Posts: Band Meeting Information

9/24/2019 4:01 PM by letitia.dalling

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 27th.  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 3rd for some students and on Monday, October 7th
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
12th is the school Christmas concert.  December 13th
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 31st for our Little Sprouts Band
Benefit Concert as part of the Living Roots Festival.




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