Director's Newsletter #15 - 18, December 2

Director’s Newsletter #15-18, December 2, 2018

Good evening everyone!

We’ve blinked and are now in December! How the year has flown by, but with many things to celebrate all year. This week isn’t any different.

Congratulations to all of our parents and students who earned the title of Favorite Band of Thursday Night Lights for the third consecutive year! The only way this happens is by having a huge amount of support, advocating for our kids every day. A special thank you to Mr. Pete Escobar who continuously pushed all of us to get our votes in. I know for a fact, many parents were voting for hours EVERY DAY to get Brandeis to the top again! The TNL crew will be coming out to school on Wednesday to present us with a check for $5,000 and tape some footage for a news story to be aired at a later time. Thank you again for being such a great family and community.

Speaking of, the Bronco Band Family runs deep and wide! Two of our own, Debbie Breaux and Gary Kressbach are the official Brandeis crossing guard team taking care of ALL Brandeis students by the North entrance of the school, as they make their way by foot on campus. Nothing is greater than a parent’s love, and this is now being extended even further among our students. Thank you, Debbie and Gary!

This weekend was an EXTREMELY successful one for our band. We had 16 freshman members earn a seat in the Region 29 All-District Freshman Band. 16 was tied for the most of all schools in Region 29 and represents 20% of the entire All-District Freshman Band! We are so proud of their achievements. Listed below are the freshman by their instrument and chair earned.

FLUTE

Jordan Dickens, 1st

Alaina Judd, 3rd

OBOE

Abigail Anders, 2nd

CLARINET

Luke Filyk, 4th

Skyler Roper, 6th

Olivia Boyer, 14th

BASS CLARINET

James Phillips, 1st

BASSOON

Isabella Ortiz, 2nd

TRUMPET David Juro, 7th

HORN Emma Aune, 1st

Ryan Townsend, 3rd

TROMBONE

Jonathan Flores, 1st

Noah Aune, 2nd

EUPHONIUM

Daniel Cachola, 2nd

PERCUSSION

Jad Thomas, 2nd

Aidan Musick, 7th

We also had our 54 All-District band members audition for the All-Region and All-Area Bands. Brandeis had 33 students earn All-Region Honors and 20 of those 33 earned All-Area Honors and will advance to the next round in January, with an opportunity to earn entry into the All-State Band. Both amounts of 33 and 20 were the most of all schools in Region 29! Below are the students listed by instrument, as well as the Region or Area distinction and their chair. Congratulations on a job well done!

PICCOLO

Lisa Luo, Region, 3rd

FLUTE

Elise Aigner-Varoz, Area, 1st

Helen Herrera, Area, 3rd

Kayla Goodman, Region, 10th

Qin Lin, Region, 12th

OBOE

Stephen Toedt, Area, 1st

Alex Hernandez, Area, 3rd

Thomas Makusky, Area, 4th

CLARINET

Jamie Dart, Area, 11th

Julian Johnson, Region, 15th

Calli Recore, Region, 17th

Isaac Corona, Region, 29th

BASSOON

Jaselle Reginaldo, Area, 4th

BARI SAXOPHONE

Michael Kressbach, Area, 1st

TRUMPETS

Andrew Schofield, Area, 1st

Logan Francesco, Area, 2nd

Ian Aigner-Varoz, Area, 3rd

Kyle Owens, Area, 6th

Grant Owens, Area, 8th

Leo Filyk, Area, 10th

HORN

Ben Walls, Area, 3rd

Sam Blanton, Area, 7th

Hailey Ginn, Area, 8th

Oscar Rivera, Region, 9th

TROMBONE

Jonathan Kressbach, Region, 8th

Nathan Mendoza, Region, 12th

EUPHONIUM

Caelan Matthews, Area, 1st

Jared Barry, Region, 5th

Diego Mullin, Region, 6th

TUBA

Elias Leal, Area, 4th

Robert Dominguez, Region, 8th

PERCUSSION

Connor Castillo, Area, 2nd

Andrew Flores, Region, 7th

In addition to these students performing in the All-Region and Honor ensembles in January, some have been selected to perform in the All-Region Orchestra this weekend. These students are picked based on instrumentation required and is not based on a separate audition. If your student has been selected for the All-Region Orchestra, they will have a sectional to attend on Tuesday evening, at Clark HS from 7 pm - 9 pm. This sectional is REQUIRED. The full rehearsals and concert will be at Clark HS as well. Rehearsal will be on Friday, from 6 pm - 9 pm, and Saturday from 9 am - 4:30 pm with a lunch break. The concert will be on Saturday at 5 pm. A letter with full details regarding this has been placed in those students music folders and they will be passed out tomorrow morning. Protocol regarding transportation to the playoff game for those students participating is listed below.

Congratulations to Coach Branscom and the entire football staff and student leaders on their exciting win yesterday over Brownsville Hanna. Round 4, the Regional Final, will be on Saturday, at 6 pm at the Alamodome. Brandeis will be the home team, hosting Austin Westlake. Tickets for the game will be sold Wednesday - Friday, from 11:30 am - 2:15 pm in the Brandeis Cafeteria. Prices are TBA at this time. Students participating in the Region Orchestra concert will have a bus waiting for them at Clark, to take them to the Alamodome to join the rest of the band for the game.

We have just a couple of hundred Bronco Cards left for sale. If you know of anyone interested in purchasing cards, please let me know and I’ll be happy to get cards to you. There is still so much value to be saved with the use of our Bronco Card so please continue to push so that we can reach our goal to sell out!

All band fees are due at this time. If you owe any fees, please send them via cash or check with your student. Your student should turn fees into me, so that I may record your payment. If you have any questions regarding your balance, please send me an email and I will get you an updated balance.

On Thursday, we will be taking our Band Panoramic during marching band rehearsal at 7:30 am. Please be sure that students show up prepared to put on their uniform for the photo. The picture will be completed prior to the start of school, and students will have ample time to arrive to class on time.

Lastly, over Thanksgiving break, a couple of announcements were made regarding the addition of Mr. Jude Boughton and Mr. Jeremy Spicer as Co-Program Coordinators of our Marching Band Design Team for 2019 and beyond. We have currently agreed in terms with a new Drill & Visual Designer and Music Arranger, whom will be announced soon. We are already in the works of designing the marching band show for 2019. The type of meticulous planning that is required for a successful program is of utmost importance to put the students in a position to be successful. Furthermore, it is our responsibility as teachers to find the best designers possible for our program and contract them to be a part of our team to provide the best possible product for our students. Please know that putting each of our students in a position to be successful, congruent with their skill set, will always be a priority for us.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Daniel.Asgari@nisd.net

GO BRONCOS!

-Mr. Asgari

SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK

12/3/18 - Monday - Brandeis Full Orchestra Rehearsal, 1st Period

12/4/18 - Tuesday - Jazz Combo, 7:30 am

12/4/18 - Tuesday - Stinson/Elementary School Petting Zoo, 8:35 am - 9:15 am

12/4/18 - Tuesday - Jazz Brass & Saxes, 4:30 pm

12/4/18 - Tuesday - JV Winterguard Rehearsal, 4:30 pm - 6 pm

12/4/18 - Tuesday - Region Orchestra Rehearsal, 7 pm - 9 pm

12/5/18 - Wednesday - Brandeis Full Orchestra Rehearsal, 7:30 am

12/5/18 - Wednesday - TNL Taping, TBA