Author: Mark Follett

(5:18am) There’s certainly snow but it doesn’t appear to look like its continuing. I will be in to run SWE today, but I know conditions may vary where you are. Be safe and communicate. If driving conditions are unsafe in your neighbourhood, please make whatever decision about rehearsal that you need to. Simply let me know what that decision is so I can adjust rehearsal accordingly.

Now that I have a bit of a sense of who’s interested, I’ve pulled a set for the band. Here are recordings of the three tunes we’ll look at on Tuesday evening, 8-9pm.

• Killer Joe – Arrangement by John Higgins
• Street Smart – Beach and Shutack
• Ja-Da – Arrangement t by Michael Sweeney

I’ll have parts prepared for the rehearsal but please contact me if you’d like to see the music before then. If you’ve got any questions, don’t hesitate to ask – mfollett@sd35.bc.ca

 

Students who are interested in singing or playing with the Provincial Honour Band, Orchestra, Choir, Jazz Band or Vocal Jazz Ensemble are invited to apply starting now. Audition requirements can be found at http://bcmusiced.ca/ensembles/ and submissions are due by Friday, April 13, 2018 to perform with the ensembles next October.

Just a note to members of both Senior Jazz Ensemble and Senior Wind Ensemble. On Wednesday, January 31, 2018, we will have a Senior Jazz Clinic with Dr. David Proznick. All members of Senior Jazz are required to attend. As such, students NOT in Senior Jazz do not need to attend that morning.

So we’ve handed out a fair bit of music for the next few months, but we’re looking for suggestions from students for other ideas as to what they want to perform. We need ideas that have been written for band already so follow the link here: https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/concert-band-music.jsp to the concert band listings for JW Pepper (think Amazon for music programs) and search for songs you’d like to play. Be sure you’re in the band listings and looking for the right difficulty:

• Band 6/7 – Very Easy
• Honour Band – Very Easy or Easy
• Band 8 & 9 – Easy or Medium Easy
• Band 10 – Medium Easy or Medium
• Band 11/12 (SWE) – Medium or Medium Advanced

For any students who are considering a career in music or would like to simply continue to develop their musical talents at the post-secondary level, Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Music Department is holding its next Music Information Session on: Tuesday, January 9, 2018, 7:30 pm in Room 1030 at KPU Langley (20901 Langley Bypass). Individuals who are interested in attending the information session should RSVP by emailing: music@kpu.ca

We have Poppy Jazz Cafe coming up on February 21, 2018 at the Fort Langley Community Hall (tickets will be released after the break) but it is about time that I put together a new group for this event. I am looking to see if there are any parents, staff or alumni interested in “putting the band back together” for this show. I’ve done this with great success at my last two high schools and I’ve been at Poppy long enough that I think it’s time.

The goal is to show that just because you’re not playing full-time any more doesn’t mean that you have to walk away from music completely. If you played band in high school or beyond and are even remotely interested, please email me at mfollett@sd35.bc.ca so I can get a sense of who might be available. (I may even be able to provide a horn for you if needed.) I’ll send music out once school is back, we’ll have a rehearsal on the evening of January 30 and play 2 or 3 tunes (think early September Jazz Band 8/9) at Jazz Cafe. If you’re interested, or know someone who might be, please email me and I’ll see what we can put together.

Hope to hear from lots of you!

Mark

Fundraising balances are posted in the band entryway. These are updated to include Neufeld’s from November, Poinsettias and the first Global Coffee order. You can apply this balance towards your second junior tour or senior tour payment. Please confirm that the amounts make sense and if you have any questions, please see Mr. Follett.

Wayne and I are in the middle of our run of elementary holiday concerts so my apologies for the delay in the sending this out, but now that the dust has mostly settled from ESPRESSIVO 2017, we wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for all their hard work and the support everyone showed our kids that evening. We’re very excited to say that we have made over $8000 and are still receiving funds for the last few Silent Auction items.

A few notes:

• There are a just a few auction items still awaiting pickup. We’d greatly appreciate wrapping that up before the holidays if at all possible. Please mail me at mfollett@sd35.bc.ca and we can organize a pickup time this week either in the music room or the office.
• There is a very nice pair of sunglasses left behind. Let me know if you lost a pair.
• Mark your calendar for December 5, 2018 and we hope to see you then!

Thank you to all the families, business and organizations who donated items to our Silent Auction. Also a thank you to TNT Wraps, Helm’s Mobile Kitchen, Shake & Cheese and Big Red’s Poutine for offering food service for our event. To all the parent volunteers who made the evening happen, especially Cathy Gropp and Laurel Horn who spearheaded the evening, it would never have happened without you.

Thank you all so very much for your ongoing encouragement and support of your child’s love of music!

Please visit the Fundraising page to download the paperwork for the next Global Coffee Fundraiser due Friday, December 15, 2017 at 12:05pm (the end of lunch).