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I have enjoyed working with our smart and capable young singers in the Junior choir, substituting for Mrs. Berko until she returns. With our Grade 3-6 musicians, we have played solfege games, practiced good choral techniques like standing tall and holding our binders well, and prepared the Psalm for our next Mass together. I shared some of my favorite rounds for children's choirs and we sang them in English and Latin in up to four parts! We have also been preparing our carol for Nine Lessons and Carols in December. We all look forward to when Mrs. Berko will return. Mr. McCune
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A big thank you to all Junior Choir members!
You have all worked so hard this year, and it has come through in your development as mature and independent musicians. We have spent quite a bit of time talking about how choir is similar to team sports. As your outdoor team sports start up this summer, continue thinking about these similarities:
We are getting closer to the homestretch of our choir season! We are at the point where we have learned our Tenebrae pieces and are working at making them the most musical that they can be. We are so excited that one of our pieces will be sung with the organ at St. Anthony’s, this will be a new experience for everyone. We have been practicing with an organ sound on the keyboard to get used to how different this might sound than a regular piano accompaniment.
I would like to recognize the deep focus and dedication that these young choristers have to the Junior Choir. They really are part of a team and they all take their role within this team very seriously. It is so wonderful to know that I can depend on the whole team to step up as we near our next performance. As always, I am most grateful for the wonderful students that I have the privilege of working with in the Junior Choir; their focus and dedication is always at such a high level. Thank you for your support as parents as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] at any time! A big thank you to all Junior Choir members for all of your hard work so far! We have done some pretty challenging music already with more to come. Since our return in January, we have not only continued our work on upcoming psalms, but also our pieces for Tenebrae and our joint concert with St. Michael’s which is coming up right after Easter. We need to start these early, as Tenebrae and that concert will be here sooner than we think!
The past month has also provided us the opportunity to continue practicing our music reading skills as our musicianship continues to develop. We have to make sure we are always practicing and developing these skills, as it is the only way it is possible for us to continue learning as much music as we are able. It is my intention that each time we pick up a new piece of music, the Junior Choir members find it slightly easier to read and understand than the last piece of music. I am also grateful for so much great leadership from older, more experienced members. Every year, as their experience and education grows, they progress from learners that are looking to other members of the choir to help them out, to those with the most experience where they then get to practice leading others in their learning. Thank you for your support, parents and family members! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, [email protected] at any time! I would like to extend a big congratulations to all members of the Junior Choir for their hard work so far this year. I am so impressed with their musical growth and their willingness to try new ideas. For those students for whom this has been their first year in the Junior Choir, you are taking all of these new challenges so seriously. For those that are returning students, your leadership and guidance with all of the new students has been so valuable. Nine Lessons was beautiful. The Junior Choir members were so focused and took their job of leading people in prayer very seriously. I am so grateful to be working with such a fine group of young people. I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed holiday season with lots of family time.
I can’t believe we are at the end of another year at SJCS. This year, the students in the Junior Choir learned so many new songs, and furthered many of their musical skills. Make sure to ask your children to share all about scales, absolute note names, time signatures, rhythms and melodies. They are really starting to be able to understand what they see on a piece of music and how this translates into what it will sound like. As they have become more comfortable with these skills, I am starting to see new musical leaders emerge in the group. These returning students will be integral to the Junior Choir as we say goodbye to our grade six students. These grade six students are well prepared for the Senior Choir and are excited to learn music in a whole new setting, with basses and tenors added to the mix! We got to have just a little taste of that with our school wide selection at the last mass, and I know they are eager for more. We wish all of our grade six students the best and will miss them greatly in our Junior Choir. It has been a wonderful year, and I wish you all a blessed summer. Keep singing! Mrs. Berko We are nearing the homestretch of our choir season! It has been an interesting time with Tenebrae being so early, that now we have extra time to continue practicing our sight singing skills, learn more about tonalities and absolute note names, and work on our repertoire for the end of the year concert. All of this will help us to continue growing as independent musicians and prepare us further for our new learning next year. We have one more psalm to sing for our May First Friday Mass. We will be working hard to memorize this and then we will also be starting NEXT September’s psalm right away too. That way, it won’t be so challenging for the kids to learn a whole psalm in the first week back to school! As always, I am most grateful for the wonderful students that I have the privilege of working with in the Junior Choir; their focus and dedication is always at such a high level. Thank you for your support as parents as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] at any time!  Wow, we are halfway through the year already! I am so impressed with the hard work the Junior Choir has put in so far. As this is a bit of a slower time, we have been spending it working on some more pedagogical concepts, some new songs, and some GAMES! Who doesn't love singing games!? We are getting really good at moving to the music and figuring out what we are hearing. We will be starting on our Tenebrae songs shortly so that we have lots of time to learn and memorize them comfortably. A special thank you goes out to Mr. Reeves for directing the Junior Choir last First Friday mass when I was unable to attend! Mrs. Berko  Thank you to all of the Junior Choir members who have been working so hard at their pieces for Nine Lessons and Carols, AND the January Psalm! I appreciate all your hard work. Wishing you all a beautiful holiday filled with special family time. God bless you all, Merry Christmas!  We have now gotten into our pattern for rehearsals and have already started on our Nine Lessons songs as well! The Junior Choir is working hard at learning new music and practicing our sound production with the songs that we already know. I am so impressed by everyone's enthusiasm and commitment to making beautiful music as a group. I am seeing many of our more experienced choristers stepping up and helping those that are new or have less experience. This, in turn, is helping everyone to progress and find their round singing sound. We have been working at making sure everyone in the group is comfortable singing out and is learning how to match pitch consistently. As I tell them often, I can't help them if I can't hear them! So therefore, I encourage everyone to sing out, even if they don't know the notes they are singing, or are having trouble matching their pitches. This also helps others to recognize how to be patient and supportive choristers even if the sound they hear around them is not completely correct. At home, please encourage your children to sing! It is important that they are getting comfortable with the sound of their own voices and that it is okay to produce those sounds around other people even if they are feeling less secure. As we enter into our practice time before Nine Lessons, I will try as much as possible to not include homework for choir on the homework page. This may change, depending on how our learning goes, so always keep an eye out on the Choir section, just in case I have asked students to go over words in preparation for our upcoming busy time. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions or concerns, [email protected]. Mrs. Berko  |
Kathryn BerkoKathryn Berko is very excited to be taking on the role as Director of the Junior Choirs. A born and raised Calgarian, she continues to be active in the city’s choral scene. She is currently the Artistic Director of the Calgary Boys’ Choir and will be starting as Artistic Director of the Calgary Children’s Choir this September. While growing up she was involved with the Calgary Children’s Choir, the Mount Royal Youth Choir, Ad Libitum Vocal Arts Ensemble, and the University of Calgary Chamber Singers. Archives
October 2025
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