​Hello Grade 3, 4 & 5 parents,

Here’s a quick update on the band program at Royal Road.  I know a number of you were unable to make the meeting we had on Monday night, so I wanted to ensure that you know what was discussed:

I Introduced Myself

My name is Genevieve MacRae and I am the band director at Royal Road.  I am a flute player by training (Mount Allison University) but I also play piano, guitar, ukulele, clarinet and French horn.  I am not a teacher at the school (or any school).  I have a private studio and I also do the band program at Nashwaaksis Middle School.

We discussed the registration process

Hopefully you have all gotten registration forms.  We have also attached them to this email just in case.  They are due at the office no later than Friday of this week, September 27^th.  The band registration fee is $50.  If you wish to rent an instrument through the school there’s another $75 fee.  If your family cannot afford the fee, NO PROBLEM!  I will find sponsorships to cover your fees.

We talked about instrument choices

Students may choose from flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone or percussion.  If you / your child are unsure which instrument you / they want, let me know.  I can help you with making choices!

You can rent from the school or from Long & McQuade. If you rent from L&M, ABSOLUTELY get the insurance they offer.  It’s cheap and VERY worth it.  Each instrument requires some care (valve oil for trumpets, reeds for clarinets & saxes, etc).  If you rent from either the school or L&M, you’ll be started off with the basics.  Clarinet & sax students will need to purchase extra reeds at some point during the school year.  They can be purchased through L&M or Tony’s Music Box.

We talked about books

One of the grants we got last year allowed us to buy a nice new set of books to learn from so this year, each child will be given a book to take home & bring to rehearsal.  These belong to the school and will be returned at the end of the year.  It would be GREAT if they were returned in good condition.  😊

The rehearsal schedule was discussed

Rehearsals will be Mondays & Thursdays during lunch.  Parents will be sent a detailed schedule once registrations are all in and that schedule is made.  Not every child will be needed every rehearsal.  For the first few months, they’ll only need to come once/week.  After Christmas, it’ll be more like three times every two weeks.

First rehearsal / meeting

I will be at the school on Monday for an initial band meeting.  No instruments will be needed for this meeting.  The first rehearsal will be on Thursday, October 3^rd for some students and on Monday, October 7^th for others.  The aforementioned schedule will inform you of whom at which.

We discussed money stuff

There is no funding for a school band program anywhere in the province of NB.  What this means is that your band program is covered by student fees and by fundraising throughout the year.  We already have one fundraiser under our belts for the year as a few parents from last year signed up to work the 50/50 fundraiser at the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival.  It will take a month or more before we know how much we raised and we won’t likely see that money until January or so.

I threw out a few important dates to mark in your calendars

December 12^th is the school Christmas concert.  December 13^th is the snow date.

The Fredericton Music Festival takes place the last two weeks of April. Sometime in February/March we will find out the date of our performance in the festival.

We have the Playhouse booked for May 31^st for our Little Sprouts Band Benefit Concert as part of the Living Roots Festival.

And then I opened the floor for questions

So if you have any, please send me an email – glmacrae@gmail.com.

I’m looking forward to being your band director again this year and seeing what amazing things your children will be able to do!

Thanks,

Genevieve