Season’s Greetings, Friends! November is full of wonderful opportunities for performing and building friendships through the gift of music! This is such a busy time of year, so take a moment to note the important dates listed below:
We still have time to sell ads! It’s important to secure this revenue so we can continue offering tuition scholarships for our singers. We know that your favorite businesses would want to know their money is going towards a good cause, so please make it a priority to contact them this week! Ads are due November 15th for inclusion in this season’s program. More information about business ads and personal ads for your singer can be found on this blog post.
Upcoming Dates to Remember:
Saturday, November 2nd: Scarecrow Soiree at Tanglewood Farms. Participating students should arrive by 2:30pm and be ready to begin performing at 3pm. Contact Mr. Hall with questions about this event, either on the Band app through your group chat or by emailing him at [email protected]
Monday, November 4th: Mississippi River Chorale and Friends Concert at Maples Memorial United Methodist Church in Olive Branch. Concert begins at 7pm and is free to the public with a suggested $5 donation at the door. Donations will enter the donor in our raffle for two box seats for Christmas with CoroRio! Raffle will take place at the end of the concert.
Call Times:
- Arroyo: 5pm
- Fuente: 5:15pm
- Rio: 5:30pm
- MRC: 6pm–Please come prepared to take sectional and all choir photos prior to the concert
Please have your singer arrive dressed in concert black. If your singer plans to wear a necktie, please make sure they are wearing a black collared shirt. Neckties and scarves will be provided for all youth choirs. Contact Mrs. Touchstone with questions about this event.
Tuesday, November 5th: Election Day! We are holding regular rehearsals at regular times on this day, but the logistics are just a bit different. Cornerstone Church is an official polling station, please note the following changes to our usual Tuesday evening experience:
- Please allow extra time for entering and exiting the parking lot as people coming to vote will be parking in the lot nearest Elmore Road. There should still be plenty of parking in the back lot, but getting past the volume of cars in the front lot might take a bit longer than expected.
- Cornerstone Cafe will be closed as voters will be queuing in the cafe for voting in the Davis Center (gym area),
- Since the church will be hosting a large number of the public during our regular rehearsal times, parents of Nino and Corriente singers should walk their students in at the start of rehearsal and come into the building to collect them when rehearsal is over. Thank you!
Saturday, November 9th: Hernando’s Dickens of a Christmas. Nino and Corriente singers will perform a selection of Christmas songs on the main stage near the Hernando Square at 1:10pm. Call time for all singers is 12:45 on the East side of the Courthouse. Please arrive with your singer dressed in concert black all the way to the shoes. Red scarves and ties will be provided. If your singer is planning to wear a necktie, please have them wear a collared shirt. Once we have everyone gathered together, we will walk to the stage and perform. When the performance is over, singers will return their ties and scarves and parents can then collect them from the performance stage area. Contact Mrs. Touchstone or Mrs. Gaines with questions about this event.
Tuesday, November 12: Regular Rehearsals for all choirs. Merch preorders should be available for pick up at this rehearsal – please plan to pay for your order at pickup via the method chosen in your order form. Please check your email for preorder details if you submitted an order. Didn’t preorder? We will have the extras available for purchase as well – once they’re gone, they’re gone! Remember, we always accept cash, check, and Venmo at cost, but also accept PayPal and credit cards with a 3% service charge. *We are looking for a volunteer to help with merch sales at this rehearsal – please contact Emily Nichols if you are able and interested! You can message her on Band, or email her at [email protected]
Tuesday, November 19: Regular Rehearsals for all choirs.
Friday, November 22nd: Midsouth Music Institute Choral Showcase (formerly the Desoto County Schools Joint Concert) is now rescheduled for Friday, November 22 at Hernando High Performing Arts Center. This event is for Fuente and Rio, but all our community is invited to attend. Call time is 10 AM if you are not traveling with your school. Students attending with their schools should wear their school uniform with the CoroRio scarf/tie, which we will provide them with upon arrival, and students attending without their school should wear standard CoroRio concert black attire.
This event is typically one of the community favorites because it showcases the amazing talent that we have here in the DeSoto County area – the MidSouth Music Institute seeks to promote and encourage excellence in music education and we’re honored to support our musical community by hosting this joint concert. More details about the length of the concert will be released as the local schools complete the registration process, so stay tuned!
Tuesday, November 29th–NO Rehearsals, enjoy your Thanksgiving Break!
Tuesday, December 5th–We will be back together for regular rehearsals, placing the finishing touches on Christmas with CoroRio! Don’t wait until the end of November to get your tickets! Tickets are still on sale for Christmas with CoroRio – The Ticketmaster sale is over, but you can buy tickets there or through consignment with our Google Form if you want to avoid extra TicketMaster fees. Deadline for this is November 15th.