Shawnee Mission East Choraliers
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The Shawnee Mission East Choraliers is a mixed chorus of more than 115 student singers, grades 9-12, at Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, Kansas. The choir has performed in churches, cathedrals, schools and recital and concert halls throughout Europe, singing from Galway to Rome and Leipzig to London. The choir has performed at Carnegie Hall, Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, Great St. Mary's Cathedral in Cambridge, the Pantheon and at the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Lutheran Church), a church in Leipzig, Germany where Johann Sebastian Bach held the position of cantor.
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[edit] Background
The SME Choraliers perform a varied repertoire of early, classical, and contemporary music in numerous engagements, often with professional soloists and with festival and symphonic Orchestras. The mixed chorus is the parent organization of four additional ensembles: Chamber Singers, the most selective ensemble made up of 24 singers; Varsity Choir, a men's chorus; Chonsonettes, a women's chorale; and the Concert Choir, the novice choir made up of mainly underclassmen.
[edit] Director
Tracy S. Resseguie, Director of Choral Activities at SME for the past ten years, has expanded the choral program to five choirs comprising of more than 370 singers. Resseguie's choirs have been titled grand champion, outstanding small chamber choir, and outstanding large concert choir at the Winter Park Ski Music Festival. His choirs also have performed solo concerts at Carnegie Hall in both 1998 and 2007. He has led numerous choir tours throughout various parts of Italy, England, Belgium, Germany, and Ireland. Honored as the Outstanding Young Choral Conductor of the Year in 1993 by the Kansas Choral Directors Association, Resseguie has directed numerous All-District choral festivals at elementary, junior-high and high school levels. He currently serves as the R & S Men’s Choir Chair for the Southwest American Choral Director’s Association, and has chaired the Northeast District KMEA, and state ACDA boards. As he pursues her Master’s Degree from the University of Kansas, he serves as the choral coordinator and a clinician for the KU Midwestern Music Camp, and is also the Minister of Music at the First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, Kansas. Plans to leave SM East this year for Stayley farms and is to be replaced with Ken Foley.
[edit] History of Directors
Originating in 1958, the year that SME opened, the choraliers have always been a treasured asset to the SME community. Originally under the direction of Mr. Jess Rose, the choral department was handed over to Daniel Zollars in 1970. Mr. Zollars became quite famous in the community for being not only the SME choral director, but the head football coach as well. After impacting the lives of thousands throughout his amazing career, Mr. Zollars retired from teaching in 1993. Finding a replacement for Mr. Zollars did not prove to be an easy task. It was no secret that whoever was hired as the SME choral director had some gigantic shoes to fill. Eventually, the administration hired Rika Heruth to fill the position. A very talented musician and soloist, Ms. Heruth seemed to take the SME choral department in a very different direction. While nothing Ms. Heruth did was wrong or bad per se, the members of the community felt rather unsure about her changing the methods that had worked so well in the past and producing a less choral sound than they had been used to. In 1997-98, Ms. Heruth resigned from the position of choral director at Shawnee Mission East and was replaced by Tracy S. Resseguie who will be leaving Shawnee Mission East after the 07-08 school year.
[edit] European tours
Europe has been a recurring tour destination of the Choraliers since 2000. In 2001, the Choraliers performed on a 10-day tour in tour of Italy, performing in several magnificent venues, including: the Pantheon, and the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome; the Rotterdam Conservatory in Florence; San Marco Basilica in Venice; and a special mass of Lent in the St. Ambrose Basilica in Milan. In 2004, after being selected to perform as part of the annual week-long celebration of J.S. Bach, 110 Choraliers experienced their second international tour performing all over England, Belgium, and Germany. Highlighting performances included concerts at St. Thomas-Kirche Church in Leipzig, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Cambridge, and a by-invitation concert at the home of J.S. Bach in Eisenach, followed by an afternoon performance in St. George Cathedral. The 2005-2006 school year was an extremely busy time for the SME Choral Department. In the early stages of the fall of 2006, the choraliers received word that they had been selected among thousands of choirs from 5 different states to perform a solo concert at the Southwest American Choral Director's Association convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Immediately following the performance at Southwest ACDA, the Choraliers flew to Ireland for their third international ten day tour, performing in several venues in Galway, Killarney, and Shannon concluding with a performance in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.
[edit] Highlighting Performances
Over the past ten years, the choirs of SME have performed numerous choral masterworks and have had the privilege to work with many different professional symphony orchestras. Some of the most notable recent performances include:
Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna performed with the Kansas City Symphony in 2004 and the New England Philharmonic in 2007
G.F. Handel’s The Messiah performed with Kansas University's Instrumental Collegium Musicum
John Rutter’s Gloria performed with the Kansas Brass Quintet
Arise Shine, a world premiere performance in Carnegie Hall, featuring the works of Dan Forrest performed with the New England Philharmonic.
A highlight of the 2004-2005 school year was working in concert with the Kansas City Wind Symphony, performing Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Mr. Resseugie directed the Symphony and students from all five of his choirs, grades 9-12, who gave an outstanding performance at Johnson County Community College’s beautiful Yardley Hall. SME Choir members have also performed several other masterworks within recent years, such as the John Rutter Requiem and Missa Kenya by Paul Basler.
[edit] Recent Repertoire
2007 New York Tour
Lux Aeterna
By Morten Lauridsen
Arise, Shine! (world premiere)
By Daniel Forrest
2006 Southwest ACDA Concert
Dúlamán
By David Mooney
Leonardo Dreams Of His Flying Machine
By Eric Whitacre
Soloists: Carrie Barker, Cailan O'Grady and Jonathan B. Lerner
Jamaican Medley
By Paul Tucker
Original manuscript written specifically for the Southwest American Choral Directors Association and Choraliers.
Amor De Mi Alma
Music By Z. Randall Stroope
Text By Gracilaso de la Vega
My Soul's Been Anchored In The Lord
Arr. by Moses Hogan
2006 Ireland Tour Music
Mairi’s Wedding
Arr. by Bob Chilcott
Mass in G Minor: I. Kyrie
By R. Vaughan Williams
Gaelic Blessing
By John Leavitt
Original manuscript written in memory of Ronnie Resseguie (sister of Tracy Resseguie) VII Movement of John Leavitt's Requiem.
O Magnum Mysterium
Music By Morten Lauridsen
I Like For You To Be Still
By Robert Pherigo
Specifically for the Southwest American Choral Directors Association and Choraliers.
Lobet den Herrn from Singet dern Herrn nein neus
Lied JS Bach 3:34 Edition Peters No. 6101
[edit] Blue Moon
In contrast to the classical music that the choral department focuses on throughout the year, the choral students of SME always end their academic year. Blue Moon, the name of the annual production, has been known to sometimes last for over 3+ hours. The purpose of Blue Moon is to celebrate the SME choral music program and the commitment to choir that the students, particularly the seniors, have shown throughout that respective school year and throughout their entire high school careers. The show is rehearsed, put together and performed all within the very last few weeks of school. Each choir does a group of numbers from a Broadway show complete with costuming, staging, choreography and a pit orchestra. In between each choir's big production are solo and/or ensemble numbers performed by students who have auditioned -- the majority of students who perform are primarily juniors or seniors, however there have been a few rare cases in which a sophomore or even a freshmen was given the opportunity to perform a solo(s). The 2008 Blue Moon will be the last Blue Moon at Shawnee Mission East.
[edit] Honors and Awards
2007
- New York Tour:
Carnegie Hall
2006
Southwest American Choral Directors' Association selection
- Ireland Tour:
University of Galway Cathedral
St. Mary's Cathedral
St. Patricks Day Parade, Dublin
St. Patricks Cathedral
King John's Castle
Blarney Castle
2005
Kansas Music Educators' Association Convention selection
2004
- Europe Tour:
England
Southwark Cathedral, London (March 14)
Great St. Mary's Cathedral, Cambridge(March 15)
Belgium
Great Place Square, Brussels(March 16)
Germany
Deutschhausekirche, Wurzburg(March 18)
Cologne Cathedral, Cologne(March 17)
St. Thomas Kirche, Leipzig
Bachhaus, Eisenach(March 21) St. Eisenach
St. George Church
Buchenwald concentration camp
Carmina Burana Performance with Kansas Wind Ensemble (Fall)
2003
Winter Park Ski Music Festival Grand Champion Choir
Kansas Governor's inaugeration ceremony
2001
Kansas Music Educators' Association Convention selection
- Italy Tour(Spring):
St. Mary Major Basilica by Cardinal invitation
Panthenon, Rome
St. Mark's, Venice
Cathedral Duomo, Florence
Scheduled concert in Florence Hall
St. Croix Church, Italy
St. Ambrose Basilica, Italy
Verona Square, Verona
Venice Square, Venice
[edit] Media
Media:http://www.danforrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/Arise.mp3
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
American Choral Director's Association, Southwest Region. 2006 SWACDA Convention. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
Forrest, Daniel. The Music of Dan Forrest. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
The Kansas City Star, School Notes. A Thurber Carnival-Shawnee Mission School Notes. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
Lawrence Journal, Arts Notes. KU instrumentalists to perform with choir. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
Moser, Joy. The Adjutant General's Department. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
