The South County Children's Choir

"Teaching children to give with a pure heart"

Christmas CD - Orders being taken now. Please Email Bonnie by Clicking Here One copy will be available for each student at the Christmas CD Release party, but additional copies must be ordered, and will be available on December 16th. The cost of our CD is $5.

NOTE: Due to the health reasons, I am very disappointed to say that I will not be able to continue The teVelde Children's Choir into the Spring Season, 2011. The choir program will be put on hold after the conclusion of this season. As a result, I am not requiring parents to purchase the performance outfits. Kohl's will give 100% refunds for any uniforms already purchased. Please read the note from Bonnie below. I would highly recommend that current choir participants continue their singing in the Central Coast Children's Choir. More information is available below.

Performances This Season:

Christmas Concert

Our Christmas Concert, 2010, is on December 11th, 2010. The concert will be held at the St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 301 Trinity Avenue, Arroyo Grande. The concert is at 7pm, but all choir members are to arrive at the church no later than 5:30pm. We will be meeting in the McHugh Hall to rehearse, and enter the church from there. Please make sure your children have been fed, and that they have water and a non-sugar snack with them.

Dress will be formal. Girls will wear dresses or dressy pants, with a nice blouse. Boys will wear slacks, a button down shirt, and a tie.

Convalescent Home Performance:

1. Sunday, December 12, 2010 @ 2-2:30pm: Alder House

We will be singing for the patients at the Alder House, 295 Alder Street, Arroyo Grande. We will meet outside at 1:45pm, for our 2:00pm performance. The performance will last about 30 minutes. Dress is formal: Girls - dresses or pants with a nice blouse; Boys - Dress shirt & tie, dark slacks & shoes. No tennis shoes please.

• Sunday, December 12, 2010 @ 3-3:30pm: Arroyo Grande Care Center

We will be singing for the patients at Arroyo Grande Care Center, 1212 Farroll Avenue, Arroyo Grande. We will meet outside at 2:45pm, for our 3:00pm performance. All other details are the same as for Alder House. (We are still waiting for final confirmation on this performance date.)

Christmas Party & CD Release:

We will have our Christmas party on Sunday, December 12th from 4-6pm, after our performance at the Alder House Convalescent Home. Please contact Bonnie for signup sheet to bring refreshments. We will have copies of our 2010 Christmas CD for students to take home. Your cost for each CD is $5. If you want to order more than one copy, please let us know at that time, and we will have them ready for you by December 16th.

UNIFORMS:

Because I am physically unable to continue the choir program, we are not going to be needing the uniforms. If you decide to continue participating in choir through the Central Coast Children's Choir organization, they have their own uniform requirements that change with every year/level of choir participation. When you enroll, you will receive information on their dress requirements.

Any uniforms already purchased can be returned for a full refund to Kohls. Links to each item are listed with the items below:

GIRLS:

• White, short-sleeved, button-up blouses w/peter pan collar
• Navy, pleated skirt, or Navy, pleated slacks
• Navy Sweater/Cardigan
• Navy tights w/skirt, or Navy socks w/slacks
• black shoes (daisy jane style-no tennis shoes!)

BOYS:

• White, long-sleeved, button-up shirts w/button-down collars
• Navy, pleated slacks
• Navy sweater vest
• Black clip-on tie
• Navy socks
• Black dress shoes (no tennis shoes!)

NOTE FROM BONNIE TEVELDE:

When I founded the South Country Children's Choir 10 years ago, I had a vision in mind of a children's choir that provided an opportunity for children to connect with the Senior Citizens/Patients at local convalescent homes/hospitals. At the same time, I wanted to give the children an opportunity to learn progressively more complex music, while at the same time learning how to sing in a supportive, choir setting. After four years, however, I realized that because of my bad back, I simply could not physically continue to conduct a choir, or go through the rigors that a performance schedule would require during the Holidays. I ended the choir program about 5 years ago.

This summer, I hired a teacher who was very interested in rekindling the choir. I made it very clear to her that I would and could not conduct it myself, but that if she was willing and prepared to do it, I would put the program back together. After much planning, choosing repertoire, and hiring an accompanist (Sierra), I did the advertising and announcements that you all saw and responded to. Unfortunately, 2 weeks before the season started, the teacher got another job that required her to work full time with her husband. Not wanting to let all of the children down, I decided to go ahead and conduct the choir myself and see if I might be able to do it physically.

As the season has progressed, I have loved every bit of working with your children. They are talented, enthusiastic, and motivated, and I was continually amazed at the level of material they were able to conquer in such a short amount of time. On the other hand, the physical side of conducting has left me in severe pain every single time rehearsals are over. I have done my best to continue, but as the weeks have gone by, I have finally realized that I just can't do it anymore. If you read a bit about me in my bio on this website, you will understand that although my childhood injuries are not getting worse, the amount of physical activity I can do is severely limited. The choir takes an amount of energy from me that I simply cannot sustain.

As a result, I am really disappointed to say that I will have to stop the choir program at the end of this Fall, 2010, season. I have contacted Melody Svenunngsen, of the Central Coast Children's Choir, to let her know about your children. At one point, CCCC was planning to start a debut choir in the South SLO County area. I have asked her if this might be a possibility they would consider again. In the meantime, many of my Arroyo Grande students are members of CCCC, and it is, in my opinion, the most professional children's choir organization in the SLO County area. I would highly recommend that you check them out for your children. This is a link to their website: Central Coast Children's Choir.