Band Update:  2-22-22

Contents:

  • From the Directors
    • Gratitude:  Kauffman… WOW!  Congrats Winter Guard.  Congrats Pianists!
    • Excitement:  KMEA This week:  Wind Ensemble and All-Staters Perform.  Wind Ensemble at Lied Center Sunday.  BVN Band Concert Next week on Wednesday!  CLICK HERE to donate to our concert reception.
  • The Next Two Weeks Ahead:  Week of 2/21 and Week of 2/28
  • Basketball Pep Bands – Senior Night This Friday – Everyone who can play, please do!  Postseason is next week.
  • Band Calendar!  Make sure you have noted the recent updates:
    • BVN February Concert Moved to March 2nd.
    • Wind Ensemble Schedule for the next 3 weeks.
  • Thinking Ahead to Solo and Ensemble Festival
  • Winter Park – Reminders/What’s next
    • All Payments and Paperwork now well past due.
    • What’s Next?
  • Second Semester at-a-glance
  • Expanding your Musical Horizons!  Lettering, Lessons, Honor Bands!

From the Directors

I write today, overwhelmed with gratitude, pride, and excitement.

I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to perform at the Kauffman Center this past Saturday, with Wind Ensemble.  It was a wonderful experience, start to finish. And HUGE congrats to our Wind Ensemble students for delivering a phenomenal performance, with meaning, impact, and emotion.  I am really looking forward to the next run of performances.

I am so very proud of our BVN Winter Guard and Pianists!

  • The Winter Guard attended it’s first ever contest this past Saturday, and had a wonderful day!!  Getting started is always the biggest/most challenging step… and they are off!!  HUGE congrats to Mrs. Sipes and all of the Winter Guard members.
  • CONGRATS to BVN Pianists Eddie Mu, Quinten Shafer, Michelle Shin, and Zengtao Xing!  All four gave wonderful performances at the State Piano Festival this past Saturday, with Eddie, Michelle, and Zengtao earning “I” Ratings for superior performances and Quinten a “II” for Excellent performance.  These are SPECTACULAR ratings indicative of  high level performance.  Congratulations!!

And… I am most definitely excited for the next 2 weeks in the band.  It’s going to be an AWESOME ride!

  • Friday 2/25:  Senior Night Basketball Pep Band!! ALL Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and Jazz Band members are HIGHLY encouraged to attend.  Wind Ensemble will be returning from Wichita and won’t be back until part of the way through the evening – so we need all we can get.  It will be a really fun night celebrating our bball seniors!
  • Friday 2/25:  Wind Ensemble Performs at the KMEA State Music Convention.  This is a HUGE deal as we represent the state of Kansas on a big stage.  Being selected is quite an honor, and we are excited to perform.
  • Thursday-Saturday 2/24-2/26 is All-State time!  Best of luck to our AMAZING 31 BVN All-State musicians (Band, Choir, and Orchestra) as they head to Wichita for the state convention and performance with the all-state groups.
  • Sunday 2/27:  Wind Ensemble completes its concert tour with a performance at the Lied Center of Kansas in Lawrence, sharing a wonderful concert with the incredible KU Wind Ensemble.  It will be amazing!!
  • Next week on Wednesday 3/2 – the BVN Band Concert!!!! It will be wonderful to showcase our 3 BVN concert bands on this evening. See you there!  PARENTS – please CLICK HERE To sign up to donate to the post concert reception.
  • On Monday, 3/7, we are excited to host all of our BVN Area Band Students, grade 6-12, in our BVN Area Festival concert!  It will be a blur of awesome music showcasing all of our area bands.

WIND ENSEMBLE TOUR CONTINUES!  A highlight of these busy few weeks is our Wind Ensemble Tour.  This is going to be an incredible musical experience, and we want to share this with ALL of our band family as much as possible!  Please mark your calendars, plan to attend as possible, and definitely help spread the word!

As we continue to live through the covid era:  please Click Here to read our current Covid Mitigation Procedures for Band.

Musically yours,
Mr. Freeman and Mr. Wagoner

The Next Two Weeks Ahead in the Band: 2/21-2/27/22 and 2/28-3/4/22

CLICK HERE for the BVN Bell Schedule and Block Day Rotation

Week of 2/21 – 2/27/22

Monday, 2/21:

  • No School, President’s Day

Tuesday, 2/22:

  • Even Block Day with Late Start
  • Wind Ensemble Rehearsal during Academic Support

Wednesday, 2/23:

  • Odd Block Day
  • Winter Guard Practice 7 – 9 PM

Thursday 2/24

Friday 2/25

  • Schedule Update:  due to snow days impacting our block rotation, this is now a traditional schedule day.
  • All-State Students in Wichita for the State Convention.  All-State Orchestras perform at 8 PM Friday Evening!
  • Wind Ensemble Travels to Wichita to perform at the State Convention!
    • 6:30 AM:  Band Room Open
    • 7 AM:  Load and Depart for Wichita (Charter Bus)
    • 11:30 AM: Performance at Century II Concert Hall, Wichita, KS
    • Following Performance:  Picture, Lunch, time at the convention, then return to BVN. Estimated Return of 6:30 PM
    • Wind Ensemble Students: CLICK HERE For all of the details.
  • Basketball Pep Band – SILVER BAND and SENIOR NIGHT!
    • 5:00 Call time for a 5:30 Girls Game and 7 PM Boys Game.
    • This is SENIOR NIGHT for both the boys and the girls.
    • BLUE Shirts.
    • SYMPHONIC and CONCERT and JAZZ BAND STUDENTS:  With Wind Ensemble returning from Wichita part of the way through the girls game, we need a good crew of you to fill the band this night!  Whether you are assigned to the game or not, come out and play!!

Sunday 2/27

  • Wind Ensemble Performance with the KU Wind Ensemble at the Lied Center of Kansas in Lawrence
    • Noon:  Band Room Open. All Students arrive by 12:15 and Load/depart by 12:30
    • Sound Check on stage after we arrive.
    • 2:30:  Concert Start:  We perform first, then stick around and hear the INCREDIBLE KU Wind Ensemble.
    • After concert, return to BVN
    • Wind Ensemble Students: CLICK HERE For all of the details.
    • Tickets will likely be required for this, but we should have a chance to get comp tickets for any BVN Families.  Info forthcoming.

Week of 2/28-3/4/2022

Monday, 2/28:

  • Traditional Schedule this day (due to ACT testing on Tuesday)
  • Winter Guard Practice, 7-9 PM

Tuesday, 3/1:

  • ACT DAY!
  • Juniors come to school and take the ACT in the morning.  Teacher Professional day in the afternoon.  All other students:  no school!
  • Possible post-season basketball pep band (will be voluntary if it happens.  More to come…)

Wednesday, 3/2:

  • Odd Block Day
  • BVN Band Concert!
    • 6:30 Call time for Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble Students
    • 7 PM Concert Start!
    • Concert Attire is your NICE concert black!
      • Remember:  Concert black means head-to-toe “concert formal” black attire.
      • Boys:  Collared dress shirts (Black), black slacks, LONG BLACK SOCKS, and ALL Black Dress shoes. Coats and ties always acceptable but not required.
      • Girls:  There is more variety in how this works for you, but it is all Black, matching the boys level of formality, with an emphasis on modesty.  Shoulders covered, nothing low cut, any dresses or skirts are knee length when seated.
    • PARENTS: Sign up to donate to the post concert reception!
  • Winter Guard Practice 7 – 9 PM

Thursday 3/3

  • Even Block Day with Late Start

Friday 3/4

  • Traditional Bell Schedule
  • Jazz Band Travels to the Pitt State Jazz Festival (during the school day and evening).  More details coming soon!
  • Both Friday and Saturday:  Possible post-season basketball pep band (will be voluntary if it happens.  More to come…).

Don’t Forget – Monday 3/7 is our BVN Area 6th-12th band Festival Concert!

Basketball Pep Bands!

  • Basketball Pep Bands are ongoing – Click here for the schedule!
  • Senior Night Game this week – with Wind Ensemble out of town, we need GREAT attendance from Symphonic/Concert/Jazz Bands.  Thanks for making it happen!
  • Students are doing a wonderful job.  Thank you and keep it up!
  • Postseason Starts the first few days of March
    • Sub-State Tournaments (state qualifiers) are March 1-2 and March 4-5.  If we host games at BVN (depends on tournament seeding), we’ll have voluntary pep bands as possible.
    • State Tourney is the week of March 7th in Wichita.  More to come if either of our teams make the state tourney.

BVN BAND CALENDAR

Thinking Ahead – Solo and Ensemble Festival in April!

It’s time to begin thinking ahead to Solo and Ensemble Festival in April!  Solo and Ensemble Festival is a WONDERFUL experience for students.  Prepping/Performing a solo and performing in a chamber ensemble (small group, usually one on a part) are FUN and challenging processes.  Students who do this will build performance skills, creativity, and confidence in a unique and powerful manner…. something we can’t replicate in other settings.  While not required, this is HIGHLY encouraged.

  • If you wish to perform a solo:
    • NOW is the time to pick a solo.  HIGHLY HIGHLY encouraged that you work with a private teacher in solo preparation.  If you don’t have a solo picked in the next couple of weeks, it will be too late.
    • Solos must be accompanied, if the solo is written with an accompaniment.  CLICK HERE for a list of wonderful accompanists.  Find Accompanists NOW – don’t wait!  These wonderful musicians are in demand and will fill up quickly.  Student Pianists can also be accompanists – talk with Mr. Freeman if you are thinking of having a student accompanise.
  • If you wish to perform as part of a small ensemble:
    • Small ensembles are groups of 3 up to about 15 (duets not accepted).  Examples:  Brass Quintets, Woodwind Quintets, instrument “choirs” (i.e. clarinet choir, trombone choir).  Some small ensembles will be built by the directors and/or our Adjunct staff in classes (percussion ensembles are one example)
    • If you wish to perform in a small ensemble, make sure to talk with Mr. Freeman or Mr. Wagoner and we’ll help get it going.  There are some instrumentation restrictions, so make sure to talk to us first to make sure your chamber group is allowable.

Winter Park Trip Info

Final payments and all paperwork for the trip is now past due.  If you are missing anything, get it in ASAP or penalties will begin to apply, including possible removal from the trip.

Looking ahead:  we are completing a bunch of behind-the-scenes work:  Finalizing itinerary, completing rooming assignments, chaperone group assignments, bus lists, etc.  After a flurry of activity for travelers, it’s now a bit of calm-time while we work behind the scenes.  A HUUUUGE Thanks to our Trip Coordinator, Mrs. Ellis, who has done phenomenal work over the last few weeks, and will continue to do so.

If you have not Registered online or turned in your rules form, you are now overdue – please complete this ASAP!!!

  • Register online!!! If you have not yet done this, please do it ASAP!! This registration sets up important things such as ski equipment rentals and helps us confirm lodging details.  The deadline has passed to get this done… if you haven’t, get it done NOW!
    • Hard copy instructions distributed in classes 1/18 and 1/19.
    • These contain individual login instructions/passwords for each traveler.

Trip Forms:

Second Semester At-A-Glance

  • February:  BVN Musical  Pep Bands. Wind Ensemble to Kaufman, KMEA and Lied Center.  All-State Groups.
  • March:  BVN Band Concert March 2nd.  BVN Area Bands 6-8 Festival Concert March 7th.  Pitt State Jazz Festival. Winter Park Trip!  Potential postseason BBall pep bands (voluntary)
  • April:  Return from Winter Park.  Band Concert 4/11.  Then…. Contest Month!    Solo/Ensemble Festivals (voluntary) and State Large Group Festival (Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble).  BVW Band Festival (Concert Band). Cap it off with the Pancake Dinner and our first ever Night of Percussion and Jazz on Wednesday 4/27.  April…. WOW!
  • May:  Celebration Month!  Band Recognition Dinner (Band Banquet) and Concert on the Lawn 5/11.  Class Day and Graduation Performances.

Expanding your Musical Horizons!

During the School year, there will be many AMAZING opportunities to make music outside the walls of BVN. Honor Bands, Private Lessons, and much more can and will be highlights of your year, and memories that will last forever.

PRIVATE LESSONS are HIGHLY recommended!  Private lessons help students unlock skills and work on specific techniques that will greatly enhance their playing!  Students who wish to be in the BVN Wind Ensemble, or who want to go for honor bands, take solos to festivals, etc should seriously consider private lessons.  We are lucky to have many AMAZING private instructors in the area – just email Mr. Freeman or Mr. Wagoner for suggestions.

Fountain City Youth Brass Band – an incomparably awesome opportunity!!

The Fountain City Youth Brass Bands are INCREDIBLE.  A premiere organization – one of the best anywhere – and a phenomenal experience for brass and percussion students.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Click here for more info.

Honor Bands

The First honor band experience will be auditions for the ECKMEA District Honor Bands (all band students are eligible), and the Kansas Sousa Honor Band (for 9th Graders).  These are FANTASTIC experiences and well worth the effort to audition.  HIGHLY recommended for all students.

Please find all details of these and much more on our Extra Musical Experiences Webpage.
Audition Materials can be found on the Student Resources Login Page of the website.  Students should know the password.

LETTERING IN BAND

Students can earn a varsity letter in band, just like in any sport.  Letters are awarded to students who go above and beyond what it takes to earn the band grade.  Volunteering for pep bands, serving as a member of leadership, taking private lessons, participating in FCYBB and/or the KC Youth Symphony, performing at church, and on and on… all of these and much more can qualify for lettering points.  CLICK HERE for lettering details. 

First year letter winners receive the Chenille Letter Award, and 2nd/3rd/4th year winners get pins to add to the letter.