4.24.16 Update

Dear Students, Families, and Supporters,

SUCCESS!

We are proud to announce that our Wind Ensemble made superior ratings at UIL Concert & Sightreading Contest! All three ensembles received superior ratings in their stage performances and sight reading performances. We received a “program sweepstakes” award for receiving superior ratings at UIL Marching Contest and UIL Concert and Sightreading. We are very proud of the hard work that went into this wonderful year!

HONOR BAND PROCESS

The Wind Ensemble will continue to work on their UIL literature in order to prepare for their TMEA Honor Band recording. This is a competitive contest in which our varsity ensemble is compared to other ensembles in the area and ranked accordingly. Thus, the Wind Ensemble will continue after school activities for the remainder of the school year. Three recording sessions/concerts are scheduled for the month of May. Please look at our calendar for more details.

MARCHING BAND!

Parents - Please do not schedule vacations beginning July 25th, through the beginning of school. That block of the summer will be used for marching band camp and must be attended by those wishing to be considered for a spot in the competitive marching program. We will have our first marching rehearsal on Friday, April 29th.

LEADERSHIP AUDITIONS

Auditions and meetings for those interested in being on the 2016-2017 Leadership Team will be held this week. See below for details.

THIS WEEK

Monday

3-4: WE Brass

Tuesday

3-4: WE Woodwinds

4:15-6:00: Leadership Audition Meeting

6:30: General Booster Club Meeting and Booster Board Voting

Wednesday

3-4: WE Pass-offs

3-4: WE Percussion

4:15-6:00: Leadership Training

Thursday

4:00-6:30: WE Full Band with clinician John Benzer

Friday

3:00-4:30: 2016 Marching Band Rehearsal

4:45-6:00: Leadership Training

Have a great week!

Regards,

IHKHS Band Staff

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1O9i6RmcNRzPYABY95EJPJ3G-fKrzh-97HZEpysO-nio/viewform

Weather Update and Weekly Change

Students and parents: 

The last two days have brought severe weather and made our plans rather organic. I hope everyone has stayed safe throughout the last two days and we are ready to get after a still very eventful week! To start, the pass in review concert scheduled for Wednesday evening has been canceled and will be rescheduled for another day in May. We will keep you updated as we receive more news concerning that event. I have received the ok from administration to plan for our UIL activities to finish strong. the wind ensemble will still participate in UIL contest on Friday with the original itinerary. In order to make sure that our students have a successful performance experience on Friday, we need to make up for the hours of rehearsal time we have lost and move the scheduled full ensemble rehearsal from today to tomorrow. The schedule for the remainder of the week will be as follows: 

Wednesday
4-5: Wind Ensemble full rehearsal

Thursday
4-6: Wind Ensemble full rehearsal

Friday
UIL at Travis High School for wind ensemble as per the itinerary on the website

Thank you for your continued support and flexibility. We are looking forward to a successful remainder of the week and hoping to finish out with a full program sweepstakes award trophy come Friday!

4.18.16 Update

Dear Students, Families, and Supporters, 

I am pleased to announce that both our Concert Band and Symphonic Band received sweepstakes trophies at UIL Concert and Sight Reading Contest! We are so proud of our bands and look forward to Wind Ensemble going to UIL this coming week! This week brings a number of after school rehearsals for the Wind Ensemble as we look toward getting our full program sweepstakes trophy for the year. Our Symphonic Band will be representing our program this Wednesday evening at 7 pm for the annual JROTC pass in review ceremony! 

THIS WEEK

Monday
3-4: Wind Ensemble Brass rehearsal
4-5: Wind Ensemble Woodwind rehearsal

Tuesday
4-5: Wind Ensemble full rehearsal

Wednesday
3-4: Wind Ensemble clarinet/sax/flute literature touch up session
7: pass in review concert- Mercer Stadium- Symphonic Band- itinerary to come

Thursday
4-6: Wind Ensemble Full Rehearsal

Friday: 
Please see calendar on KempnerBand.org to see itinerary for Wind Ensemble UIL at Travis High School

CONCERT ATTIRE
During our successful Pre UIL contests last week we noticed some items that will help us look our best during our concerts. Just a reminder, as per our previous communications, it is important that we all look the same and professional while on stage performing! Gentlemen should have tuxedo shirts and bow ties as well as black socks. Ladies should have closed toed shoes and black hosiery are part of the concert dress uniform as to show as little skin as possible. We strive to look professional and detailed in the same we strive to perform and this helps to continue to give Kempner Bands a look of professionalism and a standard of excellence! 

BANQUET TICKET SALES
Banquet tickets are still on sale through the band office via sign up form. The price for these tickets are now $25 a piece for what will be a night to remember! They are also on sale via the website store. There is a small added convenience charge per ticket but all major cards and debit cards are accepted. The website also has a very mobile friendly platform for smart phone browsers and you will receive and immediate receipt for your purchase! http://kempnerband.org/store/ 

BOOSTER BOARD NOMINATIONS
Please note that we will be taking nominations for Booster Board Positions on our website at http://kempnerband.org/nominations/. Please submit the names of individuals you wish to nominate for next year's executive board! Only nominate one person per position (as per our bylaws) and a full description of each position can be found in our booster club by-laws on our website. http://kempnerband.org/nominations/ 

NEW WEBSITE AND TWITTER
If you have not already please visit the new website at the same URL kempnerband.org as well as (if you are a Twitter fan) follow our band Twitter @band_ih. Thanks! 

CALENDAR
Please use our website calendar! Planning events months in advance can be a challenge but the band staff does their best to post as much as we know about possible events on the calendar so that all of our program can be on the same page! http://kempnerband.org/calendar/ 

PASS IN REVIEW CONCERT
I have had many questions about this item on our calendar and we are excited and honored to be chosen by the district administration to perform at the annual JROTC Pass in Review Ceremony at Mercer Stadium on April 20th at 7pm! Our Symphonic Band has done such an excellent job this year and we feel it would be a wonderful opportunity for our Symphonic Band members to perform and be the face of KHS at this ceremony! A detailed itinerary for this event will be posted by tomorrow as we are still receiving information from the district about this event. 

Please contact a band director with any questions. Thank you! 

Regards, 

Scott Norman
Director of Bands
I.H. Kempner High School