Concert next week!

We're getting close to our Winter Concert!

The performance is next week: Tuesday 12/14 @ 7 pm in the auditorium. Students need to report to the orchestra room by 6 pm in concert attire.

Concert attire = khaki pants, dark green orchestra polo, brown or black shoes (NO TENNIS SHOES), and dark socks. You may wear festive headgear for this concert :)
**If you have not yet purchased your orchestra polo, do so ASAP!! Polos are $16.

We will have an after-school rehearsal on Monday, 12/13. To accommodate the many different groupings of students, the rehearsal schedule will be as follows:
4:00-4:15 - 7th period [Jingle Bells, A Quiet Christmas]
4:15-4:30 - ALL classes [Ukrainian Bell Carol]
4:30-4:50 - 4th period [Jingle Bell Rock, Once Upon a December, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen]
4:50-5:00 - 3rd & 4th period [Nutcracker]
5:00-5:10 - 3rd period [Chipmunk Song]
5:10-5:30 - 2nd period [White Christmas, Let it Snow, Grinch]
Students need to be on stage (and tuned) when it is their time to rehearse. When their rehearsal time is over, they are free to go home. They must not roam the halls, but stay in the orchestra room or auditorium. Please be sure all students are picked up by 5:40.

Parents, I will be sending an email to those of you who are willing to help with the concert. I will need a videographer and a couple of people to run the front table. If anyone is tech savvy, it would be great to have someone running the lights and sound in the booth as well (it's not difficult, I promise!).

Thanks for a great semester, and I can't wait for the showcase of talent next week!

Links - repost

Shar Music - great online store, and rents instruments

Bernhardt House of Violins - One of our orchestra's rental companies

SmartMusic - SmartMusic's website with all things SmartMusic

Violin Online - Great resource for violin players

Viola Online - Great resource for viola players

Cello Online - Great resource for cello players

Music Ed. String Bass Information Center - Lots of great information for bass players

Metronome Online - a FREE online metronome (will also tune A440) very useful for practice!!

SCMEA Orchestra Division - The homepage for the Orchestra Division of South Carolina's Music Educator's Association

MENC - National Association for Music Education

SCMEA - South Carolina Music Educator's Association

FromTheTop.org - Great musical website sponsored by NPR

Cello Heaven - a message board community for cellists

Sound Junction - a cool website about all kinds of music and musicians

Michael Hopkins: String Pedagogy Notebook - lots of great information, including Quicktime videos demonstrating advanced techniques **Advanced players - go here for vibrato info and videos!

StringSkills.com - this page has some great free downloads of music and exercises

Performance Tonight!

I hope everyone can make it to this evening's Informance/Space Concert @ 5:30 in the auditorium! The 6th grade Beginners and the 8th grade Advanced students will be playing, and it's free (though donations are ALWAYS accepted)! Orchestra students not involved in the performance will earn extra credit for attending.
See you there, and Happy Halloween!!

Performance next Friday!

Friday 10/29, @ 5:30 pm (in the RRMS auditorium), the 6th grade beginner class will present an "informance" to show a day in the life of beginning orchestra class, and the 8th grade advanced class will play a selection of "Out of this World" tunes. Everyone is encouraged to attend (orchestra students not participating in this performance will receive extra credit for attending), and see the two ends of the spectrum of the orchestra program. This is the first year that we have had 8th grade 3rd year players that started in 6th grade, and it is amazing to see what is possible in just 3 years! See where we start, and how far we can progress in the RRMS Orchestra! The 6th grade portion will last approximately 20-30 minutes, and then the 8th graders will play 3 pieces: Jupiter from Holst's suite The Planets, Moondance by Van Morrison, and Rosin Eating Zombies from Outer Space as a kick-off to your Halloween weekend! Admission is free, but as always, we will be taking donations!

Can't wait to see you next Friday!

*Students involved in the performance need to be in the orchestra room @ 5 pm.

Fall Fundraiser is now in progress!

We kicked off our fall fundraiser yesterday, and I am very excited to see how well our orchestra students do with sales! Each class has a goal of 10 items per student, and I have students surpass that individual goal every year. The products we're selling are delicious (the cinnamon rolls and 5 cheese garlic bread are personal favorites of mine), and students will be earning money to help our program. The sale will run through Tuesday, October 26. Students need to turn in all order forms and money on the 26th in class. Please refer to the green sheet for information on taking checks.
In addition to the prize program listed below (from Cobb Fundraising), the class with the highest sales percentage will win a day to play Beatles Rock Band in class!

!!!Prizes!!!
6-14 items: chocolate calculator
15-24 items: chocolate calculator, "Skinit" skin for cell phone/iPod/handheld game (visit the link for more information)
25-34 items: chocolate calculator, "Skinit," jumbo remote control
35-49 items: chocolate calculator, "Skinit," jumbo remote control, giant snake
50-69 items: chocolate calculator, "Skinit," jumbo remote control, giant snake, $25 cash
70+ items: chocolate calculator, "Skinit," jumbo remote control, giant snake, $50 cash
**Top seller out of all orchestra classes wins a $100 bill pillow**

If you have any questions, feel free to email me and ask! Happy selling!! :)

Fall fundraiser is coming up!

I wanted to give everyone a head's up that our Fall Fundraiser will be kicking off next Tuesday (10/12). Students will be receiving packets of information for our "Best of the Best" sale. The sale will run through 10/26. Students will need to turn in all monies and fundraising materials on Tuesday 10/26. For those of you who are new to the Orchestra family, students who participate in fundraising activities will accrue money in their orchestra "account." What this means is, I will keep track of each students' fundraising efforts, and 50% of the profit is earmarked for them to use for orchestra related expenses (strings, books, shirt, trip, etc.). Some students ended up with $90+ to put toward their trip last year! Other incentives for participation include a prize program with the fundraiser company, and the class who has the highest sales percentage will earn a day to play Beatles Rock Band in class! I encourage everyone to sell as much as they can! I will put up details in another post once the fundraiser has started.

Have a great week, everyone!

Polo shirts are in!

Orchestra shirts came in yesterday! Polos are $16, and can be paid for anytime. As soon as you pay, you get your shirt. Make sure you purchase your shirt in time for the Winter concert, though (December 14), since the shirt is part of our concert attire.
Happy Friday!

Forms and documents

I will update this page as needed with links to documents or forms that may be useful for you. I am trying to streamline our online experience with Google Docs, and I hope this is working for everyone!


Handbook

Practice Journal

Spring Trip documents

Below are links to the information pages for the Spring Trip. I would have just put them directly on this page, but the sizing default didn't allow you to view the whole page. I also have information on family tag-a-long packages; if you are interested in that, feel free to email me.

Flyer

Student Sign-up sheet

Payment Coupons

Calendar of Events

These concert dates can also be found on p. 7 of the Handbook, which I will try to link up with GoogleDocs. As I get more details for these events, I will update this posting.

September
6 (Monday) - No School
22 (Wednesday) - Late Start

October
2 (Saturday) - Region auditions
8 (Friday) - No School
22 (Friday) - No School
27 (Wednesday) - Late Start
29 (Friday) @ 5:30 - 6th grade "Informance" + "Out of This World"/Space concert

November
2 (Tuesday) - No School
12-13 (Friday-Saturday) - Region Orchestra
17 (Wednesday) - Late Start
24-26 (Wednesday-Friday) - No School

December
13 (Monday) @ 4-6 - after school rehearsal for Winter Concert (students will have a portion of the 2 hour time slot for rehearsal, NOT the whole time!)
14 (Tuesday) @ 7 - Winter Concert (students report to Orchestra room @ 6)
20-31 (Monday-Friday x2) - No School

January
14-17 (Friday-Monday) - No school
26 (Wednesday) - Late Start

February
16 (Wednesday) - Late Start
18-19 (Friday-Saturday) - District Honors Orchestra **TENTATIVE**
21 (Monday) - No School

March
8 (Tuesday) @ 7 - MIOSM Concert
16 (Wednesday) - Late Start
24 (Thursday) - Concert Festival
25 (Friday) - No School

April
15-16 (Friday-Saturday) - Spring Trip to Myrtle Beach!*
18-22 (Monday-Friday) - No School
29-30 (Friday-Saturday) - Solo & Ensemble

May
4 (Wednesday) @ 4-6 - after school rehearsal for Spring Concert (students will have a portion of the 2 hour time slot for rehearsal, NOT the whole time!)
5 (Thursday) @ 7 - Spring Concert (students report to Orchestra room @ 6)
27 (Thursday) @ 5:30 - Sights & Sounds **In front of school, not in auditorium**
30 (Monday) - No School

June
2 (Thursday) - Last Day of School!

*This trip centers around a festival, for which I would like to use my "Festival Orchestra." This group will be open to all orchestra students by audition, and will play at Concert Festival as well as the festival in Myrtle Beach. I will put up a separate post about the trip in the near future.

Welcome (Back)!

The school year has gotten off to a good start, and I am excited about this year in orchestra. For the first time ever, RRMS has an Advanced group of 3rd year players! Students who are beginners have just started out on instruments, and seem to be very excited (as well as competent)!

I just received sample polo shirt sizes Friday afternoon, so we will check sizes and finalize the shirt order next week. Polos are $16, and in addition to the concert shirt, students have the option to purchase another shirt in a different color if they would like. Crew neck sweatshirts (which may be worn in school) and hoodies (which may not be worn in school) are also available for those who are interested.

The advanced group and the 6th grade beginners will be putting on our first concert, in two parts. The first part will be the beginners, giving an "informance" to give their parents a glimpse of what class is like in orchestra, and the second part will be the 8th grade advanced group showing what is possible at the beginning of year 3. They will present a few tunes that are "out of this world" - we're doing a Space theme. This concert/informance will be Friday, October 29 @ 5:30 in the auditorium.

I am currently posting from home, but sometime next week while I'm at school, I will post a schedule of concert dates so you can access those online.

I recently handed out blue sheets regarding student participation in our Spring Trip. Please return these as soon as you can, so I can get an idea of who will be going with us to Myrtle Beach! We had tons of fun last year, and I'm looking forward to another great trip this year, this time with the entire performing arts department!

I hope everyone has/had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Gearing up for a new year!

Summer is beginning to wind down, and as sad as it will be to have to start waking up early again, it will soon be time for the Raider Orchestra to start making music together again.

No instruments are needed the first day of school. I will be distributing handbooks at the beginning of the year, which are loaded with tons of information.

Students - don't freak out if there are scheduling problems at first, with our new system, we'll probably have to work through some issues before everything is ironed out! Also, if you know of anyone who might want to sign up for orchestra, it's not too late, and they may do so when school starts. There are spots available for former band students who might want to try playing a string instrument this year instead. Direct any interested students to me so we can figure out how to get some more people to join our club! :)

I'm excited about a new year, and am looking forward to fun times and making great music! Enjoy the rest of the summer, and I'll see you in a few weeks!

Thanks for a great year!

Thank you to all my wonderful students and parents for a fantastic year!

8th graders, I will miss you, please come back and visit, and by all means, keep playing in high school! Have a great time starting the next part of your journey in life, and stay focused on success.

6th and 7th graders, I look forward to seeing you again in August, and another wonderful year of making music! There is lots in store for us, and I'm excited about the year to come.

Parents, thank you for all of your support - for allowing your child to participate in the orchestra and giving them a chance to learn a skill, have a place to belong, to follow a passion. I have really enjoyed being a part of your child's life, and I hope they have enjoyed being a part of mine.

Everyone have a terrific summer, enjoy the break, and sleep in! I know I will!

Winding down...

The Spring Concert and Spring Trip both went really well, and I am very proud of all the students!

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the intermediate students played at the Myrtle Beach festival. We hadn't performed (or even practiced together) that music in a month, and they played wonderfully!! The judges gave them an Excellent rating (nothing wrong with that at all, but compared to how I thought they played, was a bit low - I thought they'd earned a Superior for sure).

Sights & Sounds is right around the corner, and we're looking at all new music for that in the Intermediate classes. 8th graders going on the Washington trip will have to work extra hard to make sure they're ready on the 27th!

While the Intermediate classes are working on new music, the Beginner classes are finishing up their method book and working on ear training skills. We will be working on an ear training project next week that will help them grow as musicians, and "fine tune" their aural skills as string players, helping them to play with better intonation.

7th period was the highest-selling class in our spring fundraiser, and as a reward, will be playing Beatles Rock Band in class tomorrow!

If any student wants some music to work on over the summer, they should stop by after school to talk with me about getting some stuff to look at. I am more than happy to provide them with music!

6th Grade Parent Night

RRMS 6th Grade music students are performing for the Rising 6th Grade Parent meeting on Monday 4/19. 6th Grade Orchestra students need to report to the Orchestra room by 5:30 wearing their concert attire (orchestra polo, khaki pants, dark shoes - NO tennis shoes). We will be performing at the beginning of the meeting.

Performances this semester

MIOSM Concert - Intermediate
3/30 (Tuesday) @ 7:30 pm

Rising 6th Grade Parent Meeting - 6th Graders
4/19 (Monday) @ 6 pm

Solo & Ensemble - those who signed up
5/1 (Saturday) morning @ Dorman HS

Spring Concert - ALL
5/6 (Thursday) @ 7:30 pm

Myrtle Beach Trip/Festival - Intermediate (NOT REQUIRED)
5/7-5/8 (Friday-Saturday)

Sights & Sounds - Intermediate
5/27 (Thursday) @ 5:30

Announcements

The MIOSM Concert will be Tuesday, March 30 @ 7:30 pm. Intermediate Orchestra students should report to Mrs. Le's room by 7 pm. We will be playing our Concert Festival pieces.

Speaking of Concert Festival, CONGRATULATIONS to the 8th graders (plus Tiana and Katie) for the Excellent rating they earned at festival! Nice work!

Fundraiser products are in, and most have been picked up. If you have not picked up your items, please do so as soon as possible. I will be distributing prizes next week. The drawing for the snake will also be held next week. Any student who sold 6 or more items will be entered in the drawing. Good luck! 7th period had the highest selling percentage, and will have a Beatles Rock Band day later in the semester.

MIOSM Concert canceled

The MIOSM concert scheduled for tonight at 7:30 has been canceled due to the snow. We will reschedule for later in the month.
Thanks, and enjoy the pretty flakes!

Spring Fundraiser

We are selling flower bulbs and fudge for our Spring Fundraiser. The sale will run through Friday, March 5. Students will need to turn in all order forms and money during their class time on 3/5. I have included images of the flyer pages below. Students were informed about the prize program offered by the fundraising company, which is posted on the wall by the door. In addition to those prizes, students may also earn extra credit tickets for selling.
2 items = 1 ticket 5 items = 2 tickets 10 items = 3 tickets
15 items = 4 tickets 20 items = 5 tickets 25 items = 6 tickets ETC...

Survey

As some of you may know, I am doing a survey for the book study I've been working on. It's a survey of technology use in the lives of "NetGeners." If you were born after the year 1980, please click the link below to take the survey.
Thanks!!

Click Here to take survey

News and Upcoming Events!

For members of the Elite group, Treble Makers - we will be working on music for DHO this week.

Rock Hill's 2nd annual District Honors Orchestra is this weekend! Members of the honor group should report to Dutchman Creek MS after school on Friday for the first night of rehearsal. Rehearsal will continue Saturday morning. Everyone is invited to attend the concert Saturday 2/20 @ 5:00 in the DCMS auditorium. The concert is free, though we will be accepting donations to help offset the cost of providing this opportunity. Extra credit is offered to all students who attend the concert (including those who are performing in it, of course!).

We will be kicking off our spring fundraiser on Monday, Feb. 22 during all class periods. We will be selling flower bulbs and fudge this time around - great options in both the edible and non-edible categories! The fudge is delicious - I tasted some at the SCMEA convention last weekend! The products will be delivered just before Spring Break, making it perfect timing for people to plant their flowers! And of course, anytime is a good time for fudge...

Our next concert is our MIOSM (Music In Our Schools Month) Concert. It will be a combined effort with chorus and band on Tuesday, March 2 @ 7:30 in the RRMS auditorium. The Intermediate classes are performing at this concert, and beginners are encouraged to attend (you get extra credit!).

Spring Trip Approved!

As you may have heard from your children, our Spring Trip has been approved! We had to alter the itinerary and take out the Freestyle Music Park (the district is turning down anything with an amusement park), so we will not be able to attend the awards ceremony, but will have our results shipped to the school. I have included the new cover page of the information packet below. The rest of the information remains the same. I'm very excited we will still have this opportunity to make music and have a nice time in Myrtle Beach!

Some of you have already made payments, and can keep doing so. Those of you who have not made any payments can start doing so as soon you'd like. If any parents would like to chaperon for this trip, please let me know. You just need to be a district-approved chaperon. If you are not yet district-approved, it's not a difficult process - you just fill out some paperwork (that can be found on the RHSD3 website), and they do a background check, and you're put on the list.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to the RRMS Orchestra family! I really appreciate all the thoughtful things I received before the break - thank you for showing you care!

I am very excited about our Charlotte Symphony Orchestra trip on Friday for 7th and 6th graders! I am just disappointed 8th grade will not be able to go due to the exam schedule. Remember if you are going on the trip, you will need a coat and money for lunch. I will hold all student tickets until we get to the theatre, so we don't lose any! I am really looking forward to this great opportunity!

I hope everyone enjoyed their break, and I look forward to this semester of learning new things and making music.