Solebury School's 2019-2020 Academic Bulletin

Rock Band: Rock Band plays contemporary and classic rock. Come get the experience of what it feels
like to be in a band. Learn about rehearsing a band, and how to make an exciting arrangement for a band.
Get into stage presence and performance skills. Rock Band is a performance based group, and gives
feature concerts. Vocalists and instrumentalists are welcome. Prior music playing is expected for this
class. Prerequisite: Instrumental Proficiency. 1 credit (fall term)
Theater I: This course is intended for the beginning actor or student looking to improve his/her
confidence and ability in front of any audience. Students will be introduced to the craft of acting,
beginning with the premise that all of us act all of the time. Starting with physical expression, the class
will move on to study and practice vocalization, understanding movement onstage, character
development, and scene analysis and preparation. The course will culminate in students working
collaboratively to produce a final scene. 1 credit
Vocal Performance Workshop: Vocal Performance Workshop is a master class on vocal training
and performance. It has an emphasis on building vocal technique, learning to constructively critique peers
in a workshop setting, and performing. The musical backdrop for this class is vast, ranging from musical
theatre songs to contemporary music. Students will perform as an ensemble but will also get monthly (or
whatever pace suits the class) themed song assignments. For these assignments, they will perform for the
class, receive feedback, and give a repeat performance after they’ve incorporated suggestions from
the workshop. An example of a monthly theme may be duet month, where the teacher will pair two
students together on a selected song. More monthly themes could be: three-part harmony, a month
dedicated to a specific artist or musical, and different genres of music, like pop or folk. If any students
play an instrument, they will be encouraged to accompany themselves or collaborate with classmates. For
the trimester concerts, they will essentially be performing the class’s greatest hits—working on group
numbers throughout the class and choosing from the best themed assignments. The ensemble will perform
with a live pianist and/or house band. This class serves as a good resource for anyone who loves to sing
and is ideal for students who plan to audition for collegiate-level music or theatre programs. 1 credit
Writing and Arranging Using Finale: This class will focus on scoring and arranging techniques, such
as voicing for horns, strings, soli and concerted techniques, writing for a rhythm section. We will take this
at whatever pace suits the individual or class. As the class will use Finale software, the student will be
learning how to operate this powerful tool, which is so widely used in the music world. The use of Finale
will be a focus. Assignments will be compositional and arranging for bands of various sizes. 1 credit
WINTER TRIMESTER COURSES
Visual Arts
Please note that there will be a $25 fee per trimester (unless a different fee is stated
within course description) for all visual arts courses, to cover materials.
Advanced Media Arts: In this course students will continue the exploration of graphic design with an
emphasis on the principles of design. Students will learn about the history of typography as well as some
of the historical movements in the field of graphics. The main emphasis of this course will be the
exploration of problems and possible solutions that integrate the use of dynamic composition; combining
images and typography (layering), photography and space (transparency) as effective ways to solve visual
problems. Topics of study (which are subject to change) include fundamentals of design (line, shape,
value, texture, color, form), graphic design - the new basics (figure/ground, framing, hierarchy, layers,
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