NAHS Choral Department is Back!

Our first full month of school has come to a close, and things in the Nazareth Choral Department are looking a bit different from last year. After a year in the LGI, we are finally back in room 322! For some, this is their first time in the chorus room, and for others they are returning to the room they grew to know and love. The theme for the chorus room is the Chinese Lunar New Year. Thanks to senior Henry Grimm for some great decorations! 

While the days of switching locations every thirty minutes are gone, we are still utilizing the outdoor classroom. Being outside allows us to sing without masks on (if students feel comfortable with this), which is huge for improving vocal technique. It’s also nice to be able to see everyone’s faces again! Another big change is the return of five day weeks. Readjusting back to going to school every day hasn’t been easy, but it is all worth it to finally be able to sing all together as a group again. Last year, Mrs. Rocchi saw half of her classes just once every week, but this year we all get to sing with each other every other day. More class time also means less time practicing and learning music on our own outside of school, and we’ve luckily been able to escape the all too familiar video recordings we became accustomed to last year. 

    All of the choirs have already begun working on their repertoire for the Holiday Prism Concert, as well as the January Winter Concert. The Nightingales have been brushing up on their casual repertoire because soon enough we will return to regularly singing for nursing home residents in person! We made our first trip to Moravian Hall Square on October 18th, where we got to perform outside for some of the residents. We all enjoyed singing for a live audience again, and it seemed like the residents and staff enjoyed it as well. Aside from our concerts and nursing home visits, the Choral Department has a few other gigs lined up for this fall and winter, a big change from last year. We are all looking forward to bringing music back into the community this year, and we can’t wait to sing for you again! 

Check out the following dates for some of our upcoming performances!

All Choirs - Prism Concert- December 8th and 9th

Cantus and Nightingales - Christkindlmarkt - December 17th from 1:00 - 2:00 PM

All Choirs - Winter Concert - January 11th

Nazareth Night at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Cantus will sing the National Anthem!) - April 1st

All Choirs - Spring Concert - May 12th

Emma Higton, Choral Department Historian

Spring Time Is Here And The Concerts Are Near!

The choir students have been very busy these past couple of months. The winter concert is wrapped up, and was posted on Mrs. Rocchi's Youtube Channel (be sure to check it out!) https://youtu.be/vv32JxTy60c 

Now, everybody has been in preparation for the upcoming Pops Concert and the Spring Concert. The theme for this years Pops Concert is "Places" and the choirs are putting some wonderful pieces together! We are so grateful that we will be able to perform in front of an audience for this Pops Concert. This year, each student will be allowed to invite two guests that will all socially distance in the high school auditorium. Due to everything going on in the world right now, we are thrilled to be singing in front of an audience once again! A huge thank you to our Principal, Mr. Davis and Superintendent, Dr. Riker for this wonderful opportunity!

The Spring Concert is right around the corner and will be here before we know it! Mrs. Rocchi has been doing so much to get her students involved with this concert, and the preparations are coming together, beautifully. During our many snow days, Concert Choir and the Nightingales had a few Zoom calls together to pitch ideas to really bring the Spring Concert to life this year. The students have been hard at work, and we are so excited to share it with everyone very soon! Senior, Arianna Casner, took it upon herself to reach out to the arts department to see if they would like to be included in making art to be displayed at the Spring Concert, and they said yes! For the past two weeks, students have been submitting beautiful works of art with the prompt, "What does music mean to you?". The pieces of art are now hanging on the cafeteria windows for students to see as they walk down the halls. 

We are so excited to share our performances with you in the very near future! Stay tuned, and remember to subscribe to Mrs. Rocchi's YouTube Channel for our performances so far this school year! 

Also a huge congratulations to Caroline Hunter, Henry Grimm, and Paige Horvath for auditioning into the 2021 All-State Chorus! We are so proud of you three! 

No worries -- Henry got a balloon too!

The Nightingales Spread the Joy of Hanukkah!

 An update from Senior, Giovy Funari

 As most of the community knows, the Nazareth Band, Choirs, and other ensembles have been contributing to the 25 Tunes of Christmas on Mrs. Rocchi's YouTube Channel.  The Nightingales posted a video of them singing a song that celebrates Hanukkah. 

The song is called "S'Vivon", composed by Betty Bertaux. It tells the story of the dreidel which is a popular Jewish toy, top-like and four-sided. It's a very popular game to play around Hanukkah and the letters on the dreidel translate to, "A Great Miracle Happened Here".  Hannah Schindler, Nightingale alum, gives a beautiful introduction to the song by sharing memories from her childhood playing the dreidel during Hanukkah. 

The Nightingales worked very hard on this piece of music and it came together beautifully. Remember you can still access the entire playlist of the "25 Tunes of Christmas" at the following link.  Please share!

Here's some behind the scene's footage of the Nightingales practicing "S'vivon"!

The Nightingales worked very hard on this piece of music and it came together beautifully. Remember you can still access the entire playlist of the "25 Tunes of Christmas" at the following link.  Please share!

The Power of Music

 An update from Junior, Robert Olson

As we continue through the year, we continue to provide a safe environment for us to share our music. Some new videos have been added since the last blog post on Mrs. Rocchi’s YouTube page. 

Members of our choir program performed the Alma Mater. Thank you to Jadon Lapp for putting this video together.

The Nightingales gave their thanks to the NAHS Staff for all their hard work during this crazy year.

On Veterans Day our choirs honored those who bravely fought for their country.

Singing music is one of my favorite things to do. It brings me together with my friends, and I am able to feel emotions that I wouldn’t normally be able to. Music is basically a miracle worker.

Music is such a miracle worker, that it is one of the best treatments for an Alzheimer’s patient. Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease that can take a person’s memories away. Memories are basically what make up a person, and to have them taken away is truly horrible. Music is one of the few things that can spark an Alzheimer’s patient’s mind back into activity. I highly recommend you watch this short documentary about it:

Music therapy is becoming widespread throughout nursing homes. See this video to see it in action:

As stated in the video, music lights up many parts of the brain. It not only helps restore memories, but creates them. The memories I have made in choir I will cherish. I am so excited for what our choirs have in store for you in the future. I hope you all had a happy and safe Thanksgiving! Get ready for some Christmas songs coming your way! 

Back in Action - Caroline Hunter

An update from Junior, Caroline Hunter

As someone who has sung in Carnegie Hall, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Eastern Division Conference, and countless nursing homes, I can honestly say that this is the most insane year I’ve ever had as a student in the choral program at Nazareth Area High School.

The choir and class, Nightingales, has always been focused on not only singing great repertoire but also traveling to nursing homes such as Gracedale, Moravian Hall Square and Alexandria Manor in Nazareth. Our goal is to sing for people who could use a smile; or “Spread Joy Through Music'', as Mrs. Rocchi likes to say.

Nightingales' rehearsals have always been a place filled with hugs and holding hands, but now, we cannot do that. At the beginning of the year, I was saddened by the thought of not being able to do what Nazareth Chorus has always done. Some of my best memories are from delivering Jingle Grams to students while wearing obnoxiously ugly Christmas sweaters with NoteWorthy or singing ‘Amazing Grace’ next to Mrs. Rocchi as tears ran down her face. She's quite emotional if you didn't know!

 What can we substitute those unforgettable connections with? As I write this nostalgic blog post on October 15th, I can honestly say we’re working tirelessly to figure out just that. Earlier this week, the Nightingales had their first Zoom-performance with residents in the Skilled Nursing unit at Moravian Hall Square. Each of us placed our phones on music stands so residents could see us individually as we sang through the Zoom. We presented about 30 minutes of music and are looking forward to doing this again soon! Concert Choir will experience this as well in the near future.

The Nightingales will be heading back to Carnegie Hall but not until January of 2022. We will remain working hard this year to hone our talents....and Mrs. Rocchi has even added in some different things to our rehearsals -- like yoga!

Nazareth Chorus will not be drowned, we are simply building a bridge.

Cantus and NoteWorthy, smaller select choirs at the high school, are back up and running again as well. Rehearsals take place mostly outdoors with masks and we're thankful for the beautiful fall weather!

A few videos to share...

The Nightingales have been split up by their last names in order to fit the Hybrid Learning model. First up is Group 1 - this has students in it with last names A - K.

Group 1 - Last Names L - Z!

       Our new way of connecting with the world through music!

        Our new chorus room (the LGI) is beginning to take shape!  The seniors have begun to make posters that will hang in our classroom all year.  We will slowly make this room our home!

Different….But Still Amazing

 Although Concert Choir may look very different this year due to COVID 19, it is still the warm, welcoming place we have come to love.  While many things are starkly different, some important things remain unchanged.

One thing that never changes is our motivated and enthusiastic teacher, Mrs. Rocchi.  However, now she wears a mask and a microphone.

Now, we get to see her from different angles as she did her introductory speech in video format.  Hope your sunburn feels better!!!

Our classroom is new for us as we moved from the chorus room to the LGI.   The same great music will be made in this new room.  We’ll just be a bit farther apart as we do it!

Mrs. Rocchi spent her summer learning new ways to use technology in these times of social distancing.  In our new, larger room this is extremely important so that we all can get the same information from a distance.

 

This year, we also have new ways of doing discussions.  Padlet affords us the opportunity to share information even when we can not get together in small groups.  When it comes to pet peeves, we all had a chance to share a little bit through an exercise during class.

One popular trend that is good to follow is the love of the Broadway hit “Hamilton”.  Mrs. Rocchi is not going to “throw away her shot” as using this show as the basis of our current instruction.  Her admiration of Lin-Manuel Miranda will be our guiding light through this difficult time.

In a world where everything seems upside down since the start of the COVID pandemic, we all are counting on Concert Choir to offer a bit of “normal” to our week.  Our days at school certainly look different, but the feel of making music can still be the same.  It can brighten the darkest days and offer hope for the future. 

According to Socrates, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building the new.”  In our Concert Choir, we will make every effort to build a “new” that is as good as, or better than, the “old”.  

Stay strong and think positively.

Chorus Invitational - 2020

  This past weekend, the Men of Nazareth (MON) and Nightingales traveled to State College High School to participate in a Chorus Invitational hosted by Dr. Anthony Leach and Essence 2 LTD.

It was an early departure and a long ride on route 80!

 But the students passed the time with relaxing....and of course singing!

 We were SOOO excited that Rachel Flicker was able to join us.  Rachel accompanied choirs, and especially the Nightingales, for 6 years while being a student at Nazareth Area Middle and High Schools!!!  She is now a Freshman at Penn State University majoring in Music Education with an emphasis in piano.

 We got a chance to get warmed up...

 And sing for Dr. Leach.  This entire concert was a project organized by Dr. Leach.  All of the directors who brought choirs had been past students of his while at Penn State.  There were 7 choirs in attendance and they all combined together to sing two pieces directed by Dr. Leach.

 We then had a quick lunch and prepped for the concert..

 Quick pep talk!

 Looking good!

 Off we go!

 All of our music came from the African-American tradition.  This music is beautiful and powerful and can be both heartbreaking and exhilarating!

 

 We then had a bit of time to head up the hill to Penn State University.

Nazareth Nightingales

Men of Nazareth

 A few of us went to THON!!!

 And others went to the Creamery!

 And got back on the bus to make the trip home to Nazareth!

I think the following from Giovy, a new member of Nightingales, perfectly sums up out day:

"I remember walking off the stage after we performed and having goosebumps. I got teary-eyed and I tried to keep it together but I couldn't. I don't think I'll ever forget Mrs. Rocchi seeing me cry and telling me "That's what we call the Nightingale Reaction. Welcome." At that moment I truly felt like a Nightingale. I think it was the experience of singing such beautiful music and the rush and the excitement of the songs, "Praise His Holy Name" and "Walk Together Children", and the emotion of "Jordan's Angels". I started to not only think of the songs but also the people that I sang them with. I began to think of how proud I was of all of my fellow Nightingales and how much I love and appreciate every single one of them and how blessed I am to be a part of something so amazing and with all of our hard work and dedication and love for music and each other, we really do create some beautiful music together."