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All State Band info

Good Evening!

State band auditions are this weekend and I thought I would pass along some information that I have learned the last couple of years.

Auditions are held at Hickman High School, 1104 N Providence Rd, Columbia, MO. I believe the school opens at 8:30 a.m. and auditions start at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Thurmond is the only person that needs to officially check-in and he normally does this when the school opens. There is no set time that you need to arrive…you just need to be there before the auditions close for your child’s room. Kayla and I usually get there around 9 a.m.

Once you get to the school, you will need to find Mr. Thurmond. Typically he will be in the lobby until all students have arrived. He will give the student their registration form and it will list their audition number. You will want to make a note of the audition number…the student will turn in the registration form at their audition and all call-backs will be announced using the audition number instead of name.

Continue reading “All State Band info”

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Concert/Symphonic Band Playing Tests

Parents and students,

Band members in Concert Band (and Symphonic Band) are being assigned weekly playing tests through www.charmsoffice.com. These tests are designed to keep the students progressing and keep them practicing 20-30 minutes a day.

Here is some information on how to access Charms:
http://titanmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/CHARMS-How-to-access.doc

Here is some information on how to access and use the Charms recording studio:
http://titanmusic.lsr7.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/08/RecordingStudioHelp.pdf

As with any technology, there has been a few problems with certain students getting their computer or iOS device (search for Charms Office in the App Store) to record their playing tests. Please note that this is NOT an excuse to miss a playing test deadline. Making sure your browser and Java version is up to date is the first step in troubleshooting. The students have heard me say it before, but I grade them all on a 7-year-old laptop of my o wn at home.

While having all the tests submitted through Charms would be preferred, the student should make arrangements to submit the recording one way or another by the deadline. See Mr. Harrel or Mr. Thurmond if you need some advice. You can always find the current playing tests and their deadlines by logging into Charmsoffice.com.

Parents, thanks for your help and encouragement of the students as they work consistently to improve their musicality and students, thanks for your hard work as always!

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Titan Pride Weekly Update

Hello. I’m sure most of you have been going through withdrawal from not receiving my email EVERY Friday.

Marching Band, the saga continues……….

What a glorious night it was last Monday. Marching band in 20 degree weather is how it’s supposed to be (says the guy who spent three years in the University of Colorado marching band)

There is a playoff game TOMORROW in Springfield at Kickapoo HS. The band will NOT be traveling to the game. In the event the team wins that game, we SHOULD have a home game on Friday, November 22nd. If this game takes place at Titan Stadium, we will again perform and have a 6pm call time.

Both Symphonic Band AND Concert Band members are taking WEEKLY playing tests via the CHARMS system. Please encourage your child to stay current on this, as getting behind will only have a negative effect.

Don’t forget the Winter Concert on December 10th at 7pm. All girls, at this point, should have a concert dress (purchased through the music staff). All boys, at this point, should have a rented tuxedo from the music staff. Boys are responsible for purchasing their own tuxedo shirt
(this is not a normal white dress shirt, it needs to be an actual tuxedo shirt), as well as their own bowtie. Percussion Ensemble boys are to wear black dress slacks, a black, long-sleeved, collared dress shirt, and black dress shoes. Percussion Ensemble girls have been instructed to wear all black matching the boys as best as possible (I’m not as good at describing their options).

Don’t forget that the current fundraiser orders/money are due THIS MONDAY.

Congratulations to the following students on their accomplishments at All-District Band Auditions this past Saturday. Students auditioned at Liberty High School against approximately 1000 other high school band members from the Kansas City area for a 100-piece concert band and a 20-piece jazz band:

The following were selected as members of the All-District Band
Shayla Brown, 7th chair flute
Maddie Krause, 8th chair flute
Courtney Bingham, 2nd chair oboe
Courtney Bingham, english horn 1st alternate
Allyssa DeJarnette, 3rd chair clarinet
Kayla Shaeffer, 1st chair baritone saxophone
David Burre, trombone 1st alternate
Sawyer Harmon, 1st chair tuba

The following were selected as members of the Honorable Mention Band
David Burre, 1st chair trombone

The following were selected to the All-District Jazz Band
Justin Nitz, 5th trumpet
Isaiah Carter, vibraphone
Isaiah Carter, drumset 2nd alternate
Kevin McMilian, vibraphone alternate
Quinn Mosier, piano

All of the above students are eligible to audition for All-State Band and Jazz Band on December 7th at Columbia-Hickman High School, more info to follow. In addition, they will be performing with their respective All-District ensembles the week of December 9th, please refer to their schedule for rehearsal and concert times.

Clifton D. Thurmond

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LSWMP November information and All District

This is a copy of a group email sent by Music Parent President.

Good afternoon,

Many students from the band and orchestra participated this past Saturday in All District auditions. As with Choir the music program at West has been blessed with many who made it.

Band had 10 students make all district, one student achieved it with two instruments, along with two making honorable mention. Orchestra had 29 students make all district. CONGRATULATIONS to all of those students. Next for these students is All State on December 7th.

Fundraising:
The current fundraiser that is going on is due no later than November 18th. If orders aren’t received by then they’ll be turned back to the students. The reason for this is for orders to be received before Christmas they must be placed by November 18th.As always all fundraisers are optional and studen ts aren’t required to participate in them. Student account fundraisers go to the specific student accounts and can be used for fees associated with music and the just announced music trip as well.

Andrea Kaiser is working on more fundraisers that will happen throughout the year, some of these will involve selling and some of them won’t. If you have ideas or suggestions please let her know.

Christmas in the Park: There are still volunteer opportunities for this event on Friday, November 29th. This is a general music account fundraiser. The general account is used for many things that you may or may not know about. For example: all state students receive a folio, plaque in the music hallway and per diem for their trip to the all state; general music equipment repairs, music awards and clinicians just to name a few.

Uniforms: Once the football season is over we’ll need help getting marching band uniforms ready to send to the cleaners. If you’re interested in this please let me know.

Music Trip: On Wednesday, November 6, the students were given a presentation for music trip that is happening March 12-17, 2015 to Washington DC. I’m currently working with the staff on an email I’ll be sending out with more information.

Upcoming Dates:

November 24 – Choir Exchange Concert at Redemptorist Catholic Church
November 29 — Christmas in the Park (Volunteer opportunity)
December 5 — LSWMP meeting
December 7 — All State Band/Orchestra/Jazz auditions
December 8 — Dinner and Divas — Women’s Choir
December 10 — Instrumental Winter Concert (1830)
December 16 — Winter Choral Concert

As always should you have any questions please let me know.

Brent Grigsby
LSWMP President
lswmusicpresident
We’re also on facebook at – https://www.facebook.com/groups/lswmp/

CHARMS Instructions for signing up to volunteer:

1. Go online to the charms website. https://www.charmsoffice.com/

2. Click on the box on the right that says ENTER:
Then hit drop-down and go to Parents/Student/Members – Click Here

3. In the box that asks for your school code type: LSWHSMusic
(upper/lower case does not matter)

4. Click: Enter Charms

5. Click on the Public Calendar (upper left, next to HOME)

6. Find the date(s) you plan to volunteer on the Calendar.

7. Click on the Hand icon by the day and time you wish to volunteer.

8. Fill out your name, phone number and email address in the area you wish to volunteer.

9. To log out, Click on EXIT CHARMS (below the HOME icon)

You do not need a student password at any time to volunteer.

You can volunteer in more than one time if you like

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2013 All District Band

Congratulations to the following for making the Kansas City Metro District #3 All-District Band, Honorable Mention Band, and Jazz Band:

BAND
Shayla Brown – flute 7th chair
Maddie Krause – flute 8th chair
Courtney Bingham – oboe 2, alt English horn
Allyssa DeJarnette – clarinet 3rd chair
Kayla Shaeffer- Bari sax 1
David Burre – trombone HM 1
Sawyer Harmon – tuba 1

JAZZ
Isaiah Carter – vibes, alt drums
Kevin McMilian – alt vibes
Quinn Mosier – piano
Justin Nitz – trumpet 5

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Last Weekend of Marching Band Competition Season

Happy Last week of the competitive season,

Band Banquet, Monday, November 4th, 7:00pm
First, please notice the time change. The banquet will begin at 7pm at Garozzo’s on 291 in Lee’s Summit.
Please click on the link below and RSVP for anybody attending the banquet EXCLUDING the marching band member.
RSVP’s MUST be received no later than 9pm, Tuesday, October 29th.
All tickets are $17. Marching Band members have already been paid for.
RSVP Form
You may send payment to school OR pay at the door. Cash or check (made payable to LSW)

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 26th, Odessa Marching Festival
A reminder that all students should be on campus BEFORE 12:40pm. Here is the itinerary once more.

Odessa Marching Invitational

Symphonic Band and Concert Band PLACEMENT auditions, Monday/Tuesday, October 28/29
Here is the audition schedule. All students enrolled in 4th hour are required to take this audition for placement and a grade.

Symphonic Band

Playoff Football Game, Wednesday, November 6th
We will have a playoff game on this night. Call is 5:30pm for all marching band members.

Clifton D. Thurmond

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Band Info for the week ahead

Greetings!

Congratulations to the Drumline for taking first place in their division at the Drummit at the Summit competition this weekend. You guys did a great job!

Some notable items for the upcoming week:

Tuxedos: All men in band will need a tuxedo for concert band season. Yvonne Bechtold will be at the school on Monday from 6:30pm to 8:00pm to fit and distribute tuxedos. If your son does not have his tuxedo, please stop by the school during this time to pick it up.

Football: Friday night LSW will host Blue Springs. The call time for all band members is 5:30. I suspect the crowd will be huge for this game. With the movement of the student section to where the music parents previously sat, I’m not sure where we will gather. I would recommend getting there early and cheering loudly for the Titan Pride Band (and the football team too)! As always, we could use some music parents in the band room before and after the game to assist with uniforms.

Marching Festival: I also wanted to forward some information about the upcoming marching band competition season. Information about each festival can be found in the following links. The websites will be updated with the actual performance schedule when it gets closer to the date of the festival.

We believe we have enough drivers signed up to drive the trailers to each of the competitions; however, it’s always nice to have back-ups. If you have a truck and would be willing to drive to a competition, please let me know and I’ll add your name to the volunteer list. We are also looking for a small portable generator to use for some of the competitions that go late into the night. Please let me know if you have one that we can use.

Park Hill: http://www.midwestmarching.com/2013/parkhill2013.htm
Lee’s Summit North: http://www.midwestmarching.com/2013/lsn2013.htm
UCM : http://www.midwestmarching.com/2013/ucm-foc2013.htm
Odessa: http://www.midwestmarching.com/2013/odessa2013.htm

Pictures:
B Johnson Photography works with a lot of the marching festivals and posts pictures of the participants. Her website is http://www.bjohnsonphotography.com/. Here is a link to pictures from Drummit at the Summit

Jeremy Flowers is a music parent who is a professional photographer and has been taking pictures at a variety music events. Here’s the link to his Facebook page.

Thanks again for everything each of you do to support the band!

Nancy Shaeffer
Instrumental Liaison

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Summer 2013

Greetings and welcome to the 2013 Titan Pride Marching Band,

Mr. Harrel and I are in full swing of preparing for this summer and fall. Here are some items of interest to you as you enter into next year.

Marching Band Camp
All members of the band (woodwinds, brass, percussion, colorguard) are to be at camp at the end of July. Please make sure it is in your calendar now. We have changed the way we will do camp this year. We have gone with a more intense schedule per day, but less days. So, if you had already put these dates in your calendar, please read THIS attachment and make necessary adjustments. It is now July 29 to Aug 1.
2013 Marching Band Camp

Fall Marching Band Schedule
The dates on this calendar include all REQUIRED events outside of the school day. The student’s grade is determined, in the fall, primarily by attendance at these events. Please place them in your calendar now. You’ll notice we have scheduled five Saturday competitions. We will NOT be going to all five. We are currently working out some scheduling conflicts before we decide which one’s we will attend, but wanted you to have all five on your calendar as possibilities.
2013 MB Sched April

Drumline Camp
This camp is for the full drumline (battery and frontline). This is an intense week of working on fundamental development, exercises, show music, and comradery. Please make sure your student is in attendance if they play a percussion instrument.
2013 Drumline Summer Schedule

Hosting the Bluecoats Drum Corps
On July 11th, from 6am to 6pm, we will be hosting a DCI (Drum Corps International) group called the Bluecoats. This is a great oppotunity for our kids and families to observe the intensity and dedication it takes to be a successful marching band. We expect all students to attend and observe at least two hours of rehearsal on that day in Titan Stadium. More information to come at a later date.

Physical Exams
ALL members of the marching band MUST have a physical exam done before July 15th (drumline) and July 29th (woodwinds and brass). The physical exam MUST have been performed after February 1st, 2013 and MUST be on the attached form. This can be handed in to the front office at LSW anytime this summer. Please make sure this is done before your son/daughter’s first day of camp, it is NECESSARY!
Physical form

If I don’t get to speak to you until camp, have a great summer!