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-

Tis The Season!

Dear Parents,

Now that we are back from what I hope was a restful Thanksgiving break, we are on the home stretch towards putting on our winter concert and other special events that help our community celebrate this time of the year.  The students are putting the finishing touches on their music, as well as their instrument decorations!

Honor Band Results: Every year during this time, we have honor band auditions and the results are in.  A whopping 19 students from CMS were invited to join the honor band!  Over half of the Advanced Band made it into this group, as well as 1 member from Intermediate Band.

Flute - Bahar Jazani

Flute - Jasmine Wong-Fortunato

Clarinet - Kyra Fields
Clarinet - Chloe Vasquez
Clarinet - Madisen Aragon
Clarinet - Nicolas Baggio
Clarinet - Aryanna Wortman
Bass Clarinet - Madeline Wolz

Alto Saxophone - Slade Pronk

Alto Saxophone - Jacqueline Puett

Tenor Saxophone - Kayla Taylor

Trumpet - Ryan Pitman

Trumpet - Adam Richetta

French Horn - Ethan Valdez
French Horn - Kaitlyn Edge
Euphonium - Donavan Peterson
Trombone - Emma Doty
Tuba - Emma Thomsen

Percussion - Emma Hataway

Your students also represent 28% of the entire honor band!  What a great representation from CMS. 

After School Rehearsals
Tuesday, November 29: Marching Rehearsal from 2:30-4:30 PM
Tuesday, December 6: Advanced Band Rehearsal from 2:30-4:30 PM

Tree Lighting - December 2
Advanced Band's performance at the tree lighting festivities is set, and we have been hard at work to prepare this fun music!  Call time is 6:15 PM on the corner of 3rd Street and Curry Street. with the following items:

• Instrument
• Music
• Music stand
• Festive clothing

Our performance begins at 6:30 PM and concludes at 7:00 PM. See the handout sent home with students for more information.

Sparks Hometowne Christmas Parade - December 3

Call time will be 9:30 AM in the band room for the marching band. The parade starts at 1:00 PM on Victorian Ave. and we are entry #40. Here are a few reminders for this parade:

• Students must bring their instrument case, their garment bag, and a change of clothes for the mall.
• Students may decorate their instruments as long as they do not get in the way of the functionality of the instrument.
• Students may wear Santa hats if they have them.
• Students must be accompanied by a chaperone at all times in the mall. 
• Please see me and fill out a parent release form if they are not traveling back with us on the bus.
• Thanks to everyone who is signed up to chaperone!

Winter Concert - December 7

This concert is mandatory for all groups, and this will take place in the Community Center, and will be held in two parts. Parents: please sign up on Charms to bring desserts or help out at the event as you're able. Here is the timeline for the event:
4:30 PM

We will be setting up for the concert.  Any parents that can come early to help would be greatly appreciated.

5:30 PM

Begin selling desserts. Students: please do not arrive any earlier than this unless you're with a parent who is helping with setup.

5:45 PM

Call time for Beginning Band on stage; begin selling dessert.

6:00 PM

Close down dessert table until intermission; CONCERT BEGINS with Beginning Band.

Call time for everybody else.

6:15 PM

Concert Band performs.

6:40 PM

Jazz Band performs.

7:00 PM

INTERMISSION.  Reopen dessert table.

7:15 PM

Intermediate Band performs

7:30 PM

Advanced Band performs

8:00 PM

CONCERT ENDS.  Sell any remaining items at the dessert table.  Students will help load equipment truck.  See the flyer for all additional details. 

That is "all" for now.  I will post more updates as needed.  It's great to be back!

-Mr. Jacques-

December Events Galore!

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a great weekend. This newsletter update is filled with announcements about our December events. Also, with our short school week, we have held off on any new practice assignments. Students will get new practice sheets on Wednesday, which will include 2 "free days" to help keep them from falling behind over the Thanksgiving holiday.

After School Rehearsals
Tuesday, November 22: Marching Rehearsal from 2:30-4:00 PM (*note earlier release time)
Tuesday, November 29: Marching Rehearsal from 2:30-4:30 PM
Tuesday, December 6: Advanced Band Rehearsal from 2:30-4:30 PM

Tree Lighting - December 2
Advanced Band's performance at the tree lighting festivities is set, and we have been hard at work to prepare this fun music!  Call time is 6:15 PM on the corner of 3rd Street and Curry Street. with the following items:

• Instrument
• Music
• Music stand
• Festive clothing

Our performance begins at 6:30 PM and concludes at 7:00 PM. See the handout sent home with students for more information.

Sparks Hometowne Christmas Parade - December 3

Call time will be 9:30 AM in the band room for the marching band. The parade starts at 1:00 PM and we will stop at Meadowood Mall on our way back. We are typically back by 5:00 PM. I will send out a detailed itinerary once we receive our parade entry information from the City of Sparks.

Winter Concert - December 7

This concert is mandatory for all groups. There will be two performances: 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM.  See the flyer for all additional details. 

That is all for now.  I will post more updates as needed.

-Mr. Jacques-

Veterans Week

Dear Parents,

This week will feature a couple of special events for our men and women in uniform. I also have class updates and our updated after school rehearsal schedule.

Veterans Assembly - November 10 at 9 AM
This event, hosted by choir director Briana Valley, will be held at the Carson Middle School cafeteria. I invite you all to come and watch Intermediate and Advanced Bands perform alongside the CMS choir as they "play" tribute to our veterans. We will once again perform Tribute to America, By Dawn's Early Light and Patriotic Bits & Pieces.

Veterans Day Parade - November 11, 7:30 AM call time
All marching band members will report to the band room at 7:30 AM for an incredible day. Not only are we entry #5 and the first group after the grand marshal/city officials, we are also going to be going to be the marching unit that leads 2,100 high school R.O.T.C. members down the street, along with the rest of the parade! The parade begins in downtown Reno at approximately 11:30 AM. If you're able to help volunteer, please sign up on Charms. Your time and effort makes an enormous difference!

Class Progress

Jazz Band has received all their music for the winter concert, including a couple of pieces that will carry over in January. Their enthusiasm for this music is incredible and each day, this class is such a great start to the day. Who needs Folgers? Jazz Band is the best part of waking up!
Intermediate Band has received all their music for the winter concert. They have returned to structured practice charts that if they follow, they will become as unstoppable as Advanced Band. They have improved considerably in the last few weeks!
Beginning Band is working on an unprecedented 4 pieces of sheet music for the winter concert. Wouldn't it be amazing if they could do them all?
Concert Band has also received all their winter concert music, and we're spending a great bit of time this week on tone quality. On Tuesday at 1:30, they are also going to be able to come back to the band room during Encore for an extra rehearsal (with their teacher's permission). I always enjoy their incredible enthusiasm.
Advanced Band has all 9 (yes, NINE) pieces that they will use for the winter concert, tree lighting, and elementary assemblies. 5 of them are already perform-able!  The other 4 are very learn-able, but challenging enough to push these great students to new heights.

After School Schedule

Monday, Nov. 7: Honor Band trumpet/horn help, 2:30-4:00 PM CANCELLED; rescheduled for 11/16
Tuesday, Nov. 8: Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM
Wednesday, Nov. 9: Honor Band low brass/low reeds help, 2:30-4:00 PM
Thursday, Nov. 10: Honor Band percussion help, 2:30-4:30 PM
Tuesday, November 15: Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM, followed by auditions
Wednesday, November 16: Honor Band trumpet/horn help, 2:30-4:00 PM, followed by auditions
Thursday, November 17: Honor Band Auditions, 2:30-4:30 PM
Friday, November 18: Honor Band Auditions, 2:30-4:30 PM

Have a great week!

-Mr. Jacques-

No Tricks, All Treats...

Dear Parents,

What a fantastic week it has been! Thank you to all the parents who were so helpful with cooking, selling, feeding, cleaning, fitting, chaperoning, organizing, driving, recording, and cheering on at all these events! As you can see, I wouldn't be able to do nearly as much without you.

The Fall Football Game was well-attended, with a record of 26 CMS students in attendance!  They did a great job braving the elements and showing Carson High School how amazing their future students will be!

(photo credit: Jennifer S.)

 This year's Nevada Day Parade featured a CMS Marching Band that was a class act!  They were so well-behaved and played/marched magnificently. Thank you for being there and cheering them on!

Check out those straight rows! 

(photo credit: Keith and Michele T.)

Excellent job marching in step!

(photo credit: Keith and Michele T.)

As an added bonus, the University of Nevada Marching Band performed for us as they made their way down Carson Street!

What's Next?

After School Schedule
Tuesday, Nov. 1: Advanced Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM
Wednesday, Nov. 2: Honor Band flute/oboe help, 2:30-4:00 PM
Thursday, Nov. 3: Honor Band clarinet help, 2:30-4:00 PM
Friday, Nov. 4: Honor Band saxophone help, 2:30-4:00 PM
Monday, Nov. 7: Honor Band trumpet/horn help, 2:30-4:00 PM
Tuesday, Nov. 8: Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM
Wednesday, Nov. 9: Honor Band low brass help, 2:30-4:00 PM
Thursday, Nov. 10: Honor Band percussion help, 2:30-4:30 PM

After School Schedule
November 10: Veterans Assembly, Periods 2-3 in the CMS Cafeteria for Intermediate and Advanced Band.
November 11: Veterans Day Parade, 8 AM call time with more information coming once we receive our parade entry information.
November 14-17: Honor Band Auditions

This week in all classes: All students will receive their winter concert music and get to have a fun week of sight reading. There will be a playing test on a simple part of one of these songs on Friday to test their basic reading skills. The Marching Band will also be receiving their Christmas parade music.

I'll update again over the weekend. Thanks again for everything!

-Mr. Jacques-