Cypress Lake Vocal Department: News

On Wednesday, April 23 the choirs from Cypress Lake sang at the Florida Vocal Association State MPA in Avon Park. Cypress Chorale earned superior ratings from all judge's. Their superior rating continues the tradition of superior ratings at FVA State dating back to 2002.

Intermezzo also performed and received superior ratings from two of the judge's and an excellent rating from the other for an overall rating of Superior. This marks the first that Intermezzo has achieved a superior rating at State MPA

Congratulations to both choirs and look for the recordings in the music section soon.

Long Overdue, the much anticipated and award winning second album from The A Cappella Group is finally here and ready for you to purchase. The CD is $15.00 and available from Mr. Stroh or you can order it on our site.

If you do not live near Cypress Lake and would like to get your copy of Long Overdue as soon as we get, buy it now. We will send it out as soon as we receive the shipment from the manufacturer. The CD is selling for $15.00. Get yours today.

Long Overdue is the long awaited second album from the acclaimed The A Cappella Group.

It's coming soon . . . as a matter of fact, the estimated ship date is April 18th.

The track list is:
1. Karmastition
2. Hands
3. Mexican Wine
4. Breathe
5. Be Careful What You Eat
6. Bless The Broken Road
7. Brown Eyed Girl
8. There She Goes
9. Taco Bell Canon
10. Joy To The World
11. Hidden Bonus Track that you will not want to miss. You have to wait for it.

Dear Parents,

I am writing to inform you of the plans for the Florida Vocal Association State Performance Assessment. The choirs qualified for this event with their superior ratings at the District MPA in February.

This year, FVA State will be held at South Florida Community College in Avon Park. All of our events will take place on Wednesday, April 23. We will be leaving Wednesday morning at approx. 7:00 a.m. and returning Thursday night. A small group will be returning to Fort Myers after our performances Wednesday. The tentative itinerary is on the back of this letter.

Unfortunately, the school district does not provide funding for us to travel to this event. Therefore, we must pay for the cost of the trip from vocal department money. The cost of the trip will be approx. $11,500. The cost of the trip per student will be $100 if they participated in the cheesecake sale or $125 if they did not participate. This fee is due Tuesday, April 8. Make checks payable to Cypress Lake High School.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

Tentative Itinerary
Wednesday, April 23
7:00 am Meet in front of the Center for bus loading and bag checks. All luggage will be searched.
7:30 am Depart for Avon Park
9:30 am Arrive at South Florida Community College
Performance to be announced. Could be AM or PM
12:00 pm Lunch on campus
4:30 pm Depart Avon Park for Orlando
6:00 pm Arrive at Hotel in Orlando for check-in
6:45 p.m. Depart for Downtown Disney. Dinner on own in Downtown Disney. All students will get tickets to DisneyQuest
11:00 p.m. Depart from Downtown Disney to return to hotel.
11:20 p.m. Arrive back at hotel
11:40 p.m. All Students must be in rooms for the night. Room checks done and doors secured for the evening.

Thursday, April 24
7:30 am Breakfast, continental breakfast included at hotel.
9:00 am Check-out and load buses
9:15 am Depart for Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure
9:30 am Arrive at Universal for the Day. Tickets will be good for both parks. You may go back and forth
6:30 pm Meet at assigned area and go to bus
7:00 pm Depart for Fort Myers
10:00 pm Arrive at Cypress Lake Center for the Arts

We are looking for a few good chaperones. We are going to be performing at the Florida Vocal Association State Music Performance Assessment on Wednesday, April 23. The event is in Avon Park. After the performance, we be traveling to Orlando for the evening and spening Thursday in Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We need 8 to 10 chaperones to attend to make this trip happen. Final details of the trip will be posted when I have secured the chaperones and made the final travel arrangements.

In order to chaperone on the trip you must agree to be with the group the entire duration of the trip. Chaperones must ride the buses with the group. Chaperones must also assist with the bed checks and securing the students in the hotel room on Wednesday night. This will entail staying up past the time and making sure the students are in rooms for the night.

The cost for the chaperones will be nominal compared to the students. The only cost will be the share of the hotel room.

If you are interested in chaperoning for the trip, please e-mail through this site and let me know. It will be a very rewarding experience for you and the students. I hope each of you will consider helping your students to have this opportunity.

Again, e-mail me through the "Contact" page to let me know that you are interested in chaperoning.

I look forward to hearing from you.

The A Cappella Group competed in the South Division Semi-final of the International Championship of High School A Cappella at Palm Harbor University High School Saturday evening. The group was hoping to defend their 2007 South Division crown and earn another trip to the final at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The group opened the show and gave, what was by far, their best performance of the year. The crowd responded well to the group as well. Our best effort wasn't quite good enough though, as we came in second place in what was a very close finish.

We did claim some individual honors as senior Brittany Gibson won Best Soloist for her rendition of My Give A Damn's Busted. Senior Blake Shelton also won Best Vocal Percussion for his work.

The winners of the competition were The Mane Event from Leon High School in Tallahassee. We would like to wish them luck as they represent the south in April at the national finals.

Congratulations to the group for an outstanding performance and to Brittany and Blake for their awards.

It was an emotional night as Cypress Chorale premiered the new work by Z. Randall Stroope to honor our three lost fathers. Many tears were shed by both performers and audience members as the choir gave a heartfelt performance of the piece. The judges were in agreement as Chorale received superior ratings from all adjudicators. One judge commented that "there is always one magic moment at these festivals ... that WOW factor. This was it for me. How beautiful that music & text can used as a healing tool and to carry on memories. The tribute was beautiful. I couldn't speak while you were singing - Too moving and powerful."

We would again like to thank Dr. Stroope for agreeing to the commission and for providing a beautiful piece of music as a tribute.

Intermezzo was also "on" as they wowed the crowd and the judges with their performance. They also received superior ratings from every adjudicator.

Congratulations to both choirs for their outstanding performances at the District Music Performance Assessment. You can recordings of both choir's performances in the music section of this site.

Cypress Chorale will debut the commissioned piece from Z. Randall Stroope at the Florida Vocal Association District Music Performance Assessment this Thursday evening. Chorale is scheduled to take the stage at 9:00 p.m. at North Fort Myers High School. Intermezzo will also be performing at District and their scheduled performance time is 7:45 p.m.

The piece by Z. Randall Stroope is titled Homage. It was commissioned by the Cypress Lake Vocal Department to honor the memory of the three fathers who lost their lives this past fall. Dr. Stroope was struggling with how to tackle this piece and have it serve as a fitting memorial, and then thought of the words of his own father and the piece was born. The text is written by Dr. Stroope's father, W. L. Stroope. He was orphaned at two years old - losing both of his parents within days of each other - and he grew up as a part of a large family who loved and cared for each other. He was not schooled past the 8th grade, having to leave education for work to support the family. Nevertheless, he was self-educated, wrote beautiful poetry, spoke like a statesman, sang and read music well, and never showed regret for his meager start in life. His "wealth" was in the people around him and in his children.

It is a beautiful piece and we look forward to sharing it with the world Thursday evening.

14 members of the vocal department earned a spot in the 2008 All-County Choir.

Sopranos
Alissa Roca
Kerry Elkins
Breana Kelley
Jayne Denslow
Jonise Yves

Altos
Lauren Davis
Kendra Dozier
Amaris Soots
Taylor Nave
Olivia Rodriguez

Tenors
Tony Sansone
Ozzie Vargas

Basses
Karjan McGill
Alex Ravitz

Congrats to all of those who made it!

Junior Kailyn Mitchell, a junior alto in the vocal department, propelled the Cypress Lake girls basketball team to the District title. Kailyn scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the victory over the #1 seed South Fort Myers.

Great job Kailyn. Keep the wins coming!

Check out Kailyn in action: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=A4&Date=20080202&Category=SPORTS01&ArtNo=802020805&Ref=PH&Profile=1011

Our very own The A Cappella Group has been selected to appear on the 2008 Best of High School A Cappella CD. Our recording of "Hands" by Jewel will appear on the 2008 collection. This is the group's second appearance on a BOHSA CD. Our recording of "Bring Me To Life" was featured on the 2006 BOHSA. This is a great honor to be included among the best groups in the world.

"Hands", which will appear on our soon to be released album T.A.G. II, features Katie Campell on lead vocal and Blake Shelton on vocal percussion. This song was part of the group's competition set last year and was performed in front of a sold out crowd at Lincoln Center at the International Championship of High School A Cappella Finals. You can hear a clip of the song in the music section of this site.

Here is a list of the 2008 BOHSA CD line-up.

1) Dancing In The Streets - Kettering Fairmont HS Eleventh Hour
2) Insomniac - Glenbrook North HS Ow!
3) Owner of a Lonely Heart - Brentwood Academy Singers
4) She Will Be Loved - Eugene A Cappella All Stars
5) Time After Time - Marblehead HS Jewel Tones
6) If - Jakarta International School Joint Sound
7) I Need You - Washington HS A Slice of Jazz
8) Hands - Cypress Lake Center for the Arts A Cappella
9) Mary - Cherry Hill West Men of Note
10) So Far Away - Maria Carrillo HS Jazz Choir
11) I Wish I'd Met You - North Olmstead HS Special Edition
12) Unwritten- Flint HS Major Minors
13) First Date - Conard HS Vocal Jazz Quintessence
14) I Hope You Dance - Dryden HS Beyond Measure
15) Don't Know Nothin' - Cheyenne Mountain HS Crimson
16) Remember - Hopkins HS Chamber Choir

The Vocal Department has commissioned a piece of music from renowned choral composer Z. Randall Stroope to honor and commemorate the memory of our three lost fathers.

As many of you know, the vocal department experienced immense grief and sadness this fall as three of our students lost their fathers during a two month period. As a way of coping with the losses and marking this great loss in time, the students decided to have a piece commissioned that could serve as a lasting memory to these lost fathers.

Our students first choice was composer Z. Randall Stroope and he accepted the commission. The money for the commission was raised during the Madrigal Dinner and we have been notified by Dr. Stroope that the piece is finished. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival and will announce soon when the premiere of the piece will take place.

Here is the paragraph that will appear in the inside cover of the piece:

During the fall of 2007, three members of the Cypress Lake Center for the Arts Vocal Department lost their fathers. All three men were full of spirit and humor and lived life to the fullest. Robert Watt, the father of senior Cheyanne Watt, lost his three month battle with brain cancer on August 29th. Rob Watt was a fun-loving man who was a friend to everyone that ever met him. On October 4th, John Kelley, father of junior Breanna Kelley, was vacationing with family in Hawaii and passed away after receiving an incorrect prescription from his doctor. John Kelley was an adventurous soul who visited all 50 states and never missed an opportunity to share his latest joke. Kenneth Dozier, the father of sophomore Kendra Dozier, suffered a stroke at work on November 12th. Kenneth Dozier had a child-like love for life and always played like one of the kids.

This has been a powerfully emotional time for these students and their families. In order to help process our deep sense of loss, we commissioned this piece inspired by our desire to celebrate and honor the lives of these fathers. We hope you will help us transcend our sorrow while we observe the spirit of humanity in this music.

We look forward to performing this new work and honoring these lives lost much too soon.

Well, it has finally arrived - Christmas vacation. I would like to take this time to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season. It has been a very busy December and we all need the time to relax and refresh. I hope that Santa brings you everything that you ask for and I will see you all back on January 7.

Please enjoy this holiday Christmas classic a cappella style - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

The women of the Vocal Department in conjunction with the Dance Department will be presenting Benjamin Britten's classic - A Ceremony of Carols. The piece will be performed in it's entirety and will be accompanied by Elizabeth Lilly, the principal harpist with the Southwest Florida Symphony. The interesting twist is that the piece will by danced to by members of the Cypress Lake Dance Department. Mrs. Gair, our dance instructor, was in a professional company that danced to this piece many years ago and has always loved it.

We hope that you will enjoy this holiday classic as a treat for the ears and the eyes. Tickets are only $5.00 and the concert starts at 7:00 p.m. The rest of the concert will feature the dance department and selections from the Nutcracker and other holiday favorites.

The 7th Annual Madrigal Dinner again drew rave reviews from attendees. A big thank you goes out to all involved that once again made these two nights a special evening for the folks in attendance.

The choirs were definately on both nights and attoned for a sub-par fall concert by singing wonderfully. The serving wenches did a great job and I heard nothing but good things about their service.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to Parker Slaybaugh for stepping in at the last minute to play the role of the Jester on Saturday. Parker, you did a great job and I don't know what we would have done with you. Devin also did a great job Friday night and we hope you get better soon. Also a shout out goes to Danielle Barnes, our best storyteller in recent memory.

A great big thank you goes to Miggie Castro and Carol Davis, the two parents that drove all of the backstage action. Without them, this dinner would not have been possible.

A huge thank you also goes out to the small group of parents that worked in the kitchen each night. You all did a great job and the dinner would not have been possible without your help.

Another one is in the books and we now look forward to The Ceremony of Carols in two weeks.

The 7th Annual Madrigal Dinner is officially sold out for the fourth year in a row. We would like to thank all of those who have made this event their holiday tradition.

The event will start this Friday and Saturday at 6:15 p.m. with caroling in front of the Black Box. The doors to the hall will then open at 6:30 p.m. and the dinner will begin. We look forward to seeing all of you and making this event a great start to your holiday season.

We are in dire need of parents to help work the Madrigal Dinner Saturday night. The event cannot take place without the help of parents each night. We have plenty of help for Friday night, but need at least 4 more parents to work the dinner Friday night. Please contact Mr. Stroh or Mrs. Castro if you are available to help out.

Tickets for the 7th Annual Madrigal Dinner are in short supply. There are only 21 tickets left for Friday night and 30 tickets left for Saturday night. If you are planning to attend and have not yet gotten your tickets, act fast. I expect that it will be sold out by Friday afternoon.

Cypress Lake Center for the Arts presents the Southwest Florida Premier of "All Shook Up." The show is tonight, Friday and Saturday nights at the Cypress Lake High School Auditorium and the curtain is at 7:30 p.m.

"All Shook Up" features a story that loosely mirrors Shakespeare's Twelth Night. Set in a non-descript small town in the 1950's that is turned upside down when a roustabout arrives in town. All of the sudden, everyone is in love, just not with someone who is in love with them. Add in the music of Elvis and you have "All Shook Up"

Tickets are $8.00 and are available at the door. There will also be a silent auction each night starting at 6:30 and running through intermission. We have some fabulous items in the auction, so make sure you bring your checkbook.

Three members of the vocal department made the 2008 Florida Vocal Association All-State Choir. Senior Jessica Bays made it for the second consecutive year as an alto in the Women's Choir. Alissa Roca and Lauren Davis, both sophomores, made it for the first time. Alissa is a soprano in the Women's Choir and Lauren Davis will be an alto in the Women's Choir.

These three ladies will now participate with 200 other singers in Tampa for an experience unlike any other. Congratulations!!!

The Fall Choral Extravaganza is this Tuesday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium. The Concert Choir, Intermezzo Women's Choir, Cypress Chorale and The A Cappella Group will all be performing. Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased at the door.

All students must be there in concert attire by 6:30 at the latest.

Congratulations to our very own Blake Shelton - 2007 Homecoming King!!! Considered by many to be a band geek and certainly a dark horse in the homecoming race, Blake followed in the upset Saturday of college football and pulled out the improbable victory. We are very proud of him and although we are certain that this will go to his head, it is good to have royalty in the vocal department.

The first Vocal Department Cabaret is coming up on Thursday, October 4. The deadline for being able to perform in the cabaret is this Wednesday. All students wishing to perform, must present their act to Mr. Stroh for approval. Students may perform during their Vocal Tech class or after school.

The Cabaret is an integral part of the Vocal Department performance schedule. Audiences have come to expect a wide range of musical styles and amazing performances. I hope that this first cabaret will be no different. Make sure you meet the deadline and be a part of the first cabaret.

The annual Cheesecake and Cookie Dough fundraiser is currently in progress. This is the biggest fundraiser for the year for the vocal department and is the one the pays all of the bills for the year. Each student is expected to sell at the very minimum 5 items. Prizes start at 10 items sold.

Please do your part and ask everyone you know to help you out. Students or parents needed additional forms can see Mr. Stroh for extras.

The money and orders are due on October 2. The cheesecakes and cookie dough will arrive during the week of November 5. As we get closer and exact date will be announced.

Last year, the vocal department was the top seller at the school. We would like to make it two years in a row so get out there and move that product!