The mission of a Sing for Life! Festival is to inspire and encourage young singers to keep performing music as they grow into adulthood, and to support local teachers in their efforts to build life-long community involvement in music.
Opportunities abound in almost every community. They just have to find them. Singing gives people a lifelong fulfillment and an avenue for staying young and healthy.
Michael Kysar rehearsing some middle school boys.
The festival has several steps:
- The directors of the participating three to five choral groups together select two or three songs for the finale from a list of songs (available upon inquiry) used in former Sing for Life festivals and perhaps suggest one or two additional pieces. This should be done at the beginning of semester, or at least 8 weeks prior to the Big Performance.
- Select an adult community choir from the area and possibly an orchestra to also participate. Also should be at the beginning.
- Michael Kysar visits as many classrooms as time allows, and prepares students for the Big Performance, giving them specific objectives for appreciating each of the groups at whatever level they are, and being focused on proudly sharing the best they have to give. Older singers from the community choir are invited to sit in with the students in the classroom, which has been a distinct highlight for the students. This happens during the Festival week.
- The Big Rehearsal combines the community choir, all the student groups and optionally an orchestra, and solves logistic problems and sets the focus on the music and what the students want their audience to get from the music. This is the day of, or day before the Big Performance.
- The Big Performance where each student group performs, the community choir performs, optionally the orchestra can perform as well, then all the groups combine for the finale.
In schools where a Sing for Life! festival has occurred just before the students sign up for the next semester or the next year's classes, the enrollment in choral organizations has sometimes increased as much as 100% for several years in a row. We've had as many as 220 young people on the stage for a wondeful and memorable finale.
Serious singers in Sing for Life!
Educational Objectives
- Students become appreciators for their own work and that of others.
- The students experience the source of the fun as striving for excellence.
- Students see and hear how "old people" can sing well and have as much fun as the students over a lifetime of experiences.
- Students get a sense of how important their individual contributions are to the success of their team.
- Students get a sense of the possible effect their performance can have in the lives of audience members.
- Teachers receive support through public recognition and praise from the guest conductor, as well as in-classroom affirmation and reinforcement of their value and contributions.
Student Evaluation Comments
What did you like best?
- I liked the loud powerful sound.
- It was fun singing with adults. It sounded like we were perfechionals (sic).
- I liked how the adult choir wasn’t afraid to sing out loud.
- The best part was hearing the men sing really low notes.
- Practicing with adults is really amazing.
- The best part was hearing them.
- I liked when the adult choir members came in and sang with us.
- The best part was singing with them.
- Watching how you guys could sing.
- Learning why songs were important.
- The humor you guys brought to us.
- Mr. Kysar is an awesome director.
- Mr. Kysar was funny and encouraging.
- I liked listening to the boys go really low.
- I liked how big the sound was.
- More...
Teacher Comment
Having Michael Kysar come into the classroom gave the students a fresh, energized perspective on the music. It's also a great opportunity for me to learn from an experienced master teacher. More...
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