Doc’s Blog

Hey gang,

Gordon Goodwin (Count Bubba fame) has a Christmas CD. I can order two charts but they are VERY DIFFICULT. Before I order any of these, I wanted your input.  Go to www.jwpepper.com and search “Goodwin Christmas” There are two charts that you can listen to the MP3’s.  Yo Tannenbaum and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.  These are killer charts!  Would love to do them. Give me your input.

Doc

My summer Warrior Enrichment Band class was a blast.  Fifth through eighth graders representing St. George, St. Alphonsus, Baton Rouge Lutheran, Sherwood Middle, St. Jean Vianney, St. Jude, St. Aloysius, Most Blessed Sacrament, and St. Theresa (hope I didn’t leave anyone out) joined Dr. Andry at St. Michael High School for a week long camp of music making and scooby snacks!

We finished the week with an impromptu concert in the cafeteria (poor acoustics) and a pizza party.  The young musicians did a terrific job.  You can view videos of the performances on youtube at the following address: More from LSU Band Parent. Once you get there, you can check out the rest of the concert by clicking on the “More from LSU Band Parent” link on your right.

I hope that you take your enthusiasm for music back with you to your schools in the fall and I hope to see all of you back at next summer’s camp!!!  It was a real pleasure to work with all of you!

Doc

Check this article out. It features two of our own Warrior Band members.

Article about Ben & Eric

warrior-band-newsletter-vol-vi-no1

Here’s the latest in our popular Warrior Band Newsletter series. 

It’s never too early to begin working on All State audition material.

Here’s the link to the audition material for jazz band: http://www.lmeamusic.org/Handbook/PDF/LMEA%20Handbook%202008-10%20Jazz%20Band%20All-State.pdf

The registration form can be found here: all-state-jazz-registration 

All State band audition material can be found here: http://www.lmeamusic.org/Handbook/PDF/LMEA%20Handbook%202008-10%20Band%20All-State.pdf

Graduation is this Friday and we will be playing for this.  Percussionists are excused except for the three freshmen that I told will play.  We will be dismissed from school at 11 am Friday morning.  You are to report back to the band room for 1:45 in concert uniform.  We will leave at 2 pm to go downtown.  The program should last no more than 45 minutes to an hour.  The bus will bring you back to school when we are finished.

I have posted the link to the study guide to my exam here.  midterm-study-presentation

Good luck on all your exams.

Doc

Hi gang, First of all, everyone must take their uniform home and get it dry cleaned by next Monday.  Please try your old uniform on to see if it still fits.  If it fits, then we will put your name on it and it will be yours next fall. If something doesn’t fit, then let us know now so we can get you fitted before incoming freshmen next fall. Also, make sure your name is on the uniform bag and you have your uniform on the heavy duty hanger, not the ones you are going to get from the cleaners.

Second, we have to perform next Friday at Graduation.  A bus will leave school at 2 pm so no one has to deal with traffic and parking downtown.  Dress for graduation is concert band dress.  Girls in black. Boys in dress school uniform with black pants, shoes, and socks.

Third, we are in need of volunteers to work our band camp (July 27-31). We need parents to work hydration (from about 8:20 am until 11:30).  It would be easier if we had several parents so we could divide the shifts up among you. Please check your schedules and email me or respond to this blog if you can help us.  That includes all my incoming freshmen parents out there. We really need someone to step up and donate hydration items like, popsicles, fresh fruit (ice, cold, watermelon), juice, etc.  

Finally, we are going to have our first annual Senior Jazz Brunch this Saturday at my home.  Miss Lisa and I are going to be preparing the menu which will include eggs benedict, scrambled eggs (for those who don’t benedict), cheese grits, hash browns, sausage, biscuits, muffins, fruit, and drink (coffee, milk, and juice).  If you don’t eat any of this (pizza lover-you know who you are) then let me know so we can try to accommodate you. If you cannot make it Saturday morning, then please let me know ASAP so I know how much food to prepare. Oh, BTW, we will have Banana’s Foster for desert! I promise NOT to burn down the neighborhood!

Doc

What a week!  What a semester! What a year!  We have surpassed all my expectations and set the bar extremely high for future Warrior band members.  I haven’t had time to really digest what has just happened.  I have never taken a band to district festival, much less state festival.  EVERY judge that has heard us, including the three at Loyola for big band, three for combo, four at district and four at state, have given our band superior ratings!  Not one excellent!  One even gave us a superior + at state.  UNPRECEDENTED! I am EXTREMELY PROUD of all my students.  We could not have done it without the hard work and determination of all my students.  It goes to show you that it’s not about the talent of the individual, but the combined efforts of ALL of you - young, old. extremely talented or just a novice. We will listen to the judges’ comments on Monday and prepare for our graduation performance and exams.  Seniors, you will have to take an exam in band. Dane. you will only have to take the jazz band exam (no percussion exam).  

It was good to see so many of you at the Spring Concert. The compliments are still coming in!  Yes, it was long, but it was worth it. We had to feature every ensemble!  Now, we clean up and prepare for next fall.  I will be choosing our competition show next week.  If you are interested in trying out for drum major, playing drums in the jazz band or piano in the jazz band, please let me know Monday.  We have covered the parts in Jazz Band for graduating seniors on saxes and trumpet.  Thanks to all the parents who brought snacks (cookies and rice krispies treats) for our state trip.  We are also in the preliminary stages of preparing for our trip to Disney next Spring.

I will work on a final newsletter soon.  In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the year, get some rest during the summer, and let’s do it again next year!

Doc

Hi gang, 

We are ready for state!  Thanks to Mr. King for the informative clinic today.  Remember to bring about $10 for dinner at Piccadilly. 

Boys, you may wear your concert uniform to school tomorrow (black pants).  Girls will change when we get to Lake Charles.

Here are the results from today’s drum line auditions.

On snare - Kyle Barksdale,  Jesse LeBlanc, and third snare drummer TBD in two weeks

On tenors - Trey Gantt and Stefin Graham

On basses - Taylor Zambito, second bass (TBA), Ryan Brown, Blake Fontenot, and Michael Naquin

All other percussionists will be placed on cymbals and on pit instruments when we start drum camp.

Congratulations to all these hard-working percussionists.

Doc

Thanks to everyone who helped make our Third-Annual Moonlight and Jazz a huge success! This year’s event topped last years’ event in all categories, including the quality of food, atmosphere, dancing, wine consumed, and of course, the quality of entertainment!  There are too many individuals to mention here, but thanks especially to the committee members for their hard work behind the scenes.  This year’s committee began work before Christmas with our Christmas sales.  Thanks to those who helped with trucks to carry the stage to and from school, and a very special thanks to the talented musicians who began working on the program back in the fall and gave a professional quality performance!  After we pay bills from White Oak, it looks like we will clear over $12,000 from this one event.  If you have any suggestions to make next year’s event even more successful, please don’t hesitate to let us know. It’s never too early to start planning for next year’s event or to start thinking about additional sponsors to help to make it 100% profitable.

If you have pictures that you would like to share with us from the event, please email them to me or send them to me on a disk.

We do have two very important events next week.  First, our state band festival is Wednesday, April 29, in Lake Charles.  We will be leaving school at 12 noon on busses and will arrive in Lake Charles between 3 and 3:30.  Our warm-up time is 4:55 and our performance time is 5:30. We sight-read at 6:00 and should be ready to head back to Baton Rouge with our ratings by around 7 PM.  We will stop to eat dinner at a cafeteria-style restaurant on the way back home. I estimate our arrival back home between 11:00 – 11:30 PM.  Someone with a cell phone will call you when we get close to Baton Rouge to let you know when it’s time to pick up your child.  Our second event is our Annual Spring Concert on Thursday, April 30, at 6:30 PM.  The concert will begin with the St. Michael Choir and will be followed by our performance.  Our Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Combo, and Concert Band will perform.  Prepare to be highly entertained!  Each ensemble has earned superior ratings for their performances this semester!!!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to prepare for State Festival and we travel to and from Lake Charles next week.

Doc