Notes from the Podium- February 9th

Greetings to all from the bandroom!

Currently, the concert band is hard at work preparing for our District Contest performance in March. This is our only adjudicated performance of the year. We are well into solidifying pieces to be able to play every note and silence with meaning and thought.

Money for our New York Trip has come due. Please make sure to check with your student to see what we have covered, and please keep in constant contact with us about any problems or needs or your end. We have purchased our Broadway show tickets. This was a non-refundable purchase. At the moment, we are requiring all student to be paid through at least $400 of the trip. To be true to the payment schedule, technically all money should be in by the end of March.

The jazz band is swinging it's way towards our performance in Omaha, NE. Thank you to all participants in this year's Pancake Breakfast. I felt like it was a real success this year. The jazz band was able to raise over $500 for the trip. There were a lot of compliments about our playing. There were even compliments about the food!

This week is a big performance week for the jazz band. In addition to our performance in the MWSU Jazz Festival, we will be performing Friday for a lunch at MWSU and a dance at St. Francis Xavier. It's really busy, but I guess that is always the burden with realized musical talent- more people want to hear your playing. The band is playing really well, so the public has even reason to need to hear them!

JAZZ BAND PERFORMS AT MWSU FESTIVAL

This past Saturday, the jazz band performed as part of the Missouri Western State University Jazz Festival.

The students played a set of tunes for judges who provided a taped critique and also came on stage to work with the band in a clinic atmosphere. It was a great time with a lot of learning.

The jazz band received many great tips and compliments from the judges at the festival. There were awards presented for outstanding soloists in each group. The students in our band named Outstanding Soloists were Sam Stephan, Jordan Bullimore, Harry Christianson, and Ally Sexton.

Notes from the Podium- January 12th

Greetings from the last week of the first semester!

After a wonderful two weeks of holiday break, it was a little slow-going last week. I'm glad to be at the start of week 2! It's always better after we shake off the rust of not playing together for an extended period of time.

The concert band is entering into its contest season. We will be playing for a set of judges later in March. One of the pieces we will be performing is entitled "Regenesis". It is a piece written to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens in May, 1980. With the force of 500 Hiroshimas, its towering wall of destruction enveloped over 230 square miles of forest and wildfire. It's been an exciting piece to work on.

There are many solos and small ensembles starting to rehearse also! I always love this time o year. As much as I enjoy working with the entire band, I'm always glad when students take the time to work on a solo performance. Some of my best musical memories from high school involved performing solos at State Contest.

Jazz band will be selling tickets to its annual pancake breakfast soon. It would be great to see you there! Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children (12 and under).


New York trip payments are still due! Please try to keep on schedule. We are down to 79 days until final payments are due. Deposits are due for the various events!

Notes from the Podium- Nov. 24th

From the jazz band to the concert band to the marching band and flags to the boosters to the administration,

Thank you for all you do.

I know the commitment that it takes to make everything run so smoothly and well. I am humbled every day with the amount of work that everyone puts in to make this such a valuable and rewarding experience.

Notes from the Podium- Nov. 16th

We're coming up on the Thanksgiving break pretty fast!!!

Tomorrow, we will be kicking off our raffle ticket sale for the Winter Concert. Prizes will be donated from various St. Joseph businesses. If you happen to know where we can "sweeten the pot" a little bit more, we are always open to giving away more prizes!!! Tickets will sell $1.00 a piece. Students will be handed 16 tickets a piece to get started. If they happen to sell those very quickly, we will be working on printing out more... you are always welcome to take information from a trusting soul that is willing to be put on waiting list while we are printing more tickets. All proceeds from our fundraiser will go towards paying for student's New York Trip accounts.

Speaking of the trip accounts, please make sure to take the time to check with your student as far as how much is owed for the trip account to be current. We are hoping to have students covered through $500 at this point. All students should have received an account statement by the close of rehearsal on Monday. If there are problems hitting the amount owed, please contact me as soon as possible so that we know where we stand. It is my intent that all students that are willing to work will be able to go!

Inside of the rehearsal room, we are still working very hard on some tough literature. This is, by far, the most ambitious program that I have decided to put together to this point. I just think with the increased talent level, we have to keep challenging ourselves to get better. The students are fighting their way through some college level literature. I have been impressed with the work ethic during rehearsal. I hope that it's making it's way into a practice room at home!!!

Notes from the Podium- November 4th

It seems like there is always something to do on the weekends for this band during the school year....

This past Saturday, we had students represent Benton High School in the All-District concert and jazz band auditions. It is great for these students to take the time to put the music for these auditions together. I can tell you from personal experience that producing the nerve to put yourself on the line in front of judges against other players is not an easy experience. Congratulations to the students that were able to make an attempt!

Benton High School had one student garner honors during the All-District audition day. Ally Sexton was given Honorable Mention (4th Overall) in the jazz Alto Saxophone auditions. I have on good authority that she wasn't very far away from 3rd place- something like a tenth of a point!

Currently, the concert band is knee deep is some pretty tough literature. I know, like everything this year, the jump in the level of music is a little hard for the freshmen to swallow. I also know that this is my fourth year working with them- so I have faith that they will answer every bit of this challenge! I really have a lot of faith in our concert band this year. Without a doubt in my mind, this is the best sounding band that I have had at Benton High School.

New York Trip Notes

Please do not miss the November 13th Benton Band Booster Meeting at 7 PM in the Benton Bandroom!!! We will be updating trip accounts. The goal is to have every person going covered through $500!!!

Be on the lookout for an updated Trip Account Sheet coming home with your student on Friday.