Spring Concert / Awards Ceremony

 Thursday, June 5^th will be our final concert of the year – our Spring Concert and Awards Ceremony. 

It starts at 7pm in the auditorium. 

The call times are:

·         Symphonic Orchestra – 5:45pm

·         Concert Orchestra – 6:15pm

     There will NOT a food reception after this concert as there will be the awards ceremony immediately following the concert. Students will be recognized for all of their hard work over this past year in orchestra and the Seniors will also be honored as well as this is their last performance in high school.

     We hope that all family members and friends can attend this special night. Music that will be performed is chosen by the Senior class members – many of them choosing favorite pieces they have played previously in high school.  Come celebrate!

We are looking for a few people who can volunteer to be here at 5:45 next Thursday (concert night) to help with dressing of the kids. We have beautiful new storage rooms this year and the kids will need reminders to “hang things back up…” and “I need your button/pin back…” etc. We would like to have two parents per room (girls and guys) that the kids can come and check their uniform out, and then return them after the concert to the parents so that we do not have a madhouse in the storage rooms.

Please let me know if you can help by Tuesday afternoon. I appreciate it so much! 

Also, this is a friendly reminder that auditions for the Chamber Orchestra will take place after school on June 6^th (next Friday) starting at 3:30pm. Students will need to know the required scales, excerpts, have a short section of a solo prepared and there will be sight-reading. Any student wishing to try out for Chamber Orchestra will need to attend this audition.

District X Solo and Ensemble Festival, Friday April 4th, 2014

District X Solo and Ensemble Festival

Friday April 4^th, 2014

Luther Jackson Middle School

3020 Gallows Road Falls Church VA 22042

Go to this web site to find your scheduled time:
http://kilgoresolutions.com/NOVA/schedules/schedules.asp

Things to remember…

1. Arrive at Luther Jackson no later than 30 minutes prior to performance time. If you have any questions, stop at the registration desk inside the front door. Otherwise, go to the gym to unpack and warm-up. There will be assigned spaces in the gym depending on your performance room; please unpack there. Large ensembles will unpack in the auxiliary gym. Your runner will come and get you approximately 5 minutes before your assigned performance time.
2. You must provide an original (not a photocopy) of the music you are performing for the judge. You may play from a photocopy. Measures need to be numbered. 
3. Middle and High School students performing solos that have accompaniment parts need to perform with a pianist or a recording. You must bring your own CD player; there will not be any available to use at Holmes. Elementary students do NOT need an accompaniment.
4. Dress nicely - no shorts/jeans/athletic clothing.  One of the grades that you receive from the judge is on your appearance - an easy “A” if you dress well.
5. Scores will be posted in the cafeteria after your performance. It may take some time to post, so plan to wait if you can.  Judges’ comment sheets will be sent to your orchestra director after the festival.
6. Refreshments will be available for purchase in the cafeteria.

Have fun and good luck!

Congratulations JEB Stuart Orchestras

Congratulations Concert and Symphony Orchestras!

Both the Concert and Symphony Orchestras scored highest honors at the VBODA  (Virginia Band and Orchestra Association) District X Orchestra Assessment this past week earning the highest rating of 1 - superior. Snow days and limited practice time did not deter these musicians. Congratulations for your well-earned success and thanks for your hard work and dedication.

Additional news: Booster meeting Thursday, March 13th, 6:45p

VBODA: March 6, 2014 (Thursday) – Annandale High School

Concert Orchestra – students will need to bring everything that they will need to school that day. They are welcome to store it in the orchestra room during the day. We will leave school @1:45pm and go to Annandale High School. We will wait for a bit before our warm-up time so bring homework or things to work on while we wait. There MAY be concessions, but I cannot confirm.

• Performance Time: 5:00pm
• Estimated time back at Stuart: 6:45pm – please be here promptly to pick up your child if you are not able to attend the concert.

Symphonic Orchestra – students will need to have everything with them (I cannot guarantee that the orchestra room will stay open, etc. in the afternoon) when they come to meet the bus. Please come wearing your uniform as we will not have time to change there.

• Be at Stuart HS no later than 6pm – the bus will leave soon after that to go to Annandale High School.
• Performance Time: 8:15pm
• Estimated time back at Stuart: 10pm. Since this is a late night, please feel free to pick up your child straight from Annandale High School. If you cannot, please be prompt by being in the parking lot at Stuart to pick up your child right then they get off the bus.

Parents, you are such a WONDERFUL and amazing group of adults to work with and I cannot do this without you. Please help your musician by reminding them to practice, get enough sleep, eat breakfast in the morning so they have enough “fuel” for the day and to also remember all of their concert attire for the assessment.

Pre-Assessment Concert Tonight, Thursday, February 27th

I cordially invite you all to our Pre-Assessment Concert tonight at 7pm in the Auditorium! It will feature the J.E.B. Stuart Area Orchestra (kids in elementary school), the Glasgow Middle School orchestras, and the J.E.B. Stuart High School orchestras. It is wonderful to be able to have all of these musicians together on one night!

High School students are asked to be here no later than 6pm and to bring cookies or juice to share afterwards at the reception.

The students have worked VERY hard for this concert and have really risen to the occasion – we missed a lot of rehearsal time due to Mother Nature this year, but the kids have pushed that aside and just “got to work”. They take pride in the fact that the J.E.B. Stuart HS pyramid has such strong music departments and have been assessed at “excellent” and “superior” ratings at the VBODA Assessments each year.

This concert gives us a chance to perform our repertoire before we go and be assessed next week. We will also have some “mock judges” in attendance who are some music colleagues and orchestra directors from around the county. If you see them, please tell them thank you as they have graciously volunteered to come and give us this valuable feedback.

Concert starts at 7pm – hope to see you all there!

Cassandra Haynes

J.E.B. Stuart High School

Orchestra Department

Orchestra Updates and Upcoming Events

•  VBODA  Assessment , Thursday, March 6^th, Annandale High School. Please mark your calendars.  
• Concert Orchestra:  Performance Time: 5:00pm.  We will be returning to Stuart HS roughly around 6:30-6:45pm. We will be leaving straight from Stuart HS that day so students will need to bring everything with them that day when they arrive at school in the morning.
• Symphonic Orchestra: Performance Time: 8:15pm. We will be returning to Stuart HS roughly around 10pm. Please feel free to take your student home from Annandale after the performance as it will be a late night. Students will need to be at Stuart HS for a bus no later than 6:15 pm to ride over for the Assessment.
• The Pre-Assessment Concert is set for Thursday February 27^th 7pm, at JEB Stuart. This concert will include the Area Orchestras and Glasgow MS.
• Playing tests: Symphonic Orchestra due by February 27^th, Concert Orchestra due by March 5^th. 
• Symphonic and Concert Orchestra theory books due  by March 3^rd – 6 lessons completed please.
• Trip Packets will be coming out Tuesday Feb. 1th for the trip to Nashville. Please look over the packet with your student and fill out all of the permission slips and promptly return them.
•  Hotel Room sign-ups started Monday Feb. 10th for the Nashville Trip in Ms. Eiting’s room.
•  Three payments have been due for Nashville – the final payment will be due very soon. Please plan accordingly.

Re-scheduled Parent Booster Meeting

Since the previous parent booster meeting was “snowed out” it has been re-schedule for this upcoming Tuesday, January 21^st  at 6:30 in the orchestra room. We will decide trip scholarships, private lesson scholarships, talk a bit about the Nashville trip, talk about upcoming orchestra dates, etc. Hope to see you there! We will end promptly at 7:30pm.