Newsletter #2

(Email sent 9/18/09):

1) Parent meeting 7pm Monday Sept. 21, West auditorium - (at least 1 parent per student)
2) SCO this weekend - ticket offer
3) Sectional schedule and practice
4) Website will roll out this next week
5) Requirements for class = Binder and Music book
6) Appeal for extra violins...

1) Parents - please plan on attending the meeting on this next Monday - Sept. 21 7pm. It is here that I will discuss orchestra requirements, go over the concert schedule, make announcements of school policy changes, and our parent organization president will outline parent volunteer opportunites. PLEASE SEND A PARENT/ADULT REPRESENTATIVE FROM EACH STUDENT/FAMILY - there will be forms to fill out and information shared about upcoming events. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND, meeting notes will be up on the blog the next day and any forms handed out can be downloaded off the website or handed out in class. The meeting will adjourn by 8pm.

**ALL AVAILABLE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA MEMBERS - please plan on meeting in the orchestra room at 6:45pm to tune up and warm up - you start the meeting by performing... details in class on Monday.

After the parent meeting (ending at 8pm) there will be a College Night information session - one of our counselors will be available and I will outline musical opportunities (scholarships, degree offerings, scope of music schools in the country) for all interested. Seniors and Juniors, you are encouraged to attend this part of the meeting - we need to get going on recommendations and letters to prospective music departments/professors.

2) The Salem Chamber Orchestra performs this weekend - a separate email was sent earlier this week. If you need comp tickets, please contact me by 5pm today and I should be able to get them for you - otherwise, I hope to see you there (at the Elsinore on Saturday evening or the Oregon Gardens Sunday afternoon).

More info: www.salemchamberorchestra.org - student tickets are $5 at the door

3) The sectional schedule is posted on the blog: www.titanorchestras.blogspot.com - these are considered mandatory - if students contract out because of work or sports, they are still required to cover the material.

Here are the expectations of practice at home for an "A" student in orchestra (practice is described as quality time with one's instrument - not lesson time or sectional time... time alone at home or school practice room with an instrument):

String Orchestra - 60 minutes per week
Sinfonietta - 100 minutes per week
Chamber Orchestra - 180 minutes per week

Parents, if you aren't hearing that much music in your household and would like me to meet with your son/daughter to have a time-management session, I'd be happy to. We are outlining our daily/weekly schedules in class over this next week so that students can work their practice time into their schedules.

4) Our website: www.titanorchestras.com - is being updated and should be ready to launch in the next few days. On this website you'll find a ton of information and an active link to the blog. Assignments, handbooks, forms, parent information, calendar, libraries of picture, videos and music and much more will be on this site. PLEASE BE SURE TO BOOKMARK THIS SITE. Huge thanks to parent Steve Tatman for all your hard work updating this site!

5) All students need a 1" binder, sheet protectors, and separators to keep in class. Also, each orchestra will have a requirement to obtain a method book - Essential Elements - students will have that information. The books are $5.50 each and I will pick them up - students just need to pay me to get their copy. If finances are an issue, let me know and we'll see what we can work out. This is an effort to make sure that everyone is working on the same material.

6) We have a few families in need of a violin for practice at home - if anyone sees a violin in good condition at a consignment or resale shop (Goodwill, St. Paul de Vincent, Humane Society) or at a garage sale and it doesn't seem to need much work, please let me know - sometimes there are real gems out there just waiting to be discovered. Thanks!

The orchestras sound really great this year - thanks to you students for these past 2 weeks of getting organized and ready to go. Now we start buckling down, practicing, and getting ready for our first performance on October 27.

See you Monday night!
~Daryl S.

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Don't forget to check the blog regularly!
www.titanorchestras.blogspot.com
www.titanorchestras.com
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