Welcome me to a new year of singing!  The École Poirier choir is heading into its third week of rehearsals already! Mme Arts and Mme Beattie are excited to have over 60 eager singers each week joining us for an amazing start to our season.  Our first performance will be at Poirier’s Remembrance Day assembly, which is scheduled for 10:30 am on Tuesday, November 10th in the gym.

We are working on a piece called Enfant de Paix ~ Child of Peace.  It can be found in French ia the link below.  I will post the English lyrics on the blog soon – stay tuned!  In the mean time, enjoy this beautiful song, and encourage your choir student to listen and sing along for practise.

The choir rehearses weekly in the Music Room at lunch on Fridays.  We will occasionally rehearse during a special choir block on Fridays between recess and lunch.  On these days, choir members will not miss their lunch play time, and can also be involved in the many other activities that are always happening at Poirier.  As choir carries on for the entire year, we thought it would be helpful to allow some rehearsal time to take place during the instructional day.  Besides, singing is great for the brain!

The choir will be accepting new members until Friday this week.  We ask that students attend a minimum of three rehearsals before they participate in a performance.

Music Monday 2015  ~  Together. Music Makes us One.

The Ecole Poirier Music Monday Choir members are looking forward to heading into Sooke on May 4th at 1pm.  We will be singing with over 150 other choir members from all four elementary schools in front of Evergreen Centre.  Bus driver extraordinaire and CBC Searchlight competition finalist Gord Phillips will be joining us!  The choirs will then do a singing circuit around town, sharing their music at Village Foods, Shoppers, Home Hardware TD Bank, the Stick, the Reading Room, and Western Foods.  We meet back at the map kiosk in front of Evergreen for juice and cookies provided by the Sooke Lions.

Due to the short turn-around between the end of the Festival rehearsals and the start of the Music Monday choir group, our permission forms went out late.  PLEASE, have your child bring their permission form to school on Monday!  There is a copy below.

Thanks to the parents who have offered to help out.  The weather looks like it will be favourable this year!

Mme Arts

École Poirier Choir

                                                                                                                                                        April 27^th, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians of Choir Students,

On Monday, May 4^th, the Poirier Choir will be taking a special trip to Evergreen Centre in Sooke to celebrate Music Monday, a Canada-wide initiative which aims to raise awareness of the importance of Music in our schools.  We will be sharing our singing with the community at several locations.  We will walk into town after lunch at approximately 12:40 pm, sing en masse with over 150 students from all four elementary schools in Sooke near the Evergreen Mall map kiosk, and then complete a circuit of singing around town.  The Sooke Lions are once again providing juice and cookies afterwards, and we will travel by school bus back to Poirier in time for dismissal.

We will require parent helpers for this event.  If you are available to assist, please let us know by indicating on the permission form below.  Please return all permission to school by Thursday, April 30th.

ALL choir students who are participating must be prepared on Monday May 4^th with appropriate clothing and footwear for the walk into Sooke, and for the possibility of rain.  If the weather is too wet, we may be forced to cancel the outing.

We are thrilled to have the Sooke Philharmonic String Quartet join us at Poirier for our morning Music Monday assembly!  Parents are welcome to attend.  We are also delighted to have bus driver and musician Gord Phillips, who is currently in round 3 of voting in the CBC Searchlight competition, join us for the massed numbers at Evergreen Centre.  This year’s Music Monday promises to be the best yet!

Mme Arts and Mme Robertson                                                                             http://www.musicmonday.ca

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Music Monday 2015 Choir Field Trip Permission

I give permission for my child, ______________________________________ to participate in a walk from Poirier to Evergreen Centre in Sooke, returning by school bus, on Monday afternoon, May 4^th, 2015.

I am able to accompany the choir on this outing.  YES  /  NO  (Parent name: _____________________________)

_________________________________________

                                                                                                                                                                                             Parent/Guardian signature

What a wonderful experience it was for the students and both Mme Arts and Mme Robertson at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival last week!  Our choir sang beautifully, and received some excellent feedback from adjudicator Dr. Adam Con.  The students represented Poirier well, and everyone had fun, too! We got to celebrate an incredible year of singing together with ice cream and popsicles outside… right before it started to rain 🙂

Thanks to all the parents who helped out on the trip, and to those came to support us in the audience.

I was notified by the Festival after the choral section ended on Wednesday that Poirier has been chosen to receive the Adjudicator’s Choice J. Phillip Fawcett Spirit Award for their performance at the festival!!  Wow, such an incredible honour, and well-deserved by this dedicated group of young musicians.

Mme Robertson and I will be attending an honour concert this week to receive the award on the choir’s behalf, and it will be presented to the choir, along with certificates for each member, at our Music Monday Assembly on Monday, May 4th at 9:30 am. Families and friends are invited, and will be treated to a performance by the Sooke Philharmonic String Quartet, who will be joining us for this nationwide celebration of Music.

The countdown is on to Poirier’s first ever entry in the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival on Monday, April 13th!  Here are a few updates for choir families to be aware of:

• Audience members are welcome – feel free to invite friends, grandparents, etc., who may wish to attend.  There is a small entry fee of $5/adults $3/seniors.  Chaperones do not need to pay admission
• There is no photography allowed during the session.  Our songs will be recorded and we will receive a CD, which we will share when it is available.  We can request a quick photo op after the performance, just before the clinic begins.  Have your cameras ready!
• Entry to First Metropolitan is on the Balmoral Road side (932 Balmoral) – the Quadra Street entrance will be locked.
• Parking on Balmoral is free for 2 hours, but other surrounding areas have a 1-hour limit.  Note that parking attendants are diligent in the area.  Our session should take less than an hour.
• Reminder that dress is all black for the performance.  Students will wear their yellow choir scarves.  We may go for a short walk around the block if the weather is good, so please ensure your child wears comfortable footwear and a jacket.

Thanks for your support, and thank you to the parents who are able to join us on the trip!

Exciting News!!

We are very pleased to announce that the École Poirier Choir is entered to sing in the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival this year!  The Festival is a non-competitive, community showcase for the performing arts which sees over 5,000 performers onstage at venues around the city, over a 6-week period from March to May.  Our choir is scheduled to sing on Monday, April 13th, at 11:20 am, at First Metropolitan United Church in Victoria.  We will travel by school bus, and we will need parent helpers to accompany the group. The dress for choristers will be a white top and black pants or skirt. The performance is open to the public.  Watch for lots more information, and a permission form, which will be coming home after Spring Break.  Check out gpaf.org

The École Poirier Choir is busy getting ready for our annual appearance at the Sooke Sing Out. Each of the elementary schools in Sooke, along with the Sooke Community Choir will come together for a night of music.  Students will perform, will get to enjoy the performances of their peers from other schools, and will also hear and join in with the adult choir.  What a great way to see how singing and making music is something we can enjoy for a lifetime!  Mark your calendars for Monday, March 2nd, 7pm.  The concert will be in the EMCS Gym.  Forms with all the information and confirmation of your child’s attendance at this event will be coming home soon.

We also are looking ahead to Music Monday and have heard the new song just released for 2015.  It is called We Are One, and was written by a 15 year-old high Canadian school student.  Check it out on the Music Monday website!

http://www.musicmonday.ca

Wishing all a joyous season filled with warmth, peace, and hopefully plenty of music!  What a fantastic set of concerts Poirier Panthers shared with our friends and family in the week before the holidays!  We heard multiple presentations by the choir, many of whom attended both the English and French concert nights in order to support their fellow choristers.  Merci!  On Friday, the choir performed an impromptu couple of numbers for MLA John Horgan, who was visiting Poirier to speak with our intermediate students.  He is a strong supporter of Music in schools, and was very pleased to hear the students perform.

Looking forward to the New Year is always exciting, as it brings a series of exciting choir events which will allow our students to showcase both their talent and their love of singing.  Watch for the following:

Combined concert with Journey Band – (tentative) January 2015

Sooke Sing Out – first week of March

Music Monday 2015 – May 4th

Concert Preparation

The École Poirier Choir is currently working on two numbers to perform at our concerts during the last week of school before the break.  Poirier’s English concerts are on Wednesday, December 17th, French concerts are on Thursday, December 18th.  On BOTH days there will be an afternoon concert at 1:30 pm, and an evening concert at 6:30pm.  We are asking parents/guardians of choir members to please make an effort to bring your child to perform for both concerts.  So, if your child is in the English program, bring them to school for that concert and for the start of the French concert (and vice-versa) so that we can have as many singers as possible performing on both nights.  When you bring the students for the night they are not performing with their class, you are asked to stay for the first few minutes while they perform, and take your child home afterwards.  Your support is greatly appreciated!

Ayre Manor Visit

The choir has been invited to sing at Ayre Manor on Tuesday, December 9^th from 10:30 – 11:30 am.  We will be travelling by school bus to and from Ayre Manor. The choir will perform our two concert songs and sing a variety of carols for the residents.

We ask that students wear a white top and dark pants or skirt for the performance.  Special Christmas outfits are also fine.  Santa hats would be great, as well, if you have one!

Permission slips will be coming home with choir members who have attended a minimum of three rehearsals prior to the trip.  Please return the signed form to your child’s teacher by Friday, December 5^th. Parent helpers are welcome and should meet in the music room at 10:15. Parents may ride the school bus if they choose, or meet us at Ayre Manor, located at 6744 Ayre Road, in Sooke.  Parking is limited. Pre-schoolers are not permitted on the bus.  We will return to school by approximately 11:40am.

Welcome back to another year of singing!  The École Poirier Choir season got off to an incredible start this fall as 70+ students filled the Music Room for our first rehearsal of the year.  What an amazing bunch of enthusiastic singers we have!  We are so fortunate 🙂  The Poirier Choir rehearses together on Tuesdays at lunch.  Our full ensemble along with soloists and a quintet of intermediate students prepared “A Song of Peace” for the Remembrance Day assembly. It was performed in two parts this year – a new development for our group as we have an increase in the number of experienced singers who have remained committed to choir over the past several years.  We were pleased to have Patricia Haisell accompany the group for this number.  The choir did a wonderful job of closing our assembly with this moving and thoughtful piece of music.

On Monday, May 5^th, the Poirier Choir will be featured in our school’s morning assembly in celebration of Music Monday.  We will be performing a joint number with the John Muir choir directed by Mme Stewart.  The entire school, along with millions of participants across the country, will JOIN IN at 9:50 am Pacific time, with a live webcast from Ontario featuring astronaut Chris Hadfield, for the singing of ISS – the official 10th Anniversary Music Monday song.

In the afternoon, the Poirier Choir will be taking a special trip into the village centre of Sooke to celebrate Music Monday, a Canada-wide initiative which aims to raise awareness of the importance of Music in our schools and in our lives.  We will be sharing our singing with anyone and everyone who takes the time to listen as we “Fill the Skies with Music” at several locations.  We will walk to Evergreen Centre after lunch at approximately 12:30 pm, and will be picked up by school bus at 2:15 for a ride back to Poirier.  We will be singing this year with students from all four Sooke elementary schools!

We require parent helpers for this event.  If you are available to assist, please let us know by indicating on the permission form being sent home with choir members this week. Parents are able to join us on the bus back to school. Please return all permission to Mrs. Arts or Mme Robertson by Friday, May 2^nd.

ALL choir students who are participating must be prepared on Monday May 5^th with appropriate clothing and footwear for the walk into Sooke, and for the possibility of rain.  If the weather is too wet, we may be forced to cancel the outing.

This is the 10^th Anniversary of Music Monday.  We’ll be singing our school song, JOIN IN, Rhythm of the Rain, and “ISS – Is Somebody Singing” – the song co-written by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and Ed Robertson. The students are very excited to be a part of this event! For more information, and to see Poirier on the map, visit:

http://www.musicmonday.ca