Music Ensembles

Ensemble Applied Music, Grade Level: 11-12

Ensemble Applied Music provides training in ensemble performance through participation in large ensembles and chamber music. Students of orchestral instruments partici­pate in Concertato String Orchestra or Wind Ensemble as large ensembles, and also in chamber music for smaller combinations of instruments. Strings and Winds combine in the spring for a Chamber Orchestra (Sinfonia) concert. Vo­calists participate in Cantus Chamber Choir as a conducted ensemble and in Opera Workshop for experience in theatri­cal literature and performance. Piano students focus on chamber literature for their instrument. Addition­ally, all music students sing in the Governor’s School Choir each semester they are enrolled. The ensembles that give credit for Ensemble Applied Music are:

Governor’s School Choir

The Governor's School Choir is the largest musical ensemble at the Governor's School and is comprised of all students enrolled in the music department. Membership is also open to students of other art areas by audition. The choir is designed to introduce students to the basic techniques of ensemble singing and to foster sight-reading and aural skills. The Governor's School Choir has performed numerous times with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra on their Holiday at Peace concert and has also performed with the Hilton Head Orchestra.

Chamber Choir (Cantus)

Cantus Chamber Choir is composed of students studying voice. The Cantus Chamber Choir sings repertory from all style periods from the Renaissance to the present. The Cantus Choir has performed many concerts around the state including a performance with the Mozart Festival in Columbia, a concert at the Sumter Opera House, two years at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, in addition to many other concerts in high schools and middle schools around the state. For multiple years Cantus has received superior ratings at the S.C. Music Educators Association state choral festival.

Chamber Orchestra (Sinfonia)

The Sinfonia is the chamber orchestra of the Governor's School. It offers instrumental students an opportunity to study and perform repertory representing a variety of composers and styles from the orchestral literature. Past programs have included Beethoven's Symphony No. 1, Schubert's Symphony No. 8 ("The Unfinished"), Copland's An Outdoor Overture, Georges Bizet's L'Arlesianne Suite No. 1, Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question, Bizet's Carmen Suite No.1, and other works of note. Sinfonia is composed of students from Concetato and the Wind Ensemble.

String Orchestra (Concertato)

Concertato is the string orchestra of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities and is comprised of all violin, viola, cello and bass students enrolled in the department. Performing without conductor Concertato players rotate seating throughout each section, giving all participants experience in leadership positions.
Since its beginning 2002, Concertato String Orchestra has established itself as a vibrant and innovative ensemble. Concertato performances have been featured on SC-ETV and on South Carolina Public Radio, and at the 2005 and 2006 Piccolo Spoleto festivals in Charleston. In March of 2006 Concertato was named Grand Champion Ensemble at the American String Teachers Association High School Orchestra Competition, and was invited to perform in the Kansas City Music Hall. Concertato has been selected two times to perform at the annual South Carolina Music Educator Association Convention.

Wind Ensemble

The Wind Ensemble of the Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities offers students an opportunity to study and perform music written for large and small combinations of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments. One of five large performing ensembles at the Governor's School, the Wind Ensemble has presented concerts around the state performing at the Peace Center in Greenville, the Brooks Center in Clemson, the Verne Smith Auditorium at Greenville Tech, as well as other venues. In 2002 and 2003, the Wind Ensemble performed for President George W. Bush on his visits to Greenville, and in 2001 received the Concert Achievement Award from the S.C. Band Director's Association. The thirty-four member ensemble performs works from the standard repertory, spanning a period from the sixteenth century to the present. Typical repertory has included Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger, Little Threepenny Music by Kurt Weill, Speil by Ernst Toch, Overture for Winds by Felix Mendelssohn, Sonata Pian' e Forte by Giovanni Gabrieli, Variations on "America," by Charles Ives, Chester by William Schuman, and other works written for wind and percussion instruments.

Chamber Music (Winds, Brass, Percussion, Strings)

Opera Workshop

The Opera Workshop is made up of all vocal students. It introduces them to a variety of music written for the stage, including opera, operetta and selections from Broadway, culminating in a public performance each semester. In addition, Opera Workshop focuses on the skills required of a successful solo singer, including audition technique, stage craft, communicating with an audience, character development, performance practice and stage deportment.

Jazz Ensemble

The Jazz Ensemble is a performing ensemble of flexible instrumentation open by audition to all music students. The emphasis for the Jazz Ensemble is on improvisation and often consists of small combos focusing on the standard jazz repertory. The Jazz Ensemble performs two concerts per year and represents the school in various off-campus events.

Piano Ensemble

The Piano Ensemble features two components for students from the Piano Studio. In the first semester, students rehearse and perform master works either for four hands at one piano or four hands at two pianos. In the second semester, the pianists pair up with other music colleagues from other areas (singers or instrumentalists) to prepare and perform music for chamber settings. The culmination for each semester's work is a public performance.