{"id":2452588,"date":"2019-12-25T22:24:01","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T05:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/vocal-aspen-students-making-their-marks\/"},"modified":"2019-12-25T22:24:01","modified_gmt":"2019-12-26T05:24:01","slug":"vocal-aspen-students-making-their-marks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/vocal-aspen-students-making-their-marks\/","title":{"rendered":"Vocal Aspen students making their marks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Erica Nottingham leads the Dec 10 performance of the middle and high school choirs at the Aspen District Theatre. Nottingham started with the Aspen School District in the fall semester of 2018.<\/strong>
Courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Students in Aspen middle and high school\u2019s choral programs have had a lot to sing about lately, and it hasn\u2019t been just spreading good cheer.<\/p>\n

For sure, the budding vocalists have been busy this month. A winter choir concert at the Aspen District Theatre and the high school choir\u2019s performance at the Christmas tree lighting events at The Little Nell and Sardy House, for example, will do that.<\/p>\n

A handful of the vocalists also have received state recognition for their skills and talents this year (see factbox), while participation in the middle and high choirs is swelling, Erica Nottingham said.<\/p>\n

Nottingham began running the two schools\u2019 choral programs in the 2018-19 academic year. She had moved from Long Island, New York, to the Aspen School District with her husband, Don, who took a job as prosecutor at Aspen\u2019s office of the 9th Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

As the teacher of the choirs for the sixth-grade class, the combined chorus for the seventh and eighth grades, and the high school, Nottingham \u2014 who once taught at Campus Middle School in Cherry Creek \u2014 also introduced an International Baccalaureate music class to Aspen High.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came here,\u201d she recalled, \u201cthere was no IB music at the high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t much of a choir, either. Seven members comprised the high school version, whereas now it has more than 20 vocalists. Participation also has surged in the middle school, which had 13 choir singers last year and now more than 50.<\/p>\n

Others have taken notice of the increase in involvement, including Tharyn Mulberry, high school principal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn one short year, Mrs. Nottingham has single-handedly reignited our students\u2019 interest in choral music. \u2026 Her passion has been inspiring to students and well received by the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With the musical programs now having stability, Nottingham said she believes they can continue to grow in size and improve in quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there has been a history of teacher turnover in the music department, and so in light of that, it\u2019s very hard to develop a program because of relationships with students and the relationships with families,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about trust. It\u2019s about creating positive performance opportunities where the kids feel successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nottingham also has other plans, such as starting a parent choir, for instance. But the one nagging issue, she said, is space. As in singing space.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that the choir is moving beautifully and growing beautifully,\u201d she said. \u201cBut my biggest concern is I don\u2019t have a classroom. I don\u2019t have instructional classroom space, and I realize real estate is of prime importance at the school district, but this is something we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, though, Nottingham said students are gaining confidence with each performance. She said she takes music education seriously because of its impact on students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe so passionately in the value of a music education for all students, especially teenagers,\u201d she said. \u201cMusic ensembles engage students in teamwork, creative problem solving, communication and expression in the most profound ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen supported, music becomes the heart and soul of a school and community. It brings people together in the most positive ways. It is for this reason that I have dedicated my life to music and sharing that joy and passion with children and teenagers. As I tell all my students, \u2018Make everything you do musical; lead with your heart and the rest will fall into place.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

rcarroll@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erica Nottingham leads the Dec 10 performance of the middle and high school choirs at the Aspen District Theatre. Nottingham started with the Aspen School District in the fall semester of 2018.Courtesy photo Students in Aspen middle and high school\u2019s choral programs have had a lot to sing about lately, and it hasn\u2019t been just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 00:18:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}