A very busy week ahead for district wide events and concerts – read carefully and be sure you know when and where you need to be. We’re in for a lot of excellent performances!
Monday – Pep Assembly. Please wear your band T-shirt. Please get out of class at 9:30 to come to the band room to get your instrument. We’ll go straight to the gym and prepare.
Tuesday, March 28 – Wind Ensemble concert at SM East. Parents are invited! This concert features all of the top concert bands in Shawnee Mission as we are preparing for the State Large Group festival in April. We will probably be performing first right at 7:00p.m. Call time for the Wind Ensemble students will be 6:15p in normal “Concert Black” – that is ALL black from head to toe. Students are responsible for getting themselves, their music, and instruments to East no later than 6:15p. Please talk to your coaches now so you can be released from practices at a minimum of 30 minutes early – more if you need a shower and to eat. You will be driving during rush hour. It takes longer than you think! We stay until the concert is finished. No exceptions. We ARE a good audience AND we will probably learn some things from the other groups. 😊
Wednesday, March 29 – 6th Grade Honor Band Concert. Mentor students, your help is definitely needed for the concert just like always. This is at SM Northwest. You need to be there by 6:30p to help your mentees. 😊
Thursday, March 30 – Symphonic Band concert at Northwest. Parents are invited. This concert features all the second concert bands in Shawnee Mission as we are also preparing for the State Large Group festival in April. We will be performing in the middle of the pack. The concert starts at 7:00p.m. Call time for the Symphonic Band students will be 6:30p in normal “Concert Black”- that is ALL black from head to toe. Students are responsible for getting themselves, their music, and instruments to Northwest no later than 6:30p. Please talk to your coaches now so you can be released from practices at a minimum of 30 minutes early – more if you need a shower and to eat. We stay until the concert is finished. No exceptions. We ARE a good audience AND we will probably learn some things from the other groups.
Soloists and Ensembles – Please make plans with your accompanist (if you have one) to perform at the Recital Night at SM West on Monday, April 3. This is REQUIRED for everyone performing at regionals. I will have sign-up sheets on the marker board in the band room. This is for you or your group to get feedback from a judge to help you prepare for the regional solo or ensemble festival on Saturday, April 15. Band~Aides happily pays for the judges to help you reach your potential prior to the regional event. Parents, you are welcome to sit in and listen to your student perform at the recital night – IF your student approves. 😊. If you have not ordered your ORIGINAL MUSIC for you AND your accompanist, do that NOW. If you need help, please ask Dr. Thomas or Mr. Hupe. If you do not have originals for Regionals, you will be disqualified. ☹
Parents – If you have a son or daughter participating in the Regional Solo and Ensemble contest, I need your help. I need a few parents to help with the contest at Shawnee Mission South high school. Here is the note from the festival director. This is the largest music festival in the state of Kansas. While the South music parents help on this day, they just don’t have enough parents to cover everything. Therefore, they ask every band, choir and orchestra to provide 2-3 parents to help. See Chad Coughlin’s note below. Students needing community service hours can sign up as well.
As has been the policy for our site for several years, we ask that every participating program at each school provide some adult volunteers to assist as door and room monitors for the festival. The day is divided into three overlapping shifts. As always, I would ask that you at least give the parents/adults connected to your program a heads-up now and emphasize that we would prefer they sign up as soon as possible and then we can either move them to a different shift or get coverage for them with a “floater” if their child is scheduled to perform during the shift for which they sign-up. The sign-up is up and running at https://bit.ly/RegSEvolunteer2023 . Most of the adults that have helped with this event in the past have had positive experiences with the job being fairly easy and an enjoyable way to get to hear some of our outstanding student musicians. if you have students looking for service hours we can also use a limited number of student helpers and there are slots for them on the sign-up as well. I would recommend they don’t sign up until after the schedule is out.
If you sign up to help, please let Dr. Thomas know. We have had several parents over the years do this and they have enjoyed their time. YOU WILL get to listen to your student perform.