Preparatory Choir Fall 2024 

Schedule: Saturdays, 9:15am - 10:15am, Aug 31 - Dec 25, 2024 (Christmas Day Mass)
Location: St. Francis de Sales Oratory, 2653 Ohio Ave, St. Louis MO 63118 (Salesian Hall Choir Room)
Tuition: Free for registered oratory faithful. 
Child Requirements: No experience required. Child can sound out vowels on sight (a,e,i/y,o,u,) but fluency in reading not required.  
Parent Requirements: Can get child to rehearsals consistently without consecutive absences exceeding two (2) rehearsals. 

Uniform Rental (Girls)
$70 per academic year (August - May) per girl chorister (boys materials provided for free) due September 14, 2024. $35 deposit reimbursed upon return of uniform articles in good condition in May 2025.  

Provided by Oratory:

Girls Formal: Custom-fit black satin skirt and sash
Girls Informal: Black jumper
Girls Both formal/informal: Ribboned hat
Boys formal/informal: Satin necktie, either clip (for small boys) or custom (for taller boys)

Provided by parent:

Girls Blouse: White, button-down, long-sleeved, Peter Pan collar
Girls Hosiery: Black, covers calves
Girls Shoes: Dressy flat or very low-heel dress shoes. No open toe.
Boys shirt: White, long-sleeved oxford with collar.
Boys pants: Black dress slacks (with black dress belt)  
Hosiery: Black socks
Shoes: Black dress shoes

What your child will learn
Vocal Basics: Diaphragmatic breathing, resonance, placement (chest, mixed, falsetto), vowel formation.
Choir basics: Posture, following a conductor, blending, and performance etiquette.
Pitch: Solfege (do, re, me, etc.) and intervals.
How to read music: Page, system, staff, measure, clef, lines/spaces, rhythmic durations both common (mensural) and Gregorian (neumatic), and barlines.
Chant: Praying the given text with awareness of its meaning and sounding the Latin with accent. 

About the teacher: In 2011, James Marck established the Peoria Diocese affiliate of Pueri Cantores, the official youth choir organization of the Roman Catholic Church, taking this choir to sing pontifical liturgies and concerts in the 40th International Congress of Pueri Cantores in Rome and Assisi in 2014-15. Mentors to Marck in children's music pedagogy include Pueri Cantores series editor Paul French, Rock Valley Children's Choir founder/director Leah Baskin, and Kantorei artistic director Joel Ross. His Gregorian training occurred piecemeal between 2010 and the present, receiving individualized training from Angela Rocchio, Canon Wulfran Lebocq, and Abbe Raymond Schmidt, and group/class training from Dr. William Mahrt and from Dr. Horst Buchholz of the Church Music Association of America. He received his B.A. in music composition from Bradley University and M.M. in music composition from Northern Illinois University.