End of October Update, Assignments, and Christmas Concerts

Quick Update for Families

Hello all!  The year has begun nicely, and student musicians are making headway on their work for music classes.  This is a quick update regarding deadlines that are fast approaching.

Grade 7 Musicians

Students have been working hard on their first sounds and on the theory needed to be able to read the music.  At this point they have only a couple of deadlines arriving;

• Breezin' Thru Chapter 1, passed due from October 1, 2021
• Breezin' Thru Chapter 2, due November 1, 2021

Grade 8-13 Musicians

Students have been assigned a number of tasks, including;

• Various Breezin' Thru Chapters, students should consult PowerSchool to see what is due and passed due.
• Solo Pieces.  Recordings of these pieces are due November 1, 2021.  Students were provided these pieces earlier this month.

Marks will be entered into PowerSchool on the dates mentioned above.  If a student has not completed an assignment, the mark will reflect the amount they've completed.  A student can always upgrade their mark at any time.

Christmas Concert Announcement

As of right now, we have a restriction on the occupancy of our gymnasium to one-third fire code capacity.  Unfortunately that number happens to be the same as the number of students in the music program, leaving no room for an audience.  I need to plan for these events right now, so I've had to make the decision to operate a livestreamed concert.

This is not the same as last year.  We will not be doing pre-recordings.  We will also be playing copyrighted music (all standard Concert Band and Stage Band music is copyrighted, and so cannot be made available publicly even in recording - Mr. Windsor's arrangements last year were copywritten, it's just that he gave the school permission to play).  As such we must do something different this year.

Our Christmas Concert is confirmed scheduled for Wednesday, December 8, 2021.  We will be streaming from the gymnasium Live, and families will be able to watch from home.  Here's what this means for you this year;

• Families will be encouraged to send messages through the stream as comments, and students will be able to see the comments, likes and shares on the big screen in the gymnasium while we are playing.
• Students will likely be remaining after school for much of the day on Friday, December 10, 2021.  This is not an optional activity, every student is expected to participate in the performance as a major component of the Band class mark.
• We cannot save the stream for legal reasons, nor make it available for consumption after the livestream is done.  Therefore families need to plan to attend the concert that night and that night only.

We're also exploring other options and strategies to make this work, which is why the date is currently tentative, but please plan for this kind of Christmas event.

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