Videos!!

www.titanorchestrasvideo.blogspot.com

Enjoy!!
~Ms. Silberman

More All State pics

Wow - the concert was amazing! Gwen, Robin, Taylor and Tyler got to play some beautiful music - they sounded terrific!

West's All State Orchestra participants (pics)

Hi from Eugene!

What a marathon. The concert's tomorrow - more after that. But, here's some pics from the OMEA (Oregon Music Educator Association) conference in Eugene. Gwen Gates, Robin Kim, Taylor Baldwin and Tyler King (and Ms. Silberman) all having a wonderful, musical time!! There are many Salem-Keizer band, orchestra and choir directors here, as well as many West All State band participants!

~Ms. S

Newsletter 1.24.08

Orchestra News - January 25, 2008

1) End of semester grades and progress
2) Oregon Symphony Pops concert Tuesday the 29th
3) Young Musician's Mentoring Program
4) Wrap up and looking forward

1) End of semester grades have been posted. Ms. Silberman will be touching base with each student to discuss 1st semester successes and to 'game plan' a focus for each student for 2nd semester. Any parents interested in that information is welcome to email or call Ms. Silberman (silberman_daryl@salkeiz.k12.or.us).

2) Not too early to work on the 2 reviews due by the end of second semester. The Oregon Symphony Association in Salem contacted Ms. Silberman to remind us of upcoming concerts, including this next Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 8pm. Here's an excerpt from the email they sent:

"Tickets are available at: (503) 364-0149 or 1-800-992-8499. Classical ticket prices range between $25 and $43 while Pops tickets run from $24 to $54. Student tickets are available at the box office for $5 the night of the concert to any student with ID. The box office opens at 6:30PM at Smith Auditorium. This season's remaining concerts, which are all on Tuesday evenings, are listed below. All concerts begin at 8:00 PM in Smith Auditorium on the Willamette University campus.

January 29: "Legends of Swing" featuring arrangements of songs by Nelson Riddle for some of the greatest singers of the 40s and 50s (Pop)
February 5: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2, Kirill Gerstein, piano, Gregory Vajda, conductor*
February 19: Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2, Arnaldo Cohen, piano, Carlos Kalmar, conductor*
April 15: Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Sharon Kam, clarinet, Gregory Vajda, conductor**
April 22: "A Sentimental Journey" featuring Norman Leyden and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra (Pops)"

3) We have launched YMMP - Young Musician's Mentoring Program. Mr. Shippy and Ms. Cline have polled their students and we have about 20 young students in middle or elementary school who would like coaching by high school students. The Titan orchestra student's commitment is to coach the young musician 4 times - once or twice a month could do it - either at school or at a house, and upon completion of the 4th coaching, the high school student will be paid $20. Also, all high school students will receive a good amount of extra credit from Ms. Silberman for successfully participating in this program. This is one of the ways we can assure that we have a thriving program here at West. Please touch base with Ms. Silberman if you're interested in participating.

4) Thanks to all for a great first semester! Second semester we have many exciting things to look forward to - newly configured period 5 and 6 classes, a 'solo' playing improvement unit, advanced orchestraclassical composer and contemporary player projects, district and (hopefully) state competitions for advanced orchestra and symphony, a concert at West with the middle school orchestra too, a concert at West with the 4th and 5th grade orchestras too, and we will begin planning the big trip for next year ('08/'09).

~Ms. Silberman

Newsletter 01-18-2008

Orchestra News - January 18, 2008

1) All City roster
2) Reviews are due
3) Concerto Competition Saturday! (good for reviewing)
4) Finals week reminder
5) www.titanorchestras.blogspot.com

1) Congratulations to the students who were accepted to this year's All City orchestra. They will have the honor of working with Louis Bergonzi - a wonderful conductor, educator and amazing person. Ms. Silberman has had occasion to both watch and work with Mr. Bergonzi - he's a very inspirational person. For more information about Mr. Bergonzi: www.music.uiuc.edu/facultyBio.php?id=192

1st Violins:
Gwen Gates
Kayla Fadenrecht
Courtney Klosterman

2nd Violins:
Jacqueline Tran
Aida Behmard

Violas:
Lauren Culver
Bronte Loewen-Thomas
Skyler Young

Cellos:
Ian Love
Jessica Tyree

Basses:
Taylor Baldwin
Tyler King

2) All students are expected to turn in 2 reviews each semester. At current count, about half of the students have turned in their reviews. If you need review ideas or have any questions, please contact Ms. Silberman (silberman_daryl@salkeiz.k12.or.us)

One student has turned in a review of a concert that might be of interest to other students: famous rock guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen performing the Concerto Suite for guitar and orchestra. The concert is available as a CD or DVD on iTunes and any other music acquiring source

3) There is a concerto competition for the Salem Youth Symphony this Saturday Jan. 19, 4:00 pm at the Salem First United Methodist Church downtown. About ten Salem-Keizer high school students will perform concerto excerpts. This is a good review opportunity.

4) All students are expected to attend their orchestra class, including Advanced Symphony (Thursday Jan. 24, 11:15 - 12:45), to perform their final. Students grade on their final is a combination of their preparedness, their use of time these past few weeks preparing with their group, and their group's performance on the day of their final.

5) www.titanorchestras.blogspot.com

Just a reminder that Ms. Silberman posts interesting information and links on the blog - please check often.

~Ms. Silberman

Survey for high school girls...

Hi all,

Mr. Lampert sent out this information to all of West Salem's staff. It caught my eye because my mom actually worked for AIR (American Institutes for Research) for a while, years ago. Please read on... ~Ms. Silberman

------------------------
From Michael Lampert:

Girls, What's Your Idea of a Dream Job? Share your thoughts for the chance to win $250!!

American Institutes for Research (AIR), in association with WGBH, is conducting a short survey. As a sign of our appreciation for completing the survey, your name will be entered into a raffle. The first 500 respondents will be eligible for prizes ranging from $50-$250!!

Completing the survey will give you a chance to share your experiences as a high school student. The purpose of the survey is to gather girls’ feedback about their attitudes toward and understanding of certain careers. Your valuable insight will be the first step in evaluating the effectiveness of a program designed to help young women like yourself explore new and exciting career options.

The survey will only take approximately 15 minutes of your time. All responses are anonymous and will be kept private. AIR wants to study your career interests and NOT you or how you answer the questions.

Your valuable insight is important to us, so please act quickly! The survey will be only be available until February 29, 2008.

To access the survey, please click on the following link or visit:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/Student_Survey_AIR

If any of your female friends are also interested in completing the survey, please share the link above. Or, if you would like more information, please contact Debbie at Usabilitystudy@air.org or 978-371-8335.

AIR is an independent, not for profit organization which specializes in educational research. If you would like more information on AIR, please visit our website at http://www.air.org.

What Ms. Silberman's up to in her spare time...

(ok, that's not me - that's a mime... read on)

For the past year, I've been writing the content for the Pacific Symphony Family Musical Mornings concerts. I write the text and design most of the layout. This most recent newsletter is for a concert that will feature a mime company - the mimes start out by being unruly members of the audience, bothering the conductor by disrupting the music making. But the conductor teaches the mimes, and the audience, to learn to be good listeners.

The intended audience for this newsletter is young children and their parents - but, there's a lot of really good info for all music students and music lovers... enjoy.

http://pacificsymphony.org/email/orkidstra_club/ed_6/is_3/

~Ms. Silberman

Some 'alternative' string music on YouTube

Hi,

If you can get to YouTube, check out Danny Seidenberg's arrangement called Bach's Lunch (we played through this once in Advanced Orchestra):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMLnfN3teFU

And here's the Lamborghini string quartet playing Danny's original tune Steel City Strut:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiOQ8FrMqBU

And, if you'd like to see some crazy cool string playing, check out Darol Anger's chop lesson (Ms. Silberman has a copy of the Chops and Grooves DVD if you'd like to borrow it). I'm hoping that Darol can come work with our students this spring - he's a Portland resident!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lud1IMpJm4

Here's his Republic of Strings playing a tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyI_gCrIyyo

The young lady playing with Darol is Brittany Haas, she's about 18 now - she came to see Ms. Silberman play a house concert 10 years ago in Palo Alto, CA where they both grew up. Her website is http://www.brittanyhaas.com/

Enjoy!
~Ms. Silberman

Newsletter 1.11.08

1) Congratulations to All City auditioners
2) Friends of Music at West, March 3 - Save the Date!
3) Teen Strings magazine
4) Young Musicians Mentoring Program
5) Finals, including Advanced Symphony Orchestra
6) Violin for sale

1) Congratulations to all who auditioned for this year's All City Orchestra. The final list will be officially announced early next week - West had a large number of auditioners and a high percentage of accepted players! More information about the concert will be announced in later newsletters.

2) Thanks to all who came out to listen to Superintendent Sandi Husk at the last Friends of Music meeting at McKay. In two months, the Friends of Music meeting will be at West. Members of our orchestra will perform at the beginning of the meeting - Ed John will be in attendance. Please save the date, Monday, March 3, 6:30-8:00pm, and come see what this very important advocacy group is all about.

3) The Music Booster group has paid for a subscription to Teen Strings magazine - students have all been invited to take an issue of Teen Strings (available in the orchestra room). We will get 50 copies 4 timesa year of this great, cutting edge, string-centric magazine. To see the website of the parent magazine, Strings Magazine, navigate to: www.stringsmagazine.com

4) In February we will launch the Young Musicians Mentoring Program. Students at all the West area elementaries and Walker middle school have contacted their orchestra director to request a mentor from the high school to work with them. High school students who sign up to be part of this program will be matched to a younger orchestra student and will be required to give them 4 coaching/lesson sessions. At the end of the 4th session, high school students will receive $20 from their student (not a large sum, but enough to honor their time). All orchestra students at West are welcome to sign up with Ms. Silberman to have a young student assigned to them. More information about the program will be available in the next week or two. Please contact Ms. Silberman if you want more information.

5) All students are expected to attend their regularly scheduled music class (at the appointed time as per the West finals schedule) for their final. All students are playing in a small group ensemble - in a duo,trio, or quartet - so their presence is crucial and mandatory. If any student is very sick or there is an extenuating circumstance causing a student to have to miss school, please contact Ms. Silberman so thatsubstitute arrangements can be made. A grade can not be assigned to students until the final has been completed. Since Advanced Symphony is a credit class, we have to have a final. The Advanced Symphony final time is an extension of the Thursday final schedule - our final time is 11:15 - 12:45 (after the 8th period final) on Thursday the 24th. Again, attendance at this final is considered mandatory. Any excuse must be cleared with Ms. Silberman well in advance of this final.

6) A Salem resident, Dave Davis, has sent information about a violin (bow and case) he has for sale. It was apparently his mother's instrument that she played as a child. It has been valued at $3,500 but he is willing to sell it to a high school student for $1,750 (and maybe even less if there's cause). The instrument is in good condition. For his contact information (and for help with considering this instrument) please contact Ms. Silberman.

Happy studying and practicing...

Newsletter 1.4.08

1) All City
2) Reviews are due - ideas and links
3) Parents and Friends of Music meet Monday Jan. 7, 2008 with Sandy Husk - PLEASE READ!
4) Encore Photography link - Order deadline extended to January 22nd
5) Anthem on Jan 18
6) Ensemble unit

1) All City auditions are on Jan 10 - all students have been given their 30 minute audition time slot. Please consult the original audition submission sheet for all pertinent information or direct questions to Ms. Silberman. Mrs. Hughes will be coaching upper strings Friday and next Monday, and Ms. Silberman will offer as much time as she can to those auditioning.

2) All orchestra students know they have 2 reviews due by the end of the semester. 1 review must be of a live concert, one of a recorded DVD, online video, taped TV show, or CD. Here are a few ideas for those who have yet to finish their reviews:

a) Students who did not play in Advanced Symphony may review the West Salem Dec. 12 winter concert
b) There is a lovely online 1 hour long concert that students may view and review: http://www.medici-arts.tv/lpo.html
c) There is an online concert video website that has a ton of bands on it - if students know any of the bands that might have a string player in it, they'd be welcome to review one of the concerts: http://www.fabchannel.com/
d) NPR has a live concert audio site that one can find many concerts on to listen to and review, including Joshua Bell performing Saints-Seans violin sonata: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10210144
e) Ms. Silberman has contemporary and classical CD's that might be of interest to students. She also has a few DVD's that can be review - they can be checked out for 2 days at a time.
f) Students can attend a concert before the end of the semester - There is a Camerata Musica concert Jan 13 and a concerto competition at 3pm on Jan 19... see your Salem Arts Assoc. calendar for more info.
g) Any other creative review ideas will most likely be accepted (like seeing Ron Kilde perform at the Wine festival or at Cascade bakery, for example), so come up with something.

3) The Friends of Music has a very important meeting at McKay this next Monday at 6:30 p.m. Superintendent Sandy Husk and principals from all 6 high schools will be on site to discuss the shape of the music program in the face of small learning communities. Alan Bushong of CCTV and Friends of Music will moderate the discussion. His e-mail also said:

"Please park in the South lot - a right turn for those entering McKay on Wolverine off Lancaster.

Enter the school through the southeast door directly available from the south parking lot. We'll meet in the Choir Room. It is similar in size to the South Salem Choir Room that seated over 100 at the meeting about Small Learning Communities in 2006. All are invited. This is our opportunity to help the administration with scheduling and communications issues. We want to make sure that students can enroll in music classes and that teachers have adequate time with students."

It would be fantastic to have a strong parent showing - come help influence the future of the music program in the Salem-Keizer school district.

4) The link to the Encore Photography pictures taken at the December concerts is: http://www.previewgallery.com/reprints.php?pid=encorephoto&eid=west_salem_high_school_music_2007_2008_groups&cid=west%20salem%20high%20school%20music%202007-2008%20groups

Please take a look and consider ordering a picture. The order deadline has been extended to January 22nd since there was a delay in getting the link information.

5) Ms. Silberman will be playing the anthem at the 3pm varsity boys basketball game Jan. 18... come support our Titan team! Any students interested in playing the anthem are welcome to play for Ms. Silberman to either prepare to play live at a game or to record their anthem that will then be played before a game.

6) All orchestra students will be partaking in a 3 week small ensemble unit - the final for orchestra student's classes will to be to perform for classmates during our finals time. In Ms. Silberman's opinion, ensemble playing, also called 'chamber music', is the absolute best part of playing a stringed instrument - though playing in a symphony either recreational or professionally is wonderful, the opportunity to get together with 1 - 4 other string players may be the most rewarding and easiest way of continuing playing for the rest of one's life. In fact, there is a large growth in the number of chamber music camps for recreational string players - mainly full of adults who played once as a young person, maybe they stopped playing for years, but who are interested in reconnecting with their instrument. Ms. Silberman will video tape all the performances - if students request a copy, one will most likely be able to be made for them.