Each year 5th grade students have the opportunity to audition for the 5th Grade Chorus at Ganns Middle Valley Elementary School. Students who desire to audition must sing "America" ("My country 'tis of thee . . .") in the key of F Major for the director, Mrs. Highlander. The students sing in small groups, and then alone to determine musical independence. As they sing they are scored on tone quality, breath control, posture, pronunciation, and musicality. The students also perform excercises to determine their pitch-matching ability and range (lowest singable note to highest singable note). After all the students have auditioned, those students scoring a 6 or higher (on a 10-point scale) are invited to join the chorus.
The 5th Grade Chous performs at two P. T. A. meetings each year, plus other various performances if the school schedule permits. The first performance this year will be at the December P. T. A. meeting, which will be held on Tuesday evening, December 13, 2011, at 6:00 pm at Middle Valley Baptist Church. This Christmas Concert will be repeated on a field trip to retirement complexes (date and locations to be announced later), and also for the students at school on Tuesday morning, December 20, 2011 at 8:30 am in the school auditorium. The next performance will be for the May P. T. A. meeting, which will be held on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at 6:00 pm in the school auditorium. The final performance of the school year is always at the 5th Grade Promotion Program, which will be held this year on Friday, May 18, 2012, at 9:00 am at Middle Valley Baptist Church. We hope the parents and community enjoy our performances as we create beautiful music together!