2011 - 2012: A Clear Path Ahead ....

The 2011-2012 school year is sure to be full of great musical opportunities for our students and could very well be our best vocal music year ever! As Mrs. Leacock and I enter our seventh year of teaching together, we look forward to the clear path ahead for the bright future of our program.

To squelch any anxiety that may be out there, I am not planning to take a sabbatical this coming school year. However, I am very much looking forward to my continued growth as I pursue my doctorate in musical arts (D.M.A.) while teaching at UAHS. The doctorate has always been a goal of mine and I welcome the rigors of continuing to challenge myself while pursuing this degree through various coursework at OSU and summer internships. Needless to say, it would be very difficult to leave any senior class, and I'm glad that I get to share the musical memories with the students of the class of 2012.

As I was cleaning my office the other day I found a document I wrote when I first became the high school choral director. The document consisted of a 3-5 year plan with many bulleted ideas as to how we were going to execute the plan. Imagine my excitement and amazement when I realized that we had accomplished every goal on the plan! Therefore, I decided to create a new 3-5 year plan that year which we just finished having achieved every one of our stated goals. Many people often ask me what more can we do? Where do we possibly go from here? The unveiling of the new 3-5 year plan entitled "Think Tank 2012" will take place on our website at the beginning of the school year. The goals were a culmination of student, booster, and classroom objectives and we are proud to say many are already being addressed. I encourage you to check the site often and take note of the many things we are doing to better serve all of our students.

Many people like to refer to a non-trip year as an "off year". As our students will tell you we will never allow ourselves to think in those terms. Every year is important to me as a performer and educator. Just as every year is important to that year's senior class. Well, class of 2012, we will certainly need your leadership to make this year one of great musical memories.

We will once again start off our performance season with the Fall Follies. This year's Fall Follies will be themed: The Great American Songbook. The years from about 1920 to 1960 represented a unique period in the history of American popular music. From Tin Pan Alley, to ragtime, jazz, blues, and even early rock-n-roll, our goal as a society is to preserve our history and the popular tunes from this time period. The Follies will run on Thursday, October 27 and Saturday, October 29 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, October 30 at 2:30 pm.

The UA community may remember our All City Choral Concerts that also featured the 8th grade choirs from Hastings and Jones right here on the UAHS stage. After speaking with several alumni and finding out what a great connection they felt that concert was in anticipation of their high school choral experience, we have decided that once again we will feature the musical talents of nearly 600 singers on Sunday, December 11 at the Winter Choral Festival This concert will feature the Symphonic Choir's only performance of this year's major work, John Rutter's GLORIA. This will mark our 9th consecutive major work in the UA Choral Department!

The format of our 10th annual "Wonderful Night of Music" piano recital will again include an evening performance. The master-classes during the school day will be held on Wednesday, January 25. The piano master-class will consist of the world-class talent of Dr. Tom Scott from Cleveland, Ohio. Tom will take us on a very thought provoking musical journey throughout these classes. He will perform on therefurbished Knabe 9' grand piano and 9' Grotrian piano. The master-class/performance evening concert will involve piano students performing with Dr. Tom Scott.

What we accomplished in 2007 with Thoroughly Modern Millie, we plan to once again repeat in 2012 with How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. David Bahgat, UAHS class of 2004, will again be our guest stage director. David is fresh off of a tour of Jesus Christ, Superstar and really felt a lot of personal growth when he stage directed Millie. We are fortunate to have such a talented alumnus who is willing to share his experiences and give back to his community as he helps all of us continue to grow. Our musical will run Thursday February 23, Friday February 24, and Saturday, February 25 at 7:30 pm. We will have a matinee on Sunday, February 26 at 2:30 pm.

In recent years at the DISTRICT and STATE Large Group Adjudicated Event, our Freshman Choir, Concert Chorale and Men's Glee/Chorus received SUPERIOR ratings in the 2nd most difficult classification of (A). While our Women's Glee/Chorus and Symphonic Choir in the most difficult classification (AA) received a SUPERIOR rating at both district and state level events as well. We will be working hard to extend that tradition. District contest is Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10. If we are fortunate enough to qualify for State contest it will be held the weekend of April 27th and 28th. Both the district and state locations are TBA.

Sadly our busy year (or 4 years) will come to a close on Wednesday, May 30 at our Spring Choral Concert. New this year, in an attempt to better recognize all of our seniors and better focus our spring concert on the music, we are having a Senior Banquet on Thursday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m. This senior class will be given the opportunity to create and develop a memorable experience focusing on their accomplishment during their high school tenure. The junior skits, senior solos, and senior video will all be performed at this banquet.

In closing, I would like to focus on one of the many reasons for the success of our program: the Vocal Music Boosters! As I have said many times, the Boosters are integral part of our very efficient team. They too approach our program with determination and resiliency, support our students both spiritually and financially, and have a love and vision as equally intense as the director. The past years of success have created a bond and an expectation! A bond with many of the officers and committee chairs returning to serve again. An expectation that is already being aggressively approached by our new Booster President Alicia Overmyer and staff. I would personally like to welcome all of the board members and committee chairs to what I feel will be a most innovative and exciting year.

As you can see, this is quite an involved schedule of opportunities we have planned for our singers. I hope you are as excited about our choral program as the students and I are. Please get involved in the Vocal Music Boosters organization and help support what I hope is your child's favorite class!

I'd like to teach the world to sing!!!

Mr. Eric Kauffman
Vocal Music Director
614-487-5240 ext. 2053

Mrs. Amy Leacock
Director / Accompanist
614-487-5240 ext. 2054