Band Update:  3-21-2022

Contents:

  • From the Directors… Welcome Back, and Away We Go!!
  • The Week Ahead:  3/21/22 – 3/25/22
    • Academic Support Time Rehearsals for CONCERT and SYMPHONIC Band Members who are going to Winter Park, and for our CLARINET CHOIR!
    • Winter Park Meeting Wednesday Evening, 5:30 – 6:30 in the PAC.
  • Winter Park – Reminders/What’s next
    • ALL Travelers (+1 parent per student) Meeting on Wednesday 3/23, 5:30 PM.
    • All Payments and Paperwork now well past due.
    • Trip is Next Week!
  • Seniors:  Please complete the Bio form for our Concert on the Lawn Program
  • BVN Band Pancake Dinner and Silent Auction
    • SAVE THE DATE – Wednesday, April 27th, 5-7 PM Pancake Dinner/Silent Auction, then 7 PM Jazz and Percussion Extravaganza Concert!
    • Silent Auction is in Support of our Dr. Roberts Memorial Scholarship Fund
    • Pancake Dinner FUNdraiser for support of ALL THINGS BAND. – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
  • Solo and Ensemble Festival April 9 – Volunteers Needed!
  • BVN Band Calendar
  • Expanding your Musical Horizons!  Lettering, Lessons, Honor Bands!

From the Directors

And we’re back!!  I hope everyone has had a WONDERFUL Spring Break.  The time off and with family was definitely wonderful for both Mr. Wagoner and I, and we are recharged and ready for a fantastic fourth quarter in the the BVN Band!

The Fourth Quarter is our most FUN time of year, but also a whirlwind!  From Winter Park to April Festivals to our May Concert on the Lawn, and then preparing for next year with Leadership, Color Guard, and Drumline auditions, it will be a BLUR of activity.

IMPORTANT:  EVERYONE:  Please read, digest, print and hang on your fridge, this summary of the Fourth Quarter in the BVN Band.  It’s going to be awesome!

Thanks, as always, for your careful reading and support of the Band!

Musically yours,
Mr. Freeman and Mr. Wagoner

The Week Ahead in the Band, 3/21 – 3/25/22

CLICK HERE for the BVN Bell Schedule and Block Day Rotation

Monday, 3/21

  • No School, Teacher Professional Day

Tuesday, 3/22:

  • Even Block Day with Late Start
  • Academic Support Rehearsals:
    • Clarinet Choir!  Combined Clarinetists from the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band
    • Symphonic and Concert Band Students who are going to winter park – Combined Band Rehearsal in preparation for Winter Park!

Wednesday, 3/23:

  • Odd Block Day
  • Winter Park Travelers – TRIP MEETING in the PAC, 5:30 – 6:30
    • Please sit with your chaperone groups (and maybe go to dinner afterwards??)
    • If you are missing ANY Trip forms – please bring them!

Thursday 3/24:

  • Even Block Day with Late Start
  • Academic Support Rehearsals:
    • Clarinet Choir!  Combined Clarinetists from the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band
    • Symphonic and Concert Band Students who are going to winter park – Combined Band Rehearsal in preparation for Winter Park!

Friday 3/25

  • TRADITIONAL schedule with the return of North Time
    • This is an update/change to the schedule due to snow days before break…. balancing out the even/odd day rotation.

Winter Park Trip Info

TRIP MEETING THIS WEEK !  Wednesday, March 23rd, 5:30 – 6:30 PM – PAC:  Trip Information Meeting for ALL Travelers, Plus one parent for each student traveler!

  • We will share the full trip booklet at this meeting, which includes full itinerary, chaperone groups/bus lists/rooming lists, etc.  It’s an important one for all travelers!!
  • Please sit with your chaperone groups, and consider going to dinner as a group after the meeting!

Wednesday, March 30th – Sunday, April 3rd:  BVN Band Winter Park Trip!

  • Tentative Schedule for 3/30 Departure: 9:30 PM luggage in band room, 10 PM trip kick off meeting in PAC, 10:30 Load busses, 11 PM depart for the overnight to Winter Park!
  • Thursday 3/31:  Arrive, check-in, equipment rentals and rest, perform in the evening.  Friday and Saturday – Ski and fun!  Sunday Return home.

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.  If you have received reminder emails from Mrs. Ellis, these carry as much or more weight than if they came from Mr. Freeman or Mr. Wagoner – please get things done NOW!

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.

Seniors:  info for COTL Program

  • Band/Color Guard Seniors:  please complete THIS FORM. It is the info that will go on your bio page in our Concert on the Lawn Program.
  • Fill out as much as you want, and we’ll pare it down to a nice bio for you
  • Please do this ASAP, with an absolute deadline of March 31st.

BVN Band Pancake Dinner and Silent Auction!

  • SAVE THE DATE – Wednesday, April 27th, 5-7 PM Pancake Dinner/Silent Auction, then 7 PM Jazz and Percussion Extravaganza Concert!
  • Silent Auction is in Support of our Dr. Roberts Memorial Scholarship Fund – helping us to preserve this scholarship for perpetuity, which is awarded to 1-3 BVN Band Seniors each year.
  • Pancake Dinner FUNdraiser for support of ALL THINGS BAND.  This really is a very FUN event!!!
    • VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
    • Ticket Pre-Sales will be April 6-20
    • Tickets are $7 in advance and $8 at the door.  Any tickets purchased after pre-sales end should be “at the door”

Silent Auction Donations Needed – Support our Wonderful Senior Scholarship in Memory of Dr. Marion K. Roberts

Don’t miss the silent auction at this year’s BVN band pancake dinner on April 27th.  Funds from the auction will go to support the Senior Student Scholarship. If you or your company has an item(s) you would like to donate, please either place items in the “Silent Auction” donation box in the band room at BVN or contact Paula Nichols at [email protected] , topic BVN BAND, by April 20th and she can arrange to pick them up. In addition to donating items, you can donate expertise, service, gift cards, or dollars.  Checks can be made payable to BVN Band. Alternatively, funds can be donated directly via Venmo to @Mark-Nichols-49. The last four digits of Marks phone number is 5266.  Use the topic “Band Donation”.

Volunteers Needed – Solo and Ensemble Festival on April 9th

  • The Solo and Ensemble Festival at Olathe South on April 9th is a HUGE event… the largest of it’s kind (by far) in the State of Kansas.
  • Olathe South does a FANTASTIC Job of running the event, but there is no way one school can provide enough volunteers for the event, so all of the schools that participate pitch in and provide volunteers.
  • Both students and parents can help.  CLICK HERE to sign up.
  • We won’t have a performance schedule until a week-ish before the event.  Please don’t wait to sign up… sign up now.  If a conflict between a performance and a work shift arises, it can be worked around!  (including parents wanting to go watch their students perform)

BVN BAND CALENDAR

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.