Woodside High School Observation

Observation: Intermediate Choir

On May 3, 2017, I visited Woodside High School in Newport News. I was able to

observe choral director, Mr. Emilio Pesante while he worked with his first period choir class. His

first period class consists of an all girls intermediate choir. This is Mr. Pesantes first class, which

he sees everyday, therefore they start the class by coming in and getting a chair to sit in their

designated section. After the morning announcements go off, Mr. Pesante has to remind the

students to start class and to be quiet. Mr. Pesante warms the choir up and as they transition into

their first song to sing, the choir gets a little rowdy. Mr. Pesante starts to play the accompaniment

for their song, The Violet, in order to regain the choirs focus. While rehearsing, Mr. Pesante

stops the choir to critique the choirs performance. He instructs and demonstrates for them how

he wants their vowel placement to be, as well as, where he wants his students to breathe. This

choir was a lot more talkative than one would think they would be at 8am, however, they did

listen to Mr. Pesante and make changes or adjustments as directed by Mr. Pesante. When

practicing another piece, Gone Too Soon, the soprano 2s were having a hard time singing one

part of the song. Mr. Pesante was able to recognize the best way to help them fix their mistake

and the section was able to successfully sing through that particular line every single time after

the choir director fixed it. It was also nice to see Mr. Pesantes musicianship put to the test as he

added three part harmony to the end of this piece.