A New Month

Dear Parents,

Ready to start a new month?  With January almost behind us, I'm happy to report that everything in the band world is continuing to go by smoothly, and the level of dedication I'm receiving from your students is quite remarkable.  Each week, I track the percentage of students who turn in practice logs and last Friday was first time I've ever had all classes at or above 90%! Here's the breakdown:

Jazz Band: 96%
Intermediate Band: 97%
Beginning Band A: 95%
Beginning Band B: 91%
Concert Band: 92%
Advanced Band: 94%

Pretty amazing! They will continue to receive a new practice chart each week, with a playing test each Friday. I appreciate the hard work from everyone that is practicing at home. Keep it up!

Class Progress

• Jazz Band just performed at their first ever Folsom Jazz Festival! They did so well, considering that they have only been working on 2 of their songs for a few weeks.  Their next events are the Jazz Extravaganza on Jan. 31, followed by Jazz in the Schools on Feb. 11. 

The Jazz Band at the Folsom Jazz Festival on January 28.

• Intermediate Band continues to improve quickly. They now have all their festival music and Band-O-Rama music.  I have also applied for them to participate in the Washoe County Band Festival.  Their next event is Band-O-Rama on February 23.
• Beginning Bands continue to push ahead in the method book and learn new skills. They now have all their Band-O-Rama music.  Their next event is Band-O-Rama on February 23.
• Concert Band can perform both Band-O-Rama songs, and they are already sounding musical! They have also received their festival music. They are doing so well that I have applied for them to participate with Intermediate Band in the Washoe County Band Festival. Their next event is Band-O-Rama on February 23.
• Advanced Band was able to sight read straight through a couple of their new songs last week, without stopping! They now have all their Band-O-Rama and festival music. I applied for them to participate in the Washoe County Band Festival. Their next event is Band-O-Rama on February 23.

Upcoming Events

• January 31: Jazz Extravaganza  The Jazz Band will be performing with the CHS Jazz Band and the Mile High Jazz Band on this fun-filled evening at the Community Center. The concert starts at 7. Jazz Band students are selling tickets for $10 per adult. Students are free! 
• February 11: UNR Jazz in the Schools  The Jazz Band will perform a concert and receive a clinic from members of the Reno Jazz Orchestra in this free event. More information will be on its way soon.
• February 16-17: Honor Band in Fallon  Honor Band will have two all-day rehearsals at Churchill County High School, followed by a concert on the evening of Feb. 17 at 7 PM.  More information will be handed to honor band students shortly.
• February 23: Band-O-Rama   All Beginning Band, Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Advanced Band students must attend this event. We will have a rehearsal from 7:30-10:30 AM, and the concert will begin that evening at 7:00 PM. More information will be handed out to students shortly.

Looking Ahead

• March 8: Washoe County Band Festival (Ensembles TBA)
• March 10: Chili Bingo Night
• March 15: NZNMEA Band Festival (Concert Band, Intermediate Band, Advanced Band)

I hope to see you at the Jazz Extravaganza on January 31! 

-Mr. Jacques-

Feeling Jazzed...

Dear Parents,

It's time for some announcements about class progress and upcoming events.  First, however, a huge shout-out to those who made All-State Band this year:

• Bahar Jazani
• Chloe Vasquez
• Madisen Aragon
• Slade Pronk
• Ethan Valdez
• Kaitlyn Edge
• Adam Richetta
• Emma Hataway

These students will represent CMS in a band of 107 players from 25 schools across the state! If you'd like more information about this group, you may visit this webpage: http://www.nmeamusic.org/all-state-middle-school-band.html 

Class Progress

• Jazz Band is hard at work preparing for the Folsom Jazz Festival, Jazz Extravaganza, and Jazz in the Schools. These events take place in the time span of 2 weeks. I am so excited to see them working towards their full potential!
• Intermediate Band has shown exceptional improvement since the new year. They have also welcomed 4 new players who are taking to the new class quite successfully. This group is really blossoming musically and I am considering giving them a second festival performance this spring.
• Beginning Bands are moving along in the method book and they are getting close to being able to play through their first Band-O-Rama piece. Beginning B was also able to sight read through a song quite successfully on Friday. 
• Concert Band can perform their first Band-O-Rama piece, and each day they sound better than the last. They are at a point where I am strongly considering giving them a second festival performance this spring.
• Advanced Band has learned their first Band-O-Rama song and began sight reading their most demanding festival piece. They are also beginning to learn all 12 of their major scales, a step that will help them greatly in high school.  

Upcoming Events

• January 21: Jazz Workshop  Come join the Jazz Band and professional musicians from the Mile High Jazz Band for a fun morning of music. This is an optional event from 9 AM-1 PM. For more information, click here.
• January 23: Honor Band Rehearsal  Honor Band members must attend this mandatory rehearsal at EVMS from 5-7 PM.
• January 28: Folsom Jazz Festival  The Jazz Band will be competing with jazz bands from the state of California. For more information, click here.
• January 31: Jazz Extravaganza  The Jazz Band will be performing with the CHS Jazz Band and the Mile High Jazz Band on this fun-filled evening at the Community Center. The concert starts at 7. Jazz Band students are selling tickets for $10 per adult. Students are free! 
• February 11: UNR Jazz in the Schools  The Jazz Band will perform a concert and receive a clinic from members of the Reno Jazz Orchestra in this free event. More information will be on its way soon.
• February 16-17: Honor Band in Fallon  Honor Band will have two all-day rehearsals at Churchill County High School, followed by a concert on the evening of Feb. 17 at 7 PM.  More information will be handed to honor band students shortly.
• February 23: Band-O-Rama   All Beginning Band, Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Advanced Band students must attend this event. We will have a rehearsal from 7:30-10:30 AM, and the concert will begin that evening at 7:00 PM. More information will be handed out to students shortly.

Looking Ahead

• March 8: Washoe County Band Festival (Ensembles TBA)
• March 10: Chili Bingo Night
• March 15: NZNMEA Band Festival (Concert Band, Intermediate Band, Advanced Band)

Enjoy the snowy weekend!

-Mr. Jacques-

Back to the "swing" of things...

Dear Parents,

I'd like to welcome your band students back to school for what will be a fun and rewarding spring semester! With the crazy weather, I know we have had a lot on our minds lately, so I'll keep it brief for now with just a few reminders and some upcoming events.

• All students: Practice charts will resume on Friday and are due next Friday, 1/20.
• All students will have weekly playing tests beginning on Friday, 1/20.
• Spring Trip participants: Payment #2 is due on 1/15.
• Folsom Jazz Festival participants: Participation fee of $60 ($30 for chaperones) is due on 1/20. 
• Jazz Band: Keep selling Jazz Extravaganza tickets. $6 from each ticket may go towards your Folsom Jazz Festival cost.

Upcoming Rehearsals/Events

Tuesday, 1/17: Jazz Band rehearsal at CMS, 2:30-4:30 PM

Wednesday, 1/18: Honor Band rehearsal at CMS, 2:30-4:30 PM

Saturday, 1/21: Jazz Workshop at CMS, 9 AM-2 PM - This event, sponsored by the Mile High Jazz Band, bring in professional musicians to work with students. It is mandatory for Jazz Band, and is open to any other band members who want to participate.

Monday, 1/23: Honor Band rehearsal at EVMS, 5-7 PM 

Tuesday, 1/24: Jazz Band rehearsal at CMS, 2:30-4:30 PM

Saturday, 1/28: Folsom Jazz Festival (all day; call time TBA) - This jazz festival performance is mandatory for Jazz Band members.

Tuesday, 1/31: Jazz Extravaganza concert at Community Center, 6-9 PM - This event is mandatory for Jazz Band. Tickets are $10 each and may be purchased in advance from any Jazz Band students.

Looking ahead: Thursday, 2/23: Band-O-Rama - Mandatory for all groups except Jazz Band.

As always, let me know if you have any questions. It's great to be back!

-Mr. Jacques-

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-