Calendar Updates

Hello marching band students and parents,

Today is July 27, which means a few things for the marching band. First, we have a music-only rehearsal this Wednesday from 9:30 AM to noon in the BHS band room. I hope to see as many people as possible. Second, we have only three weeks until the start of band camp at Hurley Field. I’m getting very excited to see everyone and start the process of putting together our “Michael Jackson” show. It’s certainly strange what can occur in the world between selecting a show in April and performing it in the fall.

The reason for this email is to alert everyone to a few changes on the calendar. These changes do not affect football games performances, only the fall indoor concerts. The district has been working on a new way of organizing the main calendar. As a result, dates on the original marching band information packet had to be selected before the scheduling process had completed, and thus have changed slightly.

Here are the changes:
--The indoor marching concert scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 20th has been moved to Wednesday, Oct. 21st.
--The marching band lock-in scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23rd has been canceled for that date (there is no school that day for students); every effort will be made to reschedule for a different day.
--The Winter band concert scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 15th has been rescheduled for Thursday, Dec. 17th.

One addition to the calendar is the OPTIONAL field trip to Ann Arbor for the University of Michigan’s “Band-O-Rama” concert. This is a great evening and it is usually very well attended. This concert will occur on Saturday, Oct. 31st (Halloween) at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. We take buses from BHS and enjoy dinner beforehand. Please add this to your calendar and consider attending.

Can’t wait to see you all soon!

Bears!

Mr. Shaw

Welcome Back to the BHS Marching Band!

Ladies and gentleman,
Welcome back.  It may have only been about 2 weeks, but I'm hoping to see as many of you as possible on Wednesday for our first rehearsal.  I want to clarify a few things about this rehearsal and the parade to follow on Saturday:

1)  The first hour of the rehearsal will be spent on the show music for the fall.  To make this work well, I need you to be at the bandroom 10-15 minutes early so that you can find your seat, do a brief warm-up and be ready to go at 9:30 AM.  Anyone should attend, even if you can't make the parade on Saturday.

2)  The second 1 1/2 - 2 hours will be spent preparing for the Huntington Woods July 4th parade.  Since it's Motown themed, and to kick off commemorating MIchael Jackson (which we'll of course, now, be doing all fall), come prepared to play "I Want You Back."  Hopefully this was in your packets that you received at the end of the year--veterans of the band may also have it memorized, of course.  We will do the basics of parade marching, work on the piece, and should be done between 12:00 and 12:30 PM.  Again, this is only for people who are marching in the parade--if you're in town, please come, we need you!!

3)  We'll talk more about exactly where to meet up on Saturday the 4th, what time, what to wear, etc. at the rehearsal.  Don't forget to have a flip-folder, plastic page holders, and a lyre ready for this Wednesday's rehearsal--without it, you will be unable to march!

The last thing I want you all to know is how excited I am to see you.  This year's marching band has so much potential, it's scary.

Can't wait to you see in your chairs at 9:15 AM on Wednesday,
Mr. Shaw

Two Interesting Sites

Hello all,

As I write this, I'm sitting at the University of Michigan school of music, starting my masters degree in music education.  If you're bored, students, here are two cool (I use the term "cool" in the band sort of way) sites for you to peruse:

1)  http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id90_en.html  (TRAIN YOUR EARS!)

2) http://www.folkways.si.edu/  (AMAZING COLLECTION OF WORLD MUSIC.  I LEARNED YESTERDAY HOW TO PLAY SAMBA, MERINGUE, AND MARIACHI FROM THE GUY WHO RUNS THIS WEBSITE FOR THE SMITHSONIAN).

See you all soon...

BHS Graduation Reminder

This is just a reminder for all Symphonic Band students that the bus for graduation will leave BHS at 5:30 PM. Students need to be at BHS in full uniform by 5:10 PM, and must ride home on the bus unless a signed parent note is provided. We should hopefully be back to BHS between 9:30 and 10:00 PM.

Students should plan on turning in their tuxes and dresses Tuesday night after graduation, or by Friday, June 12.

Some Pictures from our NYC Trip

Here are some pictures from our April 24 performance at Lincoln Center in New York City. We had a nice crowd stop to watch in the plaza below, and I was certainly proud of how the kids did.

Marching Band Schedule Posted for Summer/Fall 2009

Here is a link to the marching band information packet for Summer/Fall 2009. Hard copies will also be passed out in class next week and the enrollment form (page 4) must be returned to Mr. Shaw no later than June 1.

http://berkleybands.pbwiki.com/Marching-Band-Info-Packet-2009

A Very Interesting Article

This is a very interesting article from the New York Times. Please give it a read...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/us/15land.html?pagewanted=2&hp