This week we begin by congratulating Senior Trombonist Ethan Sanchez on placing 1^st at the Area Auditions, and earning his 2^nd Trip to the All-State Bands! We are proud of our other Area contenders, Savannah Beltran, Kassidi Tijerina, Martin Doria, and Landon Garza for also having good showings in the process! ATSSB has not finalized plans yet, but tentatively they are trying to arrange for an All-State Clinic/Concert to still occur in June. 

This week is a short week for students, but we’re going to begin it with a busy day tomorrow, Tuesday (19^th) when the OJH Bands host their Winter Concert at 6:30pm in the shell of the old Elementary Cafeteria and the surrounding lawn. The students will perform underneath the shell, and we will be marking out socially distanced spots for parents and families to bring blankets or lawn chairs to sit out on during the concert. As per all OEISD events masks are required while on campus. We anticipate the concert will be completed by around 7:30pm, and will need the students to help us bring all of our equipment back to the band hall before they depart. Mr. Williams is sending out more information via Remind and LivingTree, but Beginning Band and Concert Band students need to be in their seats ready to play at 6pm, and Symphonic Winds needs to be seated at 6:25pm to watch the Beginning Band.

Normally our next event is our Solo and Ensemble recital. We will be planning to host that again this year, now that we have more information about Solo and Ensemble I will be finalizing our plans for the recital this week. Solo and Ensemble with UIL is being done virtually via recordings this year, so we have a deadline date of Friday, February 19^th for those recordings. We should know results, and who will advance to the UIL State Solo and Ensemble Contest to be held Memorial Day Weekend somewhere in the Austin area. (Usually we perform on that Monday)

Last week we did confirm a tentative date of April 14^th for UIL Concert and Sight-Reading Evaluation. Our students in grades 7-12 will participate with their performances being held in the Odem HS Cafetorium. More information will come on that when the event draws near. 

This Week’s Schedule:

Monday:              No School
Tuesday:              OJH Winter Concert – 6:30pm in old Elementary Cafeteria Shell
Wednesday:         Band Hall Closes at 4pm 
Thursday:            Band Hall Closes at 4pm
Friday:                 Band Hall Closes at 4pm

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday:                                 Odem JH Bands Winter Concert 6:30pm
February 2^nd or 9^th:                    4^th Annual Solo and Ensemble Recital
February 19^th:                          Recordings due for UIL Solo and Ensemble
February 27^th-March 3^rd:             Recording Window Open for JH All-Region Auditions
March 22^nd:                              Pre-UIL Contest Concert (JH and HS)
April TBD:                                UIL Concert and Sight-Reading Evaluation
April 17^th:                                Windi and Jazzi Fundraiser
April 23^rd-24^th:                          HS All-Region Band Clinic/Concert
April 30^th-May 1^st:                     JH All-Region Band Clinic/Concert
May 17^th:                                 JH Symphonic Winds and HS Band Spring Concert
May 18^th:                                 JH Beginning Band and Concert Band Spring Concert
May 28^th:                                 Graduation
May 30^th-May 31^st:                    UIL Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest



Thank you for all of your help and support, please let us know if you have any questions!