Director's Newsletter #23 - 18, February 10

Director’s Newsletter #23-18, February 10, 2019

Good afternoon everyone!

There is a ton to cover in this week’s newsletter, all being very important. Here are the items covered this week:

•Jazz Fest

•Winter Guard

•MUST READ - PROGRESS REPORTS

•Mulch Contest

•TMEA

•Mid-Winter Concert

•Pep Rally

JAZZ FEST

I’d like to start this week’s newsletter off by thanking our wonderful band boosters and student volunteers for helping to make our annual South Texas Jazz Festival another great success. A special thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Johnson for chairing this event and leading so many logistical items for this event. This has grown into a premier jazz festival in all of South Texas largely due to the great support system we have in place with our community and students.

Additionally, a huge congratulations and much-deserved recognition should go to Mr. Cuellar for being the leader of this great event. He provides such a large vision and passion for music education for our kids and those in the greater area of San Antonio, and it really shows in the end product of this festival. Hopefully, you were able to catch the Brandeis Jazz Ensemble & Combo yesterday and see their great work in action. Again, fantastic job to all those involved in this event yesterday!

WINTER GUARD

Congratulations to our Winter Guards who competed in the TECA Madison HS Contest yesterday. Our JV guard made quite a stride in just a couple of short weeks coming in 5th out of 13 units! Our Varsity guard, who was recently promoted to a more advanced category, also did extremely well coming out 2nd out of 10 units! Congratulations to all members of the Brandeis Winter Guard and Mrs. King for such an outstanding job! We look forward to seeing them complete the show and make their push into the final 2 contests of the season.

MUST READ - PROGRESS REPORTS

On Tuesday, progress reports will go out. It is important that you ask your student for their progress report because there will be a special letter going home. The letter will have a unique snap code that is assigned to your student. PLEASE REMIND YOUR STUDENT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THIS CODE in case they misplace it before it makes it home.

This code is to be used to secure your registration at Brandeis. ALL PARENTS must complete the online registration process with this code, immediately.

MULCH CONTEST

As we make the turn into our final push for mulch sales, there are a couple of notes that need to be made. First, our ordering deadline has been extended one week to Sunday, February 24th. The company has said they can turn our order around in one week instead of two, allowing us a little more time.

Secondly, we are running a 2-week section contest! Since all sections are different sizes, the section with the highest amount of bags sold per section member will have a movie/video game/section party in the band hall on a date to be determined. If you haven’t seen it yet, on behalf of Dr. Berger, our band hall has received some wonderful technology updates with a state of the art projector, a movie screen, and audio updates as well. Why not break it in with some section party fun, food, and drinks? The section contest begins today and concludes on the 24th of February.

TMEA

This week, the annual Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention begins today. This is a great opportunity for students to try new instruments, mouthpieces, or other equipment. Furthermore, most vendors will be selling items at a discounted rate. Students may attend the convention after 3 pm on Friday. Students must register on site with their student ID and the cost per student is $15. For more information regarding the schedule and vendors, please visit TMEA.org.

MID-WINTER CONCERT

This Tuesday, the 3 Brandeis Concert Bands will be performing in the auditorium, beginning at 7 pm. In just a few weeks, each ensemble has prepared 2 to 3 pieces of music to perform. This is a great way to get more music in front of our kids and give them additional opportunities to perform as we make our way into the UIL Concert & Sight Reading Contest. The concert is free and all are invited!

PEP RALLY

On Friday, we will be celebrating our spring sports teams and organizations with a mid-year pep rally. Be sure your student has their alternate uniform shirt ready to go! Report time for the pep rally is 7:30 am.

Last but not least, a special thank you to Mr. Joe Aigner-Varoz for catching everything that went on Saturday and taking a ton of great photos, including the ones you see in this newsletter. Be sure to check out all the photos at BrandeisBand.SmugMug.com.

Please be sure to check the calendar below for this week’s events and 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

2/11/19 - Monday - Senior Meeting, 4:15 pm

2/11/19 - Monday - Percussion Ensemble, 4:30 pm

2/11/19 - Monday - JV Winter Guard 4:30 pm - 6 pm

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2/12/19 - Tuesday - Freshman/A3 FULL ENSEMBLE REHEARSAL, 7:30 am

2/12/19 - Tuesday - Percussion Ensemble, 7:30 am

2/12/19 - Tuesday - Mid-Winter Concert, Auditorium, 7 pm

2/12/19 - Tuesday - Varsity Winter Guard Rehearsal, 6 pm - 8 pm

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