What a great, wild and crazy year this has been! It always seems to go by in a flash in retrospect, doesn’t it?
Just a quick word about this week and beyond…
All personally-owned instruments should be brought home today after school and do not need to be returned until August (unless a student has a private lesson with a teacher who is still teaching this week).
School-owned instruments will be checked out to current sixth and seventh grade students who are enrolled in band again next year. Those will be coming home either today or tomorrow. If you should have an issue with a school-owned instrument during the summer, please contact me via email. I will be in town for most of the summer and checking email.
Links will be emailed out in the next few weeks with music for students to be working on through the summer.
Audition results will (hopefully) be posted at the end of the school day tomorrow. I’ve explained to the students that all three of our seventh and eighth grade performing ensembles are successful ensembles. They all do the same/similar activities. Our Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony meet for sectionals once per week in the mornings (this is not in conflict with the boys’ sports practices – we work that out with the coaches – not to worry!). All three groups had very successful contest seasons this year and look great for next year as well! The biggest difference is the difficulty level of the concert music that we play. Each student is assigned into the ensemble that best fits his/her ability level. Our goal is to keep students from being overwhelmed by music that’s too hard, and “bored” from music that’s too easy. There’s no “good band” and “bad band”.
We have a small (and growing smaller!) faction of students not signed up for band again next year and I get daily questions of how to change that to be back IN for next year! All it takes is an email to me and I can get that adjusted on your child’s schedule if they decide they want to hang with us again next year.
All instruments should come back for SummerBand! We will meet August 14-17, 5-7 pm each evening to get to work on our Pep Band tunes for next year. This is for incoming seventh and eighth graders only. We really need everyone at these rehearsals if you’re in town that week! This is when we do the bulk of the work on pep tunes – and it’s fun to see everyone again! We’ll have theme nights, popsicles, “not so fabulous prizes” – it’s a good time! More info will be forthcoming as we approach that week.
We’ll also have a Back-to-Band Swim Party at the Frisco Athletic Center that Friday evening (August 18) for all students who attend SummerBand. (Students are responsible for their own admission cost, but we buy the pizza and drinks!) Again – more info to come! Please let me know ahead of time if your child cannot make it to all/some of the rehearsals for any reason.
Finally, I hope to have next year’s calendar posted to the band website soon. Keep an eye out for updates.
Thanks for a fantastic year!