Pagosa Springs Girls Choir seeking new members for 2019-2020

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2019/05/girls-choir-2nd-audition-DSC_9156-300x183.jpg Photo courtesy Jeff Laydon
The Pagosa Springs Girls Choir will hold registration for new members on May 20 in the Pagosa Springs Middle School band room.

By Linda Parker

Special to The PREVIEW

Registration for the 2019-2020 Pagosa Springs Girls Choir (PSGC) has been set for May 20 from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Pagosa Springs Middle School band room. The choir is open to girls who will be in the fifth through eighth grades in the 2018-2019 school year.

Information packets for public school girls will be sent home. Any girls who are home-schooled or are in an online educational program can obtain an audition packet by calling Linda Parker at 264-1434 or emailing her at singpagosa@gmail.com. The packet is also be available on the choir’s website, www.singpagosa.org.

The PSGC is a community choir of girls who love to sing and who would like to further their music education. The choir is a wonderful opportunity for girls to learn about vocal and choral techniques and to perform in a select choral group. Girls will learn and perform high-quality choral music in a variety of styles, including pop, folk and country (some music will include choreography and props). The girls also have the opportunity to study with a professional vocal coach during rehearsal time, where private mini voice lessons are taught. This is a service that is provided by the PSGC as part of the tuition charge.

The PSGC performs regularly throughout the school year, both for community events and organizations, and presents its own concerts in December and in May. Additionally, featured soloists and choral groups are invited to be a part of the concerts, giving the girls the opportunity to work and perform with other talented musicians. A highlight for the girls each year is to participate in a master class taught by professional musicians, K.T. Sullivan and Natalie Douglas, both of New York City. The girls have also been featured on a Christmas CD with singer Judy James.

In addition to performance, the girls are able to participate in summer educational trips. The girls have traveled to Santa Fe, N.M., to study opera; they spent eight days in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in June of 2015 attending performances of professional music theater; they travelled to Vail, Colo., to attend a performance of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra; and to Salt Lake City to hear the Temple organ and the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir. To culminate their fifth year of existence, last summer, the girls traveled to New York City, where they visited landmarks and heard world-class music performances.

Rehearsals for the choir will be held on Monday afternoons from 4 to 5 p.m. in the band room at Pagosa Springs Middle School beginning the first Monday after school starts.

There is a nonrefundable registration fee of $10 which will be credited toward the tuition fee of $200 per year if a girl is ultimately selected. Scholarships are available; no student will be excluded because of financial reasons, and a scholarship application is available by calling 264-1434 or emailing singpagosa@gmail.com. A payment plan for tuition will be available, so it can be paid throughout the year.

Registration is being held this year during our regular rehearsal time. Current choir members will be on hand to meet and welcome interested girls. They will also be available to answer any questions. Parents are also invited to attend.

“It’s a time to get to meet each other so that new girls can get a better idea of the choir and the organization,” said Parker.

If a girl has a conflict on the registration date, please call Parker at 264-1434. An additional registration meeting will be held in August.

“I hope the young girls in Pagosa will take advantage of this opportunity to learn about singing, to improve their own instrument and to see the possibilities that exist for them through working and performing in the arts,” said Parker, director of the PSGC. “We have many very talented young girls in Pagosa, and I look forward to beginning this musical journey with them, as well as continuing the journey with current PSGC members.”