You're the Best Around...

Dear Parents,

Another great week is in the books!  String Fling was a tour de force for all who attended!  Even more impressive: these same students turned around 12 hours later and performed again in Fernley.  Both the combined strings and combined bands earned straight "Superior" ratings!  Take a look at the outcome of all the local festivals: 

Beginning Band/Concert Band: Two "Superior" ratings on April 21

Beginning Strings/Advanced Strings: Two "Superior" ratings on April 21

Intermediate Band: Two "Superior" ratings on March 22

Advanced Strings: Two "Superior" ratings on March 22

Advanced Band: Two "Superior" ratings on March 22

For the second time since I began teaching here in 2012-2013, we had all ensembles able to participate in a festival, and for the FIRST TIME, all groups earned straight "Superior" ratings!  Considering that even the beginning groups earned these ratings, the future is looking very bright for Band/Orchestra at CMS!  They're truly the best around.

Upcoming Events

Monday, April 25: Yerington Jazz Festival, 3:30 PM call time, 6:00 PM performance at Yerington Center for Performing Arts

Tuesday, April 26: Jazz Band performs at STEAM Night at CMS, 5:00 PM call time, 5:30 PM performance.

May 19-22: Spring Trip to Disneyland

Tuesday, May 24: Intermediate Band/Advanced Strings/Advanced Band/Jazz Band concert, 6:00 PM in CMS Cafeteria.

Wednesday, May 25: 5th Grade Band, Beginning Band/Beginning Strings/Concert Band concert, 5:30 PM in CMS Cafeteria.

Thursday, June 2: 8th Grade Promotion performance (mandatory for all 6th and 7th grade band members), 1:00 PM in CMS gym.

Upcoming Rehearsals

Wednesday, April 27: Spring Trip band rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM

Tuesday, May 3: Spring Trip band rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM

Wednesday, May 4: Spring Trip band rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM

Wednesday, May 11: Spring Trip band rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM

Tuesday, May 17: Advanced Strings rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM

Wednesday, May 18: Spring Trip band rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM

Tuesday, May 24: Tentative Dress Rehearsal after school for all groups performing that evening.

Wednesday, May 25: Tentative Dress Rehearsal after school for all groups performing that evening.

We are down to the final 6 weeks of school (5 if you don't count the testing week).  Have a great one!

-Mr. Jacques-

Three Events

Dear Parents,

Onward to the next events for the year. String Fling is on Wednesday the 20th, the Fernley Music Festival is on Thursday the 21st, and the Yerington Jazz Festival is on Monday the 25th.  I also have a special recap of All-State band which took place last weekend.

String Fling - April 20
This event is mandatory for all strings students.  Call time is 6:00 PM at the EVMS gym.  Please make sure your student brings their instrument and music back home from CMS that afternoon.  Concert dress is formal black and white for Advanced Strings and their blue SSA polo or Strings polo with black dress pants, black socks, and black shoes for Beginning Strings.  The concert begins at 7:00 PM.

Fernley Music Festival - April 21
This event is mandatory for all strings students, as well as students in Concert Band and Beginning Band.  Call time is 7:45 AM in the band room.  We will leave immediately at 7:50 AM, so please don't be late.  Concert dress is blue SSA or CMS Music polo, black dress pants, black socks, and black shoes.  We still need chaperones!

• Strings performs at 9:30 AM
• Band performs at 11:30 AM

We will be back at 2:00 PM so students do not need special arrangements for rides.

Yerington Jazz Festival - April 25
This event is mandatory for all Jazz Band students.  Call time is 3:00 PM in the band room (due to Early Release Day).  Concert dress is tuxedo outfits with blue blazers for those who have them.  We perform at 6:00 PM at the Yerington Theatre for the Arts.  After staying to listen to a few other bands, we will return around 9:00 PM.  We still need chaperones!

A Word About All-State
This last weekend in Las Vegas, I had the chance to work with the finest musicians in the state, including 7 of our very own!

After working with these students, I realize how incredibly talented all the CMS ensembles really are, and how fortunate I am to be working with them.  Music is a lifelong learning process.  Mr. Lovell, the guest conductor, said that in his adult band in Elko, the youngest musician is 16 years old.  The oldest musician is 82.  I encourage all students to stay in music and make it a part of their life, even if it's not going to become a profession. These brilliant young people are our future leaders, inventors, scientists, engineers, and teachers. They will go very far in life, and the sky is the limit.

The 2016 All-State Band before their dress rehearsal.

The 2016 All-State Band in concert with guest conductor, Walt Lovell.  

I will be seeing many of you at events through the next couple weeks.  I'll keep you posted, as always.

-Mr. Jacques-

The 7th Inning Stretch

Dear Parents,

With baseball season officially in full "swing," I've recently started thinking of a school year as being similar to baseball.  What do they have in common?  Well, just like a game has 9 innings, the school year has 9 full months.  There are ones that are filled with quite a lot of activity, and others that are rather quiet.  Coming off spring break, I realized that we also get our own "7th inning stretch," which, might I add, seemed very necessary for both the students and their director!

This week, students have been hard at work selling magic tickets, learning new music, refining old music, and preparing for high school band auditions.  With less than 2 months to go, it's going to be a whirlwind finish to what has been a truly wonderful school year. Here's a list of the rest of the year's events as I know them:

April 12: Magic Show featuring Garry Carson at the Brewery Arts Center; 7:00 PM show, $10 per ticket, kids under 5 years old are free.
April 14-16: All-State Band in Las Vegas
April 20: String Fling at EVMS, 7:00 PM concert; mandatory for all strings
April 21: NZNMEA Music Festival, Silverland Middle School; mandatory for Concert Band, Beginning Band, Advanced Strings, and Beginning Strings
April 25: NZNMEA Jazz Festival, Yerington, 6:00 PM concert; mandatory for Jazz Band
April 26: STEAM Night Jazz Band Performance; mandatory for Jazz Band
April 29: Reno Jazz Festival Clinic; mandatory for Jazz Band
May 19-22: Spring Trip to Disneyland
May 24: Spring Concert, Part 1; mandatory for Advanced Strings, Intermediate Band, Advanced Band, and Jazz Band
May 25: Spring Concert, Part 2; mandatory for Beginning Band, Beginning Strings, and Concert Band.
June 2: 8th Grade Promotion; mandatory for all 6th and 7th grade band members.
June 6-10: Jazz Camp; 9 AM-12 PM each day

If anything else comes up, I will announce it the moment I find out.  This list should be pretty complete for now as we finish out the year.

Have a great weekend!

-Mr. Jacques-