Greetings everyone! I hope everyone was able to enjoy some downtime and be refreshed over the last week. I’ve missed all of you and am looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. Below you will find lots of notes to guide you through the next few weeks.
Monday (11/29)
Pep Band from 7:00a to 7:30a. This is one of the last two rehearsals before the basketball season begins. I will have potential schedules and band assignments for everyone to look over.
8:00 a.m. – Bob Bone and an entourage from London will meet with the band students in the auditorium as they present to us an invitation to the London New Year’s Day Parade 2023. That will be for NEXT school year (2022-2023). We have not officially decided upon that as a trip yet, but we have had such a great relationship with the LNYDP, and they were in the country, so they wanted to stop by and make an official presentation anyway. We will talk about this in-depth after the new year. This will be for ALL Band (color guard) and Dance students. The presentation will take about 45 minutes to an hour. I have visited with Mr. Loe, I will get you out of periods one and two tomorrow. FRESHMAN BAND STUDENTS – report to the auditorium in the morning at 7:40, please. I will not call you out of class, just come directly to the auditorium. Text your friends to make sure they know. I will take attendance in the auditorium.
Percussion rehearsal – 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the band room. ALL percussionists are invited. You will be working on a piece for the December band concert as well as music for a performance at Westridge coming up.
Tuesday
BAW meeting in the band room at 7:00p. However, prior to that at 6:30pm, we will be handing out refund checks to those who made trip deposits in excess of the initial deposit for the previous London Parade trip. We are SO sorry it has taken so long to get this money back to you. Since many of the checks are for sizable amounts, we are asking that a parent come to pick up their check so that you can sign for it acknowledging that you have received your check. If you cannot make it Tuesday evening, we will again make the checks available prior to the band concert on Tuesday, December 7 from 6:30-7:00p in front of the auditorium.
Saturday
District Honor Band in Blue Valley. Depending on which band you are in determines the location and times of your day.
Blue Band – 9:00a at BV North.
Red Band at BV High School starts at 7:25.
Let me know if I need to resend the music or schedule. Make sure you take a folding stand (we can loan you one if needed), your music, reeds/oil, instrument, and a great attitude to make music and meet new people for the day. I will probably see you at some point, but I have performances of my own starting at 1:00 p.m. HAVE FUN!
Tuesday, December 7
Band Concert – All concert bands and jazz bands. We will take concert band pictures this evening – on stage.
Wind Ensemble at 6:05.
Symphonic Band (including Freshman Concert Band) at 6:20.
Given those times, students, you need to be getting your instrument earlier.
The time listed is when the picture is TAKEN – NOT when you are to arrive.
The concert begins at 7:00p.m.
Remember, London Refund checks are available from 6:30 to 7:00p in the lobby in front of the auditorium.
The concert will last about an hour and a half. All students are expected to stay for the entire concert.
Concert Dress – In an effort to make it easier to find proper concert attire, we are simplifying this year to ALL Black for both concert bands (instead of tuxedoes and formal black dresses).
Ladies, you still need to wear long dresses (at LEAST mid-calf or longer; remember you are sitting on stage) of if you prefer, you may wear black dress pants and a black long sleeve dress shirt.
Gentlemen you need black dress pants and a black long sleeve dress shirt with black dress socks and dress shoes. This is considered a dress-up event. Tennis shoes, jeans, polo shirts, etc., are not acceptable concert attire. IF YOU NEED help with this, please visit Dr. Thomas or Mr. Hupe. We do not want this to be a hardship. Parents, we talked to the students before the break, so I hope this is not coming as a surprise tonight.
Tuesday, Dec. 14 and Thursday, Dec. 16
These are our first two basketball games for our Pep Bands. The rest of the games will take place in January and February with playoffs in early March. Students who have volunteered to play in the Pep Bands have been assigned to one of two groups – a Black Band or a Gold Band. They will be required to play for specific games based on their band color. If they choose to play for more games additional lettering points will be awarded. If they play at ALL the games (and rehearsals) they will receive double lettering points. 🙂
Friday, December 17 – Semester one Finals begin
Tuesday, December 22 – you made it through the first semester!!!
Congratulations. Enjoy some time with family and friends!
NOTE – From the SMSD School board meeting on Nov. 15, masks for activities before or after school are now optional for students and spectators/audiences. During schools hours, they are still required. Therefore, on the night of our concert, parents you are not required to wear a mask to enter. However, please do what you can to space yourselves from others audience members and certainly do not attend if you are not feeling well. With a new variant on the horizon, we want to continue to remain diligent and protect each other. That takes us through the rest of the semester. As always, please ask if you have questions. We know a lot of this information is new to a lot of people since we have not had a “normal year” in quite a while.
Dr. Bill Thomas, Director of Bands