Department Philosophy & Goals
The Music Department desires to provide an opportunity—regardless of individual talent—to develop the whole person through musical expression. Goals include music literacy, skill development, artistic impressions, musical awareness and teamwork.
Course Descriptions
Concert Choir, open to all grades, is an introduction to proper vocal technique and sight-singing skills through a varied body of repertoire. The Camerata Singers is an upper-level choir for highly motivated choral musicians. Challenging choral music of many different styles and historical eras are studied, as well as liturgical music. The Angelaires, an audition-only choir, is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. In order to audition, students must have taken at least one semester of Concert Choir during or before their audition year. The Angelaires perform a Christmas show in December and a spring show in March.
Orchestra guides musicians through learning how to play in an ensemble at a higher level and meets every day from 7:20 to 7:45 a.m. Chamber Music Ensemble is an independent study course for exceptional musicians who wish to perform at a high level of excellence within a small chamber setting. The Honors Chamber Music Ensemble is open to advanced players who wish to work on a challenging repertoire and gain further performance experience by performing for high visibility DSHA events. Advanced Musical Studies, a course open to sophomores, juniors and seniors, is a survey of college-level topics such as music history, theory and composing. Handbells is for students of all levels who would like to learn how to play and perform.
All ensembles traditionally perform at the three annual concerts held in the fall, Christmas and spring. Additional musical opportunities include participating in the fall and summer musical theatre productions, performing at the spring WSMA Solo and Ensemble music festival and leading liturgical music.