Performing Arts
	Concert Choir Vocal techniques, sight singing, and the art of performing in a vocal ensemble are incorporated into the study of a repertoire, which includes works from the Baroque through the 21st century, both sacred and secular. Students perform throughout the year in school concerts and at community events. The Concert Choir is a non-auditioned choir and is open to any student in the Upper School. There is an audition for placement purposes only. Concert Choir meets four times per week. (1 credit; full year) Chamber Choir This is an audition-only choir open to students who have participated in Concert Choir for at least one year. The ability to sight sing is a must for admission to this select ensemble. It is a smaller group, whose numbers average between 12 and 16 members in any given year. As in Concert Choir, vocal techniques, sight singing, and the art of ensemble singing are stressed. The repertoire ranges from Renaissance music to music of the 21st century. This choir also performs throughout the year in school concerts and at community events. Chamber Choir meets four times per week. (1 credit; full year) Chamber Orchestra This group is open to students who have had several years of experience playing a stringed instrument. The goals of this class are to further enhance a student's knowledge of orchestral repertoire and to reinforce ensemble and instrument skills. In addition, students are required to take playing tests, keep a practice chart, and participate in several concerts per year. Chamber Orchestra meets four times per week. (1 credit; full year) Wind Ensemble The GFA Wind Ensemble plays a wide variety of traditional concert band and jazz band music, including music from Broadway shows, transcriptions and arrangements of orchestral literature, contemporary and classic Big Band jazz, marches, and pep band arrangements of many popular songs. Enrollment is open to students who have had several years of experience playing a wind or percussion instrument, guitar, electric bass, or piano. The ability to read music is essential, and students enrolling in Wind Ensemble for the first time may be asked to audition. Wind Ensemble performs in two or three concerts per year and attends at least one off-campus music festival. In addition to serving as the core ensemble for orchestral winds and percussion, Wind Ensemble students often form small jazz combos that perform frequently during the year. Wind Ensemble meets four times per week. (1 credit; full year) Electronic Music This is a hands-on course in sound creation, sound design, and sound reinforcement. Using the computer and the synthesizer, students compose sound pieces in a variety of styles. One of the group projects involves a collaborative effort with the Guild School in New York City. This is the “Book on Tape” project wherein students create books on CD, complete with original music and sound effects, for the visually impaired students of the Guild School. Students are required to complete a number of individual projects as well as group projects. These projects range from composing an aleatoric piece to writing and recording a radio commercial. Students will use Garage Band and ProTools for recording and mixing. There is no prerequisite for this course, and it may be taken in any grade. (1 credit; full year) Music Theory This course is a study of the fundamentals of music in terms of notation and analysis. Emphasis is placed on developing the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic skills necessary to analyze pieces, compose original works, and arrange pieces for various ensembles. Emphasis is also placed on understanding and using traditional systems of tonal harmony (through ear training, composing, and analysis). Creativity, keyboard skills, and compositional skills are stressed. Students are asked to work on individual pieces as well as group projects. Participation in school music activities is encouraged. A basic knowledge of music notation is required for this course. (1 credit; full year) Composing & Arranging This course focuses on composing and arranging music in various styles for both vocal and instrumental use. A study of classical, jazz, and folk forms is included. Students are encouraged to perform their works at assemblies and concerts, and to enter their works in the Connecticut Music Educators’ Association sponsored composers’ competition. Prerequisite: Music Theory. Permission of the instructor is required for admission into this course. (1 credit; full year) AP Music Theory This college-level course is highly demanding in terms of time and knowledge. It integrates aspects of melody, harmony, texture, rhythm and form, history, and style. Aural skills include sight singing, keyboard harmony, and melodic, rhythmic and harmonic dictations. Students are required to read, notate, and compose music, in addition to preparing for the AP exam. In-class performance is also a part of the learning process. Students are expected to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in all areas of music theory. Prerequisite: Music Theory. Permission of the instructor is required for admission into this course. (1 credit; full year) Theatre 1 This is an introductory course in acting, theatre history, and concepts of performance. Emphasis is on building blocks such as correct vocal production, breathing, and movement for the stage. Improvisation, poetry, monologues, and beginning scene work are explored as the year progresses, as well as “survey style” reading/study of three plays representative of the world’s theatrical literature. Performance in the spring in an US assembly or elsewhere in the GFA community is part of this class. Theatre 1 meets three times per week. (1⁄2 credit; full year) Theatre 2 This class continues to explore the theatre more deeply, with an emphasis on first-hand experience. There will be several opportunities to see plays and hone critical skills in appreciation of the elements of theatrical production: director’s concept; sets; costumes; lighting; sound. Students further their study through scene work, widening their knowledge of theatrical style and writing. Theatre 1 (or permission of theatre teacher) is a prerequisite. Performance in the spring in an US assembly or elsewhere in the GFA community is part of this class. Theatre 2 meets three times per week. (1⁄2 credit; full year) Plays & Players: Constructing a Play This class emphasizes all production elements and their use. Guest artists help teach with sets, lighting, sound, and costumes as primary elements in focusing attention and creating mood and character in a theatrical production. Field trips to see plays of various genres enhance the experience, and scene work is directed toward these theatrical elements. A full range of periods and styles of plays is explored. Prerequisite: Theatre 1, Theatre 2, or permission of the theatre teacher. (1 credit; full year) (Offered in 2009-2010) Plays & Players: Directing An acting/beginning directing class emphasizing the relationship of the director to the look and feel of a final production. Students direct one another after exploring the techniques and skills involved in creating a production as a director. Scene work here is centered on the relationship of actors and director. A wide range of theatrical literature is covered in an attempt to expose students to as much different theatrical writing as possible. Prerequisite: Theatre 1, Theatre 2 or permission of the theatre teacher. (1 credit; full year) (Offered in 2010-2011) Plays & Players: Theatre Companies from Shakespeare Forward This class focuses on Shakespeare and his company, Molière and his company, and Peter Brook and his company. How did these creative artists come together to make what we now consider “classic” theatre? How did the plays they created evolve, and what was the cultural impulse behind them? There is scene work with an emphasis on proper vocal and movement technique, allowing students to explore the dynamics within their own “theatre company” here at GFA. Students also engage in performance opportunities around the school, when and where they present themselves. Prerequisite: Theatre 1, Theatre 2, or permission of the theatre teacher. (1 credit; full year) (Offered in 2011-2012)

	11th & 12th Grade Performing Arts Electives
	Music Theater: Broadway & Beyond This semester course is a selective survey and history of the American Musical: the most popular form of which is commonly known as the Broadway Musical Comedy. Material ranges from the 1920s and Jerome Kern; and the first epic and socially conscious musical, Showboat, to the writing team of Rogers and Hart, the birth of Oklahoma! and the classic form in its golden age in the 1950s. Also explored are Sondheim, the birth of the rock musical, the British invasion, the “new musicals” and their writing teams, and ultimately the push into Rent, Wicked, and the current season. The class looks to off-Broadway for inspiration along the way from Jones and Schmidt to Michael La Chiusa to Flaherty and Ahrens to Adam Guettel, and even Randy Newman. There is a possible field trip to see a current production, and the class brings in practitioners of professional theatre to guest lecture and be a source of information that high school students rarely have. (1⁄2 credit; 1st semester) Jazz & Blues: The Heart & Soul of American Popular Music The history of American popular music of the 20th century is a chronicle of synchronous popular culture. The music that has come to be known as “jazz” is the ever-changing and evolving music of the American people. This semester course defines and explores the various developmental styles of jazz: New Orleans jazz (Dixieland) and its roots; ragtime and stride piano; Chicago and the “Swing Era”; the Big Bands; bebop; the “cool school”; fusion and the avant-garde movement (free jazz); the education movement in jazz; and neoclassicism in contemporary jazz. Major figures in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington are studied, using their leadership roles to expand on the various movements in and permutations of jazz. The primary text for the course is Jazz Styles by Mark C. Gridley and David Cutler. Other readings are taken from the following: The Birth of Bebop by Scott Deveaux, Ken Burns’s Jazz: The Story of American Music, The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia, A New History of Jazz by Alyn Shipton, The Oxford Companion to Jazz by Bill Kirchner, and Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz by John Szwed. Major sources of listening materials will include The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, Ken Burns’s The History of Jazz and selected other recordings as applicable. (1⁄2 credit; 2nd semester) The History of the Symphony This semester course will explore the origins and journey of the compositional form “the symphony.” We will take a look at major works in music history and the impact they had on the music scene when they were composed, and how they relate even today. These will include: Haydn’s Symphony 104; Mozart’s Symphonies 40 and 41 “Jupiter”; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, which caused major controversy after its premiere; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (the famous “Ode to Joy”); Brahms Symphony No. 1; and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”), which is considered by some the first piece of “American” music. We will also study Symphony No. 1, the “Wind River,” by GFA’s Dr. Rex Cadwallader, a piece written and premiered only two years ago. There will be lectures by conductors from local symphonies, and field trips to hear symphony concerts, including the American Chamber Orchestra, one of the groups conducted by GFA’s Chris Hisey. (1⁄2 credit; 2nd semester)