Home School Music Classes and Choruses 2010-2011
We welcome you to our new year of singing wonderful music. Please email me at anikodebreceny@comcast.net if you would like to register, including each student's name, age, preferred class/choir, and location.
* Please be aware that my computer or server is NOT delivering registrations sent from this website. Please email me directly rather than online. Thank you very much. We are still working on the website, which is currently not supported by the software company.
If you have any friends who may be interested in their children joining our classes, please pass this information on to them. Prospective students and families are most welcome to visit any rehearsals / classes.
Tuesday :
St. Paul's United Methodist Church, room 211, 10401 Armory Avenue, Kensington, MD
12:00-1:00 Solfa, 1:00-2:00 Advanced Solfa, 2:00-3:00 Cantilla, 3:15-4:30 I Cantori
starting September 7th, 2010
Wednesday : Church of the Nazarene – corner of Goshen Rd & Warfield Rd, Gaithersburg, MD
1:00 - 2:00 Solfa, 2:00 - 3:00 Advanced Solfa, 3:15 - 4:30 I Cantori, 4:30-5:30 I Voci
starting September 8th, 2010
Dates: Fall Semester : week beginning September 6, 2010 – week beginning December 13, 2010. Classes and rehearsals will be held the week of Thanksgiving.
Spring Semester : week beginning January 10, 2011 – week beginning May 2nd .
Spring Break will follow Montgomery County Schools calendar (April 19 & 20, 2011).
Snow Make-up Weeks - beginning May 2, 9, 16, 2011.
Concerts - To Be Announced
Cost: Tuition is unchanged at $150 per semester for Solfa, Advanced Solfa, Cantilla, & I Cantori. Rent and materials fee is $25 per family, per semester. I Voci is supported by a donor, and the tuition is $75 per semester.
We continue to offer large family discounts and scholarships. Please email Miss Aniko directly for further information. Payment is due in the first week of the semester. We also offer the option of paying half in the first week, and the remainder in the eighth week of each semester.
Information: email Miss Aniko - anikodebreceny@comcast.net, or call 1-301-695-1015.
Registration forms will be available at the first week(s) of classes. To register,
please email Miss Aniko. Please do not use the registration form online.
Aniko Debreceny, 1206 North Market Street, Frederick, MD 21701
Course Descriptions:
In Solfa parents and children learn music together through solfa, a simple method of learning to sing with correct pitch. Each class includes breathing and vocal exercises, rhythmic activities, movement, general music concepts, using simple hand signs for notes (an excellent kinesthetic activity), and singing a variety of rounds, American folk songs and songs from other countries. Advanced Solfa begins to sing songs in other languages - including Italian, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Latin. Singers in Advanced Solfa do not need to have participated in Solfa, though it is very helpful.
Cantilla is a new group this year, for students a little older or more advanced than those in Advanced Solfa. It will include songs in parts and other languages, while continuing to develop more complex rhythm and movement skills from previous classes. We also learn original curriculum based songs, written and composed by Ms. Debreceny. This year we will be singing songs about the Renaissance.
I Cantori is a chorus singing music from the Renaissance to the twenty first century. Much of the music is unaccompanied, in up to 8 parts, in a number of other languages, including German, Latin, and Spanish. The second semester this year will be all American music, including some great Broadway and jazz songs. Parents are welcome to join us.
I Voci is a small, advanced chorus in Gaithersburg, by audition only. Auditions are held the first three weeks of the semester. Singers must also belong to I Cantori, as we perform repertoire from both choruses at our concerts.
All music is provided. Please bring a 1" white view binder for each student. Parents, pre-school siblings and babies attend at no charge.
What
other home school parents have said about Aniko’s classes:
* "Last year my kids
took singing class with Aniko Debreceny and loved it. If you are looking for a
way to get your kids singing instruction in a group atmosphere, this is a really
good place to go. Her classes include lots of music terminology and she
really gets them singing in pitch and together. She works on diction, too, which
I really think many music teachers don't do anymore. Her songs are always from
all over the globe and she appeals to the home schooler's tendency to dig deeper
and learn the history and context of the songs. She has lived all over the world
and often peppers her instruction with anecdotes about life and culture in other
countries.
We found this class was a great complement to our instrumental instruction.
After class people often stay and play together and chat outside, so we made
some lasting
friendships here which was very nice." Allison Gillespie, MD 2010
* "Those who have been under Aniko's direction in the past know she is an extremely gifted composer and music historian. The stories she weaves into the history of the pieces develops an enthusiastic passion for all genres. This year at NEXT, a crowd gathered for swing dancing. To everyone's dismay, the sound system malfunctioned and there was no music. Out of the crowds came young adults who had grown up with Aniko and someone started Chattanooga Choo Choo. From there, the swing dancing began. These former students, now adults in all walks of life, came together and worked through their very rich repertoire of pieces while the delighted audience danced.
Aniko isn't about memorizing songs for a concert. She's about developing a love for singing. With a focus more on the process than the product, the outcome is solid, passionate, love of singing." Kathy Tucker, MD 2010
* "I just want to say
how much we're enjoying your classes, thanks to you we're singing all the time
now. I've always wanted to be the kind of family that sang in the car and
learned to sing harmony with each other, but it's just never happened. Now
we're singing in our homeschool, singing in the car, singing everywhere, and
enjoying singing in rounds, which is the beginning of harmony."
Rachel Merrill, VA 2010
* "The children are really enjoying singing, as
usual. The singing binders are their one treasured binder from each
year--I am not allowed to file them away with the rest of their school.
They like to take them in the van when we travel, and they like to refer to them
when we are learning something that they already had learned in one of your
songs!!!" Janet Segui, MD 2009
* "When my daughter and I enrolled in Aniko's solfa class, little did we know that we'd be getting much more than do-re-mi. Aniko incorporates many elements of music education into her class - rhythm, singing, ear training, sight singing, movement. But that's not all. Aniko takes the children on big adventures in social studies. Whether learning cowboy songs of the Old West or slave songs of the South, the children think and talk about history, geography, and the everyday lives of people in other places and times. By intertwining the melodies, words, and discussions with the children's imaginations, Aniko brings history to life through song. It is a most marvelous way for the children to learn." Lila Turner, MD 2005
* "My friends who have their children enrolled in your classes because of my glowing reports are ALL so glad they did! They came in with high expectations... and you met and exceeded them." Beth Riddlesberger, MD 2007
* "Thank you very much for the wonderful music experiences Sebastian (6 years old) had with you this year. Mid-year, for example, he had me singing in parts with him as we drove along on the Beltway in afternoon traffic..." Susanne Wiggins, MD 2007
* "I've been to many children's chorus concerts but never walked away with the feeling I got from this one! This was the very first time for me to successfully perform on stage. Thank you for giving me a positive experience. This was also a first for my son. This time he really enjoyed himself. He was singing his little heart out. Thank you!" Martha O'Hanlon, MD 2007
* "Just wanted to say
thanks, Aniko, for the wonderful musical experience you have given our beloved
boys (ages 13 and 9) over the past five years. As a public school music teacher,
I especially appreciate the high level of musical excellence that all your
groups achieve. I am amazed at the apparent ease with which your i Cantori and i
Voci groups perform extremely sophisticated and complex vocal arrangements. Many
college level music students only wish they could sing with a group such as
this.
As wonderful as your concerts have been, the best part for me was observing
these kids after the concert was over. Seeing them continue to sing out in the
lobby or even out the door into the parking lot, to initiate favorite songs all
by themselves, is truly a testament to their love for singing. Obviously this
has been cultivated by your fine teaching and by your establishment of a
wonderful environment in which this can happen. Nothing makes a music teacher
happier than seeing kids experience and enjoy music to such a degree. I
can't wait to see what the future holds for these groups, and, for these
students. Thanks again for your commitment and fine teaching." Steve
Sinni
Music Teacher at Montgomery Knolls Elementary School
Silver Spring, MD (Montgomery County Public Schools) 2005
* "I knew our (six year old) daughter was really paying attention in your class when one afternoon as we were driving and listening to the radio she said, "Mom, can you change the station please? That song is way too minor!". Thank you for increasing my child's musical vocabulary and helping her develop a discerning ear." Barbara Dashiell, MD 2005
*"When my older children (Joshua and Madelyn) were babies, I heard a children's chorus in Utah sing that was just heavenly. The children had learned to use their voices correctly and the pure clear sound was truly artistic. Ever since then, I've kept in the back of my mind the desire to find a good children's chorus for my kids some day. In the small town I grew up in, the only non-school chorus that I was aware of was a show choir. I don't have anything against "show choirs," but the kids just yelled, and it wasn't a pretty sound. So I've been keeping my eye out for a good children's chorus, and I'm happy to say I've found one! My only concern was that I was the one who wanted them to do the chorus, because I wanted my kids to learn to sing with a beautiful tone, and I knew Madelyn would love it, but I knew I'd have to do some selling with Joshua. You made that easy, because they were both instantly sold! They absolutely loved it from day one!
Also, I want to tell you that from a musician's standpoint, I'm very impressed as well. I have a master's in violin performance and pedagogy, and although I'm not a singer, I have thought before that I should spend some time teaching my children to sing. (Don't laugh, because if you've listened to me sing at all, you'll know I'm not good, but I know a few basics for trying to help my children, and my mother was an elementary school music teacher, so we grew up singing a lot of the songs that you teach). First of all, I never was getting to teaching them singing, so for that I'm grateful for your class, but secondly (and I know this is obvious, because you are trained to do this) you do such a better job than I could ever do, not just because I'm not a singing teacher, but because you are one of the most skilled teachers that I've ever observed. You have such good classroom management skills, cover so many important musical concepts, teach history along with it, use every minute to the best advantage, have a predictable routine that the kids become used to and anticipate, and make it all fun! I can't imagine a childhood music program any better! Anyway, that was long, but though I have meant to, I have never taken the time to tell you before how much we appreciate you! I also appreciate your making it affordable and easy to come." SaraLyn Baxter, MD 2005
* “My
family sings all the time … now music fills our home, our car, our outdoors.” Ginny
Wilcox, VA
* "All of your rhythm and clapping and singing games have been a help to my boys' coordination, and I think, to reading too!" Nancy Rooker, VA
*
“…
The most deliberately delightful music instruction I have ever experienced.
My kids don’t fight in the car any more.
We sing!"
Jacintha Mezzetti, MD
*
“Your
music has been one of the biggest benefits of home schooling.” Lorrie
Fry, VA
Mail Registration On-Line Registration
Have a question? anikodebreceny@comcast.net