EXECUTIVE INTERNSHIP

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EXECUTIVE INTERNSHIP

• With the choral group
• EXSULTATE!
• Presentation by Jesse Martin, Maggie Pinkham,
• and Caitlyn Marriott

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Exsultate! Is

• A choral group based from the Grace United
  Methodist Church. They meet every Monday night
  from 715 to 915. The group spans three
  generations of singers, some of whom are even
  distant or recent VHS alumni.

Mission Statement Exsultate! provides a
performance and educational venue for area
singers to learn and perform.
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A Brief History of Exsultate!

• Exsultate! was formed in March, 2002 by a group
  of music lovers who could find no evidence that a
  civic chorus had ever existed in Venice. They
  felt that a community so attuned to the arts
  should have its own chorale,one aspiring to the
  highest level of quality and repetoire of choral
  music.

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A Brief History of Exsultate!

• On July 9, 2002 the Venice City Council
  officially welcomed Exsultate! to the city. In
  the first season, Jubilate! was formed as the
  ambassadorial arm of Exsultate, to take part in
  school and community events where it is
  impractical to use a large chorus.

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A Brief History of Exsultate!

• The first season concluded with Exsultate!
  receiving the prestigious Muses Award as
  Outstanding Vocal Performance Group, given by the
  Sarasota County Arts and Cultural Alliance. The
  2003-2004 season introduced our Seniors Mentoring
  Juniors program, one of only two such programs
  nation wide, in which students singers receive a
  stipend for the purpose off private vocal
  studies.

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The Apprenticeship Program

• The apprenticeship program pays student singers
  a one hundred dollar music scholarship every
  month to attend the rehearsals and perform in the
  concerts for their seven month season. The
  scholarships are funded by donations, and the
  group gives out as many scholarships as they can
  provide.

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The Apprenticeship Program

• The addition of younger singers adds a more
  unified sound to the group, and gives the
  apprentices a chance to gain knowledge from many
  talented singers. New techniques are learned, as
  well as new tips and methods shared.

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The Apprenticeship Program

• With the help of local individuals, Exsultate!
  funded five Venice High School students this
  year. The 100 monthly stipend they receive is
  for the purpose of defraying private tuition with
  an approved vocal teacher or to foster musical
  education in other ways. Research has shown that
  those who develop a love of choral singing while
  they are young keep that interest all their
  lives, are more community-minded and more
  mentally and emotionally happy. Exsultate! is
  amazed that they have been a part of putting
  young people on a path to productive and healthy
  lives.

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Expectations
Do Ti La So Fa Mi Re Do
Solfege is a system used for sight singing music.
Each of the syllables identifies with a pitch
corresponding with the degrees of the scale.
Solfege makes the process of sight singing much
easier in rhythm and pitch accuracy.
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And Realities
We going into this program expected the music to
be learned in the same way as the high school
chorus. First we sight sing a piece, go over it a
few more times, switch to singing on words, and
then refine and memorize. So of course, the first
rehearsal with Exsultate! was a little
surprising. That very first night we picked up
the music and saw it for the first time, we sang
through it with full accompaniment, on words, and
making sure to perform all the details we
normally wouldnt take care of until the
refinement stage. Thankfully, some members of
the group coached us through this.
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Bringing It Back
We have all become so accustomed to this fast
paced style of learning, we have all improved
drastically in our sight singing here in the high
school chorus. We have found that we catch onto
things faster, and have a greater appreciation
for the details that a composer puts work into.
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And Now

• A photo slideshow, for your viewing pleasure.

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Our Director, Durward McDonell He is a native
Floridian and a veteran of virtually every genre
of stage performance. For nearly nine years,
Woody (as we affectionately refer to him) was
Artistic Director of the Suncoast Chorale. Under
his leadership that organization experienced
significant growth in both membership and musical
quality, emerging as a force for the arts in the
communities of Englewood and Venice. Mr.
McDonnell studied at Emory University, received
degrees from the University of Florida and the
University of Texas, and has recently completed
his sixteenth year as Music Director of Grace
United Methodist Church.
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Woody, frustrated early on in a rehearsal.
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A rousing rendition of Spiritual Medley by Glenn
Burleigh.
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Snacks during a break in rehearsal
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The hall in which we perform
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Woody,consulting with our accompanist Lise
Frank Lise Frank, pianist, has recently returned
to the United States from Columbia, S.A. where
she enjoyed an illustrious career of more then
two decades as a soloist, chamber musician, and
teacher.Among other prestigious teaching
positions, she has been Associate Professor of
Piano at the University Eafit, where she was also
coordinator of Piano and Chamber music. Locally,
she has taught piano and theory at Booker High
School in their Visual and Performing Arts
program, and is a much sought-after master-class
teacher and adjudicator. Ms. Frank holds degrees
in Piano Performance from the North Carolina
School of the Arts, Wisconsin Conservatory of
Music and Indiana University, Bloomington.
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Jesse Martin
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Maggie Pinkham
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Caitlyn Marriott
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Thank you!
We would like to personally and publicly thank
Exsultate! for the opportunity given to us this
year to sing and perform with such an outstanding
vocal group. Every rehearsal and every concert
will have a lasting impression on us as
individuals. We have learned, laughed, shared,
and excelled, and we are eternally grateful to
this program.