Inspiring performance in Spring!

Thank you to all of the Varsity Band, Concert Band and Jazz Workshop members! 

Our audience was witness to another terrific performance last night...and what a final concert it was!

It was truly inspiring to share such a fine evening of musicking!  Thank you to all the families for support of your students and the band program this year. Obvious to anyone, we've had huge growth in skills and musicianship. The music presented Thursday evening was top tier: full of emotion, risk taking, and sensitive musicianship.

Parents, please keep those 8th graders playing next year!

Special thanks to Dr. Winfield and Robert Reeve for sitting in!

All instruments will be checked in next week.

Thank you again for a magnificent year!

Busy Times!

I missed posting last week, and apologize.  4th quarter is off to a roaring start already.

All students will have a notebook check and practice log check this Friday.  These should be signed by parents. It is acceptable for students to be writing their practice in their notebooks.  Students participating in Band Project get 60 minutes per session so that should be a great assist toward their 150 minutes per week!

Upcoming Events:

April 17, 2:15  - Folwell is hosting the Dakota Combo for an in class perfromance.  This should be SUPER awesome!

April 24, 11am - Band Project Showcase at the University of Minnesota, Ferguson Hall, Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall.  Please come celebrate an exciting end to this year’s Band Project! Help us to recognize the accomplishments of Folwell’s band project students and hear the terrific work being done under the guidance of the University of Minnesota’s apprentice music teachers! Driving Direction

May 1, 7pm - Beginning Ensembles Concert @ Folwell. Come support the great work of the 5/6 Firebird Band!!!

May 9, 12pm - International Market Square Annual Gala - Come enjoy Folwell's finest in an extraordinary setting.  Enjoy a lunch buffet by D'Amico catering during the performance.

May 22 - 7pm - Spring Band Concert: Enjoy music performed By Concert Band, Varisty Band and Jazz Workshop.  This proves to be a joyous night of music making.  Featuring works by: Ticheli, Hailstork, Williams, Gillingham and others!

Great Concert Last Night! ...we're not done yet!

Concert Band represented Folwell in great form last night at Roosevelt High School. What a fun concert! Hopefully we'll make this an early March tradition. I was proud of the students' performance, they made Folwell proud!

Jazz Band is performing Thursday night before the Area B meeting. 5:30- 6pm.  Dinner provided afterward. Students can stay after school, if needed. Dress: band shirt & black pants. 

Concert Band and Varsity Band perform on Tuesday, March 25, 7pm Folwell Auditorium. Concert Band will be presenting their solo & chamber ensemble works and Varsity Band will be presenting the efforts of their large ensemble.

Summer JAM: applications are available  <<APPLICATION linked>> Applications are Due to Mr. Needleman by Friday, March 21. 

Congrats to Mr. Reeve! Friday, is Mr. Reeve's last day with us.  He has done a terrific job. Again, his future students will be very lucky to have him as a teacher.  Job well done.

Concert Attendance

As we head into the remaining concerts of the year, I must remind families of the importance of attendance at performances. It is essential that all students attend all performances for the band to sound its best and for the students to have an authentic performance experience. This is a matter of fairness. Being a member of an ensemble means there is a responsibility to others. Ensembles have a value added sum: when everybody, together, is rehearsing to sound their best, it creates a new sound - no longer a bunch of individuals playing at the same time but something more, a band, sounding its best.

While we may not be able to avoid all conflicts, when we stay informed, plan ahead and commit to work together, we can creatively solve most problems that would prohibit participation in a concert.
Last night, Concert Band still somehow evaded perfect attendance - we were unfortunately missing 3 students.  Let's make sure everybody adhere's to their responsibilities and participates in all of their performances for the rest of the year.

Future Events:

           March 13 - Jazz workshop performs before Area B mtg
           March 21-22 - Seussical the musical!!! come early, come often - loads of band students in this awesome production.
           March 25 - Solo & Ensemble Recital / Varsity Band Concert
           April 17 - Dakota Combo to perform for  Folwell Jazz Band 2:15 pm
           May 1 - Firebird Band Concert, Folwell 7pm
           May 9 - International Market Square concert - ensembles TBD, 12pm
           May 22 - Spring Band Concert Featuring, Varsity, Concert & Jazz Bands, Folwell 7pm.

Folwell Performing Arts Magnet School, 3611 20th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN, 55407

Upcoming Performances, Announcements & Olympic Standings

Once again, March has developed into a busy performance season; Spring Break will be well earned this year!

Concert Band will be performing Tuesday, March 11 @ 7pm; Roosevelt HS. <permission slip link> Students should arrive by 6:30 for warm-ups & focus. Please report to the Roosevelt Choir Room (follow signs).

Also, please note Roosevelt HS Band is hosting a spaghetti dinner as a band fundraiser on Friday, March 14 from 5-8pm. Folwell band students & families are welcome to attend - advanced tickets are discounted. Food from Fat Lorenzo's -YUM!  <flyer link>

Jazz Band will be performing Thursday, March 13 @ 5:30-6pm; Folwell Café for the <Area B meeting>. (dinner to follow)

Seussical the Musical performances are March 21-22. Many Band students have lead and ensemble roles, others are members of the crew.  Be sure to show your Folwell pride and bring the entire family to check out this awesome production.

Solo & Ensemble Recital with Varsity Band Concert on Tuesday, March 25 @ 7pm; Folwell auditorium. Students should arrive by 6:30 for warm ups. This performance features all of the 7th & 8th grade Concert Band students performing solos and/or small 'chamber' ensembles. Varsity Band will have their 3rd quarter performance as well.

Band Project Showcase Mark your calendars now! Folwell Band students who have been participating in after school Band Project will have their end of year showcase at University of Minnesota on Thursday April 24 @ 10:30am. Once again this will be at Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall located in Ferguson Hall on the <West bank of the University Campus>.  More Details to follow. (light reception to follow)

Summer JAM Jazz Band students are encouraged to audition for participation in Summer JAM, a two week jazz camp at South High from June 16-28 (including a performance at the Twin Cities Jazz festival). Please fill out this linked interest form. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Check out this <flyer> For eighth graders serious about playing in Jazz Band next year, JAM is strongly encouraged.

Band Olympics will continue through the end of March.  We got a late start, and competition is fun so we've decided to extend our 2014 Band Olympiad.  Current standings: overall medal count leader: Windbabwe. Student are competing in events centered around practice, homework, quizzes, performances and general rehearsal etiquette.  Varsity Band - Windabwe leads the medal count; Concert Band - Brassghanistan leads the medal count; and in Firebird Band - Windabwe also leads the medal count.

Thank you and a job well done! Next week, Mr. Reeve will fulfill his student teaching responsibilities.  He has done a wonderful job with the Folwell bands. I would like to thank him for his hard work and commend him on his approach and development. He will be around Folwell during the spring as he completes his elementary student teaching with Mrs. Mason. He is going to be a great music educator and make some school lucky to have him! Be sure to introduce yourself and congratulate him on his achievements.

And the strange schedule continues...

What a confusing winter we're having.  Hopefully everybody was able to enjoy another snow day. I shoveled and pushed out cars for about 5 hours on Friday morning.  I also built a quinzee for me and my sons to spend the weekend sleeping in.  What a blast!

Hopefully the unexpected day off added a lot of needed practice time for the play-a-thon that students are currently finishing up.

I recently saw this great chart about why students need to read every night and must adapt it for students practicing their instruments (does anybody know any graphic designers)!  It reminds me of the old adage, Q: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" A: "Practice, practice, practice."

A few announcements: 

• All Band Students will need a spiral bound notebook specifically for band & lessons.  
• PLAY-A-THON  -  All band students should be finishing up their 600 practice minutes in the next few days if they have not done so already. 
• Progress reports come out next week.  Students have been evaluated on daily ensemble performance, lessons, practice journals (including the play-a-thon), exit tickets, active & appropriate participation, and performance tests involving rhythms, melodies and scales.   
• Concert Band is performing at Roosevelt HS on March 11 @ 7pm (students should arrive no later than 6:30).  An information letter will be coming home next week. 
• Varsity Band will be performing with Concert Band on March 25 @ Folwell for the Solo & Chamber Ensemble Recital
• Jazz Band students are encouraged to audition for participation in Summer JAM, a two week jazz camp at South High from June 16-28 (including a performance at the Twin Cities Jazz festival). Please fill out this linked interest form. Feel free to contact me with any questions. 

No Concert & Band Olympics

Mea Culpa! Apparently, I forgot to post last week. I'm super sorry. I must have been little frazzled because there were so many school days last week. :)

Regardless, there is NO Concert Band Performance Tuesday (Tonight). :( hopefully your students told you of South's need to cancel. I am sorry for not posting sooner, again hopefully your students have communicated this with you last week and the lack of any paperwork/information received was a clue something had gone awry. Concert band will have a performance on March 11 at Roosevelt HS 7pm and also on March 25  at Folwell for the chamber music / solo & ensemble recital. 

Yesterday (Monday), concert band attended a performance by Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Ordway. It was awesome! Please ask your students about it.

The first ever Folwell Band Olympiad gets underway this Thursday. We are doing our delayed Play-a-thon fundraiser from February 14-24. Students will each need to have 10 hours of practice (outside the school day) between these dates. Mr. Reeve and I will be tallying daily practice for competition between students sections and bands. Many prizes will be awarded. 

Additionally, because this is the bands annual fundraiser, I am asking students to find 10 people they would be proud to have as sponsors of their practice time to help financially support the band program here at Folwell. In this type of fundraising, there is no selling of products and the entirety of student effort is directly tied to student learning. As the saying goes, "many hands make for light work." If everybody does a little work to participate and help find sponsors, it can have a big effect on the outcome. For example, if each student finds 10 sponsors for $1/hr., that would mean each student collects a maximum of $10/sponsor for $100 total per student. Multiply that by 100+ students and what we have is a simple, easy and effective fundraiser directly tied to student learning outcomes! And, if all that isn't good enough, since no goods or services are exchanged, each sponsor's donations is tax deductible - for which they are provided a thank-you letter/tax receipt.

As you're helping your student generate a list of 10 people to obtain sponsorships from, please think beyond local relatives, friends and business partners. I've asked students not to use their Folwell teachers as sponsors. Sending a sponsor letter out is simply the cost of a stamp - which the band will gladly provide to sponsors in the US. In the past, we've received letters from most of the US states and as far as Mexico & Norway. 

Band Olympics will track each student's practice efforts, ensemble performance & rehearsal etiquette, quizzes and general willingness to take musical risks (just like Olympians). In addition to individual competition components, just like in band, sections work together as a section team in earning points/medals: Percussia, Brassghanistan and Windbabwe. Bands also work together with all their sections combined in team competition against the other bands: Varsity, Firebird and Concert band students are all this year's Band Olympians. 

Watch for Play-a-thon letters by Wednesday. 

Thanks for all of your support. Here is a link to a great article on why music education really matters.

What a strange January!

Happy new year!?!?

Hopefully everybody is warming up and we can finally get back to our regularly scheduled programming!

If any of you were able to hear the Folwell Jazz Workshop at the 7th St. Entry or the Jazz Combo at the Convention Center for the School Choice Fair, you know how impressed I am with their performances.  They make Folwell very proud!

Some upcoming events:

• February 11, 7pm - Concert Band will be doing a  concert at South High School . 

• February 14-24 - All bands will be participating the play-a-thon <link> fundraiser in February (which we postponed in October).  Students will be required 10 hours practice <link> in 10 days. Students are encouraged to get sponsors for their practice to help support the band program at Folwell.
• February 10, 12:30pm - Concert Band students to attend Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Ordway. Cost is $3/student to see this world renown group from South Africa.  
• March 11 - Concert @ Roosevelt HS. 7pm
• March 21 & 22 - Suessical the Musical
• March 25, 7pm - Solo & Ensemble Concert. Come see this highlight performance of students from Concert Band & Varsity Band perform in small ensembles they've been rehearsing on their own.  Jazz Band, Varsity Band, Concert Band will also perform. 

Upcoming jazz improvisation workshop for Jazz Band Students: 

The Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education  is happy to announce a new, free workshop on improvisation for beginning and intermediate level jazz students, grades 7-12.

When: Saturday, February 8, 1-5 pm (check-in at 12:45 pm)
Where: McNally Smith College of Music (19 E. Exchange Street, downtown St Paul)
Who: Clinicians Solomon Parham and Zacc Harris
Participants: Jazz students in grades 7-12
Cost: Free!
Registration: Space is limited. Register at https://dfjeimprovworkshop.eventbrite.com by Monday, February 3.
Sponsored by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education and McNally Smith

Students attending this workshop will learn basic principles and concepts of solo and group improvisation, and have opportunities to play and practice improvisation with professional instructors and other students. All participants should have at least 2 years experience playing their instrument and should have current or recent experience playing in a jazz band through school or in the community. Learn more about workshop pre-requisites and instructors by reading the full workshop description on dfje.org.  All the Folwell Jazz Band Students are qualified for this workshop - you should go!

Music teachers and others, please help us promote this special opportunity by downloading and posting this Jazz Improvisation Workshop flyer. 

Questions? Email Andrea at dfjeworkshop@aol.com.