BRAVO Meet and Greet Gathering has been moved to this Wed., Sep. 7th at the home of Carollina Song and Alec Harris, 238 Forest in Oak Park (adults only). This is a great opportunity for parents to meet BRAVO faculty and BRAVO Advisory Board Members and find out about all of the various opportunities for your student(s). The event is 7:00-8:30 p.m. and their will be light refreshments. If anyone has questions contact Tina Reynolds at treynolds@op97.org or Daphanee Lewis at dlewis@op97.org or call the BRAVO Hotline at 708-524-5621.
OPRF MARCHING HUSKIES 8TH GRADE NIGHT, Friday, Sep. 9th:
All 8th grade band students are invited in this event to learn more about the OPRF Marching Band as well as the OPRF Band Program as a whole. Participants will have the opportunity to be a part of the Marching Huskies for the night by being a part of their pre-game show (yes on the football field), play in the stands during the first half, and watch the Marching Huskies perform their halftime show. Students will walk from Brooks over to OPRF with Mr. Barnard right after school or can meet the group at the marching band practice field, located at Lake and Scoville by 4:30 p.m. Pizza dinner will be provided and students will have a great opportunity to socialize and learn a little bit about the band program and high school from the high school students.
After the half-time show, students will be released and will need to have tranportation arrangements made with their parents (approx. 9 p.m.). Permission slips are available in the band room (D110) and will need to be turned into Mr. Barnard no later than Tuesday, Sep. 6th.
IMEA JR. HIGH HONORS AUDITIONS
Registration forms for the IMEA Jr. High Honors Band, Choir, Orchestra and Jazz are due no later than this Friday, Sep. 9th. The cost for auditioning is $12 and checks need to be made to BRAVO. The audition material for band and jazz band is the same material students are preparing for 7th/8th grade seating placement assessments and jazz ensemble auditions.
The auditions are on Sat., Oct. 1st @ Bryan Middle School in Elmhurst. Students interested in auditioning need to be committed to this audition date as well as the festival date(s), Sat., Nov. 5 @ Riverside-Brookfield H.S. (Band, Choir, Orchestra) and/or Sat., Nov. 12 @ Rich South H.S. in Richton Park. Both festivals are all day events that include rehearsals, workshops and a late afternoon concert with their honors ensembles. Each ensemble works with a guest conductor/clinician in the music education profession, usually at the collegiate level. Audition results are known within the week and students are responsible for preparing the honors music prior to the festival event. Students should see Mr. Barnard for help preparing for the auditions as well as festival music if selected.
If families have any questions about the registration or audition process please contact Mr. Barnard at jbarnard@op97.org.
REMINDER ABOUT BOOKS & SUPPLIES
6th Graders: Standards of Excellence Bk 1 & 2 and Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Bk 1. The Standards of Excellence Bk 1 will be for review and we plan to quickly get into the Bk 2 within the next week or two.
7th/8th Graders: Standards of Excellence Bk 3 and Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Bk 2.
8th graders should be all set with their books if they still have them from last school year.
All Band Students are required to have a 1 inch, 3-ring binder that will be used as our everyday folders to keep track of sheet music, handouts and supplementary exercises. Students will also keep their PRACTICE RECORD JOURNAL in their 3-ring binders as well. We also recommend that students get plastic sheet protectors which will help keep papers from ripping out of the binders. A package of 25 should be plenty to get through the school year. Once every trimester we will be doing Portfolio Assessments which will be checking to see that our students are keeping their current music, music theory and handouts in order as well as having their required books.
BAND STUDENTS ALWAYS BRING PENCILS TO CLASS.
Please check out the previous post for all required supplies and equipment students need in order to participate in band.
HOMEWORK:
Practice Record Journals (Due every Monday)
Week 2 Due Tuesday, 9/6
6th Graders: 90+ minutes = A, 60-89 minutes = B, 30-59 minutes = C, 29- minutes = D.
7th/8th Graders: 120+ minutes = A, 90-119 minutes = B, 60-89 minutes = C, 30-59 minutes = D, 29- minutes U.
Students need to have the Practice Record (outside cover) Practice Journal and Weekly Assignments and Goals filled out for full credit. A parent signature on the outside cover and on the Weekly Assignments and Goals is required for credit.
Because of the Labor Day holiday, Practice Record Journals will be collected on Tuesday 9/6.
The goals for Week 3 will be the following: 6th Graders 120 minutes = A, 7th/8th Graders 150 minutes = A.
Music Theory:
Music Theory will start the following week due to our four day school week as well as establishing our daily rehearsal routine.
Any student that does not have their required Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Book will need to have it by next Wednesday 9/14.
BAND HANDBOOKS:
All band students will receive our band handbook which will help both students and families understand the overview of the band program. Students and their families are to use the handbook for information regarding grading policies, concert attire, class descriptions, co-curricular opportunities, band event calendar and help looking for enrichment opportunities such as studying privately, etc. In the back of the handbook are copies of forms we will use throughout the year. Students and their families should become familiar with these forms and can copy from these sheets if needed. We may add a couple more scoring guides soon and will forward them out to parents via pdfs to download and use.
Along with the handbooks students will receive a student contract/video usage agreement form that will be completed by both the student and their parent/guardian. The video usage agreement allows us to show students video clips of music related topics including recorded performances of school and professional music ensembles for critique and comparison.
This contract/video usage agreement form will be due no later than Monday, Sep. 12th.
JAZZ PROGRAM
Jazz Ensemble (7th/8th Graders): The jazz ensemble meets on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:00 - 8:50 a.m. Students are selected into this group by audition and audition material was available at the end of last school year and will be available for students to pick up this week if they need another copy. The instrumentation of the jazz ensemble is similar to a traditional big band (saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano, guitar, bass, drum set, and we have added vibraphone which can be used in the traditional big band setting. Flute and clarinet players have been encouraged to pick up saxophone as a secondary instrument. They may however audition in jazz ensemble on their primary instrument but will be competing for a spot in the saxophone section.
Auditions and workshops for the jazz ensemble are the following:
Mon. 9/12: Saxophone, trombone, trumpet workshop, 8:00-8:50 a.m.
Rhythm Section workshop(piano, guitar, bass, drumset, vibes) 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Tues. 9/13: Rhythm Section workshop 8:00 - 8:50 a.m.
Saxophone, trombone, trumpet workshop, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Thurs. 9/15: Saxophone, trombone, trumpet auditions 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Students will
need to sign up for a specific audition time and have a signed permission slip.
Fri. 9/16: Rhythm section auditions 8:00 and if needed 3:30 p.m. Students will need to sign up
for a specific audition time and have a signed permission slip.
All students auditioning need to have a signed permission slip for the jazz program before auditioning. NO EXCEPTIONS. Audition results will be posted on Monday, Sep. 19th and the first rehearsal starts Tuesday, Sep. 20th.
Jazz Lab Band: Is primarily our 6th grade jazz band and is open to all band students. Students that play oboe and french horn are encouraged to join jazz lab band on another instrument (i.e. piano, bass, guitar, etc.) Since this is an introductory level jazz band, students do not audition in order to participate. The jazz lab band rehearses every Friday morning from 8:00 - 8:50 a.m. and will start on Sep. 23rd.
All students that want to participate will need to have a signed permission slip in order to participate.
All jazz students, 6th-8th grade, will need to have the Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble book which will be used all three years of their jazz experience at brooks.
The jazz participation flyers are available for pick up in the band room (D110) and I will also email this form out to parents to download. Please contact Mr. Barnard at jbarnard@op97.org if you have any questions regarding the jazz program.
7th & 8th GRADE BAND SECTIONALS/SEATING PLACEMENTS
Band sectionals for all 7th/8th grade band students will start on Monday, Sep. 12th. Students will receive a copy of the sectional schedule for the 1st trimester this week. The sectionals are scheduled during 3rd, 4th and 8th periods and students will be scheduled by their instrument section (i.e. flutes, trumpets, percussion, etc.) Each group will be assigned a specific day each week and the schedule will rotate from these three class periods so students do not miss the same class period more than once a month. In the case of a four day week, sectionals maybe rescheduled in order to fit each group within the week. The goal to the rotating schedule is to avoid as little disruption to every student's schedule as possible.
Students will need to check in with their classroom teacher before coming down for band sectionals and they should have a copy of their sectional schedule with them as their pass to come down. Students are excused from a band sectional if they are taking a test, presenting a project, or have a guest speaker in their classroom or are absent from school that day. If time permits, they should come down for the remainder of the class period if they finish early with testing/quizzes, etc. To confirm an excused absence (other than absent from school) students will need to fill out an excused absence form and have it signed by their classroom teacher. This form should be turned in by the next school day.
It is crucial for students to participate in the sectional portion of the 7th/8th grade band curriculum since it provides an opportunity to give more individualized instruction, work on instrument specific skills and complete performance assessments that cannot be completed in a full band class environment.
The 7th/8th grade seating placement assessments will happen the week of Sep. 19th. This will allow students focusing on jazz ensemble auditions or other co-curricular ensemble auditions the week before as well as give us a chance to review the seating placement material together in each sectional.
If students or families have any questions or concerns please contact Mr. Barnard at jbarnard@op97.org.
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