Did you know that Alan Greenspan, Condoleezza Rice, Paula Zahn, Woody Allen, and a host of others credit their musical education for their notable professional successes?
It’s all here in a recent New York Times article, which heralds that “multiple studies link music study to academic achievement.” And in past Spotlight articles, we, too, have shared a number of academic, cognitive, and psychosocial benefits directly attributed to music education and musical performance.
And did you know that Colchester High School band program has enjoyed a more than 50 percent increase in participation this year alone, largely due to great feeder programs and interest from older, first-time students?
“Our feeder programs at Colchester Middle School and Malletts Bay School are doing a tremendous job of indoctrinating students into music education,” CHS band director Evan Peltier said. “Emily Desautels and Bridgette Tozzi at the middle school and Sheila Clark at MBS do phenomenal work. And we’ve had a significant number of students approach us late in their high school careers to express interest in getting involved with the band program, which is really exciting.”
The Colchester High School Jubilee Winter Concert will be held on Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the community theater at CHS, featuring the CHS concert and jazz bands as well as several choral ensembles, including a first-ever all-male ensemble.
The Colchester Middle School Holiday Choir Concert will be held on Thursday, December 12 at 7:00 p.m., also in the community theater at CHS.
Colchester Middle School band will also hold a band holiday concert on Thursday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the CMS gymnasium, featuring the CMS sixth-grade band, the seventh- and eighth-grade band, and the jazz band.
The concerts are free and open to the public!
Among some of the efforts to raise funds for the eagerly anticipated upcoming April 25–27 trip to New York City—which has become something of a tradition at CHS—the CHS music department is coordinating two caroling events and a Lake Champlain Access Television (LCATV) telethon.
On Saturday, December 14 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., CHS instrumentalists will carol in front of Kiss the Cook at 72 Church Street in Burlington.
On Saturday, December 21 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., vocalists will carol in front of Kiss the Cook at 72 Church Street in Burlington.
On Sunday, December 15, a variety of small ensembles will perform on LCATV from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. as part of a first-ever telethon event!
“This telethon is the first time we’ve tried doing something like this … we hope viewers will enjoy the music performances and be in the giving spirit,” said CHS Director of Bands Evan Peltier. “But no matter how much we raise, it will be a great experience for the students to play on live television.” Interested? LCATV is viewable on Comcast Cable Channels 15 and 16 in Colchester, Milton, Georgia, Fairfax, Westford, South Hero, Grand Isle and North Hero; volunteers will be stationed at CHS during the telethon to take phone calls and pledges from telethon donors.
During the April trip, more than one hundred CHS students will tour the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the 9/11 Memorial, Chinatown, Little Italy, Ellis Island, and other historically significant sites, enjoy a dinner cruise around the Statue of Liberty, experience the Broadway musical Newsies, and more.
Perhaps best of all, on Saturday, April 26, the students will perform as part of the WorldStrides Heritage Performance’s New York City Music Festival along with bands and choruses from all over the country, challenging them to collaborate and perform to their fullest potential in the midst of a rigorous competition.
All of it is aligned with the Colchester School District’s Vision and Strategic Plan 2012–2017′s efforts to offer “High Standards, Expectations, and Individual Engagement for All Learners,” “Learning Outside Our Four Walls,” and “Parent, Community, and School Partnerships Among Lifelong Learners.”
If you would like more information, please contact CHS’s Evan Peltier at peltiere@csdvt.org or CHS’s Melissa Towle at towlem@csdvt.org or call (802) 264-5700.
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