North Stars Music Department

Thank you for taking the time to cast your vote in the Friends of Music Election. Thanks also to all of our candidates for being willing to run. We look forward to your involvement this year on either the board or one of our teams. The results are as follows:

Friends of Music Executive Board 2009-2010

President: Robin Fleming

Vice President (President Elect): Lori Georgeson

Treasurer: Denise Ardelan

Recording Secretary: Beth Baldwin

Again, thank you to everyone in our SCN Music community for participating in this important event. We'll be in touch soon with specific areas of involvement for this year.

Brian Wis & Robin Fleming

The Friends of Music Executive Board elections are underway. The online poll is open until 11:59 pm Thursday. If you (parents/guardians) did not receive an email containing a link to vote, you can email me at bwis@d303.org and I'll send one to you.

This week all parents and guardians of SCN music students will have the opportunity to vote for the 2009-2010 Friends of Music Executive Board. Tuesday you will receive an email (if you have an email on file with the school) from ballotbin.com containing the link to cast your vote as well as short bios of the candidates. The online poll will be open on Wednesday and Thursday, July 1st and 2nd. The poll will not be open Tuesday so that we may have 24 hours to make sure everyone that wishes to vote is ready to go.

If you do not receive an email Tuesday and you wish to cast a vote, please email Mr. Wis at bwis@d303.org.

Thank you for your participation!

Brian Wis & Robin Fleming

Well, all good things must come to an end, or so the saying goes.  I prefer to think that all good things direct us to many more wonderful experiences and wow, do we have many to come.  This has been a great trip!  The choirs have sung beautifully, the parents have been an enormous help and the tour guides have opened our eyes to many important issues facing these two countries.  Education has been a focal point, but so has the fun of being in a foreign land.  As you examine the pictures, you will see that music is the central focus of this trip.  Although the kids had a great deal of fun, they also demonstrated their gifts of song.  Every concert was special and every student represented themselves well.  Our school can be proud of their students behavior and commitment to excellence.  It was great to see that they recognized that the music is what matters.  I, for one, am very proud of their efforts and accomplishments.  The farewell dinner was special as the musicians present for or enjoyment shared their many talents with us.  When we dedicated the Hungarian piece to them, they were truly touched, and thus in turn, dedicated their evening to us.  Music is the universal language, and we all bear the responsibility to help the students learn this very simple fact.  Thank you for letting them come, and thank you for understanding that these experiences are once in a lifetime moments.  They will return tomorrow night and will be tired so let them sleep and ask them about things tomorrow.  Good night and I will see you in 10 days.  

Dale MorganRead the rest--->

Yesterday, we participated in the church service of the St Columba’s Scottish Church in Budapest.  The space we performed in was blessed with incredible acoustics and was a joy to sing in.  We took advantage of this and sang the songs meant to be performed in spaces like this.  Though the audience was small, they were very appreciative our students’ performance.  After the performance, we had an independent lunch before moving onto the town of Szentendre where the students were able to do some shopping for authentic Hungarian goods.  Some bought rings, blouses and many other items you will all see this coming week.  After this we returned to our hotel and an independent dinner.  Today we returned to Vienna and stopped to see the Hundertwasser Village to look at the very unusual architecture.  It was very strange to see a building with no straight lines.  We then proceeded onto the Schonbrunn Palace for a self-guided tour.  Though it was wet, cold and windy, we all had a great time.  We arrived at our new hotel for dinner and relaxation.  Tomorrow we will present our final concert and then allow the students free time for one last shopping spree before returning to our hotel to get ready for our farewell dinner.  Hopefully, time permitting; we will post our last article tomorrow night.  We hope you are enjoying these little stories and photos.  Until tomorrow, Auf wiedersehn!  Do not forget to go to Flickr and look at the latest photos of your amazing kids.

Turns out Budapest was originally THREE cities, Buda, Pest, and Old Buda! You learn something new everyday. Today started with a detailed tour of the various sections of Budapest including the Plaza of Heroes, the Basilica of St. Stephen, and the Buda Castle District. We took it upon ourselves to sing in the Mathias Church near the castle and do a little shopping before getting ready for our evening performance. The performance was in a tiny Hungarian Reformed Church in Halasztelek, just outside Budapest. The church was filled with very enthusiastic concert-goers who showed their appreciation by clapping rhythmically in unison for extended periods of time. The choirs sounded beautiful again and were treated to a church potluck afterwards including a wonderful Gulash, salty breads, and sweet desserts. Our visit ended with us singing the Star-Spangled Banner for them and them singing the Hungarian National Anthem for us. The evening ended with a short bus tour of Budapest by night and an 11 o’clock bed check. There are 20 more photos up on the scnmusic flickr page. Must go to sleep now - early performance tomorrow. Good night!

Welcome to Hungary! Did you know that Budapest is actually two cities, Buda & Pest? Well now you do! Our day started in with a lovely drive from Hinterbrühl to Eisenstadt, Austria, the home of the Esterhazy Palace where one of music history’s great composers, Franz Joseph Haydn, lived and worked for 40 years. We toured Haydn’s home and then went to the palace to give a concert in the Esterhazy Chapel. The acoustics were wonderful and the choirs sounded beautiful. After lunch, we returned to the palace one more time for a tour focusing on Haydn’s life and work. 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death, so Eisenstadt is celebrating with a year-long Haydn festival. It was a great opportunity for the students to make connections between the life and times of a great artist and the reasons behind his work. We then left Eisenstadt for the 3 hour drive to Budapest. We did a short tour and went to one of the highest points in the city to see a breathtaking view of the Danube River and the two halves of the city. We finished our day with yet another great meal and everybody has settled down for the night. Tomorrow holds more sightseeing in Budapest and an evening concert in the village of Halasztelek. Don't forget your daily visit to flickr to see the pics of our day!

Here we are at out hotel in Hinterbühl, just outside Vienna, Austria having survived our first 2 days of tour. There have been a few “fun” events from running to make our connection in D.C., to United losing a bag, to a blown fuse in the hotel, but those things just make for good road stories. The tour so far been amazing already! After arriving in Vienna, our tour guides Marta and Zita took us all though the city on the buses, getting out to explore the Belvidere Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and downtown Vienna. Of course, we couldn’t pass up the chance to sing in that beautiful cathedral, so we serenaded the appreciative tourists with a performance of “My Lord What a Mornin’” This hotel is great out in the Vienna Woods, about 10 miles from downtown where we had a wonderful meal this evening. Everybody is exhausted and in bed already and it’s only 10PM here. We’re looking forward to going to Esterhazy and Budapest tomorrow and will report in again in about 24 hours. Don't forget to use the flickr link to see today's photos.

St. Charles North's Chorale has been invited to perform during the 2010 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Central Division Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 25.  This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to represent themselves, their school and the St. Charles community.  The entire music staff thanks not only the students from this year's ensemble, but also those whose participation from previous years has contributed to this honor.  Congratulations to you all!

Mr. Morgan

Here is a short video that will show you how to find our calendar information and how to subscribe to our calendars so you are always up to date!Read the rest--->