News and Notes November 16-20

 I want to congratulate all of the students for their willingness to participate in what became our first ever Virtual Concert last Thursday Night. The evening went really well and has been receiving a lot of positive feedback from the community. The most common comment has been to praise the students for continuing the work of making music despite the conditions. I was really proud to show off what you've been doing and I'm very much looking forward to the next concert. For those who missed the livestream, you can catch the videos on our YouTube channel under Loara Band. 

Speaking of the next concert.....we are going to get started on our Holiday concert this week. For the bands (all three periods), I have uploaded two pieces to two different places. "Christmas Fanfares" by Todd Stalter has been assigned to the marching band course in SmartMusic. That course code (if you need it again) is CKACP-MUJHE. The second piece "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has been placed in the textbook section of our website. I'll complete backing tracks this week for you and you have three weeks until the recording is due. 

It was really awesome to see the Color Guard back to school to work on Friday! Thanks to everyone who came out. We were able to safely practice and put some work in. Special thanks to Coach Cory for spending the time with the students on campus and to our admin for setting it up so that we could come back.  

Arcadia High School is hosting a virtual Festival of Bands event this weekend. It is Saturday at 10am and information regarding the event can be found on the following website: 

https://sites.google.com/arcadiamusic.org/afob

From what I gather, there may be a small fee to watch. There are a handful of schools who have submitted videos (like us!) and they will be showing classic performances from years past. 

This is our last week before Thanksgiving Break. There will be no News and Notes next Sunday so let me say know that I'm thankful for all of you! You have been patient, understanding, and willing to work all semester long. I acknowledge that can't always be easy, and yet we've made it! Thank you!