Permission form and $60 due by Fri., September 30th 2016
Click Here to download the permission form
12 September 2016
Greetings 8th Grade Barber Symphonic Band Families!
Our invitational performance for the 2016 University of Alabama Middle School Honor Band Festival is quickly approaching. The trip will be a full day, the students will be excused from school on Thursday, December 8th. It should be a fun, yet highly rewarding experience for all of our students. For this performance, we will be a featured band, performing for band students and their directors from around the southeast. This performance is an educational outreach for us, as many in the audience will have never heard a band of our quality before. The campers at this clinic will be able to take home what they learned from our performance to improve their own bands. It is a huge honor to be selected as a guest performing group at an event such as this.
I was able to work things out to get the individual student fees down for this event by applying much of their fundraising money to the cost of the trip, ta king into careful consideration that a lot of you might be slightly strapped with the Disney payments. I understand that the due date is the same as a Disney payment. Please make this payment your priority and I am willing to make other arrangements for you if you need to make the Disney payment at a later date. Please understand that we admire and appreciate the personal sacrifices that families have made with their time and money to ensure that our band gets a world-class educational experience. It is because of you and the hard work of your students that enable our band program to be invited to such prestigious events.
Please sign and return the attached permission form, along with the $60 field trip payment no later than Friday, September 30th. On the day of the festival, make sure that your student eats breakfast before coming to school that morning. It will be an early morning; we will be meeting at Barber at 6:00am. This is comparable to the same time that they will meet on the morning of the Disney trip. The students will need to report to Barber that morning in their concert attire. They will need to pack a change of clothes for after the performance. You might want to send your student with plenty of snacks throughout the day, as it will be a long day. For lunch, we will be providing a catered meal at the University of Alabama. Most likely, it will be selections from Schlotzsky’s Deli. We will have options for vegetarians, students with nut allergies, and for students who are gluten intolerant. For dinner, we are stopping at Stevie B’s pizza in Douglasville. Their trip fees cover the costs of both meals.
We are performing at the University of Alabama Performing Arts Center at 1pm (Central Time) on December 8th, 2016. It would be great for the students to have a large audience to witness the culminating performance of their middle school band careers!
We are extremely excited about this performance. On the back of this letter is a list of all of the required rehearsals and performances between now and the University of Alabama performance as well as the schedule for the day. On it, you can see the date of the symphonic camp. You will probably notice that we were able to secure a few guest conductors at the other after-school mini clinics. I consider it a privilege and an honor to work with and lead your extraordinary students. I really believe that this performance will lead to some very positively life-changing memories that our students will cherish for their entire lives!
Robert Grogan
Director of Bands
Barber Middle School
Upcoming Fall Symphonic Band Dates
- Every Monday between now and December 1st: 4:30-5:30 pm – Sectionals
- Flutes
- Clarinets
- Oboes
- Alto Saxophones
- Trumpets
- French Horns
- Every Thursday between now and December 1st: 4:30-5:30pm –Sectionals
- Tenors Saxes
- Bari Sax
- Bass Clarinets
- Bassoons
- Trombones
- Euphoniums
- Tubas
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Friday and Saturday, October 14th-15th Barber Symphonic Camp
- More information will go home shortly about this event
- Wednesday, November 9th 4:30-6:30PM After School Rehearsal w/ Audrey Murphey
- Tuesday, November 29th 4:30-6:30PM After School Rehearsal w/ Joe Heiberger
- Tuesday, December 6th 7:30PM U. of Alabama Preview Concert at Barber MS
- Wednesday, December 7th 4:30-6:30PM Final Dress Rehearsal
- Thursday, December 8th University of Alabama Trip and Performance
University of Alabama Schedule – December 8th
Note: All Times listed below are East Coast Standard Times
| 6:00 AM | Kids report to Barber MS – Report in Concert Attire |
| 7:00 AM | Depart from Barber MS |
| 11:00 AM | Arrive at U of A and Unload |
| 12:00 PM | Box Lunch from Schlotzsky’s Deli |
| 1:00 PM | Warm-up |
| 2:00 PM | Performance |
| 3:00 PM | Load busses, change clothes |
| 4:00 PM | Depart U of A for dinner in Douglasville |
| 7:00 PM | Arrive at Stevie B’s in Douglasville |
| 8:00 PM | Depart Stevie B’s for Barber |
| 9:00 PM | Arrive at BMS |
