Highlights: BandAides Meeting tonight; Thursday is the Symphonic Band Festival at SM Northwest; Ways you can help the band this month!
Monday is the Band~Aides meeting in the band room at 7:00p.m. We will again have three breakout meetings focused on Jazz on the Bridge, the End of the Year Band Banquet, and Senior Scholarship. We will have a short time of general announcements and discussion prior to splitting into small groups. Dawn Schnake sent out an email earlier today at about 1:20p.
Thursday is the Symphonic Band Festival at SM Northwest. All the Symphonic Band’s in SMSD will perform their contest music for an adjudicator (and parents) to receive comments to help them continue to prepare for State Large Group festival next week. Parents you are invited to attend free of charge. The concert begins at 7:00p.m. in the auditorium and will be over before 9:00p.m. The students will get to hear the other groups as well as perform. This is a great learning experience. The students need to arrive at Northwest by 6:15 to warm up. Concert dress is ALL Black as in our previous concerts. This is supposed to be formal attire so no jeans, or tennis shoes. This is the same concert dress as it has been all year. 🙂 Please talk with Mr. Hupe if you have any issues with timing or attire.
Saturday is the Regional Solo and Ensemble Festival. It is all day at Olathe South HS. SM West typically has a table(s) that all the band, choir and orchestra students hang out at while we are waiting for ratings or if you perform with multiple groups. There is food, water, and sometimes activities to partake in to pass the time. You can also go watch other performances and support your friends. Please see the detailed schedule and information in this PDF
If you want to eat some of the food you need to bring some to share. 🙂 BAW will provide water. Parents – we need door monitors to help out during the day for the Regional Solo and Ensemble Festival. Each school is supposed to have 4 parents sign up to assist throughout the day for a 3-4 hour shift. If we don’t have that, we will be fined $100. Please see the sign-up genius and find a slot that you can help. If it is during the time that your son/daughter performs, they will cut you lose so you can go listen to them. It is enlightening to see the performances. You will learn a lot and you can be very helpful to students prior to their performances by encouraging them. You don’t have to know a THING about music. You just have to be a parent – that’s all the skill needed. When you sign up, please send Dr. Thomas an email so he can breathe easier knowing we don’t have to pay a $100 fine. 🙂 Students, you can sign up as well. 🙂
Next week is the State Large Group Festival on Thursday, during the day. The Wind Ensemble performs at 12:30 and the Symphonic Band performs at 1:20. Both groups perform at Olathe East. Parents are welcome and encouraged to come watch. We do need one or two parents to chaperone a bus for us. The students will have to bring their Black Dress clothes to school with them. We will depart around 11;30 and return around 2:00p.m. The West Area Band Festival and Jazz on the Bridge are the next week. Those dates and time and more were in last weeks email.
It looks as though the Worlds of Fun Music Festival will happen (Saturday, May 7). We have enough students who have signed up to attend to make it viable. Be looking for another email this week with more details. We will need a $20 deposit from everyone or the entire payment ($40) very soon. It’s not too late to join the fun. If you don’t like rides, we would still like for you to join us for the performance (free) and then we can bring you back to West. We will play our contest music.
Get lots of rest. The spring is a crazy time! Good luck to everyone.