Permission form and $20 due by Friday, March 1st 2019
Click Here to Download a Copy of the Form
25 February 2019
Greetings Barber 8-1 Band Families!
Our 8-1 LGPE at McEachern HS, Pre-LGPE Concert at North Cobb HS, and Recording Session, are quickly approaching. Please note, there are a few changes to the itinerary that I sent out in the fall. I really try my best to keep to the schedule and if there are changes, I try my hardest to let you know as soon as I am able to. The change are making is we are moving our concert at Barber from March 7th to North Cobb HS on March 11th. We are also adding a field trip the week after LGPE for our recording session that will primarily be during the school day. I asked for permission to do this trip primarily during the school day so I could minimize any disruption an additional school obligation might cause to your family evening routines. As a parent myself, I definitely understand this balance and struggle. I will have more details below.
This next month should be a fun, yet highly educational experience for all of our students. I was able to work things out to get the individual student fees down for these events by applying much of their fundraising money to the cost of the trips, trying to take into careful consideration that a lot of you might be slightly strapped with the Orlando payments. Please understand that we admire and appreciate the personal sacrifices that families have made financially and with their time 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 has had such great success over the years. Attached to this letter is a run-down of our very busy month of March, as well as schedules, and the field trip permission form for our Recording Session trip.
Band Mini-Camp – Saturday, March 2nd from 10:00am – 2:00pm
We will be having our last critical full ensemble rehearsal this coming weekend. There were originally 2 mini-camps scheduled. Last year’s group did two. Because of the hard work and exceptional progress that our students have been making, I cancelled the first one. We will be having the remaining rehearsal this Saturday, however. This rehearsal is crucial to our development with two large performances and a recording session on the horizon. Please make sure that students pack their own lunch on Saturday because lunch will not be provided. It will take place at Barber.
Pre-LGPE Concert at North Cobb HS – Monday, March 11th at 7:00pm
Parents, I could not turn down the invitation from the North Cobb Band to perform along side of their wonderful bands on the night of their concert. The concert will be in the brand new, state of the art, North Cobb Performing Arts Center on their campus. This should be a wonderful experience for our students to get to see the high school concert bands perform and perform in a much better facility than we are accustom to at Barber. We will also be doing our recording session in that facility a couple of weeks later so this will be a great opportunity to preview how we will sound in that hall. Please note, the 8-1 students will no longer be performing on March 7th at Barber. On the night of the concert on the 11th, please make sure your student is on-time and in the proper concert attire. Please let me know if there is an issue.
6:15pm – Call Time – students need to be at North Cobb HS, enter through the Band Room side of the building and report to the Chorus Room with their Instruments and music, wearing their concert attire. I will have details about parking later.
7:00pm – Performance Begins. Please have your child stay for the entire performance. There are only approximately 3 bands performing. Part of the educational experience for the students is the opportunity for them to hear older and more mature bands than them.
*Note – Transportation will be up to the families. We will not be taking a bus over there and a bus back.
8-1 LGPE at McEachern HS – Monday, March 18th at 7:15pm
This will be an evening field trip. We will be providing dinner at no cost to the student. Students will be getting a chick-fil-a dinner at McEachern HS. If there are any allergy concerns, please let me know as soon as possible. We are performing at the McEachern Performing Arts center at 7:15pm. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend this event. It would be great for the students to have a large audience to witness their culminating performance of their middle school band careers! Parents will be expected to pick up their students approximately 9:00pm at Barber Middle School. If you are attending the concert and would like to drive your student home, please check out with me after the performance before we get on the busses to Barber.
| Schedule | LGPE – March 18th, 2019 |
| 3:30 AM | Call Down/ change / load |
| 4:30 PM | Depart for McEachern |
| 5:15 PM | Arrive/ Unload |
| 5:45 PM | Eat Dinner / Watch Hightower Trail |
| 6:30 PM | Warm-up |
| 7:15 PM | Performance |
| 7:40 PM | Clinic |
| 8:15 PM | Depart for Barber |
| 9:00 PM | Arrive at Barber |
Recording Session Field Trip – Monday, March 25th
This year we wanted to provide a new, unique, opportunity for the students. I have been struggling all year with the idea that LGPE is their culminating experience in middle school. LGPE adjudication is often sparsely attended and is something that our program is always required to do. Our students are playing at such an extraordinary level and I wanted to give our students an opportunity that they deserve and put the band on the pedestal that they belong. Because of this, the directors have decided to apply the band for the Standard of Excellence Wind Band Honors Award. What this is, is bands from all over the country apply to get on this recording.
The Standard of Excellence project seeks to recognize and award outstanding achievement in performance by high school and middle school bands, choirs and orchestras. The project gathers entries from throughout the United States and provides valuable feedback for all entrants. A unique competitive environment is created which allows ensembles to compare their performance quality to other outstanding groups from across the country. The top 25% of entrants are recognized as National Winners, with the second 25% named as Commended Winners. All entrants receive a compilation recording of the winning performances. Winners are recognized in regional and/or national publications and at national and regional conventions. It is hoped the adjudicator critiques and the compilation recordings will prove helpful in improving performances and will spread knowledge of quality literature.
For the recording session, the students will use their excellent feedback they received from LGPE the week prior, to make their music even better. We will have a recording engineer to present to the children about what music recording sessions are like, and then our students will have the opportunity to experience a real-world recording session that afternoon. I am especially thrilled about this experience that we are providing for the kids. We will have chick-fil-a available to the kids for lunch. If there is an allergy, please let me know as soon as possible. Please have the students turn in their permission form, along with $20.00, by Friday, March 2nd. Below is our schedule:
| 8-1 Recording Session | Monday, March 25th, 2019 |
| 10:00 | Call Students Down |
| 10:30 | Load Busses / Depart for NCHS |
| 11:00 | Arrive at NCHS / Eat Lunch |
| 12:00 | Set up and for Recording Session |
| 1:00 | Question and answer session with professional sound engineer |
| 1:30 | Warm-ups and Recording Session Begins |
| 2:30 | Break |
| 3:00 | Recording Session Begins |
| 4:30 | Recording Session Ends / Pack up / Load Busses |
| 5:30 | Arrive Back at Barber Middle School |
* Note – Students will take the bus to school like normal. There is no concert attire that is necessary for this trip. Students will need to be picked up from school at approximately 5:00pm.
We are extremely excited these performances and educational opportunities. On the back of this letter is a list of all of the rehearsals and performances between now and the end of March. I consider it a privilege and an honor to work with and lead your extraordinary students. I cannot stress enough the importance of perfect attendance at the remaining after-school sectionals and the mini camp in March. I really believe that these experiences will lead to some very positively life-changing memories that our students will cherish for their entire lives!
Remaining 8-1 Commitments until March 14th
- After School Sectionals
o Tuesdays – Soprano and Alto Voices
o Thursdays – Tenor and Bass Voices
- Saturday, March 2rd 10:00AM – 2:00PM Mini Camp Rehearsal
o Students will need to bring their own lunch
- Friday, March 8th – 2nd Annual Braves Rave 4:30PM until 8:00PM
o Please support the Barber Band by having your students attend this fun night
o Tickets are $30. $50 if the student wants to pie a director in the face
o Details are on another letter that was sent home
- Monday, March 11th 7:00PM Pre-LGPE Concert at North Cobb HS
o Call time is 6:15pm in the Chorus Room
- Monday, March 18th 7:15PM 8-1 LGPE at McEachern HS
o This will be an evening trip
o Dinner will be provided
- Monday, March 25st Mark of Excellence Recording Project at North Cobb HS
o Please send your student with $20 to cover the costs of this trip
Robert Grogan
Band Director
Barber Middle School
Cobb County, GA
