Due to the Conference Week schedule (and an AWESOME Symphonic Camp!), Mr. Grogan and Mr. Rikard have decided to cancel the after-school rehearsals scheduled for Monday (10/17) and Thursday (10/20). Thank you for your hard work and flexibility!
Sign and return to Mr. Grogan by Tuesday, October 11th, 2016
Click HERE to Download a Copy
Greetings Barber Band Family!
Next week, we have our annual Symphonic Camp for the 8-1 Band and a select few 7th graders. For the 8-1 Band, we are honored to have Ms. Jill Barnocki conduct the band for the weekend. This is an excellent opportunity for your students to be exposed to some of the very best in the band teaching profession. We are having annual Symphonic Band Camp on October 14th and 15th. This should be a highly challenging, inspirational, and rewarding experience for your child. The students will get full band rehearsals with our guest conductors as well as group lessons from professionals on each instrument.
This Symphonic Camp is at no cost to the students. At Barber MS, we feel so strongly about providing this opportunity to our students that we are willing to cover the costs completely minus food for Friday night. For Friday night, the students can elect to bring a sack lunch or turn in $10.00 to the black boxes located around the school with a payment envelope marked, “Alabama” to have dinner provided for them. For the 8-1 students, no meal will be provided on Saturday and they will need to bring a sack lunch with them.
I must stress how important it is for us to have 100% participation at this camp. We really need the whole team there as we are using this event as our catalyst to kick off what will become a very successful concert season. This is a required event and is graded for all 8th grade students. If a student needs to miss for whatever reason, there will be a make-up research project that will require the students to spend about an equivalent amount of time on it. This make-up will be for full credit. For Disney students, attendance to the Symphonic Camp is in the Disney contract that was signed and returned to one of the performing arts teachers at the beginning of the school year. Outlined on the back is the schedule for the Symphonic Camp, as well as the food order. Please sign and return this to Mr. Grogan by Tuesday, October 11th, 2016. With the food order form, please include $10 if your child is going to eat the pizza, sides, desserts, and refreshments on Friday night, October 14th.
*7th Grade Students who are selected to perform with the 8-1 Band MUST attend Symphonic Camp AND pass off all of the 8th grade music individually in order to perform with the 8th graders at the University of Alabama Performance.
Robert Grogan
Director of Bands
Barber Middle School
Schedule
Friday, October 14th
4:00 p.m. – Report to the Band Room
4:15 p.m. – Dinner – Pizza will be delivered to Barber
4:45 p.m. – Sectionals begin with sectional coaches
6:15 p.m. – Break
6:30 p.m. – Rehearsal begins with Ms. Barnocki
9:00 p.m. – Rehearsal ends
Saturday, October 15th
8:15 a.m. – Students report to the band room (Breakfast is on their own)
8:30 a.m. – Sectionals
11:30 a.m. – Lunch – Bring our own sack lunch
12:30 a.m. – Rehearsal Begins with Ms. Barnocki
3:30 a.m. – Rehearsal ends / set up the stage
4:00 p.m. – Symphonic Camp Concert
*Dance students will be dismissed at 11:30am on Saturday to attend their dance performance
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
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 |
Schedule for the Sixth Grade Band Carnival September 10, 2016
9:00-9:30 AM
Check-in Allatoona High School Auditorium Lobby
9:30 AM
Introductory session and Recital in Auditorium
10 AM -12:00
Master classes covering instrument assembly, embouchure, hand positions, breath control, tone production (Sectional Rooms)
12:00-1:15
Lunch and noontime activities (Patio)
1:30-2:00
Master classes
2:00
INformances (concert performance – all family members are invited to attend)
Dear Parents and Students,
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE HONOR BAND AND ALL-STATE REGISTRATION FORM
The District Honor Band & All-State Auditions are quickly approaching. This is a great opportunity for your student to grow as an individual musician! Auditions provide an opportunity for students to work hard and reach new levels of performance on their instruments. Auditions prepare students to perform well in pressure situations such as concert performances, solo performances, and chair placements. Students who audition early in their music career increase their chances of success when they audition for top performing groups at the high school level and scholarship opportunities at the collegiate level.
District Honor Band & All-State are two separate events. District band is made up of the best players from Cobb County and the All State Band is made up of the best players throughout Georgia! Students are placed in these ensembles by audition. Auditions will be held at Dodgen Middle School, Saturday December 3rd. On the audition, students will play 4 major scales, chromatic scale, and sight-reading.
There is an audition fee that our state organization charges in order to run the event. The audition fee is $10 for Honor Band and an additional $20 for All-State Band and is due by Friday, September 2nd, 2016.
Based upon the audition scores on December 3rd, your student may become a member of the 2017 District 12 Honor Band. The District 12 honor band will be hosted at Lovingood Middle School and will run Friday evening February 10th through Saturday, February 11th and a concert on Sunday February 12th.
If your student scores highly on the December 3rd audition, they may qualify for the All-State Band second round audition. The 2nd round audition is held in January at Perry Middle School in Perry, GA. If you score high enough on the second audition, you may become a member of the 2017 Georgia All-State Band and perform in Athens, GA in March!
Summary
Check out the video of our recent performance at Downtown Disney!
5 May 2016
Greetings Parents!
This has been a fantastic and successful year for the Barber Bands. I am thoroughly convinced of the value of our band program and the quality of our students as they advanced to the next grade level or feed up into North Cobb HS Band. We are now in the process of wrapping up the school year and the kids have worked extraordinarily hard! We have our final concert coming up in a few weeks.
We have 2 concerts on Thursday night, May 19th.
6:00 pm, May 19th in the BMS Auditorium – 6th Grade Bands
Call time is 5:30. The dress for this is the “Sunday’s Best” which is just nice performance clothes.
7:30 pm, May 19th in the BMS Auditorium – 7-2 and 7-1 Bands
Call time is 6:00. The dress for this is the concert tux and dress
8th Grade Fine Arts ExtravaGANza!! on Friday morning, May 20th
9:30, May 20th in the BMS Auditorium – 8th Gr. Band, Chorus, Orch. and Dance
This is our annual prism concert for the school that takes place during the connections hours. All parents and teachers are invited to our end of the year showcase for the school. The dress for this is appropriate school clothes.
We are very excited for our final performances of the year!
Thank you for your time and your advocacy in our program.
Robert Grogan
Director of Bands
770-975-6764 x2430
Thursday May 12, 2016
4:00 a.m. (Yes, that’s right) Arrive ON TIME to Barber Middle School at 4:00 a.m. (NOT BEFORE BECAUSE NO ONE WILL BE HERE TO LET YOU IN UNTIL 4:00 a.m.) and report to your designated area (#beontime; start posting to #barberdisney2016 on Instagram, call your friend and make sure they are up and here!!!) You will receive EXPLICIT directions on how and when to board the bus beginning at 4:30am.
5:00 a.m. Buses pull out of Barber Middle School at 5:00 a.m. sharp and we are on our way to the happiest place on earth….Disney World! Yes, we will leave you behind if you are late, so don’t be “that guy.”
Between 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Rest stop for bathrooms and breakfast (We should see some good stuff posted to Instagram #barberdisney2016 by now) Between now and noon chaperones will give you your ticket/meal vouchers/itinerary card and string bag/visor. Students can now load their park ticket onto the My Disney Experience App and start to reserve fast passes for the entire trip. Make sure your Fast Passes for Friday are for Hollywood Studios evening hours. Check over the rest of this to make sure you don’t book hours that you are not there. DO NOT combine tickets with someone else on one app account. Make your own and communicate with your friends. Once you load your ticket it cannot be changed!
12:30 p.m. Arrive at EPCOT and wait for instructions. Everyone should have their park ticket and meal vouchers. #nosuddenmoves #barberfineartswhat? Be prepared to wait in the parking lot. Do not rush anyone or complain. We dismiss you from the bus to go and meet with your chaperone. Your chaperone will walk you into the front gates of the park. Only when your entire group is in the park and your chaperone releases you will you be set free.
1:00 p.m Disney’s EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) Must see attractions are Test Track, Living with the Land, Mission Space, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, and Spaceship Earth. Unfortunately Soarin’ is down for refurbishment. (DON’T FORGET TO EAT LUNCH!!!! YES NOW!!!)
5:00 p.m. Chaperone Check-in by entrance to Countries. (Go eat Dinner after check in and before next check-in)
8:30 p.m. Chaperone check in by entrance to countries. We will stay here to watch IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth (How many pics/vids have you tagged to #barberdisney2016)
9:00 p.m. IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth – This will last around 15-20 minutes and include fireworks. Stay with our group as we are heading to the parking lot to load the buses and head straight to Pop Century Resort.
9:45 p.m. Load Barber busses and off to Disney’s Pop Century resort. When we arrive it will take us around 30 minutes to get the room keys/Magic Bands and start to distribute them, so find some patience. Once you get your orange magic band room key, head to your room with your luggage and get showered and ready to settle down for the night. Under no circumstances are you permitted to be in anyone else’s room! You have your chaperone’s number should you need assistance. Do not link your ticket to your magic band but make sure you have made your fast passes for the next two days.
10:15 p.m. Check in and get settled into hotel suite, shower, check uniforms and get ready for tomorrow (Tomorrow morning will be very busy with little time so make sure you spend tonight getting prepared).Plan your attire for tomorrow. Music people are responsible for their formal uniform in the morning and also having a change of clothes for later after the performance in the parks.
11:15 p.m. Chaperone check and lights out in 15 minutes….call or text parents you will be going to sleep in 15 minutes and can’t respond until morning. (Make sure you know your chaperone’s room number)
11:30 p.m. Lights out and cell phone collection.
Friday May 13, 2016
Dance and Art Only reads the itinerary that is underlined. All others jump to Band/Chorus/Orchestra
7:00 a.m. DANCE/ART ONLY Rise and shine! Today is going to be a very busy but exciting day. Make sure you have showered and have your change of clothes for after our performance today. Go to chaperone’s room and get your cell phone and meal vouchers. Go get breakfast at the Pop Century Everything Pop Food Court as soon as you have been checked by your chaperone (and receive meal vouchers) to be ready for the day. Don’t forget your sunscreen and Gold-Bond powder #chaffingruinsyourtrip #sunburnisunforgiving
7:20 a.m. DANCE/ART ONLY Breakfast at Resort – you should be at breakfast by now (Everything Pop Food Court) – remember you are representing Barber Middle School and are expected to act appropriately. 8:20 a.m. DANCE/ART ONLY Be on Barber bus and get ready to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Don’t forget #barberdisney2016)
9:00 a.m. DANCE/ART ONLY Disney’s Animal Kingdom! Must see attractions today are Expedition Everest! (watch out for the Yeti and one of my favorites), Kilimanjaro Safari, Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur! (you don’t need fastpasses for AK so make them for Hollywood Studios since you won’t have as much time at that park)
1:45 p.m. DANCE/ART ONLY Chaperone check in at front entrance to park (Make sure you have already eaten lunch)
2:00 p.m. DANCE/ART ONLY Dance will load Barber bus and head to performance staging area to get dressed and ready to show how great our fine arts department is! ART WILL BOARD DISNEY TRANSPORTATION TO HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
2:45 p.m. ART arrives at Hollywood Studios
4:00 p.m. DANCE ONLY Perform at Downtown Disney Springs Marketplace Waterside Stage
5:10 p.m. DANCE ONLY Leave performance venue and head to Hollywood Studios
BAND/CHORUS/ORCHESTRA read following itinerary below:
8:00 a.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS ONLY Rise and shine! Today is going to be a very busy but exciting day. Make sure you have showered and have your change of clothes for after our performance today. Go to chaperone’s room and get your cell phone and meal vouchers. Go get breakfast at the Pop Century Everything Pop Food Court as soon as you have been checked by your chaperone to be ready for the day. Don’t forget your sunscreen and Gold-Bond powder
8:20 a.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS ONLY should be at breakfast by now. (Everything Pop Food Court) – remember you are representing Barber Middle School and are expected to act appropriately.
9:00 a.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS ONLY Return back to your room and get dressed for your performance today. All students should be in performance attire and ready to leave for Downtown Disney Springs by 9:45 a.m. Bring change of clothes for after performance.
9:40 a.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS Load Barber bus and depart for downtown Disney Springs. Bring change of clothes.
10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS students can tour and shop at Downtown Disney Springs. Meet back up with your chaperone where you were dropped off promptly at 10:45 a.m. to leave for staging area to warm up.
12:15 p.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS Perform at Disney Springs (approx 20 minutes) and leave venue to change for park time.
1:30-2:00 p.m. BAND/CHORUS/ORCH Arrive at Disney’s Animal Kingdom! Must see attractions today are Expedition Everest! (watch out for the Yeti), Kilimanjaro Safari, Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur! (you don’t need fastpasses for AK so make them for Hollywood Studios since you won’t have as much time at that park) Eat lunch as soon as you get into park.
4:45 p.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS meets chaperone at entrance to Animal Kingdom to leave on Barber bus for Hollywood Studios
5:30 – 5:45 p.m. BAND/ORCH/CHORUS/DANCE (YEAH WE ARE ALL BACK TOGETHER FOR GOOD!) Arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Must see attractions today are: Tower of Terror, Aerosmith’s Rock ‘in’ Rollercoaster, Star Tours and Toy Story Mania. Make sure your fast passes for this day are set up for this park! Everyone needs to eat dinner before the next check in at 8:00 p.m.
8:00 p.m. Meet Chaperone outside Fantasmic Theater and get ready to enter and enjoy one of THE highlights of the entire trip…..FANTASMIC! #lifechangingevent
9:00 p.m. FANTASMIC at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (When you see Mickey emerge from on top of the mountain, nothing in life will ever look the same to you…buckle up) Duration: 27 minutes.
9:35 p.m. -12:00 a.m. Because we are resort guests, show your magic band room braclet and park hopper ticket and you can ride whatever you want until 12:00 a.m. Most people describe the Tower of Terror as a great choice to ride at night and of course who wouldn’t want to hit up Aerosmith’s Rock ‘in’ Rollercoaster again! This park really shines at night with all the neon signs and lights on Hollywood Blvd.
12:00 a.m. – Meet your chaperone at entrance to Hollywood Studios and follow group to bus. We will arrive back at hotel around 12:20 a.m. I would shower tonight if possible and set out attire for tomorrow morning.
12:40 a.m. Room check and cell phone collection. Tomorrow will be a very long day at the park. Lights out and get plenty of sleep…you’re going to need it for a magical day tomorrow!
Saturday May 14, 2016
6:45 a.m. Go to chaperone’s room and get cell phones and meal vouchers for the day. Wake up and report to breakfast immediately. Eat breakfast at Everything Pop Food Court and and ready to load Disney transportation bus by 8:00 a.m. Don’t forget your sunscreen and Gold-Bond powder #chaffingruinsyourtrip #sunburnisunforgiving
8:00 a.m. You are finished with breakfast and waiting in line with your chaperone at Disney transportation (outside Pop Century Resort Entrance) to load Disney bus to Magic Kingdom. Curtner and Davidson will be with first group to Magic Kingdom in case of any issues.
8:45 a.m. Disney’s Magic Kingdom – Must ride attractions are Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride, Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. (Have I mentioned post pics of your time at Disney to #barberdisney2016)
1:00 p.m. Chaperone Check in in front of Cinderella’s Castle (Make sure you have eaten lunch by now)
6:00 p.m. Chaperone Check in in front of Cinderella’s Castle (Eat dinner after check in)
8:30 p.m. Meet by Cinderella’s castle with your chaperone by Main Street USA .You will stay with your chaperone until after parade.
9:00 p.m. Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade – This will last approximately 35 minutes
9:35 p.m. Go experience the magic one last time and make some good memories with your classmates! (I promise you will remember this trip for years to come!!)
10:00 p.m. – Wishes Fireworks. You can view these from almost anywhere in the park but the front of the castle is the best spot (or on the Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, or the Astro Orbiter.) Take this time to make memories with your classmates one last time and post many pictures and videos to #barberdisney2016. This is not a check in with chaperone.
11:45 p.m. Meet Chaperone at front entrance to main street and head back to ticketing and transportation to load bus and back to resort. We will either take the Monorail or Ferry Boat to Ticketing and Transportation to meet our Barber bus. Directors will let chaperones know which parking spots to find.
12:30 a.m. Arrive back at Pop Century and get showered and ready for bed.
12:45 a.m. Lights out and cell phone collection.
Sunday May 15, 2016
8:00 a.m. – Rise and shine! Go to your chaperone’s room and retrieve your cell phone and get last meal vouvher for the day. . Make sure you have packed all your things ready to load up the bus and head to breakfast. After eating breakfast go get your luggage and load up the bus starting at between 9:15 and 9:30 a.m.
9:30 a.m. – Bus should be in process of loading up and leaving. We plan on leaving around 9:30 a.m. to head back to Barber.
9:30 a.m. – Leave Pop Century and head home.
1:00 p.m. – Stop for lunch
5:30 p.m. – Arrive back at Barber Middle School. YES, you must be present all day at school on Monday May 16!
Parents,
Click HERE to download the Permission Form
23 February 2016
Dear 8th grade and 7th Grade Band Parents
Our performances are nearly here!!! We are working very hard to help our students prepare for their LGPE performance. LGPE stands for Large Group Performance Evaluation. It is critical that we have “all hands on deck” for this event. Essentially, it is our version of the Georgia Milestones. We have lots of music to learn, and tons to practice. We have a long way to go, but we are making strides every day. We have several events coming up to mark on your calendars.
7-1 Band
Concert Band (7-2 and 8-2)
8-1 Band
Please make sure that he or she brings $10.00 to Mr. Grogan for Dinner at Stevie B’s by Friday, February 26th. If you opt out of dinner, please make sure that your child brings a sack meal. We will be stopping at Stevie B’s Pizza for food either in-route or after the performance, depending on the ensemble. He or she will also need to make sure that they have their full concert attire for the day of the trip.
For all the trips, your child needs to take the bus to the school. Your student will need to be picked up after school in the evening once we return. Parents are more than welcome to attend the LGPE performance. Please check the Barber Band Calendar on my website to verify the exact time of the LGPE performance for your child’s band.
Many of you have students participating in more than one ensemble. If they are, they are expected to be at all of the events for both ensembles and have money for both trips to Stevie B’s if you opt not to do a sack-lunch. Thank you for all of your support and advocacy and please let me know if you have any questions.
