What a show

An awesome concert by the middle school students last night! I was pleased with the efforts of all! Something that gets overlooked too often is the fact that all the equipment in the gym needs to be brought from somewhere else--sometimes long distances. A lot of that equipment isn't meant to be that mobile. There are a lot of people who work to get things where they need to be.

The morning after is no exception. I had between 10 and 20 students help to move things back to the band room. What a huge help! I always appreciate those who go out of their way to help others. What a great holiday spirit!

I hope everyone has a safe, happy and restful holiday break!

Concert Day!

Well, for right now, it looks like the weather might hold off so we can have a concert this evening! A decision will be made by the end of the day, but I really hope that we can still have this concert tonight. Rescheduling is going to be a pain because January is a very busy month! Plus, the students are making some really good music right now and I would love for them to be able to perform it tonight!

Lots of things go into having a concert, not the least of which is logistics. The band room basically has to be transported to the gym--which involves taking instruments outside. This is no where near my ideal situation, but it is what we have to work with. I am really grateful to all the students who help move things and get things set up during the day!

Fingers cross, we will have a concert tonight!

No heat

So, there is no heat at the middle school today--that makes it hard for us to have kids here. I am sure it is a huge inconvenience for everyone, especially those who need to make arrangements for their kids!

From my perspective, it is frustrating because there is a concert in a week and we have another day without rehearsal. Adding this to last week's snow days is enough to give me some blood pressure issues. Hopefully everything will be fixed tomorrow and we can be back to normal!

High School Concert Tonight!

Quarter projects are just one week from due and there is a great opportunity to get an item done tonight. There is a high school concert this evening at 7PM! Great chance to go and listen and do some critiquing!

December--in Iowa

I guess this is what happens when you live in Iowa--snow. Judging by the time I have spent shoveling (we don't have a snow blower) the last 2 days (at least 6 hours--and they haven't plowed our entire street yet) I think it is a good thing that there has been no school! It adds to the things we need to get accomplished in rehearsals this next week before the concert, but I am trying not to think too much about that right now!

Enjoy the snow and stay safe! Maybe we will have school tomorrow?

Tis the Season

I had the opportunity to attend Christmas with Wartburg this weekend at the Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines. I graduated from Wartburg and it was nice to go hear the performances of college bands and choirs--really rejuvenating for me. If you ever get a chance to attend a college performance, do it! Amazing musicianship there!

It is also the snow season! As we move into those lovely winter months, just a quick reminder that on days where we have a late start, there will NOT be jazz band rehearsal. I figure we are having the late start for a reason and having rehearsal doesn't make a lot of sense.

The final push

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! I know I ate too much food and didn't sleep enough, but I had a great time. Now it is on to the push to the concert on Dec. 22! Three weeks will go by in a hurry, but it should give us some time in rehearsals to work things out that need fixing. Reminding students there are only x number of practices left usually helps to get them focused and ready to work.

Students in 7-8 band should be getting solo/ensemble music this week that they can start working on at home. The festival will be in Feb. at PCM Middle School. Something to look ahead to! I am also in search of one or two people with some piano skills who might be interested in accompanying students with solos. Let me know if you are interested!