Shawnee Mission East Choraliers

The Shawnee Mission East Choraliers is a mixed chorus of more than 130 student singers, grades 10-12, 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.

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; Chansonettes, a women's chorale; and the Concert Choir, the novice choir made up of mainly underclassmen.

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, after an 11 year tenure, will be leaving Shawnee Mission East after the 07-08 school year. Beginning in the Fall of 2008, the SME Choral Department will be under the direction of Kenneth Foley.

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.

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. Resseguie 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.

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

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.

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 inauguration 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
Verona Square, Verona
Venice Square, Venice

Media

External links

* [http://www.smechoraliers.com SME Choraliers Homepage]
* [http://www.smechoirbooster.com SME Choral Department Booster Club]

Footnotes

cite web
last = American Choral Director's Association
first = Southwest Region
title = 2006 SWACDA Convention
url=http://www.ztotal.com/viamedia/prods/898.html
accessdate = 2007-08-08
cite web
last = Forrest
first = Daniel
title = The Music of Dan Forrest
url=http://www.danforrest.com/?p=28
accessdate = 2007-08-08
cite web
last = The Kansas City Star
first = School Notes
title = A Thurber Carnival-Shawnee Mission School Notes
url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmtkc/is_200603/ai_n16095932
accessdate = 2007-08-08
cite web
last = Lawrence Journal
first = Arts Notes
title = KU instrumentalists to perform with choir
url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/dec/07/arts_notes/
accessdate = 2007-08-08
cite web
last = Moser
first = Joy
title = The Adjutant General's Department
url=http://www.accesskansas.org/ksadjutantgeneral/News%20Releases/2003/03-001.htm
accessdate = 2007-08-10