Yesterday we had many students audition for the GMEA District Honor Band. Students worked individually to learn scales, a lyrical etude, and improve sight-reading skills to prepare to compete against other musicians in our district for the opportunity to represent our school in this prestigious ensemble.

We are so proud of all of the students who made the commitment to prepare for the auditions and had the courage to compete yesterday at East Paulding High School. Your dedication to improving your individual skill level and musicianship is leading others in our band to strive for excellence. Thank you for pushing yourself everyday to do better. We are very proud of you!

Christmas Concert on Monday evening

We hope that you will join us in the Mabry Arts Center for a holiday presentation on Monday evening.  Festivities will begin with Dr. Mclendon’s community string orchetra performance in the lobby at 6:30PM and the high school performance on stage at 7:00PM.

Students have elected to wear Christmas sweaters and Santa hats for this concert.  Festive wear or our concert attire is also acceptable. We look forward to presenting a lighthearted sincere performance to spread holiday cheer to all in attendance.

Report times:

• Concert Band 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm in band room (welcome to go home after rehearsal but you need to be back by 6:30pm for the sound check on stage)
• Symphonic Band 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm on stage (welcome to go home after rehearsal but you need to be back by 6:30pm for the sound check on stage)
• Wind Ensemble 5:30 pm- 6:30 pm on stage (welcome to go home before your rehearsal, please be back in time for your rehearsal)
• All students will be on stage at 6:30pm to prepare for the combined pieces.

Band Auditions

Students have auditions on December 13 in class.  The first 8 measures of the their respective GMEA etude is required for the prepared etude.  Students will have 2 minutes to perform as many major/minor scales as they can from memory,  points will be earned for correct performance of each octave.  They will also perform their chromatic scale as required by GMEA.  Their final task will be to complete a short sight-reading example.

Etudes can be found here: https://www.gmea.org/asb-audition-information.  9-10 graders will perform the “Concert Band” requirements on that website and 11-12 graders will perform the “Symphonic Band” requirements on that website.

This information has been announced during class for a couple of weeks and students are encouraged to see Mr. Carr or Mr. Bright if they have any questions or need assistance in printing an etude.