We welcomed all our new and returning singers, who gathered Saturday morning, August 18 at Dahlonega Baptist Church to get acquainted, and to launch our new season! In the course of the day, we introduced all the songs for the upcoming concert, THE BEST OF NGCC. We also learned movement games and played around with Conversational Solfege, learning the language of melody and rhythm. Music theory and singing basics were introduced as well. After a lunch break and the final singing session, we began English Country folk dancing, joined by a few veterans who came for the afternoon. After this vigorous activity, a bowl of ice cream was a welcome treat!

Many thanks to the staff and volunteers of Dahlonega Baptist who helped get us set up for the event, and provided the perfect space for the day.

May 21, 2018 – Eight enthusiastic seven and eight year-olds enjoyed five Mondays between spring break and the end of school, moving through the elements of the First Steps in Music curriculum. The children and the instructor had a lot of fun! Hopefully many of these singers will return in the fall as Upbeat Singers!

We had one of our most exciting fall seasons collaborating with the UNG musical theater class in their Broadway Extravaganza, MAGIC TO DO. Having had to shorten our season due to school closing for Hurricane Harvey, then again for UNG’s performance schedule, we pruned a few numbers from our A LITTLE NONSENSE program and learned six, plus the show tune with choreography, in 8 rehearsals. Wow! The girls were absolutely awesome.

Sadly, Melissa Goodwin was not able to continue with us due to our change of rehearsal day. We have added a new assistant director, Julia Morang, a former music student of Ruth’s. (Read her bio on our ABOUT page.) We are happy to have her on board! She will direct Jubilant Song in the spring as we return to our graded choirs format at long last.

We are looking forward to the first spring season in 3 years (2016 and 2017 both swallowed up by family health issues) with a program entitled THE BEST OF NGCC. We are canvassing the singers and families for their all-time favorites, and it promises to be a wonderful show!

Another spring term hiatus in 2017, this time due to Ruth’s mother’s health needs. So we have moved our program of whimsy to the fall and are eager to get started! Out of deference to the Georgia Pick and Bow School which meets on Tuesdays, we have moved our rehearsal day to Mondays starting this term. Check your calendars. Has your child always wanted to do chorus and had a Tuesday conflict? Now’s your chance! We also have a new accompanist, Clay Burnett, a sophomore music education major at UNG Dahlonega. You’ll find his bio on the ABOUT page.