QACHS’s Band Blog

Well, all of the summer Marching Rehearsals have been complete. There were Wednesday evening music rehearsals from 6-8PM throughout the summer beginning with the first Wednesday after school finished. Then they had two very successful weeks of Band Camp the last week of July in to the first full week of August. They concluded camp with a performance at the Queen Anne’s County 4-H Fair opening ceremony. I want to thank David Durham, Stephen Elburn, Brittany Lynn, Carley Simons, and Janelle Thomas for coming back and helping us throughout the summer and camp. Also a big thank you to Mrs. Fullerton for giving up two weeks of her summer to help us with band camp as well.

We will begin our weekly after school rehearsals on Monday. As we have done in the past, Woodwinds and Brass will have rehearsal on Mondays, Percussion and Color Guard on Tuesdays, and everyone has rehearsal on Thursdays and Fridays. After school rehearsals will run from 2:40PM to 4:45PM. The after school activity buses will depart at 5:00PM.

This Monday, the freshmen start with their own special day and Tuesday the rest of the upperclassmen will return. There will be a bit of a change in the daily band schedule. The Hybrid Period is being moved from 3rd period to 4th period this year. So, it will be a nice way for students to end their day.

We will be having a band orientation meeting for all band members and parents on Thursday, September 4th at 7:00PM in the Band Room. Everyone is strongly encouraged to attend so that we can all be informed about what will be going on in the band program this year and meet each other. Time is always short on Open House night, so this will give us plenty of time to talk together. So, mark your calendars and plan to attend.

Check out our wiki for signing up to help in the concession stand at the stadium. Click on the link, follow the directions, and help us out: http://qachsbandconcession.wikispaces.com. We have already had some folks to sign up. Thank you so much!

Stay tuned to the this blog all year and stay informed. This will be our first full year to have the blog and I am so very excited to be able to share information with all of you.

The Marching Lions Band brought their 2007-2008 Marching Season to a close with marching in the Chestertown Tea Party Parade for the sixth year before traveling back to Centreville for the Memorial Day Parade. At the Tea Party parade, the band paused to play their parade piece, Main Street America, in front of the judges stand and a large audience that had gathered around. It was later announced at the awards ceremony that the Marching Lions took the award for 1st place Musical Marching Unit. The Marching Lions have won an award each year that they have participated, for their outstanding performance.

Next week will bring the Music Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00 PM.  We are trying a new format by just doing an awards ceremony in place of the former banquet.

The 5th Annual QACHS Night of Jazz will be held in the Cafeteria on Thursday, May 15th at 7:00 PM.  The concert is held in combination with the Centreville Middle School Jazz Ensemble.  It is presented as a cafe style concert with refreshments available throughout.  The members of the Jazz Ensemble are responsible for the various items.  The Saxophones need to bring a baked good, the Brass need to bring two 2 Liter bottles of soda, and the rhythm section will take care of the paper products.

Our Spring Concert will be held at 7:30 PM next Tuesday, May 6th.  The band is to report to get dressed at 6:45 PM and are to be ready for warm-up at 7:00 PM.  The concert will include performances by the combined Concert Band, Marching Band, and the Choir.

You can now goto the Band’s Website and listen to the first episode of “From the Director’s Desk.” Each month I will be posting a new podcast about the latest happenings and upcoming events. I will plan to post it the day after the monthly Band Booster Meetings which are usually held the first Thursday of every month in the Band Room at 7:00 PM. If you can’t make it to the meeting to hear my Director’s Report, the podcasts will give it all to you.  Click to go there now, http://boe.qacps.k12.md.us/qhs/qaband/podcasts.html

The Symphonic and Concert Bands performed as one unified group at Wicomico High School on Wednesday, March 12th at the Maryland District V Band Festival.  They received an “Excellent” rating for their prepared stage performance and a “Superior” in sight reading.

Click here to listen to each selection that was played. 

King Cotton (March)
Click here to play music


Shenandoah
Click here to play music


Sea Songs
Click here to play music

For those that have been a part of the QACHS Band program over the past several years with me, know that one of the key elements that I feel is most important to making this program successful is communication.  I like to keep everyone as informed as possible and make future plans and schedules available as soon as possible so that we can all plan our very busy lives accordingly.  I hope that through this new communication medium, that I will be able to keep everyone up to date with the latest information from the band program.  Stay tuned and stay up to date.