Final Assembly, help, next year

Welcome back from your various trips.  Below, I believe, is a reasonable program for what to practice for our final assembly.

4th grade  from Smart Violin, Take a Walk, Take a Rest, and Smooth Sailing (the first 2 pieces work well with our guitar students, so I have decided to use them for performance); our 2 surprise by ear songs

5th & 6th grade  from Strings Extraordinaire, Que Bonita Bandera, Canon, and Hava Nagila (n.b., we will not perform Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring this year)

7th &8th grade will accompany 4 and 5/6 ensembles above; we will also perform one or two Spanish songs and a humorous version of a children's song

The final assembly will likely be on Friday, June 11, at 9am.  Because of this earlier start time (very appropriate for the last day), I need your help so that I can have the instruments ready.  It may be that I request students who can part with their instruments and music for a night load my van with instruments on Thursday; I can secure the instruments, arrive early Friday, and tune them.  Students who bring instruments on Friday would walk them to Thomas Berry hall themselves and tune up themselves (next year our pavilion may free us from some of these logistics).  More information to come as we finalize plans; I wanted to give you a heads up.

I have demonstrated the cello and viola to the rising 5th grade.  Unless I hear huge objections from the parents, I would also like to demonstrate the upright bass.  If a child or two wants to take up the bass, it would help the sound of our ensemble; the bass is currently welcomed into our public high school wind ensembles.  Parents would have to be prepared for the challenges of transporting the instrument, acquiring one (rentals are more expensive; in some places more than cello), and we'd have to find space to store the instruments when students bring them to school (so we might say no more than 2 basses should any family be interested).

In 5th grade we will focus more on ensemble playing than technique, so it is particularly important that students switching to viola, cello, or bass take lessons and start practicing this summer.  We will likely use Strictly Strings Book 2 to start the school year next year; new viola, cello, or bass players would do well to work through Strictly Strings Book 1 this summer (violin students would be welcome to do the same if a review seems helpful).


With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Reminder -- Instruments Home for 4 and 6

With 4th and 6th grades at Potlatch or Mt. St Helen's, students will not need their instruments at school next week.  Please make sure your child brings her or his instrument home.

Students played well this week.  As we prepare for the final assembly, I will keep expectations realistic in light of missed classes for trips and the like.

Make-up Performance

Thank you to the students who performed at Mayfaire.  I was particularly impressed that they stuck with it in the cold weather.  A number of students were not present, and as promised, I am providing make-up opportunities for these families.  I have contacted them directly.  I am also giving the information here because other students are invited to join them; these make-up performances are not punishments, but an opportunity to close the circle pedagogically (and to help classmates know that when I expect all students to perform--even if not at the actual event--I will be true to my word).


Here is the schedule.  If the weather is lovely, we will play just in front of the lobby; if cold or rainy, in the lobby.

Thursday, 8:05am  5th and 6th graders playing from Fiddler's Philharmonic in the lobby.
Friday, 8:05am  4th graders playing from Smart Violin in the lobby.
Friday, 2:30pm  7th and 8th graders playing from Rise Up Singing by the big rock (or in the lobby in case of rain).

Again, all students are welcome.  Students who were not present at our Mayfaire performances are expected to be present must have an excuse in writing if they cannot be present.

Sincerely,

William Dolde