News and Notes March 8-12

I hope you've all had a restful and enjoyable weekend so far. Last week, we began our return to on campus/in person activities. I want to thank the student leaders for their help ensuring a good experience. Thursday we brought back Percussion ensemble and Color Guard, and Friday we did a little work marching. Shout out to Jose Valle and David Ledesma for winning our drill downs and walking away with a little cash! We will once again be in person this week on Thursday and Friday after school. 3pm-5pm for Color Guard and Percussion and 3pm-4pm for Marching. 

The county is expected to move into the Red Tier this week, and some metrics are in the Orange Tier such as the health equity index. As such, serious conversations are beginning to happen to be able to play our instruments. We have PPE gear in the office (special masks and bell covers) and will be looking for guidance soon as to what we need to do to play. Most likely it'll be use of PPE and 6-9 foot distance between players. With an entirely empty campus, this can accommodate a lot of different playing scenarios. 

I have been spending most of my time this weekend downloading/renaming and beginning the audio mix for our two pieces (Blue Ridge Reel and Three Ayres from Gloucester). Right now, we have received about 100 total submissions, about 200 less than expected if everyone submitted their video. While that's not great news, the good news is that what we've received sounds good and the project will be successful. This is a graded project so please record it ASAP. 

I want to thank classes for their input on our new band uniforms. I have sent those ideas to the designer and I'm waiting for new sketches. I'll share them with you once we receive them. 

Our March Madness is continuing over the weekend. Check out the Social Media accounts to vote for your favorite march each day as we work our way down to an eventual champion on March 31st. 

We'll see you in class tomorrow!