Good evening MSMS Band.
I hope all of you have had a nice week. Outside of the severe weather, I feel this week has been a nice recharge for all of us.
I’d like to commend the 7th and 8th grade bands for their fine performances last week. I’d also like to thank everyone who came out to hear the groups play. Duane Allen and Wade Woods took care of videoing and recording both groups. I would like to thank both of these gentlemen for their assistance. These recordings will be sent to the state in the next couple of weeks. We hope to know our ratings sometimes towards the end of April. Lastly, thanks again to Grace Life Church for allowing us to come and perform. It was a great venue with great acoustics. All in all, it was a wonderful evening.
We had 9 students who participated in the UNA Middle School Honor Band on Thursday and Friday of last week. John Thomas Baker, Tristan Ruano, Christopher Mefford, Anna Kate Everitt, Brandi Thompson, Helen Liotta, Izabella Cox, Crystal Nguyen, and Noelia Lamas all did an excellent job of not only playing, but representing MSMS Band in the best way. The concert on Friday evening went very well. I am very proud of these students and I hope all involved in the middle school honor band enjoyed themselves.
April and May are going to be busy months in the MSMS Band program. Here’s a list of things that are coming up:
March 30 – 8th grade band plays for the 5th grade (This is our upcoming 6th grade band recruitment) This will take place in the morning during 1st block.
April 9 & 10 – District Honor Band @ Russellville High School & First Baptist Church of Russellville (We will have 11 eighth grade students participating in this event)
April 15, 16, & 17 – All State Band in Mobile, AL. We will have 7 eighth grade students participating in this event.
May 1 – Solo and Ensemble Festival @ Muscle Shoals Middle School. All grade levels of the MSMS band are eligible and are encouraged to participate in this Alabama Bandmasters Association District Event. Solo and Ensemble is an event where students prepare Solos and/or Duets/Trios/Quartets, etc. and perform these before a judge. Each performance will be given a rating. If a student receives a Superior Rating for an event, they will be awarded a medal (Gold for Solos, Green for Ensembles). This event gives each student a chance to showcase their playing ability while gaining valuable feedback from an experienced adjudicator. I am a firm believer in the importance of the Solo and Ensemble Festival I hope to have MANY MSMS Band students participate in this event. We will be speaking to each class about the Solo and Ensemble Festival next week.
May 6 – Spring Concert for ALL MSMS Bands. (6th, 7th, and 8th) @ Muscle Shoals High School, Stratford Auditorium. Parents, please keep this evening open. All three groups will be working on new music starting next week in preparation for this concert. 7th and 8th grade concert attire will be the same as we wore for the MPA Recording session. We will let 6th grade know what they need to wear ASAP.
May 10 – MSHS Band Banquet and the 8th graders and families are invited to attend! This event will take place on the high school band practice field. This will also be the “Reveal Day” for the upcoming 2021 MSHS Trojan Marching Band Halftime Show! 8th graders, you do not want to miss this! Please keep this evening open. More info will follow soon!
We are so excited to be able to finish the school year with all of these band events!
Please let me encourage everyone to keep working and keep practicing. 6th graders: we’ve got two months to go to get as many belt lines passed off as we can. Keep working on those lines!
7th grade will have a chair test in April. This material will be passed out to them next week. A date(s) for the chair test will be determined soon. It will more than likely happen in the third week of April. This will give each student time to work on their material and have the best showing when they perform it for one of the directors.
Looking forward to seeing everyone back in school on Monday. Have a great rest of the weekend and we will Seay everyone next week!
