Odem Bands Schedule Week of 5/16/2016

Please note that with the bands we will continue to rehearse until the final day of school with every group. On Thursday, May 26th JH Concert Band and Beginning Band Students should take their instruments home. Please be mindful that for 6th and 7th grade students, and potentially some 8th grade students, you may still have ‘MR’ coverage on their instruments with South Texas Music Mart. If you do it is well worth the time to take the instrument into them the week after school lets out to have a ‘PC’ done on the instrument. It is free with that plan if it is still valid and you can get brass instruments flushed and woodwind instruments checked for leaks.

Graduation is Friday the 27th. Graduation performance is mandatory for Odem HS students and we invite Odem JH Symphonic Winds students to join our performance for that evening. More specifics will be e-mailed out next weekend on reporting times.

Any student who uses a school instrument may check the instrument out for the summer. There will be a form for parents to sign in advance of us releasing the instrument for the summer. That form will be available next week.

We will have our weekly Carnegie Hall Rehearsal 6:30pm-8:30pm tomorrow (Monday) night. Please be sure that your student is in attendance as we are very quickly closing in on our performance!

I have a number of students whose parents attended the meeting but I still have not received their medical release and travel permission forms. Please get those into me ASAP.

For any chaperones attending the trip if you could stop by this week or tomorrow evening to tell me your choices on some meals that I need to get turned in this week I would appreciate it. We have three choices at the Stardust Diner and also La Nonna Italian restaurant that they want decided in advance.

The last couple items are tuxes need to be hemmed and also a few ladies still need to be fitted for their dresses. Please make sure the ladies have come in by Tuesday to do so, and we will send home tuxes to be fitted tomorrow night at the end of rehearsal.

Tuesday after school any interested 5th Grade students coming into Odem JH next year may come to the Band Hall to be tested for percussion placement. We hope to then have instrument information sent out by the end of the week to those 5th Graders.

Please note we are moving forward with a different vendor for our instrument rentals this coming year. We are planning to use Hillje Music out of the San Antonio area. They are offering a much better deal and service to our band students. Orders will be taken as normal at our instrument night and will also be available online. They will deliver the instruments to Odem as has always been customary. More information should be available with the instrument choice notice given to the 5th Graders this week.

Our final regular concert of the year will be on Thursday evening at 7pm in the Odem HS Cafetorium. Please come join us for a night of great jazz being performed by one of the finest jazz bands we have yet had in Odem! There will be dessert at the performance.

Those students have a mandatory sound check after school on Wednesday so we can set mic levels and also run the full program once.

The Odem JH Trip to Schlitterbahn is next Monday the 23rd. Please be sure that students have fully paid their trips by Monday! If you have any questions or concerns please contact Mr. Williams.

Please note that Guard and Drum Major Payments must be made very soon. Information was sent out to those students this past week. Due to the closing of the high school office we must have those payments by Thursday, May 26th. It would be much better if we could receive them in advance of that date though. Please contact me if you have any questions!

Monday: Closed after school until 5:30pm for Carnegie Rehearsal at 6:30pm-8:30pm

Tuesday: Beginning Percussion Tryouts After School

Wednesday: Soundcheck for Jazz Band After school

Thursday: Band Hall Closed at 4pm, Concert for Jazz Band 7pm

Friday: No school – Professional Day (We will be around for meetings by appointment)

Thanks again for having made this year such a successful year for the Odem Bands!!!!

Mr. Steven Rash

Director of Bands

Odem High School

www.odembands.org