety pins on a wire hanger with Uniform Check Form attached. Polo shirts should not be too tight-fitting. Sorry, we do not accept used polo shirts for rebate.

Intermezzo: Jumpers should fall to mid-calf (not knee length) and not be too tight around the hips. Blouses should fit through the shoulders; however, some sleeves may be a bit short or long, which is o.k. Returned pieces should be in good condition, laundered at home and hung on wire hangers with Uniform Check Form attached.

Intermezzo & Arioso Vests: Vests should cover the belt buckle and not be too tight. Vests are to be dry cleaned and returned on a wire hanger with Uniform Check Form attached.

Arioso & Camerata Dresses: All dresses should fit comfortably across the back and bust and should fall to mid-calf in length. Consider ordering a new size if this is a problem. Arioso dresses should be hemmed to approximately 8”-9” from the floor when standing in flat-heeled shoes. Hems should be 1” in depth or smaller. Hire a professional seamstress, if necessary, to hem your dress. Camerata dresses are floor length. Returned pieces must be laundered and hung on a wire hanger with Uniform Check Form attached.

Camerata Tuxes: We have professionally dry cleaned the rental tuxes of those who turned their tuxes in over the summer. You will receive your assigned tux back at the first rehearsal. Please check for all around fit. We can refit if you rented your uniform last year. We need to know if you are planning on renting your uniform again or purchasing it. It is the responsibility of the owner of all purchased tuxes to be sure they are dry cleaned this fall.

You will receive a rebate based on the condition in which your uniform is returned. All pieces must be laundered or dry cleaned. We rely on our uniform bank to outfit new and growing choristers, so please return any used uniforms prior to September 28th. We will be measuring all new choristers and any chorister who has outgrown his/her old uniform at September rehearsals. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.