Good afternoon,
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving break! We have our final parade on Saturday, Dec. 7th, and our concerts are quickly approaching. Please see the info below, largely reminders with a few updated points of detail with volunteer signup links.
If you have not yet heard, the Mystic Krewe run fundraiser brought in over $20,000 towards the Italy trip! We will thank them for their efforts at one of our concerts. Thank you to everyone who helped them with their efforts, especially Lori Thompson and Howard Livingston!
November 23rd
*Drum Line Performance at Sunset Key: arrive at the band room by 5:00pm wearing your RED band shirt, grey band issued shorts, and black marching shoes. We will return to KWHS after dinner around 7:30pm.
December 3rd
*Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Colorguard Rehearsals 2:45-4:45pm (includes percussion).
December 7th (Saturday)
*City Holiday Parade: ***New for 2019: traveling by bus to and from parade. Report by 6:00pm to the KWHS Band Room to dress in formal uniforms. Students will need to wear their RED band shirt, band issued grey shorts, black socks, and black band issued marching shoes-we will then put on formal uniforms. You may decorate your instrument within reason (you must still be able to play at the same time). Step off is at 7:00pm, we should be near 5th in the parade again this year. Chaperones, please wear your red shirts as well, sign up via to walk with us: https://www.charmsoffice.com/charms/volunteerR.asp?s=KyWstHSB&v=3333523
December 10th
*Full Band Program Rehearsal 2:45-4:45pm with Choir. We will start with Act 2 mass concert band comprised of Wind ens, Sym Band, and Percussion. We will finish the rehearsal with Act 1 that includes Colorguard, Percussion, & Jazz band. Dismissal will be staggered according performance order etc.
December 11th and 12th
*Combined Winter Concerts: Call time for both concerts is 6:30pm, be seated in uniform by 6:45 if you are not performing in the first half. Sym Band and Wind Ens do not need instruments until after intermission. We will need donations of baked goods and sodas for Thursday’s concert, please drop baked goods off by 6:30pm and sodas to the band room beforehand if possible. We have had as many as 800+ attend this concert night in the past, spread the word. The Choir parents run the concession on Wed., Band parents on Thursday (Dec. 12 only) please sign up: https://www.charmsoffice.com/charms/volunteerR.asp?s=KyWstHSB&v=1587985
January 12th (Start of their season)
*Impromptu Concerts are FREE for students. You can read about concerts put on by Impromptu here: http://www.keywestimpromptu.org/concerts/season/2020-season
***Solo & Ensemble on Saturday, February 8th (Prepare Now!):
• This is an exceptional opportunity to grow as a musician and show off your talent on your instrument in a small ensemble setting or with a solo with piano accompaniment. The musical growth gained by preparing a solo at a high level can advance a student 1-2 years in terms of ability level in a matter of two months as compared to those who do not participate. WE HIGHLY ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO GO FOR IT regardless of their perceived ability level!
• All Colorguard students will be required to prepare a solo, music will be selected with Mr. Hernandez/Coach Karen. This event is held the same day at Key West High School. This is in addition to the Winter Guard show (ensemble).
• Solo and Ensemble is a Florida Bandmasters Association music assessment event held at KWHS that is adjudicated by an individual FBA judge.
• ALL students are encouraged to participate; it is required of juniors & seniors to receive honors credit (raises weighted GPA etc.). Any student interested in a leadership position for the next school year must participate. Away from the Lower Keys most middle school students have 2-3 years of experience participating in this event-many of our 9th graders participated in this for the first time last year. All 9th-10th graders are absolutely encouraged to participate, selecting a grade 3 would be appropriate unless taking private lessons.
• Music must be selected off of the FBA Solo & Ensemble list, click this link: https://flmusiced.org/MPAOnline/MusicList/SEMusicList.aspx
· NO, you may not play a piece of music that you have played before for S&E another year.
• Music should be ordered now to begin working on it in the next three weeks. Some sheet music vendors: www.jwpepper.com & www.hickeys.com Make sure that the composer/arranger/edition/publisher* are the same as the one on the FBA list before you complete your order. Please NUMBER all measures and parts of YOUR MUSIC, this ORIGINAL is to be given to the adjudicator to read from and verifies that the piece is owned by you or the band for Copyright purposes. If your piece is “backordered”, cancel the order and find another piece or go to another vendor (company) that has it “in stock”. Do not sign up to play a piece of music that you do not have in your hands, every year we have a few students fail because of this, there are hundreds of options. The band program owns a several solos for each instrument; however, they may not be complete and you should make sure that we also have the piano part.
This band owned music is setup in the room like a book fair, please put it back in the same correct place after you make a copy, do not take the original.
• The grading system (difficulty level of each piece) is from 1-7, high school students must play a level 3 or higher.
• 9th-10th graders should be at a level 3, 11th-12th 4 or higher. If you wish to advance to the state level you must receive a superior rating at district while playing a 5 or higher. It is not recommended that you play anything higher than a 5 unless you are taking private lessons on your instrument. Students may play in both a solo and ensemble entry but should not do more than two.
· No ensemble will be approved without auditioning first for Mr. Hernandez. If the group fails to pass this audition, you will have to play a solo as required.
• Students will receive a medal signifying their accomplishment if they receive a superior rating.
• Most solos require a piano accompaniment. Students may use SmartMusic (a computer program) or use one of the band provided accompanists. You will need to check to see if your piece of music is in SmartMusic before purchasing/committing to it. You can check this by logging into the ClearTouch in the band office.
• You will need to sign up by December 18th with Mr. Hernandez. There is a fee to be judged and the band program covers this as long as you attend the event etc.
• You will need to let Mr. Hernandez know the piece title, accompanist (only if you are not using the school provided accompanist), and other persons in the ensemble by December 18th using this Google Form: https://forms.gle/WtkKgZ9C2VTnP1cj8
Thank you,
Gary Hernandez
Band Calendar–Website–Announcement Blog–Remind101 Txts
This email has been sent via Charms Office Assistant on behalf of:
Key West High School Band
2100 Flagler Avenue
Key West, FL 33040
