Spring Concert and Awards Ceremony

Spring Concert and Awards Ceremony

June 9th (Thursday) 7p in the Stuart Auditorium

Please join us for the final concert of the 2016 school  year!

Here are the call times for the Spring Concert :

Chamber Orchestra @ 5:45pm (tune)

Symphonic Orchestra @ 5:45pm (dress)   6:10p (tune)

Concert Orchestra @ 6:00pm (dress)  6:20p (tune)

After School Rehearsals, Orchestra Updates, and Solo & Ensemble Festival

VBODA

Monday, Feb. 22nd - Sectional Coaches are coming in during the day to work with students on their assessment music. 

Tuesday, Feb. 23rd - After School Rehearsal for Chamber Orchestra students 3:15-4:20pm. This is a mandatory rehearsal. 

Wednesday, Feb. 24th - After School Rehearsal for Concert Orchestra students 3:15-4:20pm. This is a mandatory rehearsal. 

Thursday, Feb. 25th - Pre-Assessment Concert #2. This is a mandatory performance for the Concert Orchestra students. All concert orchestra students need to be at Stuart HS no later than 6pm. Fellow orchestra teachers are coming in to adjudicate the students on their current progress. 

 All groups will be adjudicated on Friday March 4^th at South County HS.

    ALL orchestra students have weekly playing assignments that are due in Google Classroom. All of the students have been walked through the process of how to record their assignments and then upload them into Google Classroom. Since all orchestra students have a school email, this is a free app. If students do not have the ability to record at home, there are devices provided. Students have been told that they are welcome to come in any time during their lunch, before school or after school to record their playing assignments. These are graded assignments and students are given at least one week to prepare and upload. All assignments are due no later than 11:59pm each Saturday night. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions - I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming Pre-Assessment concerts!!

SOLO AND ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL

The Solo and Ensemble Festival Permission Slip form is due, along with fee, no later than Monday February 29^th. This is not a mandatory event, but a large majority of students attend to perform solos or in small chamber groups. This will count as performance grade for the students – and fulfill their “large” project assignment that each students needs to complete in the year.

The event will be held at Mark Twain Middle School on April 21^st (Thursday). It will not be during school hours, but afterschool. Each performance will be given an individual time. Including warm-up time and performance, each student would be done in about one hour.

Each student will be judged by one orchestra judge in the room. Family and friends are welcome (and encouraged!) to come, listen and support their student. If a student is playing a solo most will need a piano accompaniment in the forms of either a CD or a pianist. Please contact me with questions.

One of the following scores will be given to the performance: Superior (I)   Excellent (II)    Good (III)   Fair (IV) or    Poor (V)

J.E.B. Stuart High School has a long history of receiving many Superior and Excellent ratings at this Festival.

I invite your child to participate. This is a great way to assess individual learning and musicianship! All orchestra students are invited to prepare something.

Please contact me for more information. I can help with selection of music and finding of pianists if needed. I am happy to help.

District Honors Orchestra this Weekend! and Trip scholarships

District Honors Orchestra 

 West Potomac High School 

 3pm Saturday January 9th

This coming weekend there are ten J.E.B. Stuart High School Orchestra students who will be participating in the District Honors Orchestra Event and Performance. Students will be rehearsing Thursday night, all day Friday, and Saturday with guest conductors; orchestra teachers, and other orchestra students from around District Ten in FCPS. This is a huge honor to be selected to be part of this orchestra. If anyone is interested in seeing the performance, it is free and open to the public. The performance will take place at West Potomac High School, 3pm on Saturday January 9th. All are welcome!

Congratulations to the following students who had successful auditions in November and will be representing Stuart this weekend:

Violin: Kayla Morrison, Ann Hoang, Violin, Kimberly Nguyen, Tinh Son

Viola: Isabelle Lesmana, Pasha McGuigan

Cello: Bridget Early, Parker Novak, Garrett Downs, Rachel Lenard

Alternates: Abby Hassell, Cello and Bennett Dillard, Violin

NYC Music Department Trip

The third payment installment for the NYC trip is due now. If you are unsure of your balance, please log into charmsoffice.com and check. All trip scholarship applications are also due this Thursday by 3pm – no exceptions, so please make sure that they are handed in. Students were given hard copies before the break and there are still some in the orchestra room at the front of the classroom.

Winter Concert

Thursday, December 3rd, 7pm

The J.E.B. Stuart High School Orchestra Department
is pleased to offer its
Annual Winter Concert!

The students have worked extremely hard on the music literature that they will be presenting to the public. The concert is free and all are invited to attend! There will be a small reception after the concert in the Little Theatre. Here are some orchestra reminders for the students:

♫       Please take your instrument home over the Thanksgiving break to practice. There are only two rehearsals left before the big concert.

♫       The following are “call times” for the students. Please arrive at SHS no later than your selected time. Bring black socks/tights and black shoes to wear.

§  Symphonic Orchestra – 5:30pm

§  Chamber Orchestra – 5:50ppm

§  Concert Orchestra – 6:15pm

♫       The concert counts as a summative grade for the class. All students are required to attend.

We are asking for food and drink donations from students for the reception immediately following the concert.  Drop off items at the Little Theater on your way into the school. If your last name begins with: 

     A to K – please bring bottle water, cans of soda, juice boxes
     L to Z – please bring cookies, brownies and other dessert items to share

Thank you for your tireless support. We may not say it often enough but your continued commitment to orchestra is greatly appreciated and does not go unnoticed.

Help Needed for District Orchestra Auditions

Please see below for a volunteer opportunity for this coming Tuesday, November 17^th. Stuart is hosting the district orchestra auditions and many items will be needed for hospitality. Please consider and if you can help – please drop off items no later than  2:30pm on Tuesday in the orchestra room. Thanks so much, it is greatly appreciated!! 

The link for the signup genius is:

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/60B0549ABA92AAA8-district 

On a side note – many students from Stuart will be auditioning on that day, so wish them good luck J Registration opens at 3:45 and closes at 6pm on that evening if your child is auditioning.

Fall Concert – note start time @6:30

Fall Concert

October 22^nd (Thursday) 6:30pm in the Stuart Auditorium

Call times for all groups is 5:30pm

This Thursday will be our joint concert with Glasgow Middle school.

We wanted to start off the year with a casual performance so formal uniforms will not be used.

Some sections are deciding to dress up for this fall concert in costumes –
check with your section leader to confirm!

Join us after the concert for a pizza reception provided by the JEB Stuart Orchestra boosters.

Please consider donating some items or your time to make this event especially memorable!!

Here’s how you can help:   http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0549aba92aaa8-fall

TAG DAY September 19th: Volunteers Needed

Please mark your calendars for TAG DAY, Saturday September 19. It is the most important fundraiser for the JEB Stuart music department in that it benefits all students in Orchestra, Band and Chorus. It is an annual September event in which music students canvas the neighborhoods to request donations for Stuart’s fantastic music ensembles. Every year the students raise over $30k in one day of fundraising. The funds are then divided between the 3 music disciplines depending on the hours of participation from the students/parents in that music discipline.

Orchestra parents are needed to make this fundraiser a success. We need parents to act as drivers for the day. Each parent driver takes 4 students in their vehicle and drives a designated route through the community. Parents' hours are also included in the division of the funds so please volunteer for this very important event. You may sign-up as a parent driver at this link:

http://www.jooners.com/guest?l=d9edd784-0fcd-4412-8aeb-ba8e6473199b

All orchestra students are expected to participate Saturday September 19^th from 8a to ~3:30p. This fundraiser provides the money for yearly expense of uniforms, instrument purchase and repair, transportation to festivals and performances, scholarships, guest clinicians, and participation fees in competitions and festivals.  Please wear comfortable shoes, nice jeans, and your orchestra t-shirt.

The Orchestral Department thanks you in advance for your support of this very important fundraiser!