2016: Year in Review

Dear Parents,

What a year it has been! It's time for my annual "year in review" post, highlighting everything that took place in the Carson Middle School band program during the calendar year.

January

• The Jazz Band performed in its third Jazz Extravaganza performance with the Mile High Jazz Band. 
• The Jazz Band also hosted the Mile High Jazz Workshop, where students were offered free clinics coached by professional musicians.

February

• The Royal Blue Jazz Band made their 4th appearance at the Jazz in the Schools Clinic at UNR.
• 22 band members proudly represented Carson Middle School in the Northern Zone Honor Band.
• The annual Band-O-Rama event was held at Carson High School.

March

• For the 2nd time in the program's history, the CMS Advanced and Intermediate Bands traveled to Reno to perform in the Washoe County Band Festival, earning "Superior" and "Excellent" ratings.
• Intermediate Band, Advanced Band, and Advanced Strings earned unanimous "Superior" ratings at the Northern Zone Band Festival!  Click here for a clip from Advanced Band's performance.
• The Bingo Chili Night fundraiser generated over $5,000 that went towards the purchase of new storage cabinets.

April

• Garry Carson, a magician out of Las Vegas, donated a magic show. We raised over $1,000 in ticket sales and enjoyed a fantastic show.
• 7 band members proudly represented Carson Middle School in the NMEA All-State Band in Las Vegas.
• Beginning Strings, Beginning Band, and Concert Band earned unanimous "Superior" ratings at the Northern Zone Beginning Music Festival! Click here for a clip from the Beginning Strings performance.
• The 3rd annual String Fling event was held at Eagle Valley Middle School
• The Jazz Band performed at the Northern Zone Jazz Band Festival in Yerington. Click here for a clip from this performance.

May

• Advanced Band took their annual spring trip, performing in Disneyland.
• All groups performed their spring concerts in the Cafeteria, signaling an end to the 2015-2016 school year. Click here for a clip from Intermediate Band's performance.

June

• We hosted the 2nd annual Mile High Jazz Camp, which included 5 days of rehearsals and a concert with the Mile High Jazz Band.

August

• Dr. Brian Fox was hired as the new strings teacher.
• Jazz Band, which has existed as a club for 4 years, has officially become a "0" period class!
• For the first time in program history, Carson Middle School has 2 Beginning Bands!

September

• Advanced Band students ran the 4th annual car wash fundraiser.  Over $1500 was generated, going towards new storage cabinets and their spring trip.

October

• The fall concert was held in the CMS Cafeteria.
• The Marching Band performed in the Nevada Day Parade. Click here for a clip of the UNR Marching Band performing for CMS!

November

• The Marching Band performed in the Veterans Day Parade, and received a spot on the front page of the Reno Gazette-Journal. Click here to view the band's appearance on Channel 2 News!
• 19 band members were selected to represent CMS in the 2017 Northern Zone Honor Band.

December

• The Advanced Band performed for part of the tree lighting festivities in downtown Carson City for a 3rd year in a row, and performed a Christmas sing-along with the CHS Chamber Choir.
• The Marching Band performed in the Sparks Hometowne Christmas Parade and won the award for best marching band! View a clip from the performance here!
• The winter concert was held at the Carson City Community Center. View recordings from the concert here!
• The Advanced Band went "on tour" and performed at 3 elementary school winter assemblies. View the assembly performance here!

Follow us on Instagram to see more photos like these!

Thank you to everyone that helped make 2016 such a huge success! 

Week In Review

Dear Parents,

What a great week! Since last Friday, the band program has put on several events that are special to our community, and with even more to come, this will be a December to remember!

Past Event: Tree Lighting

Last Friday, Advanced Band performed at McFadden Plaza as part of the tree lighting festivities in town. They put together a 10 song setlist that rivaled the length and difficulty level of the music performed at the spring trip. Carson High School's very own Chamber Choir even joined in on the last piece.

Past Event: Sparks Christmas Parade

Once again, the Marching Band performed their very best, earning themselves the best marching band award in the Sparks Hometowne Christmas Parade. This means that they earned more points than the high school marching bands! This continues to show the incredible growth that these kids undergo year by year. What an incredible parade season!

Past Event: Winter Concert

The 2016 winter concert is in the books, and what a great concert it was overall.  Thank you to everyone who helped run this event. The decorating, food, and incredible student behavior all contributed to a happy and festive event, and who can forget those bands and their great musicianship!

The "spread" of delicious items and beautiful decorations. Thank you, all!

I also wanted to thank everybody for doing their best to stay and support all groups. It's always nice to play to a big audience.  I'm glad you all made it home safely, as well!

Future Event: Department of Taxation Performance

The Jazz Band has been invited to perform for the Nevada Department of Taxation on Monday, December 12. The performance will be at approximately 3:30 PM and the general public is invited to attend. We will be performing in the lobby of 1550 E. College Parkway, #115. 

Future Event: Elementary Assemblies

The Advanced Band will go "on tour" to three elementary schools and perform for the entire student body! If you wish to join us, here's our schedule:

• Bordewich Bray: 12/20 at 1:00 PM
• Mark Twain: 12/21 at 12:00 PM
• Fritsch: 12/21 at 1:15 PM

Other Items

• Practice logs are due on Friday, 12/9.  These will be the last practice logs of the semester.
• I will be in Chicago for the annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic from Tuesday-Friday. Students will be rehearsing with our awesome substitute, Raynell Heaton.
• There will be a final playing test during the last week before winter break. Some students may be considered for different ensembles based on how they perform!

Thank you for a great journey so far this school year. We are only about halfway through and there's so much more incredible music to come!

-Mr. Jacques-

Winter Concert FAQs

Dear Parents,

Last year around this time, I posted an FAQ newsletter update, which was a big hit with my tens of loyal readers last year... With the winter concert drawing near, this week's newsletter is nothing but questions and answers for Wednesday's concert.

Q: When is the concert?
A: Wednesday, December 7

Q: Can we come early to help set up?
A: Yes, as long as it's no earlier than 4:30 PM and you are with your parents.  Bring decorations or lights and we may even use them as part of our concert!

Q: When is call time?
A: 5:45 PM for Beginning Band. No later than 6:00 PM for everybody else.

Q: Wait...where is this again?
A: Carson City Community Center

Q: What do we wear?
A: Parents may wear whatever they want!!  But seriously, here's the concert attire for each group:

• Beginning Band, Concert Band: Blue music polo or SSA polo with black dress pants, black socks, and black dress shoes.
• Intermediate Band, Advanced Band, Jazz Band: Tuxedo outfit issued to your student, including blue cummerbund, bow tie, vests (certain Jazz Band members) and black marching shoes or dress shoes.

Q: Can we decorate our instruments or ourselves?

A: Absolutely!  Holiday hats are encouraged.  If you decorate instruments, make sure the decorations do not get in the way of the functionality of the instrument or damage the lacquer.

Q: Can I bring baked goods without signing up online?

A: Sure!  Just show up with your favorite pie, cheesecake, cookie recipe, fudge, brownies, or anything else and we will sell it.

Q: What time does the concert start?

A: The concert starts at 6:00 PM

Q: What time does the concert end?

A: The entire event should finish around 8:00 PM. 

Q: Where do kids sit when they don't perform?

A: They will sit together as a group in a predesignated area.  Parents are welcome to sit with the kids (in fact, the more parents who do will help students stay focused on the performance).

Q: How much is admission?
A: My concerts are always FREE!

See you all Wednesday night!  

-Mr. Jacques-