Students and Parents,
Please CLICK HERE to find the marching band schedule for the upcoming year. I have been hard at work at trying to lock down the specifics. There are a few changes from last year’s schedule and I will go into detail below if you are interested. Please be aware that we get this schedule out in February to make sure that all members of the marching band can make their schedules work with the commitment throughout the season. Every person is critical! Also you will find the schedule for concert band auditions at the bottom of this email. Looking forward to a great season!
The district calendar was set up differently this year. This forced us to choose either starting July 18th, 25th, or doing a partial week in July. After talking with several students and parents the general consensus was that everyone would much rather start the 25th than the alternatives. I chose the 25th and this will mean that we will have a 9 week summer, longest in at least recent history! (Sorry guard and percussion…. Not you). The downside to this is that we will have fewer summer rehearsal hours before school starts than we have had in past seasons. Since nobody wants to put out a lesser product we will compromise and have one Saturday camp and one Friday night camp to reclaim some of those hours later in the season. The end of post camp week looks a little different than past seasons because it will now be the days leading into the first day. I think the changes are well worth having another week of summer and it has the added benefit of giving us some much needed longer rehearsals later in the season closer to games and competitions.
The other thing you will note is that we chose to give our “Band Camp” performance at the end of the 3rd week of camp instead of the end of the second. The previous timing of this is really a hold-over from the days of away camp at Wright State. I think we will be able to give a better performance and show you a bit more of the show at the end of the 3 weeks. All 3 weeks of camps are going to be at the freshman school this year. The freshman campus with its full football field and large gym is the best rehearsal space for us and with a new track going in at the high school, main campus facilities could get complicated. The big move from the Freshman School back to main campus usually follows the camp performance, this is when we have the biggest crew of people to help out so it will work out best at the end of the 3rd week.
Mr. Racic and I are hard at work getting show concept and music selected for the upcoming season. As we solidify that information I will share it with you same as last year.
Concert Band Auditions:
All Concert Band Auditions are held in the main campus band room starting at 3pm. Students volunteer to perform and can leave as soon as they are done with their audition. They are also welcome to stay and hear others play.
Please let anyone you know who might be interested in auditioning the dates or direct them to our website to find the information.
Auditions should consist of about 30 seconds of solo or etude music. Preferably in a contrasting style that you feel best showcases your musical abilities. You will also be asked a major scale from the circle.
4/5 – Flutes
4/8 – Double Reeds
4/11 – Clarinets
4/12 – Saxophones
4/7 – Trumpets
4/14 – Horns
4/18 – Trombones
4/19 – Baritones/ Tubas
4/13 – Percussion