Spring 2020 Music T-Shirts

We will be ordering music T-shirts for our spring performances.  Please fill out the FRES T-shirt order for and have your child return it with the $5 fee for the shirt.  All money and T-shirt order forms are due by Friday, January 31st, 2020.

2019 Winter Concert

On Thursday, December 5th, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. the musical entitled The Grumps of Ring-a-Ding Town by John Jacobson and John Higgins was performed at our school by our chorus and 3rd grade students.  The winter concert also included performances by our ukulele club, percussion ensemble, and 4th and 5th grade recorder ensemble.  We would like to give special thanks to the 3rd grade teachers for helping with the concert and Ms. Lyn Riggs for making the background on the stage for the event which can be seen below.  We are looking forward to having a phenomenal concert in the spring!

Preparing for the Winter Concert: Recorders

Students in 4th and 5th grade classes have been working hard to prepare music for the winter concert on recorders.  The concert will be held on Thursday, December 5th, 2019 in our school's cafeteria.  The songs that they have been preparing include "Hot Cross Buns" and "Hop Old Squirrel".  Below you can see students from Mrs. Wildermann's class preparing for the event with our music teacher, Ms. Sanders.

Congratulations

Congratulations to all of the students who passed their auditions and made it into the chorus and percussion ensemble!  We have had a great month rehearsing music for the upcoming winter concert.  I am looking forward to having a phenomenal year with our performing groups!

Fall 2019 Ensemble Auditions

         Auditions for the Forestville Road Chorus and the Forestville Road Percussion Ensemble will be held from Tuesday, August 27^th, 2019 to Friday, September 6^th, 2019 in the music room.  Students can report to the music room between 8:45 and 9:15 to have their auditions in the morning.  For chorus auditions, students should be prepared to sing a song of their choice that lasts no more than 3 minutes.  Please make sure that the song your child sings is school appropriate and does not contain any profanity or lewd content.  For percussion auditions, students should be prepared to count and play rhythms in 4/4 time containing quarter notes, eighth notes, quarter rests, and beamed sixteenth notes.  Students who pass the auditions will be notified of their acceptance into the chorus or percussion ensemble on Friday, September 6^th, 2019 with a letter. 

           If your child would like to be in the ukulele ensemble, he or she will need a soprano ukulele.  Soprano ukuleles can be purchased at the music stores listed below or online.  The first rehearsal for this club will be held on Tuesday, September 10^th, 2019 in the music room at 8 a.m.  At that time, your child will receive a rehearsal schedule and a copy of the rules and policies that govern the ukulele ensemble.  If you have any additional questions, please contact me at ssanders@wcpss.net.  I am looking forward to an exciting fall semester with our FRES ensembles.

Guitar Center

3100 Capital Boulevard

Raleigh, NC 27604

                               

Sam Ash Music Store

3131 Capital Boulevard

Raleigh, NC 27604

Music and Arts

5950 Poyner Village Parkway

Suite F101

Raleigh, NC 27616

Lou Sanders Music Award 2019

Congratulations to Haley Hauber for being one of the 2019 Lou Sanders Music Award recipients.  Every year this award is given to students who display excellence in music and who embody the character traits of the late Lucian Sanders, Jr., who was the head custodian at Forestville for many years and the father of the current music teacher, Ms. Stephanie Sanders.  The award was established to preserve the memory of Mr. Sanders who made sacrifices throughout his life so that Ms. Sanders could be a music teacher today.  He passed away suddenly in 2014 after a heart attack.

Haley demonstrated excellence in music throughout her entire time at Forestville in the same manner that Mr. Sanders showed excellence in his custodial work.  She was a member of the chorus, percussion ensemble, and ukulele club and she performed skillfully while she was a part of these organizations.  She was also chosen as one of four students to attend the All-County Honors Chorus event because of her exemplary vocal skills. Haley continued Mr. Sanders' legacy by being kind and warm to everyone she came in contact with just like Mr. Sanders.  Mr. Sanders always had a smile and a joke for everyone he came into contact with and Haley also emitted joy and laughter when interacting with students and staff. 

Mr. Sanders often supported the music program by setting up equipment for concerts and performances and by cheering the students on before and after performances.  Haley showed substantial support of the FRES music program by joining all three music clubs, demonstrating musical leadership at concerts, and inviting her family to help with various celebrations held within the music department.  We want to thank Haley for all of her hard work this year, for supporting the FRES music program, and for carrying on the legacy of our beloved Mr. Lucian Sanders.  We know that Haley will do great things in the future! You can see Haley and her mother Billy Jo Hauber pictured above.

  

Spring Concert 2019

On Thursday, May 2nd 2019 the Forestville Road Elementary School music department gave its annual spring concert.  Students performed works from great Disney movies like The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and The Jungle Book.  The program included performances by the FRES percussion ensemble, ukulele club, third grade students, and the FRES chorus.  We would like to give a special thanks to the third grade teachers, Ms. Lyn Riggs, our art teacher, the PTA, and all of the parents who made the program success.  We are looking forward to having a great winter concert in December!  Below you can see pictures of students in the ukulele club who participated in the event and 4th grade students who participated in the recorder ensemble.

The FRES Music Program Springs into Action!

The FRES music department has been busy doing amazing things for the spring semester.  On Saturday, February 9th, 2019 Forestville sent a delegation of four students to participate in the annual Elementary All-County Honors Chorus event held at Wakefield High School in Raleigh, NC. The four students that were chosen have consistently demonstrated excellence in the area of vocal performance. Students spent time preparing songs composed by Dr.Rollo Dillworth, Mary Lynn Lightfoot, Greg Gilpin, and other prolific composers.  Some of the songs included on the program were "Pie Jesu", "Shine on Me", and "Why We Sing".  Students that participated in the event had the opportunity to work with Mr. Danny Yancey, a GRAMMY-nominated music educator.  Below you can see pictures from the dress rehearsal and concert.

On Thursday, February 21st, Forestville Road hosted a hip-hop and jazz band called "The Beast" from Durham, North Carolina.  They talked to the students about the history of African American music.  Students learned about improvisation, jazz, hip hop, spirituals, and other topics related to African American music. Below you can see a picture of "The Beast" performing for the students of Forestville. This performance was sponsored by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and the FRES PTA.  We would like to thank these organizations for supporting the arts in schools!

On Tuesday, February 26th, 2019 the 4th graders of Forestville attended a North Carolina Symphony field trip.  Students heard works composed by Haydn, Dvorak, Higdon, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Strauss.  Students also had the opportunity to perform "Ode to Joy" in English and German.  Below you can see students standing outside of the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts where the event took place.

On Thursday, February 28th, 2019 the FRES percussion ensemble performed an arrangement of "Uptown Funk" by Tom Anderson at the annual Stars in the East talent show held at East Wake High School in Wendell, North Carolina. Students had fun performing for the community at the event!  Below is a picture of the group hanging out in the green room  before the show.  We are looking forward to performing at the show again in 2020!