Under Construction

Opus One has been
the select vocal
ensemble at Niceville
Senior High School
for the past
twenty-eight years.

The group was
founded in 1980 at
Niceville High School
by Phyllis Merritt,
then in her first year
as choral director at
the school. Merritt
conducted the
ensemble until 1990
when she retired
after 30 years as a
Florida music
educator. Ms. Merritt
is still active as a
conductor and
adjudicator.

In 1990 Michael Dye
was appointed choral
director at Niceville
High School and took
over conducting
responsibilities of
Opus One and the
other choruses at the
high school. Dye,
now in his eighteenth
year as director,
continues to conduct
Opus One, the fifteen,
mixed-voiced
ensemble.

Opus continues to be
the most select
ensemble at the
school just as it was
in 1980. Members
represent the best
vocal musicians at
Niceville and some of
the finest in Florida.
In January fourteen
members will sing as
members of the
Florida Music
Educators
Association's
All-State Chorus,
including four of
whom were Reading
Chorus members.
Repertoire for Opus
One includes music
ranging in style from
William Byrd to Eric
Whitacre. The
ensemble also
performs a program
of popular holiday
songs in season as
well as jazz and pop
selections
throughout the
school year. Opus
One, whose
members also
belong to the
Niceville Singers, are
recognized for
performing new and
challenging choral
literature of today's
composers.

Opus One is beginning an ambitious project, a school-based project which we hope will
someday involve former as well as present Opus One members.
This page is currently being sponsored by the Niceville Chorus Boosters Association. In due
time it is hoped that there will be an Opus One alumni who will co-publish the site with the
young musicians who are today's Opus.
This web page can be used to reconnect former members over the many miles and years. We
hope the association with former Opus members will help enrich the musical lives of the
young people who are members of today's Opus.
This is not a fund-raising site. The choral program appreciates contributions but this is not,
and never will be, a site to ask for money for our choruses.
Opus One has always been a performing ensemble with a deep love of music-making.
Friendships forged between members and the fun had in Opus has been the highlight of many
singers high school careers.
Opus One is a small fraternity. Over the twenty-seven years of existence, there have been
only about 200 total members.
To build a web site all members of Opus One, past and present, will take a lot of work and
assistance. The materials for each Opus class will have to come from former members, their
friends and family. As time passes we want to get you on board with this project and hope
that we will be able to make our efforts reach further than the screen of your computer and
into some real projects and performances.
One of those projects is on the burner now. Exploratory efforts are underway to take an Opus
One tour to Europe in 2009 . More on this will be published during the next few weeks. Let
us know if your are interested.
The first project for you who read this is to let former members of Opus One know that there is
an official web site for Opus One and it is associated with the current choral music program.
Call or e-mail former members. Let them know where we are and ask them to contact us using
our contact page.
Second, the people who will work with the site will need a roster of members from each year.
There are probably many former members who can build a web page that we can paste into our
site.
Next, we will need photos and other things that you can scan and send to us for publication on
this site. Be the first to send an Opus group picture and we will publish it on this home page.
There is little doubt that this will not be a project that will be finished in a few weeks. If we
are lucky, it will be an on-going project for many years to come.
So, let's get started. Go to the button entitled "Contact Us" and send us some information
about yourself. We want to know who you are and when you were in Opus.
We look forward to seeing you again, renewing old friendships and creating new ones.

The first project for you who read this is to let former members of Opus One know that there is an official web
site for Opus One and it is associated with the current choral music program. Call or e-mail former members. Let
them know where we are and ask them to contact us using our contact page.
Second, the people who will work with the site will need a roster of members from each year. There are probably
many former members who can build a web page that we can paste into our site.
Next, we will need photos and other things that you can scan and send to us for publication on this site. Be the
first to send an Opus group picture and we will publish it on this home page. There is little doubt that this will
not be a project that will be finished in a few weeks. If we are lucky, it will be an on-going project for many
years to come.
So, let's get started. Go to the button entitled "Contact Us" and send us some information about yourself. We
want to know who you are and when you were in Opus.
We look forward to seeing you again, renewing old friendships and creating new ones.