Good morning band family.
I would like to start by saying my prayers are with the Ukrainian people and their families. I also pray for our military and our countries leaders as they discern what must be on an hourly basis the military crisis.
This week is the last full week of rehearsals for our concert band groups. We are working diligently to refine our musical selections before heading to UNA next week. Here is the full schedule for all our groups:
University of North Alabama, Norton Auditorium
Tuesday, 3/08 11:00am Muscle Shoals High School Symphonic Band, Mrs. Hood
Wednesday, 3/09 8:30am Muscle Shoals Middle School Band, Mr. Seay
Wednesday, 3/09 5:00pm Muscle Shoals High School Wind Ensemble, Mr. Waters
Music Performance Assessment has not happened live in two years. Last year, you may remember we recorded our groups and were judged virtually. We are so grateful to be able to perform live again this year. We hope you can come out and see your students perform. Often groups perform to an empty auditorium due to many different factors. We hope you can find a way to attend. These performances are always free to the public.
We will be hosting Shoals Honor Band Friday and Saturday next week. Students who auditioned and were selected will rehearse Friday and Saturday with a performance Saturday afternoon. We have a large number of students participating and we are happy to be hosting this again. Two years ago, we shut down our schools for the first time during a Saturday morning rehearsal at Muscle Shoals while hosting this event. It will be nice to finish it this year!
The bands will combine again following our MPA performances and preparations for Spring Concert will start. Great literature has been selected again and a theme has been decided. We will announce those songs soon.
Our Winterguard and Percussion ensembles are going strong and are mid season. Our winterguard heads to Hoover to compete this Saturday as our Percussion goes to Knoxville for a WGI regional. Please wish them both successful performances and safe travels.
Jazz band will be starting soon for those students who keep asking 🙂
Believe it or not……….marching band auxiliary auditions are just around the corner!!!!!!
Thoughts from Mr. Waters:
I travelled to Florida over the weekend participating in one of my favorite non-band activities…….bass fishing tournaments 🙂 I know….it’s a character flaw. Our tournament results were not what we anticipated, but it was asuccessful trip anyway. I always stay with Mrs. Laurie Dasinger, widow of Rodney Dasinger my high school band director. Spend any amount of time around me and Rodney will come up in a conversation. He had a huge impact on me and my life and was a fine band director. Laurie is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and she is like family to us. When I stay with her, we always talk about Rodney and band directing. This weekend was a reminder that people are put in our lives on purpose. I can’t imagine what direction my life may have taken if I hadn’t been influenced by band and my band director. I can only hope I have made an impact on my students he made on me. He wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but who among us is perfect? We are positively influenced by people who are NOT perfect every day. We were never designed for perfection. So maybe we stop expecting everyone to be perfect and look for the good instead of focus on the bad. I am also not perfect…..but I pray I made a difference.
As often times it does, everything is coming to a head for this part of the semester. Performances and competitions galore…….but it’s the way we like it. We are a performing art, not just a practicing one!
Students you have one week left to get the parts you still cannot play. I suggest you get to it!
Parents, make your plans to attend MPA!
GO BAND!
