Chili Bingo Update

Dear Parents,

We are now one week closer to Chili Bingo Night and our band/strings festival.  The bulk of this newsletter is focused on those two events for now.

Chili Bingo Night

Raffle sales begin for the students on Wednesday!  In the past week, I have received some amazing items, such as summer gondola passes at Heavenly, season pit passes to the Reno Air Races, and a guitar from Absolute Music.  You should have all received a letter home with your student last week, but in case you didn't, here are some details:

Students will be asked to sell at least 10 raffle tickets for prizes.  If a band or strings class ends up with all students selling at least 10 raffle tickets each, the class will be rewarded with a barbecue lunch!  Top sellers also have the chance at earning prizes, such as Best Buy gift cards, pizza gift certificates, and more. If anybody has items that they would like to put together for a silent auction or raffle basket, I'd definitely welcome it.  Here's the sign up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094eaba82ea6f85-chili

Band Festival

Each year, students will participate in a band and orchestra festival (except for beginning classes).  They perform in front of a panel of judges for an overall rating.  I will share more about this in later newsletters.  As a competitive and judged performance, I expect students to learn notes and rhythms as soon as possible so we can make music in rehearsals.  The band and orchestra festival is on April 1 at the Carson City Community Center.  As the hosting school for the festival, we need parents who have April 1 off to consider helping.  I will also ask a few 8th grade band and strings students for their assistance running scores and being stagehands.  I will have detailed information on call times and performance times next week.

Other Upcoming Events

March 23: Advanced Band Workshop with UNR Wind Ensemble
March 30: NZNMEA Jazz Festival, Community Center
April 24-25: Reno Jazz Festival, UNR Campus


What should your student practice?

Concert Band: Colliding Visions, Lux Prima, Dramatico
Intermediate Band: Epic, An Irish Air, Stonybrook Overture
Advanced Band: Sound Innovations Fanfare, A Childhood Hymn, Shackelford Banks
Advanced Strings: Concerto Grosso, Momentum, Classic Bits and Pieces, 2 Celtic Dances
Beginning Band: Method Book: #125-142
Beginning Strings: Method Book, Classic Bits and Pieces

Just a reminder: please make sure your students are practicing the new music and only counting practice log time on these selections. They can still play through the other pieces for fun, but it should not be counted towards their time.