We've had our first movie night and Senior Shoutouts this week-- thanks to our Leadership Committees-- along with Drum Major Workshops, and some incredible projects being worked on for your weekly check-ins! Thanks to all our students and community for helping to make the world a little brighter with music and community!
We have even more music and fun to come from the Virtual Band Room this week! To help you and your students keep track of all our projects, deadlines, and opportunities, here is a list for your reference. Please stay safe, stay well, and let Mrs. Staniszewski know if you have any questions or concerns. Virtual Band Room Dates & Deadlines Categories:
This Week....
Next Week...
Weeks to Come...
Leadership Committee Activities Our Student Leadership Committees have been hard at work coming up with ways to help students stay active with one another help bring some much needed joy to our lives! Thanks Leadership for all your hard work!
Please Note: The following letter is being sent to every band and choir student in Rochester Community Schools. The music files, assignment details, and more will be added to our Virtual Band Room on Monday, April 20th at 9am.
Dear RCS Band and Choir Family, It’s our hope you and your families are safe and healthy. As the school district works out plans for creating end of the school year events in a virtual setting, your music teachers are thinking about Commencement. It is unknown what the Commencement Ceremonies will look like, but we know that music is a powerful and important part of the picture. We will want to be ready to be included in that, should it be possible. Your next assignment for your band or choir class is to contribute to the Commencement Feature Piece Performance. (This is the equivalent of the feature piece that would be performed in the middle of the ceremony, so yes, graduating seniors are also invited to participate.) Video Submissions are due on Sunday, May 10th, 2020. 1. Band students, make sure you are registered for Smart Music. (You should have already signed up, but if you didn't, please see the earlier Week 3 Check-In post for directions.) 2. Locate the music for Commencement attached to the Google Classroom Assignment. (The piece is called Synthesis by Brian Balmages.) PDFs of your parts are included in the Google Drive Folder for you to use. 3. Please pick a part(s) that is most comfortable for you. You are welcome to pick one part or record multiple for your instrument and submit multiple videos, if you are up for a challenge. Percussion: If you have a drum set or electronic patch/touch instruments (i.e. GarageBand, etc.), you are invited to do snare, bass and/or cymbals. Mallet parts can be played on bell kits. If you want to get creative and try to record the timpani part on a synthesizer/touch instrument, you are also welcome to do that. 4. Practice your part(s). Make certain you are comfortable and confident with your part(s). It will take a bit of practice on your part. Reach out to your director for guidance if needed. a. Please note that within Smart Music, you will have a wide variety resources to assist you, such as sample recording, click track, etc. A quick search in SmartMusic will help you find your parts and provide all you need to practice and create your recording. 5. READY TO RECORD a. Locate a place in your home with a blank or neat wall to record your performance. Avoid a messy background. Choose a well-lit area where we can see your face clearly, and be aware of background noise that could filter into your performance. b. Please wear black from waist up as this will be what is seen on the recording. Black with an accent of your school color if desired is lovely as well. Remember this is a commencement ceremony and you would traditionally be wearing your concert uniform or cap/gown. Use your best judgement and dress professionally for a formal performance. c. Record in landscape (sideways) view and from the waist up. Adjust stands/equipment to make sure we can see your face. Bigger instruments or questions, ask your teacher for guidance. d. When ready, record yourself singing/playing while you are listening to the sample recording in SmartMusic THROUGH HEADPHONES. Your part will need to line up with the sample recording in order to be added to our final video. You also MUST use the sample in SmartMusic in order to stay consistent with everyone else's submissions. (Do not use a different recording as your sample.) That being said, your final recording should only sound your part without any additional sound from the sample recordings/metronome/etc. e. Take care to record carefully. Try more than one take if needed. f. Upload to the attached Google Form Below. Thank you for taking part in this 3-school collaboration! We can’t wait to hear your beautiful music! Your RCS HS Music Directors Hello from the Virtual Band Room! We may not be physically together, but we still have a lot of awesome things going on... We hit the ground running this past week with a number of new pieces of information and new materials for your musical enrichment.
To help you and your students keep track of all our projects, deadlines, and opportunities, here is a list for your reference. Please stay safe, stay well, and let Mrs. Staniszewski know if you have any questions or concerns. Assignments Weekly Check-Ins (beginning this week, first due 4/24/2020) From this point, students will have the opportunity to choose how they would like to check-in for our weekly check-ins. Each week in our Virtual Band Room, there will be a posted “check-in” assignment. Students can choose what to work on and submit it each week for credit. Our first check in of this kind will be for April 20-24th, and will continue through the end of our year. (Seniors will have their last check in the week of May 15th, underclassmen will be the week of June 5th.) Please see the linked document for additional information, and review the posting in our Virtual Band Room for further details. UPDATE: Possible Graduation Feature: "Synthesis" by Brian Balmages (Videos due 5/10/2020) All RCS Band and Choir students should continue work on their parts and submit a video recording of their performance for this special collaboration project by Sunday, May 10, 2020. This project will be a collaboration between all three RCS high schools. Please see the assignment posting in our Virtual Band Room for parts and details. Virtual Band "Off the Edge" by Alex Shapiro (Videos due 5/15/2020) All students should be working on their parts for "Off the Edge" in preparation to record a video of themselves performing their part. These videos will be used to create a multitrack video performance. All materials, including parts, click tracks, practice and demo recordings are available on our Virtual Band Room assignment posting. Virtual Jazz Band "Money" (Videos due 5/15/2020) All Jazz Band students should continue working on their parts to "Money" in preparation to submit a video recording of themselves performing their part. Similar to "Off the Edge", we will be using video submissions to create a music video. Students are also invited and encouraged to create additional footage (acting, tik tok, artwork, comic, puppets, whatever!) that we can use to create the music video. Any videos to be included will need to be recorded and submitted to the according Virtual Band Room Assignment by Friday, 5/15/2020. Placement Solos/Auditions (Due 5/20/2020) All current SCHS Band Students (non-seniors) are asked to play something for this assignment, regardless of what ensemble they wish to be in for next year. This task is a pass/fail assignment. While submissions will be used to help aid in ensemble placements, students will be graded solely on its completion. (Students will receive full credit/pass as long as complete.) Students wishing to audition for Wind Ensemble will also need to sign-up for a Zoom session on 5/18 or 5/20/2020 to complete their audition. If a student is unable to complete this task, please contact me ASAP so that we can work together to find another way for me to receive your information. More details and links can be found on the assignment posting in the Virtual Band Room. Auditions/Interviews Drum Major/Section Leader (Materials Due 5/4/2020, Zoom Interviews on 5/5/2020) Those students interested in applying for Drum Major and/or Section Leader positions in the Cougar Marching Band are asked to complete the application, essay, and demonstration video(s) by Monday, May 4th, in addition to signing up for a Zoom Interview on Tuesday, May 5th. Further details are provided on the posting in our Virtual Band Room. For those interested, our current Drum Majors will be hosting live workshops via Zoom on Tuesday 4/21 and Thursday 4/23 at 4pm. Links are provided in the Virtual Band Room. Awards Banquet Awards Lists (edits due by 5/1/2020) Students are asked to please add your name to any awards you are eligible to receive this year on the attached Google Doc in our Virtual Band Room. I will be cross checking this list with my own for accuracy. See our Virtual Band Room posting for more details. Senior Surveys (due by 5/1/2020) Seniors are also asked to complete our digital Senior Surveys by Friday, May 1st. Link to the survey is found in the Virtual Band Room. Please also be ready to upload a senior picture! Fun! Lunch in the Band Room (Wed 4/22/2020): Live Zoom Q&A with Tyler Capa We will be resuming our weekly Zoom sessions, this time during our lunch hour! Eat your lunch in between your virtual classes with us in the Virtual Band Room on Wednesday, April 22nd at noon. We'll have a live Q&A with professional musician and SCHS Alum, Tyler Capa! Zoom information will be posted on Wednesday in the Virtual Band Room, just prior to our session. Social Media, Movie Night, YouTube Live Concerts and more! Our Student Leadership Committees have been hard at work coming up with ways to help students stay active with one another help bring some much needed joy to our lives! Thanks Leadership for all your hard work!
Welcome back from our Spring Break! I hope everyone was able to find some relaxation and rejuvenation in the midst of our current events. I am excited to connect with you all again in our Virtual Band Room, as we have a lot of great opportunities ahead of us in the weeks to come.
Our weekly Zoom meeting/check-in for this week for will be done according to band class. This is to facilitate a number of new and upcoming happenings and make sure everyone has the opportunity to speak, ask questions, and address one another more easily. Please mark your calendars and visit the Virtual Band Room for posted links to meet at the following times: Wind Ensemble: Mon. 4/13 at 9am Symphony Band: Mon. 4/13 at 1pm Concert Band on Wed. 4/15 at 9am Jazz Band on Thurs. 4/16 at 9am During our scheduled meetings this week, we will be talking about a number of things, including but not limited to:
As always, please reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or even just to say hi. You are missed and loved-- Wishing all our students and families all the best! |
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May 2023
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