Orchestra at the Mountain

Updated Information about the Feb. 23 Concert and Festival!

The days have been flying by this semester as we prepare for our upcoming concert and LGPE music festival. I have been having many afternoon tutoring sessions for those students who are "orchestra orphans", meaning these student's schedules did not allow them to take orchestra this semester. This is especially true for magnet students. We want to make sure, however, these students do not get left out of our concerts, festival and activities. There are 9 orphans in advanced orchestra and 6 in the concert orchestra.

This semester I have asked the students to be more focused and conscientious about filling out their weekly practice sheets. They need to make sure they are recording the actual amount of time they are spending on a specific spot in each of the three pieces. Selected students have been asked to have their parent's sign their practice sheets.

Mrs. Bechke has sent out a reminder about the concert, and I wanted to follow-up on this with some additional information. The concert is on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:00. The students should report to the orchestra room at 6:15 already DRESSED in their concert clothes. Roll WILL be taken at 6:15 so all of the students need to make sure they are in their seats ready to go by that time!

This year the music festival will held at Sprayberry HS in their new performing arts center. We will NOT be at McEachern as we have in years past.  Both orchestras will perform at the music festival on Wed.,Feb. 29th. The concert orchestra will play in the morning and the advanced orchestra in the afternoon.

SPECIFIC FESTIVAL INFORMATION FOR CONCERT ORCHESTRA  - FEB. 29TH

We need to load our bus for the concert orchestra right at 8:30 when the bell rings for 1st period. I know some students cannot get here before that time, but for all of you who are not late bus riders, I need for you to be here by 8:00 that morning. ALL STUDENTS WILL NEED TO BE DRESSED IN THEIR CONCERT CLOTHES WHEN THEY COME!!! TO SCHOOL as there will not be time to change here on campus. Do plan on bringing "normal" clothes, however, to change into when we return to campus. Meet in the orchestra room at 8:00. to get the instrument tuned and the cellos and basses put in their cases.

It is VERY important that the cellos and basses are careful when putting on and taking off their cases. We need to keep the instruments in as good a shape tuning wise as possible. Otherwise we will have no warm-up time if we have to do a major tuning of the lower instruments.

All students should bring their instruments from home for the concert and festival. HOWEVER, you need to do a careful tuning AT HOME before you come in so we only have to do a small check when you get here.

We will go into warm-up at 10:00. Remember, each part of the festival is a timed event, so every minute counts! We will perform at 10:30, sight-read at 11:00 and get on the busses at 11:30. We should be back to school by 12:15-12:30 depending on the traffic in east Cobb.

We need two parents to drive so we can take the 10 cellos and 4 basses in vehicle rather than on the busses. We can load these vehicles at 8:10 to get a jump on the loading. the instruments will stay MUCH better in tune if we can have a way of NOT putting them on the busses. :-) Please let me know if you can drive for us! My email - deanna.morrell@cobbk12.org

I also need one parent to ride one of the busses for the concert orchestra. I will be on the other bus. Please let me know if you can help out with this. I would really appreciate your help. Please contact me by the email address listed above.

SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR THE ADVANCED ORCHESTRA - FEB. 29TH

The advanced orchestra performs at the music festival on Wed.,Feb. 29. We will meet in the orchestra room at 1:45 and immediately change into our concert clothes. We will also  get the instruments tuned. Please use your personal instruments for the concert and festival. Make sure the instrument is in-tune before you leave home. This will save us a lot of important time as there will not be time for "open-heart surgery" on the instruments.

I need 2 parent to drive the large instruments to the Sprayberry for the advanced orchestra. We have 8 cellos and 3 basses - Yikes! We can load these large instruments at 1:45. deanna.morrell@cobbk12.org

We will go into warm-up at 3:30 which means we need to have everyone use the restrooms and do a prelimanary tuning as SOON as we arrive at Sprayberry. Remember, each step of the festival process is timed, so we need to use every minute wisely. We will have 45 minutes in warm-up and will perform at 4:15. We will then move to sight-reading at 5:00 and be back on the busses by 5:30-5:45. Knowing how bad the traffic is in East Cobb plan on getting back to school around 6:30 - 6:45 (hopefully no later than that:-)

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to help be a driver or a bus chaperone. Contact me at my email address: deanna.morrell@cobbk12

Hope to see all of you on the 23!

 

Second Semester Orchestra

If your child is having difficulty getting orchestra second semester due to a scheduling conflict, please let me know ASAP and I will try to get their schedule worked out to allow them to be in orchestra. there are often conflicts due to other singleton class (those only offered one period) but Mrs. Garner and I work very hard to try and resolve any scheduling issues.

I really want and need everyone here second semester so we can continue with our wonderful orchestra classes and all of the activities we have planned. I don't want the students to miss anything we do together.

If you have a magnet student, we do have an orphan program where the students will meet once a week to work on the music so they can still play with us and participate in all of our activities. they will need to take advantage of this program so they can earn their special fine arts distinction seal on their diplomas. It is a very good thing t have on their resume! Colleges look for programs in which the students have made a long-term commitment to participate. Orchestra is a great example!

So, to reiterate, email me with any concerns or issues with schedules and I will try and help your student!

We will be having a lock-in and spring retreat as well as out concert, so we want everyone to be together for these events.

End of the semester activities

The OLT students have organized several fun activities for the orchestra students for the end of the semester.

First we have reserved the ice rink behind KSU / Brand Smart for an ice skating party on Saturday, Dec. 17. The group will skate from 8-10 PM as many of the students have Christmas jobs and could not take off time during the afternoon.

Students are welcome to bring friends or family. The cost is $9.00 per person and included the skates and two hours on the ice. Make sure your child has turned in the permission slip and check (make out to KMOB) by this Friday, Dec. 9th. No late forms can be taken as the facility requires the group to bring one check only and we cannot process the booster funds if they come in after Friday.

Let's get all of you out ice skating! I will need chaperons, so if any of you like to skate or just want to watch all of us struggle around the rink, :-) please email me so I can get you set up to chaperon. We will need 3-4 parents (and will welcome many more).

The final Monday of the semester, Dec. 19 the students will be doing a white elephant gift exchange and reviewing for their final. The white elephant is just a silly fun game where each student brings in a silly gift (get something from their closet - do not buy anything new - maybe an old Barbie doll, GI Joe, a sneaker, etc. )You  wrap it up very nicely and then the groups plays the trading game with all of the presents.

Tuesday, Dec. 20th will be our cookie exchange (no home made goods unfortunately - a new school rule) where the students bring in a package of cookies, brownies, etc. to share. The students will do their secret santa gift exchange that day as well. There is a $5.00 limit on the gifts. (I suggest Dollar Tree - you can get lost of fun stuff for $5 there) :-)

Wed. will be their final (it will be a written final on basic music concepts) and then on Thursday they have their 3 and 4 period finals.

We are not at school Friday (only 2 days before Christmas!!! ugh)

Have a very Happy Holiday!

Intermediate Orchestra Winter Concert

I am please to announce the Annual Winter Concert for the Intermediate Orchestra will be Wednesday, December 7, at the Susan Gunderman Theater here at KMHS. The concert will begin at 7:00.

The concert will feature winter favorites and also a few special string quartets / ensembles. The students in these groups have worked hard and done much of the preparation on their own. A terrific growing experience for young musicians.

Please come join us Wednesday evening and I promise we will get you in the holiday spirit! :-)

Students should report at 6:00 dressed in their concert clothes.

Advanced Chamber Orchestra & Choir Concert

First I would like to apologize for not getting things out on the blog sooner. It has been very overwhelming with all of the rewrites I have had to do on each piece of music to have parts for the orchestra to play in our combined concert with the choir. I have basically written 10 pieces for the orchestra over the past few weeks.

The good news is we are excited about the combined orchestra and choir concert. This is an annual event for us and one that is very popular with the community. We will be performing Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Acworth United Methodist Church at 7:00. The students have worked VERY hard to prepare for this concert and we would love to see everyone there. It is truly a special night when we get to put the two groups together to perform some wonderful music.

Many of the pieces were written by John Rutter, a very prominent choral director who works all over the country as a guest conductor and clinician. The other pieces were written by Mack Wilberg, the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! They are challenging and beautiful pieces of winter music. This is not your traditional caroling concert, but one that is much more sophisticated. That is why we are so proud of our students being able to present this level of music to our community. The works are usually only done by college-level groups or professional choirs and orchestras.

So please join us Tuesday evening for a wonderful sharing of greeat music. The concert is free, although we do gladly accept donations to offset our costs.

Orchestra dues

Just a reminder that your orchestra dues were due Friday, Dec. 2. Several of you asked to pay it in small payments, and this is fine. I just need a parent note to that effect for my records.

I really appreciate all of you who have gotten your dues in - the boosters appreicate it too! :-)

Fund Raising Update

We have just complete our 1st fund raiser of the year - the Domino's Pizza cards. Those orders are being sent today and the cards should be here soon. To all of you who sold cards - thanks for participating.

Our second fund raiser will be starting next week. We will be returning to a FR we have used in the past with good results. We will be selling the Ozark Delight golf-ball suckers. They are excellent quality and the students can sell them to fellow students,friends and family - it is REAL easy as they tend to sell themselves. The cost is $1.00 per sucker and of that the students will recv. 50% (or in this case, $.50 for each sucker they sell). They come in 25 flavors and have been very popular with the students here at the Mt. in past years. I have had students sell out their entire bag in one day :-)

The students will recv. a bag of 30 suckers. When that bag is paid for, they may check-out another bag as long as supplies last. The students will sell the suckers and then the parent will write one check to KMOB for the cost of the suckers. We will not accept money during the sale until all items are sold (turning in a dollar here, 2 dollars, is an accounting nightmare)  Let me say this again, the bag of suckers will need to be paid for with one check from the parent. Remember - make it out to KMOB.

I hope the students choose to participate in this FR as there are still many students have still not paid their orchestra dues. We need everyone's dues so the boosters can continue to support our orchestra program.

Booster Meeting

Please come join us Monday evening (Nov. 7th) for our monthly booster meeting. We meet in the orchestra room from 7-8 pm. Love to see you there!

Concert Clothes

All students should have their concert dress or tuxedo at home. We are doing this to facilitate less need for assistance the night of the concert. PLEASE make sure you have black dress shoes/high heels and black socks/hose. Plan ahead so you don't have a last minute panic. If there is a problem with you getting these items, make sure you speak with Mrs. Morrell individually and she will assist you in getting whatever it is you need. DO NOT show up the night of the concert in WHITE socks or shoes!!! iT REALLLLLY looks bad with a tuxedo :-(  So plan now to have whatever you need ready for Dec.

Cellos and basses - rock stops

Please plan ahead for the next concert when you will need a rock stop to be able to play on the stage (without your cello/bass running away from you! :-) I now have only a limited number of rock stops due to students not returning them when they have borrowed them. I will not be purchasing any more of them, so plan now for Dec. so you know you have yours and you know where it is! :-)