ENSEMBLE REHEARSAL PLAN

Conductors Name: Zachary Gates Ensemble Name: Bella Voce

Title of Piece: Lake Isle of Innisfree
Composer/Arranger: Eleanor Daley Grade of Piece: HS (SSA)

Learning Goals: What singers will

Be able to do (behavioral): By the end of this lesson, students in Bella Voce will be able to
accurately and artistically perform Lake Isle of Innisfree with a success rate of 80%.

Understand (cognitive): By the end of this lesson, singers will judge the literary importance of
W.B. Yeats and his poem, how it applies to the music, as well as the text painting inside of the
piece, Lake Isle of Innisfree.

Encounter (experiential): By the end of this lesson, singers will have analyzed musical form, as
well as realized the different difficulties between singing in unison and in harmony. Students will
also perform in mixed meter.

Construct meaning (constructivist): As a result of this lesson, students will develop as singers
in a choral ensemble and broaden their understanding of the relationship between poetry and
music. The conductor will gain more experience in working with womens voices in female-only
ensemble, as well as growing more expressive and subtle in gesture when working with such an
expressively busy piece as Lake Isle of Innisfree.

Technical Skills
(Intonation, Posture, Breath, Phonation, Balance, Diction)
Intonation of parts when sung in unison will be difficult. In addition, having good posture to take
deep breaths for long phrases will be crucial for the success of performing this piece. In the thin
texture of the piece, balance will be important so that no voice is more prominent than the other.
Irish diction and the vowels associated will take a while to learn when faced with the current
diction tendencies of the ensemble.


Musical Concepts
(Melody, Rhythm, Harmony, Form, Timbre, Texture)
Accurate pitches and rhythms in mixed meter. Suspensions in the harmony (around mm. 29, 69)
need to be accurate. Timbre and texture for the lightness of this piece will assist, especially when
all voices are in unison.


Empowering Musicianship
(Historical Perspective, Stylistic Integrity, Musical Artistry)

Appreciation of the poetry involved to the piece, as well as the Irish style of the piece and its
words. Strong direction in expression already written in by arranger. Draw attention to not
making it about the black and white.





Process

Partner: (Differentiate instruction by collaborating with ensemble members predicting the
performance challenges. Pose problems and brainstorm solutions together. Encourage singer to
respond.)
Singers in Bella Voce will have opportunities to work with each other to fill in solfege. In
addition, partnered problem solving will be encouraged throughout rehearsal to assist with
problems that can be fixed within a section. This will be accomplished through prompting
students to discuss possible areas that need more attention/fixing.

Present: (Sequence of the rehearsal steps. Present the steps to scaffold and allow time for singer
to practice independent on their own. Differentiate instruction through questioning, clarifying,
summarizing, and connecting.)

1) The conductor will distribute copies of Lake Isle of Innisfree for Bella Voce to sing.
Students will fill in solfege for their various parts when split into their 3-way divisi. Once it is
written in, the conductor will focus on the parts of the song that are in unison. This will provide
for not only aural but also social unity in the group. Intonation will be stressed, as Bella Voce is
an honors group.

2) Mixed meter and beats will be discussed and students will be instructed to write sticks that
show the beats in the music. This will help clean up any counting issues with the mixed meter.
After this is accomplished, singers will chant the words with rhythm.

3) Singers will do a quick scan of their music to see where their part changes and how in terms of
divisi. In addition, singers will scan for particular rhythms or meter changes they feel will be
especially difficult. They will circle together harmonies that they believe are difficult. Class
discussion will decide the next section to work on in the piece.

3) Singers will be assigned to come to school with knowledge about W.B. Yeats and the country
that he is from, what his poem entails, and what it might mean to them. Singers will be prompted
to discuss this with a partner, and then proceed to speak to the ensemble about the points that
each pair made.

4. Once musical style has been solidified in terms of texture and expressive subtlety, conductor
gesture will help better inform and facilitate an understanding of delicacy. Rhythm issues and
problems with expression will be fixed through accentuation of gesture and singers attention to
gesture. Singers will also participate in some gesture to have a feeling of what the sound should
sound like.

5. Section leaders will take each group and address issues that the section feels they have.
Conductor will oversee these sectionals and make corrections, share opinions if prompted.

6. The conductor and members of the ensemble will work together to bring the piece to
performance level with strong attention to musical style, intonation in close-harmony, and
accentuation of upbeats as discussed and improved upon by the entire choir.

Personalize: (Make the learning personal to the players. Provide opportunities for ensemble
members and their conductor to collaborate as musicians to create a musical experience and add
value to their lives.)

Multiple forms of class discussion will take place. When the singers discuss W.B. Yeats
and his poem, the ensemble will take the time to then directly apply this to musical expression,
text painting, and texture. After this, singers will be asked why in poetry there is a repeat of
words. This will extend into discussion about the repeating of musical phrases (form) and the
idea of subtext.

Perform: (Demonstrate teaching music when singers perform.)

The ensemble performs the piece, Lake Isle of Innisfree by Eleanor Daley at the EBHS
Winter Choral Concert. In addition, Bella Voce will be touring to multiple clinics and events in
NJ and Boston and will have opportunities to perform this piece for a large variety of audiences.

Assessment

Formative: The singers will demonstrate their awareness of musical style as it relates to text-
painting, musical expression, mood, and meaning in daily choral rehearsals throughout the
semester. Through open discussion, partnering, and questioning techniques, the singers and
conductor will gain a better understanding of the importance of literary understanding and
gestural expression for musical integrity.

Summative: The singers will demonstrate their mastery of musical concepts as well as the
effects of literary understanding on musical expression by performing the piece Lake Isle of
Innisfree in concert.

Integrative: Teacher reflects on the following questions:

1. How did each step of the lesson contribute to students attempting to answer the focusing
question and demonstrate understanding of each goal?

2. In what ways did the engagement with the instruction and instructional content nurture a
change in perception on the part of the student and enable the student to answer the focusing
question?

3. What did student comments reveal that would help me improve future teaching of this topic?