Good afternoon band families! Please review these two important announcements regarding changes to the spring concert schedule and the upcoming State Music Performance Adjudication.
I. REVISED 2023-24 CONCERT SCHEDULE
WE = Wind Ensemble; SB = Symphonic Band; CB = Concert Band; JZ = Jazz Ensemble
Required Events
“Festival Quarter”
Thurs. Mar. 7 7:00pm Festival Concert I (CB, JZ)
Thurs., Mar. 14 7:00pm Festival Concert II (SB, WE)
T-W-Th, Mar. 19-21 TBD MPA (WE) at Garner H.S.
“Spring Quarter”
Thurs. Apr. 25 7:00pm Chamber Concert (WE, some SB/CB)** NEW DATE
Thurs., May 9 7:00pm Spring Concert I (CB/JZ)
Tues., May 23 7:00pm Spring Concert II (SB/WE)
Sun., June 2 1:30-4:30pm Spring Banquet
Sat., June 8 Noon (plan 8am-2pm) Graduation (WE, SB, CB)
Optional Events
Jan. 6 TBA East Central District Honor Band Auditions
Jan. 26-27 TBA ECDHB Clinic/Performance
Mar. 2 TBA All-State Band Auditions
Apr. 26-28 TBA All-State Band Clinic/Performance
May 24-25 TBA Busch Gardens Trip
II. STATE MUSIC PERFORMANCE ADJUDICATION:
After observation throughout the fall semester, I have decided that it would be in our best interest for the Wind Ensemble to perform at our “State Music Performance Adjudication (MPA)” in March. Formerly known as “State Band Contest,” or “State Band Festival,” this is one of the oldest events in high school band history—dating back to the 1920’s when John Philip Sousa was one of the adjudicators!
The purpose of MPA is to motivate the students (and staff) to prepare literature to the highest degree of excellence possible, perform this literature for 3 select music professionals, and receive feedback on how to continue to improve. The students must also sight-read one piece of music following their stage performance. Based on the scores earned by the 4 judges (3 on stage and 1 in the sight-reading room), the group is also awarded a rating: “Superior” is the highest rating, followed by “Excellent,” “Good,” and “Fair.”
Our district’s MPA is held at Garner H.S. on March 19-21. We would most likely be performing in the afternoon, between 1-5pm. Please check your calendars and let me know if there is any serious conflict with any of these dates. I would like to submit the application by January 31st, so your immediate feedback is important. If students need to be excused from school, this will be no problem due to the educational value of this experience. I would bus the kids to and from this event and the performance is open to the public (please attend!).
And shown in the revised schedule above, I have also decided to cancel our Chamber Concert scheduled for February 15th; however, I would like to reschedule it for later in the semester, on April 25th. In short, we need to focus our energies at the beginning of the second semester on MPA. This will also give us more time to prepare literature for the Chamber Concert. Please let me know if anyone has a serious conflict on April 25th—I would like all of you to participate!
Performing at MPA is the final piece of the puzzle in doing all the activities that this band did before COVID. It is so good to be back!