Good afternoon MSMS Band!
This is Mr. Seay bringing this update to you all. I am back at school as of today after being out on medical leave to recover from my heart surgery I had back in November. I am doing fine and the recovery has gone well. I feel a lot better now with my new heart valve. It will be a bit of an adjustment for me as I transition back into the classroom but I feel I am ready to give it a shot. My surgeon has cleared me to return to work as of today.
I want to thank Mrs. Hood, Mr. Wiseman, and Dr. Frederick for helping to hold things down during my absence. The bands played very well at both the Veterans Day Concert in November and Christmas Concert in December. It’s great that we have such a wonderful team here with the Muscle Shoals Band Program. I’d also like to thank Mrs. Ritter, Mr. Green, Dr. Holden, as well as all the faculty and staff here at MSMS for their support and help over the past 12 weeks. They have been so kind and thoughtful.
Well, as we resume from over a week off from school due to snow and ice, there are several things that are coming up that we all need to be made aware of. Some very important band functions are on the horizon. I’ll start listing them below.
7th & 8th Grade Morning Band Rehearsals
As we move into February, our 7th and 8th grade band members will need to have some morning band rehearsals as we prepare for our Music Performance Assessment (MPA). Here’s the list of dates as well as who will need to come on those dates:
Thursday, February 1 – Brass
Tuesday, February 6 – Woodwinds
Thursday, February 8 – Brass
Tuesday, February 13 – Woodwinds
Thursday, February 15 – FULL BAND
Thursday, February 22 – FULL BAND
Parents, these rehearsals are vital to the success of the 7th and 8th grade band as we move towards MPA. Please make all efforts to have your child at these practices if at all possible. The band room will be open @ 7:00 a.m. those mornings and rehearsals will start promptly at 7:15 a.m. We will end these rehearsals around 7:45 a.m.
7th and 8th Grade Band Evening Rehearsal
We will also have one evening rehearsal as we prepare for MPA. Parents, please mark this on your calendars as well. We will have special guests with us that evening to adjudicate our group as they work towards their MPA performance
Tuesday, February 27 @ Muscle Shoals High School Band Room 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Shoals Area Honor Band Auditions
Shoals Area Middle School Honor Band Auditions are the evening of Tuesday, February 6 @ MSMS. This is a wonderful opportunity for our 7th and 8th grade band students to be a part of on honor band experience. I will post more info about the night of the auditions. The 8th graders already have this tryout material as it was their chair test material back in the fall. We will also have copies of the audition material for the 7th grade band members.
If a band student is interested in trying out for Shoals Area Middle School Honor Band, they will need to sign up on the Audition Sign Up Sheet that will be posted in the back of the band room. The last day to sign up for Shoals Area Middle School Honor Band Auditions will be WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31.
Again, I am very happy to be back at school. It was nice to see the band kids today and to get reacquainted with them. So many of them reached out to me while I was out recovering from my surgery. I received many cards, emails, as well as a special Google Slideshow that many of the 6th graders contributed to. It was very special to me. Thank you to everyone for your kindness, prayers, and well wishes. May God Bless you.
Looking forward to getting back in the GROOVE!
Seay everyone tomorrow and the week to follow!
