UPDATE: The junior high choir, high school concert choir and the Praisong women’s ensemble each received “superior” ratings for their performances the Music Educators National Conference Choral Festival, March 23.
Music professors from three different universities served as judges and each agreed Fresno Christian’s groups warranted the top rating. According to director Michael Ogdon, the choirs’ scores compared favorably with groups from Clovis Unified and Fresno Unified Schools.
The Praisong ensemble will next perform at First Presbyterian Church, April 11.
As two of the many local festivals that they participate in, concert choir and jazz band will be performing in two separate upcoming conventions. Concert choir will attend the National Association for Music Education (MENC) convention at St. Therese Catholic Church in downtown Fresno, March 23, and jazz band will be performing at Fresno City College on March 25.
For the choir festival, members will perform three songs from their previous Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) festival, “Let Thy Holy Spirit” by Paul Tschesnokoff, “Gloria” by Paul Basler and “Let Everything That Hath Breath” by Jeffrey L. Ames. Music director Michael Ogdon wanted to reinvent the performance styles of these songs.
“I’ve grown to like the songs from the ACSI festival,” Ogdon said. “I wanted to make the songs better, and why not recreate a couple of things from it?”
Although Ogdon felt rushed in preparing for the festival, he recognizes that each performance brings an oppurtunity for improvement.
“There are two judicators who we have had before, and I want them to hear how much we have grown,” Ogdon said. “For students it is an opportunity to be encouraged by professors who know what music is.”
In contrast, jazz band players will perform three newer pieces, “Bubbert Kicks Back” by Mike Steinel as well as “The Sermon” and “Carnaval” by Erik Morales. According to Odgon, the greater competition at the festival will help bring jazz band to a new level of performance.
“For jazz band, this is them stepping up to a different level of competition,” Ogdon said. “There are bigger schools, better bands and it’s all new music, so they are really stepping up.”
Percussionist Sydney Carlson, ’11, feels confident, despite the higher competition and absence of band members, because of her experience with the music.
“I feel really good about this upcoming festival because we have been working for this a long time,” Carlson said. “But as a result of the [journalism New York] trip, many of the jazz band members will have to practice to catch up on missed rehearsal time.”
Carlson also feels that her confidence stands as a key factor to a good performance.
“We feel pretty confident because we have all been playing together for about five years and we feel confident with each others’ styles,” Carlson said. “We have to remain positive and remember all that we have learned.”
For more information on previous choir or jazz band festivals, check out the Feb. 2 article, Mid-Valley Festival recognizes jazz band and the March 4 article, Choirs to attend ACSI festival.
