Eastern Region High School Festival

The Region Director will email the links to these virtual sessions to participating directors to share with their students.

Payment to CMEA is $10 per student, one school issued check or purchase order. These events are open to any student who completed an audition for the high school region festival. Teachers may use the region audition invoice to mail in with payment, cross off any name that is not participating and adjust the total.

Mixed Choir Noah Fields and Brian Stevenson, ensemble chairs

Dr. Matt Travis, Midland Center for the Arts, Michigan

Time: January 9th, 10-11:30

The virtual activity where he will guide students through critical listening activities to develop students’ skills to look deeper into the music we listen to and perform. Music is often used to convey emotion, but how is it that composers are able to evoke specific emotions through the music they create? During these guided listening activities, we will delve into the questions and answer that composer present to us in their music. Dr. Travis will also host a Q&A at the end of the session for all the students. Join us for a deeper understanding of the music we listen to and perform.

Treble Choir Dr. Ethan Nash, ensemble chair

Rachel Feldman, Visiting Director of Choirs at Connecticut College and Mt. Holyoke

Time: Saturday January 9th, 10:00-12:00

The workshop will include some focus on vocal technique, learning a new piece (theoretically one that singers could perform at their own high school in some cases) as well as some opportunities to meet new people and other surprises.  The workshop will be on Saturday, January 9th from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon.

Band Jessica Wolf and Bethany Dauphinais, ensemble chairs

Kelly Watkins, Eastern CT State University, Director of Bands

Time: January 9th, 10:00-11:30

This year’s ERHS Band Workshop will be held on Zoom on January 9th under the direction of conductor Kelly Watkins. Conductor and trumpet player Kelly Watkins currently serves as a member of the United States Coast Guard Band and is on faculty at Eastern Connecticut State University where she directs the Eastern Concert Band. The session will be 90 minutes long and students will have the opportunity to learn “Rocketship” by Kevin Day – a fantastic piece of music! See the link below for a recording of the piece. Students will work together to explore the musical ideas, stylistic elements, and performance skills that are needed for a successful performance of this piece, although a performance will not be possible at this time due to social distancing requirements. In addition, this session will include some general practice strategies/warmups and a Q&A on being a professional musician. We are excited about this opportunity to bring together so many talented musicians from around the Eastern Region and hope you will join us for this year’s festival!

“Rocketship” by Kevin Day https://youtu.be/D9fPGGpoUOs

Orchestra Dr. Nola Campbell and Susan Kohanski, ensemble chairs

Nadya Potemkina, Music Director and Conductor of Wesleyan University Orchestra and Concert Choir

Time: January 9th, 11:00-12:30

“The First Rehearsal: a holistic approach to score study and part preparation for an orchestral musician.

Most of the work on preparing a part for the rehearsal process and ultimately the performance is done long before the ensemble first comes together and breathes life into the opening measures of a piece. The information we gather about the socio-economic situation and cultural trends of the place and the time period when the piece was written, about the composer’s life, character, and work ethics, their country of origin, their artistic philosophy and style – all the details, no matter how small and insignificant, will determine the attack of the first note we produce, the shape of the first phrase, as we begin pulling the piece together as an ensemble. Examining a piece of music in context of all the elements that informed the process of its creation helps us not only shape an engaging interpretation of the composition, but also makes our work on technical aspects of performance more meaningful and fulfilling. Imagine you get a call from the Hartford Symphony’s personnel manager, who invites you to play Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 with them, in four weeks’ time. After you run a couple of laps around the block screaming in excitement, what do you do next? This workshop will begin with a quick review of Beethoven’s compositional style and will provide brief outlines of his nine symphonies. We will then take a closer look at Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and come up with a strategy that will help us prepare for our first rehearsal of the piece with the Hartford Symphony. In four weeks, remember?

Jazz Band Austin Schmidt, ensemble chair

Dr. James Greene, Western Connecticut State University, Co-Coordinator of Jazz Studies

Time: January 9^th 10:30 am -12:00 pm

The importance of rhythm: how to swing, the historical significance of rhythm in jazz and applications of strong rhythm to effective soloing and playing in general.