Let the Fundraisers Begin...

Dear Parents,

Let the major fundraisers begin!  We have two events: the Magic Show on April 19, and Chili Bingo Night on April 21.

MAGIC SHOW
The Magic Show is on Wednesday, April 19, in the Carson City Community Center.  For the second year in a row, Garry Carson is providing a show at no cost to us! For $10 each, you can see a world-class performance by a magician who was voted "Family Entertainer of the Year." His Magical Mystery Tour is stopping in Carson City on April 19, and 100% of every ticket sold goes back to our program!  Each student took home 3 tickets on March 31.

• Students with tickets need to bring all money AND unsold tickets no later than April 12. I will redistribute tickets to those who can sell more.
• All parents with connections are asked to request sponsorships from their workplaces to help cover travel expenses for Garry Carson.  We would also like to provide Garry with a 2-night hotel stay. Let me know if you can get this for him.

CHILI BINGO NIGHT
The event itself is on Friday, April 21 in the CMS Cafeteria. A huge thanks goes out to some incredible parents, as well as businesses, who have donated time, goods, and services to make this event a huge hit each year.  Here is everything you need to know:

On Friday, March 31, each student received an envelope with a prize list and 20 tickets.  They may sell as many as they'd like!  Here are the important facts that students must remember about selling these tickets:

• They MUST collect the money at the time of sale.
• They need to include the following information on each ticket:
• Buyer's name
• Buyer's phone number
• Item number (if the buyer wants their tickets to go towards a specific item)
• They must bring the tickets AND the money back to Mr. Jacques.  (buyer does not keep the tickets)

This fundraiser is extremely profitable because the profit margin is 100%.  All prizes are donated.  Also, since the band/orchestra is running this by themselves, we will receive every dollar raised through not just the raffle, but through Bingo games, food sales, and the silent auction that are all taking place on April 21.  

This raffle is unique because you can choose which item you want to win.  Your chances of winning what you want will increase, and you won't win anything you don't want. 

Students can come back for as many tickets as they want!  You are encouraged to go to your neighbors, relatives, friends, and coworkers and help your students sell.  There are top prizes for students, and they were very excited to know what they might be able to win:

• Sell 10 tickets: Receive 1 free ticket for the item of your choice.
• Sell 50 tickets: Receive a coupon for a free sub from Firehouse Subs
• Sell 100 tickets: Receive a coupon for a free pizza. 
• Sell the most tickets in the entire program: Receive a $30 gift card to the business of your choice!
• If each student in a class sells at least 20 tickets, they will all receive an in-class root beer float and movie party at the end of the school year!

Our total fundraising goal is $10,000 and with your support, we can easily surpass that amount.  Last year, we earned $6,000 from Chili Bingo Night alone! 

I'll be updating the newsletter again with the usual news and updates later next week.  Enjoy the beginning of an amazingly fun and profitable fundraiser!

-Mr. Jacques-

Back to Work...

Dear Parents,

Back to work! With March almost behind us, it's time to look ahead to our next events organized by event type: fundraisers, performances, and after school rehearsals. Also, practice logs will be due on Friday and all classes will have their first playing test of the 4th quarter.

March 29 - Instrument Demo/Petting Zoo
From 6-8 PM in the band room, we will be introducing new students to band instruments and getting them excited about choosing band as an elective. Absolute Music will be here, and Mr. Jacques will demonstrate all the instruments to all interested students.

FUNDRAISERS

April 19 - Magic Show featuring Garry Carson
World-renown illusionist Garry Carson will be donating a show to us for the 2nd year in a row! The show begins at 7 PM in the Community Center and tickets are just $10!  More information about Garry Carson may be found here: http://www.carsonentertainment.com/

April 21 - Chili Bingo Night
This community tradition has been hosted by the CMS Bands for at least 8 years, and this event will be just as much fun. From 6-8 PM in the cafeteria, we will have raffle drawings, bingo games, chili tasting, and much more fun!

PERFORMANCES

April 8 - All-State Band performance
Even if your student is not in All-State, you are invited to come watch this concert that features the best performers in our state. The concert begins at 3:00 PM at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Reno.

April 11 - NZNMEA Music Festival - Mandatory for Beginning/Concert Band
This is Beginning Band's third time attending this festival. This mandatory performance takes place during the school day. Students will perform in front of judges, listen to other beginning bands, and eat lunch on the way back. Click here for the informational handout.

April 25 - NZNMEA Jazz Festival - Mandatory for Jazz Band
Although specific times are TBA, this event will take place after school. Transportation will be provided. Additional details will be made available as soon as I receive them.

April 28 - Reno Jazz Festival - Mandatory for Jazz Band
Although specific times are TBA, this event will take place during school hours. Transportation will be provided. Additional details will be made available as soon as I receive them.

REHEARSALS

March 28, 29, 30 - Extra help after school from 2:30-4:00

April 4 - All State Band Members from 2:30-4:30

April 10 - Beginning and Concert Band rehearsal from 2:30-4:00

April 11 - Advanced Band rehearsal from 2:30-4:30

April 18 - Jazz Band rehearsal from 2:30-4:30

Stay tuned for more information about the fundraisers on Friday.

-Mr. Jacques-

Let's Celebrate!

Dear Parents,

We have reached the end of our long run of band events, just in time for spring break! As I've been thinking back to what we accomplished, I counted a total of 9 events, not including rehearsals, since mid-January! Even more impressive is the quality of performance at all these events from all groups. Every time students performed, the quality was top-notch.

NZNMEA Band Festival Wrap-Up

I've been sitting here trying to find the right words to describe the festival results, and I'm finding it hard to put it into words  Everything was, once again, really well put together. I'm so pleased with their musicianship, work ethic, professionalism, and dedication. All of our bands performed quite well today, and the journey has been spectacular to see.

• Concert Band/Intermediate Band earned 2 "Excellent" ratings.
• Concert Band/Intermediate Band was the highest performing "apprentice" band at today's festival, and outperformed 3 other school's Advanced Bands.
• Once again, we were the only school to bring 6th graders.
• Advanced Band earned 2 "Superior" ratings. 
• Advanced Band's scores were the highest in the entire festival, also earning the only I+ rating!
• Our student helpers were incredible, as always. They made the festival such a smooth and seamless process!

Here's how all the bands stacked up today. It was also the first festival I remember where none of our area schools received a IV, or a "fair" rating. 

Festival Recordings

Since I know how difficult it is to miss work and make it to these performances, I have uploaded the recordings to YouTube. I encourage Beginning Band members to listen to these as well. This is a great way to see how band will be next year. Enjoy!

Concert Band/Intermediate Band

Glorioso

In the Bleak Midwinter

Imperium

Spirit of the Stallion

Advanced Band

Afterburn

By Dawn's Early Light

Regenesis

Save The Dates!

April 6-8: All-State Band in Reno
April 11: Northern Zone Beginning Band Festival
April 19: Magic Show with illusionist Garry Carson
April 21: Chili Bingo Night
April 25: Northern Zone Jazz Festival
April 28: Reno Jazz Festival

Congratulations to everyone on all performances. Happy Spring Break!

-Mr. Jacques-

4 Down, 1 to go...

Dear Parents,

We are almost through our 6 week run of band events.  Read below for information on our final performance before spring break, as well as upcoming events in April.

Washoe County Band Festival Wrap-Up: 
At the Washoe County Band Festival in Reno on Wednesday, the groups had quite a successful performance!

• Intermediate Band/Concert Band earned two "Excellent" ratings and one "Superior" rating.
• Advanced Band earned three "Superior" ratings.

Here's how the festival rating system works:

I - Superior, the very best performance.  The band executed all aspects of music making very well at all times.
II - Excellent, a great performance.  The band had some minor musical imperfections but was overall very good.
III - Good, an average performance.  The band had several mistakes, but songs are still recognizable.
IV - Fair, a below average performance.  Quite a few errors in notes and rhythms.  Songs sound bad and are hard to recognize.

There are some amazing facts about Wednesday's performance:

• Advanced Band has never done this well at this festival.
• This is Concert Band's first ever performance at this festival.
• We were the only school in the festival to have band members in the 6th grade.
• With 95 band members, I have never taken this many students on a trip at the same time.
• My students helped the host school clean up at the end of the festival.
• We had less than two weeks to prepare new music since Bandorama (the shortest ever turn-around time).

Thank you to the students for attending extra after school rehearsals, parents for being there to shuttle your kids and support practicing at home, and the chaperones for helping ensure a smooth trip. 

 Advanced Band as they completed their performance.

 Combined Intermediate Band/Concert Band

Fun in the audience between performances.

The final event before Spring Break

• March 15: NZNMEA Band Festival   This is the 5th consecutive year of CMS hosting this festival. Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Advanced Band will perform in a judged band performance with around 20 other middle school bands from our area.  Take a look at the informational handouts below for the performance times. I scheduled the groups so that they do not miss too much school. 
• Concert and Intermediate Band information
• Advanced Band information

Upcoming After School Rehearsal

• March 14: Advanced Band from 2:30-4:00 PM (no longer 4:30 end time)

Save The Dates:

• April 6-8: All-State Festival in Reno, NV
• April 19: Magic Show Fundraiser
• April 21: Chili Bingo Night
• April 25: NZNMEA Jazz Festival
• April 28-29: Reno Jazz Festival

No practice logs will be due this week.

Have a great weekend!

-Mr. Jacques-

'Tis the Festival Season...

Dear Parents,

This is just a quick update to announce the upcoming rehearsals and festival performance times. For those new to band festivals, here's how they work:

• Students travel to a venue to perform for judges that will rate the quality of their performance. Think of it as the band equivalent of standardized testing. 
• The ratings are Superior, Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor. Judges have handwritten comments and recorded comments that they share as the performance takes place. We listen to and discuss these during the day after the festival. 
• Students also have the opportunity to listen to other bands from other schools.

Upcoming Festivals

• March 8: Washoe County Band Festival  As the only school from outside of Washoe County accepted, this event is a huge honor and we are excited to be participating for the 3rd time! All Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Advanced Band students will take a trip to Reno to perform in a judged band performance with other middle school bands.  For the first time, Concert Band is combining with Intermediate Band to create a mass band. 
• Concert and Intermediate Band information
• Advanced Band information
• March 15: NZNMEA Band Festival   This is the 5th consecutive year of CMS hosting this festival. Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Advanced Band will perform in a judged band performance with over 20 other middle school bands from our area.  Take a look at the information handouts below for the performance times. I scheduled the groups so that they do not miss too much school. 
• Concert and Intermediate Band information
• Advanced Band information

Upcoming After School Rehearsals

• March 6: Advanced Band from 1:30-4:30 (food provided)
• March 7: Concert Band and Intermediate Band from 2:30-4:30 PM
• March 14: Advanced Band from 2:30-4:30 PM

Practice logs are due next Friday, March 10. 

Have a great week!

-Mr. Jacques-