IMPORTANT NOTE: Please understand that is is a two-semester commitment (31 weeks). These are are not “classes”; they are performing ensembles—quite like a sports team in some ways—where absences of individuals are very disruptive to the progress of the whole team. If you can’t attend regularly, please wait to join until another school year when you can!
The Spirit of the Sing Montana! Choirs
These are special ensembles that are fun, well-organized, and challenging all at once. We’re in it for the love of the people, the love of music, and the love of excellence in general. Most parents, of course, will be pleased with almost any musical performance their kids do, but our aim is to put on performances (even with Kid’s Choir) that a general audience will find highly energetic and entertaining. So this goes far beyond just being a casual singalong club or a music class. Individual singers are expected to learn the notes and words accurately, as well as to match details, such as the vowel sounds we sing and the timing of the song. So naturally, we always hope for singers who are the sort to have lots of fun while working hard—and that seems to be mostly what we get!
Sing Montana! Kids’ Choir
A year-long ensemble for boys and girls, ages 7-9. No pitch-matching test required.
Rehearses once a week for 60 minutes. Sings unison songs and rounds, mostly.
See other information below.
Sing Montana! Treble Choir
A year-long ensemble for boys and girls, ages 10-12. This is for singers who are singing in the soprano or alto ranges. If you have a male singer in this age range who is already singing in the tenor or bass ranges, please contact us and we’ll see whether it would be a good move to put them in Teen Choir early.
Pitch-matching test required.
Rehearses once a week for 75 minutes. Sings mostly 2- and 3-part songs.
See other information below.
Sing Montana! Teen Choir
Boys and girls, ages 13-18. Pitch-matching test required.
Rehearses once a week for 105 minutes. Sings mostly 3- and 4-part songs.
See other information below.
Dates for the 2023/2024 School Year
REHEARSAL DAY
Wednesdays—Kids’ Choir
Wednesdays—Treble Choir
Wednesdays—Teen Choir
REHEARSAL TIME
9:30am to 10:30am—Kids’ Choir
11:00am to 12:15pm—Treble Choir
1:00pm to 2:35pm—Teen Choir
REHEARSAL DATES
FALL 2023: Every Wednesday, starting September 13 through December 6. (13 weeks)
SPRING 2024: Every Wednesday, starting January 10 through May 8. (18 weeks)
TARGET PERFORMANCE DATES
FALL 2023: Saturday Evening, December 9, 2023. (Montana Christmas! Concert with Freedom Choir)
SPRING 2024: Saturday Evening, May 11, 2024. (Sing Montana! Concert with Freedom Choir)
LOCATIONS
To be announced soon. Rehearsals will be in Billings somewhere fairly central and convenient.
General Information
TUITION FOR THE YEAR (Includes 31 WEEKS of rehearsal, 2 concerts, and 2 t-shirts)
$240 if paid in two semesters ($120 x 2), or $200 if prepaid by September 1, 2023.
THIS IS A 2-SEMESTER COMMITMENT
You’re signing up for a 31-week annual Fall/Spring ensemble. The fall concert, Montana Christmas! is a big annual Christmas show, but we’ll start in the Fall learning music for the Spring show, too.
PITCH-MATCHING TESTS
This is not required for Kid’s Choir, but is required for the two older choirs. The idea is to make sure that those singers have acquired this crucial skill so that the end product will be an audience-pleasing performance. The test is very short and simple, and can be done over the phone with the director, Jack Pelham. The director will hum some random pitch (or play it on a piano), and the singer will match the pitch as accurately as possible. This test normally goes no longer than 60 seconds. If the singer isn’t matching pitches accurately, the director will suggest that they go get those skills (in private lessons?) and then come back to try again—if not for this year, then for next year!
REGISTRATION
The first step is to pass the pitch-matching tests (except for Kids’ Choir). Once you’ve passed, then we’ll send you a link to a private registration page.
CONCERT ATTIRE
We will have a strict dress code for our concerts, although the details are yet to be determined. We’ll publish that as soon as we can. At the most, it will call for all black attire (tops, bottoms, and shoes), though we are considering having one or more of the homeschool choirs wear their Montana Christmas T-shirts with black bottoms and shoes in the show.
T-SHIRTS
Two t-shirts are included in the annual tuition. Singers will get a brand new Montana Christmas! t-shirt on the first day of Fall rehearsals, and on the first day of rehearsals after the Christmas break, they’ll get a short-sleeve t-shirt with the specific ensemble name on the front. (Not yet designed.) Not only are the shirts fun to wear—and not only would they make for an easy top-half of a uniform (if we choose to go that direction), but we hope that the regular wearing of the shirts will help us to build our ensembles and our audiences alike.
SEEKING AN ACCOMPANIST
All three ensembles will sing from time to time with piano accompaniment, and we are hoping to find one or more accompanists who are a great match for our organization. As we grow, it may be possible for us to pay an accompanist (and director) for professional services, but for now, our start-up status requires that both positions remain unpaid, except for a fuel stipend of $20 per rehearsal/performance. The accompanist would also assist as needed with the administrative tasks of the rehearsals. If you know of someone you think would be a great fit, please let us know!
WHAT IF WE DON’T GET ENOUGH?
If we don’t get enough singers to pay the bills, we’ll just have to try again in the future. You can help tremendously with this by signing up soon, and by helping us spread the word! Any tuition paid would be refunded in full if we should cancel any of these ensembles.
HOW TO SIGN UP
Let’s start with email! Whether you’re ready to register for Kid’s Choir, or to get a pitch-matching test for one of the other two choirs, please start by contacting us and telling us how many singers you have, and which ensemble they’re interested in. From there, we can schedule a phone call at a time that’s convenient for you. Contact us here!
This is going to be great! Please contact us right away!