June 6, 2018

Dear band member and parent,

I am excited to announce that our Wind Ensemble has received a formal invitation to perform at the North Carolina Music Educators annual convention held   at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, November 11-13, 2018!  This will be the FOURTH TIME IN 12 YEARS that our Wind Ensemble has performed at this event (which must be close to a record!). The purpose of the convention is to provide an opportunity for music educators across the state to meet, share ideas, do some research (there is an exhibition hall filled with music vendors from across the country), and enjoy outstanding performances.  This is a very prestigious honor for our students, our program, and our school.  Only 3 high school bands across the state are invited to perform each year!

We will be performing on Monday, November 12 at 11:00-11:50am.  We will travel to and from Winston-Salem via charter bus on this date.  As this is Veteran’s Day, students will not miss any classes, but please make certain that your schedule allows your child to participate!  Hopefully, many of our parents will be able to re-schedule work commitments in order to attend.  As the hall will be filled with band directors and other professionals from across the state (a fairly daunting prospect), we would love to see some friendly “eyes with pride” too.

And wait…there’s more good news!

I will be presenting a clinic entitled “Building a Healthy H.S. Band Program” immediately following our performance (12:00-12:50pm).  I will be using our Wind Ensemble as a “lab group” to demonstrate warm-up techniques, rehearsal strategies, and excerpts of favorite literature.  I will be asking some of our parents to be present to present a brief overview on how our booster organization is run.  It’s like a giant “show-and-tell.”

We will perform a special “Convention Concert” on Thursday, November 8thto gain some experience performing our program which will most likely have a “Veteran’s Day” theme as we will be celebrating the 100thanniversary of the armistice.

I do not anticipate any major increase in cost to our students for participating in this event.  I will work with our boosters to fund the extra expense incurred by travel.  I also do not anticipate any change to our marching schedule.  Our Wind Ensemble has been rehearsing and performing concert music throughout the fall for the past 24 years; we are accustomed to this type of schedule.

Finally, I wish to thank all of you—parents and students (including graduating seniors)—for your efforts and support during the past years in strengthening all aspects of our program:  marching band, wind ensemble, symphonic band, concert band, winter guard, indoor percussion and jazz ensemble.  Although the quality of our concert performances was an important criterion for selection, our entire program was examined and judged to be worthy of this exceptional honor.

Sincerest CONGRATULATIONS to all!  — “Doc”