Hello GEB,
Below you will find the details for this week (10/03-10/08). There is ALOT going on! Please read through entire email.
All-Region Jazz Results
We are very proud of the students who auditioned for the Region 3 All-Region Jazz Bands. Of the 12 students who participated, 9 placed in one of the bands:
Aissa Torres, 12th – Alto Saxophone (Jazz 2)
Anna Fitzgerald, 11th – Alto Saxophone (Jazz 2)
Austin Townsend, 12th – Tenor Saxophone (Jazz 1) – AREA
Nicholas Crothers, 12th – Trumpet (Jazz 1) – AREA
Theresa Guidry, 9th – Tenor Trombone (Jazz 1) – AREA
Christopher Finch, 12th – Tenor Trombone (Jazz 1) – AREA
Marcus Sykora, 10th – Bass Trombone (Jazz 1) – AREA
Ben Goldberg, 10th – Piano (Jazz 1) – AREA
Andrew Schafer, 10th – Drums (Jazz 2) – AREA
Nicholas Crothers, Marcus Sykora and Ben Goldberg placed 1st in their room! Furthermore 7 students will be advancing to AREA.
*Richardson High School had the most region/area students out of all or the high schools in Region 3!
Morning Rehearsals (7:00am – 8:30am)
We are learning the drill to the rest of movement 3 tomorrow (Monday). EVERYONE MUST BE PRESENT AT ALL REHEARSALS! OUR FIRST COMPETITION IS ON SATURDAY!
If you are attending the AP Physics field trip tomorrow, you are leaving from 1st -4th period. Please be at rehearsal in the morning.
We have just about one month left of marching season. Lets finish strong!
Always have your dot book, pencil and instrument at every scheduled morning rehearsal!
Thursday Morning Rehearsal 10/06/16
We will be rehearsing with the Eaglettes on Thursday this week. Bring your flip folders stuffed with this week’s drill team tune (which happens to be Shut up and Dance). Anyone who forget’s his/her flip folder and drill team tune at this rehearsal will automatically fail inspection for this week so make sure you remember!
All-State Jazz Taping 10/06/16 (if applicable)
All-State Jazz taping will be held at North Mesquite High School starting at 5:00 PM. Good luck to our 7 participants!
Friday Morning Rehearsal 10/07/16
8:00am – 11:00am – MARCHING REHEARSAL; remember that there is no school on this day but we do have rehearsal and a game. Guest clinician – Mr. Reagan Brumley, Director of Bands at Highland Park.
11:00am – 3:30pm – Break/lunch on you own
3:45pm – dinner will be served in the Eagles Nest for those who signed up for the meal plan. Please note that this is only for those who signed up for the Football Game meal plan.
2:30pm – 5:00pm – Host the UT Longhorn Band (optional but highly recommend for GEB students from 3:00pm – 4:00pm). Section leaders, I will be needing your help in getting everything set-up.
RHS vs W.T White (AWAY) 10/07/16
The 6th football game of the year is coming up this Friday night! As always, full details can be found on the Official Band Calendar at www.richardsonband.org.
Game Details
Drill Team Tune: Shut Up and Dance
Dinner Served: 3:45pm (Eagles Nest) for students who are sign up for Meal Plan
Inspection: 5:00pm
Depart for Loos Field Stadium: 5:15pm
3815 Spring Valley Rd , Addison, TX, 75001
Kickoff: 7:30pm
Full Uniform: marching shoes, black socks (mid calf length or higher), bibbers (uniform pants), GEB underarmor, jacket, baldric (sash), shako (hat).
Guard – Contest Uniform
*failure to have the items mentioned above as well as not having your instrument, flip folder, lyre and FILLED water bottle with water will result in failing inspection. As a reminder we do not talk during inspection lines.
Other reminders include:
No nail polish/make-up
No jewelry (earrings, necklaces, rings, etc.)
No unnatural hair colors (blue, green, etc.)
Boys – clean shaven or trimmed facial hair
Girls – show hair
Sunblock/mosquito repellant
Marching Contest – A Beginner’s Guide
There are two types main types of marching contests that we will attend this year. “Invitational” and “UIL” contests.
For Invitational Contests:
1) We do not find out performance times until about two weeks before the contests.
2) Usually there are 20+ marching bands entered into each contest. Each one of these bands performs in the preliminary round, which starts early in the morning and goes until about 5:30pm. As stated above, we will be scheduled a preliminary performance time about two weeks in advance.
3) There are 5-7 judges in prelims who rank each of the bands based upon the scores they earn in each of their captions (or categories such as marching, music, percussion, guard, general effect). The top 10 bands from prelims will perform again in finals that evening. Bands will either perform in random or ranked order in finals (10th place performs first, 9th place performs second, etc). This means that should we make finals (which is a BIG deal in itself), we won’t know our finals performance time until at least 6pm that day.
4) Each of the 10 finalist bands perform in the evening, usually starting at around 7pm. After all the finalists perform, the judges tabulate the finals scores and the final contest ranks are announced. Scoring starts all over again in finals and typically, many of the judges switch captions (or the categories in which they are judging) in finals. This makes the finals round almost like a whole new contest.
5) All of this makes contest day a pretty long day. You should plan for our non-UIL contest (Desoto) to take all day.
For Region UIL Contests:
1) We will find out our performance time about two weeks in advance. This contest happens during the school day and the kids will miss classes in order to attend.
2) Each band only performs once at the Region UIL contest. There are no prelims or finals.
3) Three judges will each give the band a rating on a scale of 1 to 5.
– 1 (Superior)? – 2 (Excellent)? – 3 (Good)? – 4 (Fair)? – 5 (Poor)
4) As opposed to the Invitational style contest where bands are competing against each other, at UIL, bands are not ranked against each other. Rather, the bands are each evaluated independently and given a rating based upon the UIL standards.
5) The band is given an overall rating based on the combination of the three judges scores. For example, if a band gets a 1, 1, 2… that band’s overall rating would be a 1 (called a 1st Division or “Superior” rating). Should the band receive a “Superior” rating they will advance to the UIL Area Marching Contest on October 29th.
Desoto Marching Classic 10/08/16
Our first contest of the season is this Saturday, October 8th at Desoto High School Stadium. Below is ALL the information you’ll need for the day:
Schedule
10:00am: Rehearsal at Eagle Stadium
11:15am: Rehearsal ends, load trucks
11:30am: Lunch – Dickey’s BBQ!
12:45pm: Change into uniform
1:15pm: Inspection
1:30pm: Depart for Desoto
2:40pm: Arrive at Desoto/Check In
3:40pm: Warm-up
4:30pm: Prelims Performance
5:15pm: Finals announced
The Desoto Marching Classic is Prelims/Finals format contest. Currently there are 9 bands at this contest, which means we will be in finals. Usually there are more bands at a contest, however, due to the changes in the school calendar, there are about 6 marching contests occurring this weekend, making less bands attend each contest. Finals are performed in random order; this means we will not know what time we perform until 5:30pm or so.
7:15pm: Finals Begin
10:00pm: Final Results
11:30pm: Expected ETA at RHS. Brief meeting then dismissal.
Parent Info
If you are a parent who is not chaperoning/helping on the field, we NEED you in the stands supporting the band. The location of the contest is:
Desoto High School
600 Eagle Drive
Desoto, Texas 75115
Here’s how this works: when the band enters the field and the announcer calls our name, we need a fleet of parents in the stands cheering and going NUTS for the kids. This is all part of the competition! It sends a message to the judges that… “hey, you really need to pay attention to this band!” While we have many parents already traveling with the band as volunteers, they will be down on the field helping with equipment. Come out and see what your kids have been toiling away for because trust me, the football games have just been a preview of the contest show.
Parking is free. Admission to the contest is $10.00 for spectators. $5.00 for seniors 65+ free for 3 and under. For our volunteers, Desoto only provides us with a set number of total volunteer passes. This means that you should be prepared to pay the $10.00 entry fee just incase we don’t have enough to cover everyone. While I know that can be frustrating, keep in mind that this is a very important fundraiser for the DHS Band which is why they need to charge admission.
Student Info
You are going to need to bring a good number of items with you on Saturday. Pay careful attention as we’ll have several different “outfits” for the day.
When you arrive in the morning, you’ll need to be wearing:
• UnderArmor Shirt (under the For Whom The Bell Tolls T-Shirt)
• For Whom The Bell Tolls T-Shirt
• GEB Black Athletic shorts
• Long black socks (MUST HAVE)
• Marching Shoes
You’ll need to bring your duffle bag/back pack. Inside your duffle/backpack, you’ll need our “stands uniform” which will be:
• Shorts/jeans (school appropriate) and sweater (in case it gets cold)
• Tennis shoes
You’ll come and drop your items off in the locker room, grab your instrument and head to the stadium. You should be in the block by 10:00am. Section leaders arrive at 9:30am to tape the field.
After rehearsal concludes at 11:15 am, you will begin to load up the trucks (props, percussion, low reeds/low brass, etc.). Lunch will be served starting at 11:30am under the stands in the stadium. Once you have eaten, you will head to the uniform room and put on your full uniform (take off For Whom The Bell Tolls T-Shirt and put it in your duffle bag/backpack). You should be changing into full uniform no later than 12:45pm. Inspection is at 1:15pm – At inspection, we’ll be dressed in and will have:
• UnderArmor Shirt/GEB Black Shorts (under uniform)
• Long black socks (under uniform)
• Full Contest Uniform
• Marching Shoes
• Instrument in case (for winds that did not place on truck)
• Duffle bag/backpack (with your stands uniform inside: jeans/shorts that are school appropriate, For Whom The Bells T-Shirt, sweater and tennis shoes)
At 1:30pm, we’ll load buses and head to Desoto. Upon our arrival, you’ll get all the instructions you’ll need.
After our prelims performance, we will hear what our finals time is. Everyone will receive dinner (Jason’s Deli) via the contest meal plan between prelims and finals. You may want to bring additional money for souvenirs and/or concession stand goodies.
This will be a long day so make sure you’re resting up throughout the week! The good news is that there is NO SCHOOL OR REHEARSAL on Monday, October 10th.
*students who are academically ineligible may not (by state law) be anywhere near the band during the contest. This includes but not limited to: traveling, sitting or eating (contest meals) with the band. Failure to abide by this rule could result is loss of UIL status for the entire program.
Other Upcoming Contests
Wednesday, October 19: Region 3 UIL Marching Contest (evening performance)
Saturday, October 29: Region 3 Area UIL Marching Contest (Prelims/Finals)
Spring Trip (Corpus Christi) – Commitment Trip Form and NON-REFUNDABLE down payment ($100) Due 11/09/16
Please see attachment sent last week regarding the 2017 spring trip; packet includes brief information of the trip, payment schedule, TEA excused classes, trip commitment form and cancellation form. The Trip Commitment Form is due to the band safe by November 9th along with your first non-refundable payment of $100. Student must be eligible after the 3rd 9 weeks to be able to attend the trip based on state guidelines. Failure to pass non-exempt classes, will result in not attending trip and money being unable to be refunded.
Thank you,
Mr. Marquez