Weekly Update
November 13, 2019
Choir School Family Exclusive: Concert Tickets
This year we are offering a special promotion to families who reach out and invite families with boys who might be interested in our school to attend the Christmas Concerts on December 8th and 15th. Contact Mr. Moran with the name and contact information for the family and he will send them promotional materials and four complimentary tickets to the Concert also give you four complimentary tickets to use at your discretion. We are also offering parishes that have a CCD program for children preparing for First Communion complimentary tickets (the number of tickets will depend upon the number of students in the class). Simply share the name of the religious education director or First Communion Teacher and you will also receive four complimentary tickets for the referral.
This week at school . . . . .
Faure Requiem – Nov. 15th: Mr. Kennerley is preparing the Choir to perform the music of Gabriel Faure, one of the boys’ favorites for the special Requiem Mass on November 15th. Please attend and invite a friend to finish the week on a positive note.
Funeral Mass: We were informed by former Chorister Michael Vareika (’74) that his mother and former SPCS French Teacher, Micheline Vareika, passed after a very long illness. Mrs. Vareika pursued medical studies at Louvain University in Belgium and obtained a master's degree in French Literature from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As a professor of French, she taught primary, secondary, and college levels in numerous schools including West Memorial in Peabody, Tower School in Marblehead, and SPCS. The Choir will sing the funeral Mass on Wednesday, 11/13 at St. Adelaide’s Parish in Peabody, MA.
Christmas Season: We circulated a broad press release announcing this Christmas season’s Boys Choir performances, a treasured tradition of Saint Paul’s | Harvard Square, Cambridge. Unprecedented is that the Choir is directed by Conductor and SPCS Director of Music James Kennerley.
The Boys Choir of Saint Paul’s Christmas season performances open with A Celebration of Christmas on Dec. 8th and 15th. The program features favorite Christmas music selections, as well as beloved carols that invite the audience to join in song. Compositions are drawn from more than 500 years of choral literature, including original works composed by Mr. Kennerly, as well as selections by acclaimed contemporary composers including John Rutter, Eric Whitacre and Morten Lauridsen. The Saint Paul’s choristers, in the true European tradition, invite the audience on a musical journey through the many themes and moments of the Christmas story. The choirs are joined by the Back Bay Brass, a premiere Boston-based chamber music ensemble, and a percussion ensemble, with accompaniment on Saint Paul’s majestic pipe organ by Maks Adach, organist. Tickets are on sale now and will be sold after services every Sunday until the concerts.
The Choristers will also perform at the Harvard Square Business Association Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 1st and for the retired priests at Regina Cleri on December 10th as well as several other concerts at partner parishes. The boys will be busy.
Report Cards: Report cards will be mailed to your homes this week and provide an opportunity to discuss the many great achievements of your sons as well as areas for improvement. There were five students who achieved First Honors with Distinction and nine others who made First Honors.
Thank you, Tom
Announcements:
· Families are reminded to read the SPCS Handbook and sign the acknowledgment form and return to Ms. Flaherty.
· As we near Flu season, please remember that children should be fever free (temperature of less than 100 degrees) without the aid of medication for 24 hours before returning to school. We recommend that all students get a flu shot.
· Parents are invited to attend Vespers on Thursday evening at 5:30.
· Choristers – please keep in mind that you should arrive on Sundays at 9:30 so that you are robed and ready to rehearse at 9:40.