The Shawnee Mission East Choraliers are a mixed chorus of more than 130 student singers, grades 10-12, at Shawnee Mission East High School

Shawnee Mission East High School

Shawnee Mission East High School is a public secondary school in Prairie Village, Kansas, USA for grades 9–12. It is one of five schools operated by Unified School District 512....

 in Prairie Village, Kansas

Prairie Village, Kansas

Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 21,447.- History :...

. The choir has performed in churches, cathedrals, schools and recital and concert halls throughout Europe, singing from Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

 to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The choir has performed at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

, Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site...

 in Cologne, Germany, Great St. Mary's Cathedral in Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, the Pantheon

Pantheon, Rome

The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...

 and at the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Lutheran Church), a church in Leipzig, Germany where Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

 held the position of cantor

Cantor (church)

A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....

.

Background

The SME Choraliers perform a varied repertoire of early, classical, and contemporary music in numerous engagements, often with professional soloists and with festival and symphonic Orchestras. The mixed chorus is the parent organization of four additional ensembles: Chamber Singers, the most selective ensemble made up of 24 singers; Varsity Choir, a men's chorus; Chansonettes, a women's chorale; and the Concert Choir, the novice choir made up of mainly underclassmen.

History of Directors

Originating in 1958, the year that SME opened, the choraliers have always been a treasured asset to the SME community. Originally under the direction of Mr. Jess Rose, the choral department was handed over to Daniel Zollars in 1970. Mr. Zollars became quite famous in the community for being not only the SME choral director but also the head football coach. After impacting the lives of thousands throughout his amazing career, Mr. Zollars retired from teaching in 1993. Finding a replacement for Mr. Zollars did not prove to be an easy task. It was no secret that whoever was hired as the SME choral director had some gigantic shoes to fill. Eventually, the administration hired Rika Heruth to fill the position. A very talented musician and soloist, Ms. Heruth seemed to take the SME choral department in a very different direction. While nothing Ms. Heruth did was wrong or bad per se, the members of the community felt rather unsure about her changing the methods that had worked so well in the past and producing a less choral sound than they had been used to. In 1997-98, Ms. Heruth resigned from the position of choral director at Shawnee Mission East and was replaced by Tracy S. Resseguie who, after an 11 year tenure, left Shawnee Mission East after the 07-08 school year. Since the fall of 2008, the SME Choral Department has been under the direction of Kenneth Foley.

European tours

Europe has been a recurring tour destination of the Choraliers since 2000. In 2001, the Choraliers embarked on a 10-day tour of Italy, performing in several magnificent venues, including the Pantheon, the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome, the Rotterdam Conservatory in Florence, the San Marco Basilica in Venice, and at a special mass of Lent in the St. Ambrose Basilica in Milan. In 2004, after being selected to perform as part of the annual, week-long celebration of J.S. Bach, 110 Choraliers experienced their second international tour performing all over England, Belgium, and Germany. Highlighting performances included concerts at St. Thomas-Kirche in Leipzig, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Cambridge, and an invitational concert at the home of J.S. Bach in Eisenach, followed by an afternoon performance in St. George Cathedral. The 2005-2006 school year was an extremely busy time for the SME Choral Department. In the early stages of the fall of 2006, the choraliers received word that they had been selected among thousands of choirs from 5 different states to perform a solo concert at the Southwest American Choral Director's Association convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Immediately following the performance at Southwest ACDA, the Choraliers flew to Ireland for their third international ten day tour, performing in several venues in Galway, Killarney, and Shannon concluding with a performance in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.

Highlighting Performances

Over the past ten years, the choirs of SME have performed numerous choral masterworks and have had the privilege to work with many different professional symphony orchestras. Some of the most notable recent performances include:


Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna performed with the Kansas City Symphony in 2004 and the New England Philharmonic in 2007


G.F. Handel’s The Messiah performed with Kansas University's Instrumental Collegium Musicum


John Rutter’s Gloria performed with the Kansas Brass Quintet


Arise Shine, a world premiere performance in Carnegie Hall, featuring the works of Dan Forrest performed with the New England Philharmonic.


A highlight of the 2004-2005 school year was working in concert with the Kansas City Wind Symphony, performing Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Mr. Resseguie directed the Symphony and students from all five of his choirs, grades 9-12, who gave an outstanding performance at Johnson County Community College’s beautiful Yardley Hall. SME Choir members have also performed several other masterworks within recent years, such as the John Rutter Requiem and Missa Kenya by Paul Basler.

Recent Repertoire

2007 New York Tour

Lux Aeterna

By Morten Lauridsen

Morten Lauridsen

Morten Johannes Lauridsen is an American composer. He was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and has been a professor of composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music for more than 30 years.-Biography:Lauridsen was born February 27, 1943, in...

Arise, Shine! (world premiere)

By Daniel Forrest

2006 Southwest ACDA Concert

Dúlamán

Dúlamán

Dúlamán is the third studio album by Irish folk group Clannad. It was released in 1976. It is named for its first track, a rendition of the Irish folk song, Dúlamán.-Track listing:# "Dúlamán" – 4:34# "Cumha Eoghain Rua Uí Néill" – 4:09...

By David Mooney

Leonardo Dreams Of His Flying Machine

By Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination...

Soloists: Carrie Barker, Cailan O'Grady, and Jonathan B. Lerner

Jamaican Medley

By Paul Tucker

Original manuscript written specifically for the Southwest American Choral Directors Association and Choraliers.

Amor De Mi Alma

Music By Z. Randall Stroope

Text By Gracilaso de la Vega

My Soul's Been Anchored In The Lord

Arr. by Moses Hogan

Moses Hogan

Moses George Hogan was an African-American composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his very popular and accessible settings of spirituals. Hogan was a pianist, conductor and arranger of international renown...

2006 Ireland Tour Music

Mairi’s Wedding

Arr. by Bob Chilcott

Mass in G Minor: I. Kyrie

By R. Vaughan Williams

Gaelic Blessing

By John Leavitt

Original manuscript written in memory of Ronnie Resseguie (sister of Tracy Resseguie) VII Movement of John Leavitt's Requiem.

O Magnum Mysterium

Music By Morten Lauridsen

I Like For You To Be Still

By Robert Pherigo

Specifically for the Southwest American Choral Directors Association and Choraliers.

Lobet den Herrn from Singet dern Herrn nein neus

Lied JS Bach 3:34 Edition Peters No. 6101

Blue Moon

In contrast to the classical music that the choral department focuses on throughout the year, the choral students of SME always end their academic year with an extravagant production entitled Blue Moon. It has been known to last at least three hours. The purpose of Blue Moon is to celebrate the SME choral music program and the commitment to choir that the students, particularly the seniors, have shown throughout that respective school years and throughout their entire high school careers. The show is rehearsed, put together and performed all within the very last few weeks of school. Each choir does a group of numbers from a Broadway show complete with costuming, staging, choreography and a pit orchestra. In between each choir's big production are solo and/or ensemble numbers performed by students who have auditioned. With the departure of Tracy Resseguie after the 2007-2008 school year, the tradition of Blue Moon at Shawnee Mission East came to an end. The official last production took place in May of 2008.

Honors and awards

2007

• New York Tour:

Carnegie Hall

2006

Southwest American Choral Directors' Association selection

• Ireland Tour:

University of Galway Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Patricks Day Parade, Dublin

St. Patricks Cathedral

King John's Castle

Blarney Castle

2005

Kansas Music Educators' Association Convention selection

2004

• Europe Tour:

England

Southwark Cathedral, London (March 14)

Great St. Mary's Cathedral, Cambridge(March 15)

Belgium

Great Place Square, Brussels(March 16)

Germany

Deutschhausekirche, Wurzburg(March 18)

Cologne Cathedral, Cologne(March 17)

St. Thomas Kirche, Leipzig

Bachhaus, Eisenach(March 21)
St. Eisenach

St. George Church

Buchenwald concentration camp

Carmina Burana Performance with Kansas Wind Ensemble (Fall)

2003

Winter Park Ski Music Festival Grand Champion Choir

Kansas Governor's inauguration ceremony

2001

Kansas Music Educators' Association Convention selection

• Italy Tour(Spring):

St. Mary Major Basilica by Cardinal invitation

Panthenon, Rome

St. Mark's, Venice

Cathedral Duomo, Florence

Scheduled concert in Florence Hall

St. Croix Church, Italy

Verona Square, Verona

Venice Square, Venice

External links

• SME Choraliers Homepage
• SME Choral Department Booster Club

Footnotes