Now that we are getting into March, it's time to think Spring and that means that the Spring performance season is almost upon us! Here are few bits of information regarding our upcoming events.
Band Festival
The 77th annual Band Festival is fast approaching. Students should have received raffle tickets and an informational letter about the event. The Festival will operate largely the same as it has before. The Festival Raffle is an important fundraiser for the Band Boosters and we ask for your continued support of the raffle. The students have been great about asking for more raffle tickets if they need them. We still have a limited supply of tickets at the school for anyone who wants additional tickets. The prizes are listed on the tickets as well in the letter that I will attach to this email. We appreciate everyone's support of the Festival!
There are volunteer opportunities available for anyone who wishes to help out. We do need a lot of volunteers to make the Festival run smoothly. Please refer to the attached letter for instructions on who to contact about volunteering. We appreciate any help you can offer!
Please note that report times are 4:30 for Jazz Band and 6:30 for Concert Band. Dress code will be polos and black pants. Please come early and eat in the cafeteria and enjoy the jazz bands!
LHS Band Disney Trip
Any LMS 8th Grader attending the HS band's Disney Trip please be aware of an important parent meeting happening on March 8th at 7:00pm in the HS cafeteria. Trip handbooks and other final details of the trip will be discussed.
Solo and Ensemble
By now everyone has an ensemble piece they should be working on. S&E is Saturday, April 9th at Alliance High School. The event will run exactly as it did last year. Report time will be 6:30am at LMS and we will bus to Alliance together. Once your student's event(s) are over, they are free to leave with you. We will be asking the students to bring in notes from you if they are leaving with a parent.
Soloists will be asked to rehearse with our piano accompanist the three school weeks prior to the event. This gives soloists ample opportunity to be comfortable playing with the piano. Mrs. Potts will be coming in the weeks of March 14th, March 28th, and April 4th.
I will not have a full schedule of events until 10-14 days prior to April 9th but we are able to make a limited number of time requests if there are conflicts. We look forward to another successful Solo and Ensemble event.
Spring Concert
The LMS Band Spring Concert will be held on Tuesday, May 3rd at 7:00pm in the LMS Gym. We will do our best to provide ample seating for the concert. Report time will be 6:30pm and dress will be polos and black pants.
OMEA Large Group Contest
OMEA Junior High Large Group contest is scheduled for the weekend of May 13th-14th and will be held at Hoover High School. This event is similar to Solo and Ensemble in that the students' performance is evaluated by a panel of adjudicators but instead of the small ensemble, this event evaluates the entire band. I will be registering the band in the coming weeks. Much like Solo and Ensemble, I will not be given a performance time for the group until around two weeks prior to the event. I am able to request either a Friday or Saturday evening performance depending on group conflicts but I must know soon if there are time preferences. This will either be Friday afternoon/evening OR Saturday morning/afternoon. I'll have more information available as I receive. Please plan ahead and keep the evening of May 13 and the morning/afternoon of May 14 open until a final schedule is announced. It's vital that we have the entire ensemble in attendance for us to be successful.
Please continue to encourage daily practice. 20 minutes a day 5-6 days a week is more beneficial than a marathon practice session on the weekend.
Thank you for your continued support of the band. It's been a great year so far and it's really hard to believe we're almost 3/4 of the way finished! As always, please contact me with any questions you have regarding this or any other band related items.