Mid-Week Band News: October 16 – October 19

5:30      Report to the EOMS gym for combined rehearsal with the 8th grade bands
            HS: put your cases either behind the curtain on stage, or in the multipurpose room.
6:30      Break for restrooms and set up for the first 8th grade band.
7:00      Concert begins
            Middle school 8th grade bands
            Symphonic Band II (two selections)
            Symphonic Band I (two or three selections)
            Combined Bands (Star Trek Medley)
8:30      Pack up equipment
8:45      HS Band room open asap after the concert to return large instruments
9:15      Band room closed

For us, this is a kind of “preview” concert for music we will include on our Fall Concert on November 14th.  With each of our bands, we will plan on performing one march and one or two other selections from the pieces we have in our folder:

            Sym. II: Comrades of the Legion; Hypnotic Memories OR My Lord, What a Mourning

            Sym. I: White Rose; Square; Land of the Living Waters

            Combined Band: Star Trek Medley

This concert is always a lot of fun!  It is also a very important opportunity to encourage our potential incoming members to CONTINUE TO PLAY with us next year!

Band Uniforms
Marching uniforms went home with your child after Friday’s game. Please follow the instructions inside each uniform bag. Or click here for the link. https://gallery.mailchimp.com/778c454a91b2c1b8609991c3a/images/b10b60d8-36a6-4561-b53c-c765877786f6.jpg. Please clean the uniform and return this week- BEFORE FALL BREAK—-NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, OCT 17th.  

Please make sure the jacket, pants, two gauntlets and the sturdy metal hanger are returned in the bag BEFORE FALL BREAK. 

Exception: color guard. These tops must be hand washed in cold water and hung dry only.

Concert Attire:  Ladies gowns need to be hemmed by November 14th. (Fall Concert Date)

Marching shoes will need to be cleaned for our Fall concert performance on November 14.

Concert Band Photos
Formal photos of each of our bands and the combined group will be made on the day of our Fall concert (November 14th).  We will shoot the photos in the auditorium, on stage, in our concert attire beginning immediately after school.  Photos will be taken with the combined band first, then Symphonic II and Symphonic I.  We will reset the stage with percussion instruments following the photo shoot, and the plan is for anyone wishing an individual photo with their instrument to have them made after the full band shots are finished.  We will have a tailgate style meal for all students prior to the warmup for the concert so we can get all of this done without a panic.

U of L and WKU Honors Bands
Lists have been posted asking for students to self-nominate for these musical opportunities.  As usually is the case, both clinics fall in the same January weekend (Jan. 23-25, 2020), so kids can only participate in one or the other.  Both have an early nomination deadline of October 17th (end of this week!!), so we have to think about this NOW… Signup lists are posted on the wall in the bandroom.

SAVE THE DATE 11/21 – All District Auditions
All District auditions will be held at OCHS on the evening of November 21st (we host).  We will need all hands on deck for this event.  Volunteer signups will be coming soon. This audition selects members of two high school all district ensembles, and serves as the first cut audition for the Kentucky All State Bands.  Students who are judged to have a reasonable opportunity to succeed at the All State audition will be recommended to take that audition on December 14th(John Hardin HS, Elizabethtown).

All State Jazz Band
Auditions will be held on Saturday, December 7th at St. Xavier High School.  A separate audition process is involved for these highly selective bands.  All Jazz Ensemble students have received a copy of the audition excerpts, requirements and other information.  We have been working on the excerpts as a group in class; hopefully we can have some of our students give this a shot!

SnapRaise
SnapRaise closed on October 3rd, grossing $22,895.00 (not including any donations that came in outside the online effort); up from just over $19K last year.  405 people contributed online (another record).  While this project won’t completely cover the budget outside of our fee structure, it certainly takes care of the vast majority of it.

Band Directory
Katie Fuller is compiling a band directory to be published among the band members after Fall Break. Participation in the directory is completely voluntary. If you wish to be included in the directory, please complete the online form found at:
https://ochs.band/students/band-directory

Band Spiritwear
We will be placing a 2nd spiritwear order in the next few weeks for anyone who missed out on the first order and is interested. Items will be in for the holiday season.  For details, contact Sonja Neely at [email protected]. The order form can be found on the band website at https://ochs.band.

Important Dates to Remember
October 16th                                     Halloween Concert (EO/OCMS and OCHS) at EOMS
October 21-25                                   Fall Break
October 28                                        Symphonic Band I 3:45-5 p.m. 
October 29                                        Symphonic Band II 3:45-5 p.m. 
November 4                                      WKU All state audition clinic (no school day)
November 7-10                                 NAfME All National Honors Ensembles, Orlando FL          
November 14                                    Fall Concert
November 15                                   Jazz Café I 
November 18-22                              Seating auditions (25/26 makeups)
November 21                                   5th District Auditions (first cut all state) at OCHS
November 24-26                              EKU Honors Band (Sunday evening/Tuesday evening)
November 27-29                              Thanksgiving Break
December 7                                      All State Jazz auditions (St. Xavier HS, Louisville)                              
December 14                                    All State auditions (John Hardin HS)
December 17                                    Holiday Concert

The updated full band schedule can be found on the band website at https://ochs.band.

Past Emails and other important information can be found on the OCHS Band Website at https://ochs.band.  Questions or corrections to this newsletter can be sent to Sonya Cook at [email protected].