Winter Park Band Notes
August 20, 2017
From Mr. Blackmer
Dear Band Families,
I hope that everyone survived their first week of high school!
Congratulations to the Marching Band on a terrific first performance of the school year! Thank you to all of our parent chaperones, and especially to Michelle Clemons for coordinating those chaperones!
I want to thank our Marching Band students for their participation in last Thursday's "Meet the Cats" event. There are no other students at Winter Park High School who have the amount of after-school demands put upon them like our Marching Band students, and often with little recognition or regard of those demands. It's very easy to say that "we value our Winter Park Band," but very few individuals truly understand the time commitment that they invest and the things that they sacrifice. I want all of you to know that I really appreciate your dedication and resilience, and I am very sensitive to the balance between that time commitment and other important priorities like homework, spending time with your family and friends, and just simply having the free time to be a teenager!
All the Best,
Mr. Blackmer
Band Trailer Clean-Up!
A special thank you to everyone who donated their time, resources and talents on Saturday to help us work on our trailer. The morning wash and detail crew included Neftali Bernard, a couple of his hired helpers, Ryan Evans and Chapman Evans. We accomplished a lot of cleanup and painting in the afternoon, too. The paint crew included Lou Fattore, Rob Kuczajda, Jennifer McMurtray, Bruce Thomas and Reese McBurney.
All-State FREE Audition Clinics
The University of Central Florida will be offering their annual FREE All-State audition clinic this coming Saturday, August 26, between 9 AM and 4 PM on the UCF campus.
Information on the clinic can be found HERE. Sessions on materials for the 9/10 Concert Band, 11/12 Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble will be presented.
Please take advantage of this FREE workshop! Even if you are not auditioning for the Florida All-State (which you should be), the same etudes and scales are used for the All-County Band auditions in November.
Old CD/DVDs Available
We have a limited supply of CD and/or DVD recordings of two older Winter Park Wind Ensemble performances. The first is the ensemble's 2010 performance at the FMEA Conference in Tampa (only CDs for this performance). The second is the Wind Ensemble's performance at the "Music For All" National Festival in 2012 held in Indianapolis (CDs and DVDs available). There are approximately ten copies of each, and they will be available on a first-come/first-take basis. If you would be interested in one of these archival recordings, please see Mr. Blackmer in the Band Office (please do not e-mail to hold).
Chaperones and Volunteers
All parents who wish to chaperone or volunteer with the Band Program, or any WPHS activities this year, must update their existing ADDitions account (or create one) now. We cannot choose you to chaperone for any Band event unless this has been done. Please take a few minutes to log in and complete this now. You may use the following link to do so https://ocps.samaritan.com/custom/503/index.php.
The Band's first chaperone opportunity is less than 2 weeks away, and we need you! More information is coming at Thursday's parent meeting on how to sign up for specific Band opportunities.
Program Ads & Sponsors Deadline Approaching!
The deadline to submit business ads, student dedication ads and sponsorships for the Band Program is Friday, September 1. 50 - 60% of the dollars earned from your ads submitted will be credited to your student’s Band account. This fundraiser is the best way to significantly reduce your Band fees! We have students who pay for their entire four years by selling ads.
Instructions can be found on our website at http://www.winterparkhsband.com/program-adssponsors.html. Contact Jay McPherson at wpbandprogram@gmail.com if you have questions.