Please be sure to read it in its entirety as I have updated sections.

Congratulations to all the students who participated in IGSMA Solo and Ensemble Contest last weekend. And congratulations to our Meteor Jazz Band for their performance at the LWC Jazz Fest. All of our students did a fantastic job and we are so proud.

The Concert and Symphonic Bands will be going on a Field Trip on March 4. More information will follow in future newsletters.

IGSMA District Choir Contest will take place on Saturday, March 9 here at Mokena Junior High School. See below for more information.

IGSMA District Band Contest will take place on Saturday, March 16 at Manhattan Junior High. More information below.

Please have your band students check their Google classrooms for missing assignments and also check your Skyward grades. MANY students have outstanding assignments. Please submit them as soon as possible.

SPAMalot Cast and Crew members who missed having their photos taken last week will need to contact Mrs. LaChat directly to have them taken. More information can be found below.

8th Grade Students interested in joining the Lincoln-Way Marching Band or Color Guard next year - please read below for information regarding an information meeting.

IMPORTANT! If you owe money to the District for any activity, Unfortunately, if any fees are owed to the District for ANY activity and are not paid by February 22, your student will be unable to participate in any activities. This includes Band, Choir, Jazz Band, Musical, etc. Please check your Skyward account and make sure your fees are paid. Also, it is a good idea to check your Charms account and make sure all fees are up to date there as well. Many families still owe for books that were handed out at the beginning of the school year. If you have any questions, please contact your director.

Here are the details for the choir performance:

• When? Saturday, March 9th
  
• Where? MJH!
  
• Time?
• 7:10am: Students must be in Art 101 (general music room) in their uniforms
• 7:25am: The entire choir enters warm-up in the band room (no parents allowed)
• 8:00am: The performance begins in the West Gym, followed immediately by a clinic with one of the judges
• 8:25am: We will exit the performance area (students will be done with their performing commitment at this time)
• After 8:30am:
• Students/parents can volunteer (we'll try to have non-choir volunteers for the early morning times so choir families can view the performance).
• Students/parents can also stay to view the performances of other choir (but must be a respectful audience the entire time)
• Info for Parents:
• There will be a $1 admission fee to view the performance (this is a fee charged by the Illinois Grade School Music Association)
• Programs will be available for purchase
• Park in the back and enter through the Athletic Wing Doors - the front circle must stay clear for buses dropping off students from other schools

Since we're hosting this contest, we will be looking for volunteers! There will be volunteer slots made available for adults and students. Adult volunteer requests will be sent out via email from the Music Boosters (as they've done for past events this year). Students will be able to sign up for volunteer on sheets that will be posted outside of the band room prior to the event.

The Mokena Concert and Symphonic Bands (6-8) will be having a field trip to Northern Illinois University for a clinic with Dr. Thomas Bough on Monday March 4th during the school day. While at NIU, there will be a 2-hour clinic in the concert hall for all band students covering a variety of concepts including the music we will be performing for IGSMA contest. We will also be receiving a tour of the school of music. Students should have already turned in their permission form and payment.

Here is the tentative itinerary:

7:00 am-Depart for Northern Illinois University (charter buses)

8:30 am-Arrive and Unload

9:00 am-Clinic with Dr.Bough (Percussion will have an hour clinic with NIU Percussion Studio members and then join the band for the last hour)

11:00 am- Pack-Up Instruments

11:15 am- School of Music Tour

11:45 am-Lunch at Dining Hall

12:30 pm-Depart for MJHS

2:00 pm- Arrive and Unload at MJHS

Here is Dr. Bough's biography from his website:

“Dr. Thomas Bough joined the faculty of Northern Illinois University in the fall of 2005 as the Director of Athletic Bands. He also conducts the Wind Symphony and teaches graduate conducting and instrumental arranging. A former high school band director, Bough performed for two years with the Phantom Regiment Drum Corps, and has taught with the Cavaliers Drum Corps for five years in his capacity as a Yamaha Performing Artist. As a scholar, Bough has contributed nearly twenty articles and hundreds of new music reviews to the Instrumentalist magazine, School Band and Orchestra magazine, and DCI Today, as well as articles to five volumes of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. Dr. Bough is an active conductor, arranger, composer, clinician, and adjudicator for concert band, marching band, and brass band, with dozens of appearances per year to his credit across the United States. His music is published by Alfred Publications, Cimarron Music and GPG Publications. He has served as a masterclass clinician and/or conductor for the Music For All Summer Symposium and the Music For All National Concert Band Festival for over a decade. In May of 2014, his first compact disc was released, entitled, Concertos for Brass: The Music of Thomas Bough. It is available on the Summit Records label at www.summitrecords.com or on iTunes. Learn more about his work at www.ThomasBough.com.”

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Beekman at beekmant@mokena159.org.

Thank you to all the students who submitted their assignments on time!

The itinerary is below. If you have any questions, please contact your director.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Bussean or Ms. Beekman

We still have quite a bit of outstanding money due in Charms. Please check your accounts over break and make sure you are up to date. Please be aware that the District is also reaching out about outstanding District participation fees. While this can get confusing, it is important that everyone understand that there is a difference between the participation fee charged by the District for participation in activities (ie basketball, track, scholastic bowl, band, choir, etc.) and the fees charged through the Music Boosters (Booster registration fee, books, polo shirts, etc.). Please make sure you are current on both sides. If you ever have any questions about this, please feel free to reach out to your director.

You will be receiving monthly Charms statements (these are the Music Booster fees) on or about the first of every month. Please check your balances in Charms at any time by logging into your child's account. If money is due, please pay one of four ways:

1. Cash (in an envelope clearly marked)
2. Check made payable to the Mokena Music Boosters - write who and what it is for in the memo line
3. Paypal via the Paypal button on your Charms account
4. IBA Transfer - please complete the online transfer form: https://goo.gl/forms/MOZFB8jurkbF7ByR2

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Bussean

2/19 - Music Booster Meeting

3/2 - Tech Crew 9:00 - 3:00

3/5 - Tech Crew 6:00 - 9:00

3/9 - IGSMA Choir District Contest

3/9 - Tech Crew 5:00 - 9:00

3/12 - March Melodies Concert

3/16 - IGSMA Band District Contest

3/16 - Tech Crew 4:00 - 9:00

3/18 - LWMB Information Meeting (8th Graders Only)

3/19 - Tech Crew 6:00 - 9:00

3/23 - 3/31 - SPRING BREAK