The Arts

Band Program

The Band Program at Chaminade provides a wide range of musical opportunities for students to develop their inherent spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical potential. Chaminade Bands offers a variety of ensembles for 6-12 students to participate in, regardless of skill level. In addition, the program’s ensembles perform at a wide range of events, including formal concerts, evaluated festivals, competitions, school functions, and football and basketball games.


Beginning Band

Students in Middle School or High School who show interest in learning an instrument should enroll in one of the Beginning Band courses. In these courses, students learn about the different instruments, choose an instrument to play, and develop foundational individual and ensemble skills. In addition, students learn how to self-assess, peer-review, plan and achieve goals, and work in a performance-based environment. Students in Middle School and High School Beginning Band are prepared throughout the year to join our Intermediate Band (MS) and Wind Ensemble (HS) the following year.

CMG (Contemporary Music Group)

In Contemporary Music Group, or CMG, students learn how to authentically perform a variety of rock, funk, hip-hop, and pop styles from 1950 to current-day. The CMG performs their set-list at a variety of school events. This is an audition-based group.

High School Jazz Lab

Students who have an interest in jazz are encouraged to join HS Jazz Lab, a fundamental zero-hour course designed to introduce students to jazz style, articulation, music theory, improvisation, and performance.

Intermediate Band

In Intermediate Band, students continue to develop their musical skills and work with others to perform a wide variety of concert band literature. Students in Intermediate Band also take part in many music opportunities, such as the Bishop DuBourg Honor Band, Metro District 8 Honor Band and Honor Jazz Band, The Annual Chaminade Middle School Band Festival, and the Chaminade Middle School Solo and Ensemble Competition. On some years the Intermediate Band competes at the Music in the Parks Festival at Six Flags in the Spring semester.

Jazz Combo

High School students who wish to further develop their concepts of harmony, form, improvisation and ensemble playing are encouraged to audition for our zero-hour Jazz Combo. This group focuses on learning some of the core repertoire of great Jazz composers such as Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver as well as Jazz standards that are frequently used in professional settings.

Jazz Ensemble

In Jazz Ensemble, high school students intensively develop a variety of skills related to the jazz idiom. Tone, Style, Time-feel, Harmony, History, and Improvisation are all taught in this course through the context of big band literature. As of 2018, Jazz Ensemble is a full credit class that takes place during the school day.

Pep Band

All high school students are also members of the Pep Band, which performs at football games, basketball games, and other school functions.

Men's Chorus

Chaminade Bands offers a zero hour Men’s Chorus for young men interested in vocal pedagogy and singing a variety of choral works in 2-part and 3-part harmony.

Middle School Jazz Band

Middle School Band members who plan to join Jazz Ensemble in high school are strongly encouraged to join Middle School Jazz Band, an after school activity designed to give students the opportunity to perform Jazz, Rock and other musical styles in a big-band setting.

Wind Ensemble

The Wind Ensemble is the premier performing ensemble at Chaminade. Students in the ensemble perform at formal school concerts, events and ceremonies. In addition, the Wind Ensemble has performed at the MSHSAA Large Ensemble Festival annually for over 35 years and has traveled for the past 20 years to competitions, festivals and universities. Students perform a wide variety of wind band literature in an ensemble of 40-50 other students, and they work with local, regional and nationally recognized conductors, musicians and composers.

Drama and Theater Production

The Theater and Drama Program at Chaminade produces a number of shows each school year in addition to the drama classes that are available as part of the student's curriculum. The performance lineup for the 2019-20 school year includes:



AUDITIONS:
Audition information will be posted here as available. We encourage young ladies from the area to audition for the female roles in our productions.

Holes AUDITIONS

Here is the information for the Chaminade All School show, Holes by Louis Sachar. Below you will find a link to a Google Drive folder – this folder contains an information packet with details about the show and characters, an audition form to be filled out, and several sides to choose from for auditions.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XOTf0JmUFBjU6MWR7MwewotaIWjoqiCv

Auditions are open to any Chaminade student grades 6-12, and outside female students grades 6-12.

Auditions will be held Tuesday, October 15 from 3:30PM – 6PM. Please sign up for a time slot by clicking the link below – this will help us avoid students waiting around for their time to audition. Right now there are 50 audition slots available. If those fill up, we will adjust.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4BADA82BA1F58-holes

Come with your audition form filled out, side selected, and be ready to play!

Callbacks will be held Thursday, October 17 from 3:30PM – 6PM.

If you cannot attend auditions or callbacks but would still like to audition, please still sign up and then contact me directly for alternate arrangements.

Students auditioning should complete the audition form found in the Google Drive folder, and pick one side to read at auditions. We will have printed copies of the sides and extra audition forms at auditions.

If there are any questions, please feel free to contact Mrs. Lawrence slawrence@chaminade-stl.org.


Les' Miserables AUDITIONS

As you will see on the link below, auditions will be broken up over three days – two open auditions and a day of call backs. This is very similar to our format for Newsies auditions last year.

Wed Dec 4 will be two separate slots of vocal and acting auditions. During the slot you sign up for you will sing for Orin Johnson, our Music Director AND likely read scenes for me. Orin will publish in advance some vocal selections from the show that he would like you to choose an audition piece from. He will also do a quick prep on these that day so everyone has some familiarity with each. If auditioning, you need to sign up for ONE of these two slots.

Fri Dec 6 will be two separate slots of dance and acting auditions. During the slot you sign up for you will dance for Stephanie Fox our Choreographer AND I will for sure read anyone who may not have gotten a chance to read on Wed and will likely have time to read some people again. Stephanie will teach a simple movement combination that day. If auditioning, you ALSO need to sign up for ONE of these two slots.

Callbacks will be held on Sunday afternoon between 2-5pm for those who are needed that day. We will publish that list and a specific schedule likely Friday night, Dec 6 after the end of auditions.

**Note – for those of you who will be cast in or involved in Chaminade’s production of Holes, there will be no rehearsals on Dec 4 or 6 that will conflict with Les Mis auditions. Tech rehearsal for Holes will be happening on Sunday, Dec 8, but we will work with Mrs. Lawrence to see you on a break that doesn’t conflict with when you need to be in tech.**

So to summarize –

Click on THIS LINK and sign up. You need to sign up for a slot on BOTH Wed and Fri. Information on music sides will come out later.

If for any reason you have a conflict with one of the Wed and Fri open audition dates, go ahead and sign up for the date you are available and then please email me and let me know of your conflict and I will work something out with you.

Thanks for your interest in Les Misérables. Looking forward to this show!

Contact Mr. Grumich with any questions rgrumich@chaminade-stl.org.


PAST SHOWS:
Click the title of the show to see photos of some of our previous productions.


Newsies


Charlie and the Chocolate Factory


OUR TOWN




The Imaginary Invalid


How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying



Peter and the Starcatcher



CLUE The Musical



Under the Big Top


Visual Arts

COMING SOON!

Chaminade's Band, Drama & Theater and Fine Arts programs are among the best in the area. Housed in the beautiful Skip Viragh Center for the Arts, the technology and facilities available to all students rivals that of professional venues. Our theater productions, award winning band program and comprehensive art program are a large part of Esto Vir Journey for every Chaminade Gentleman.