Changes:
Announcements this week were surprising and sad for our band.
- The Knights Band Team was saddened by the news that school is out for the remainder of the year. However, we support our governing officials for the difficult decision they made, and we will try to make the best of things. As of now, we are working very hard to find a way to celebrate our year together and give the recognition to our seniors that they deserve for their perseverance in our program. We will update you as we get closer to the end of the year.
- Mr. Zavalla sent a letter out to the band this week announcing that he would be leaving the band at the end of this school year. Mr. Zavalla came to CFHS his first year teaching in the 2014-2015 season, and stepped in as Acting Director at the last minute in the 2015-2016 season. He has continued as Associate Director for the past four years while taking responsibility for Jazz Band, Musical and Full Orchestra. He has challenged us to get fit and improve our dance moves. His style and sense of humor have been a part our community as a band, and he will be sorely missed. A few words from his announcement letter are below. We will also be finding a way to celebrate his perseverance our program.
It’s with a very heavy heart that I tell you all that I will no longer be your band director once the school year is finished. The plan to make this announcement was not meant to be done through a letter during a global pandemic, but here we are. Please know that you all have been the best part of my job.
Mr. Zavalla
Other Announcements
- Spring Trip: Mr. Moreno spoke with Perform America and they are finalizing numbers from the trip. They are still waiting to hear back from our bus vendor for refunds and they are hoping to have information for us this week. Thank you for your patience.
- Auditions: Thank you students for submitting your audition videos! The best part was getting to see our students faces again. We miss you all! We will review the videos this week and send a list of students to counselors for bands. We will not post chair order on this audition, but we will post class lists once we have all auditions heard.
- Boosters: It is time to elect the CFHS Band Booster executive board again. Here are the positions up for voting:
- President- VOLUNTEER NEEDED
- Vice-President- Kristi Reiser
- Treasurer: Ernie Davis
- Secretary: Carrie Hughes
- Student Leadership: The student leadership process has begun! We sent out a letter and packet with all the details that are needed. Please note that there is a typo in the packet. The drum major conducting seminar is on May 4th, not 1st, immediately after the leadership meeting via Zoom. You can also download the packet. ALL current CFHS band students are welcome to apply! Please email Mr. Moreno with any questions. Special thank you to Maggie Davidson who helped Mr. Moreno format the audition packet!
- Grades: We will continue to take detailed grades for the work being done for our assignments and not just a general grade for completion. Please be diligent and let us know if you have any specific circumstances that we can assist you with. We are here to help, Just let us know! All late work will be accepted for weeks of 3/16-4/3 for FULL CREDIT throughout the 9 weeks.
Assignments for the week of 4/27-5/1 **Updated 4/29**
Congratulations to those of you who submitted audition videos!!! We apologize for the delay in the assignment for this week. Due to the number of auditions the band directors are listening to, this week’s assignment is to turn in PRACTICE CARD #6 (download file above). Please make sure when you submit your practice card, that you do so in a way that makes it very clear who it is. As you can imagine, it’s difficult to keep track of 100+ practice cards coming in.
Once again, that would be PRACTICE CARD #6 for the week of 4/27.
Now some of you may have the question, “What do I practice now that auditions are over?” Here are a couple of ideas.
- Have you ever been called out on clarity of articulation? Tempo control? Tone quality production? Technique? Using scales and long tones, among many other things, you can work on improving them.
- Do you have an etude book and want to learn something new? Perhaps you have…THE INTERNET and THE GOOGLE?!?!? Explore something new to play and challenge yourself/have fun on your instrument.
- Challenge – find some duets and record them with other people. I would love to see the performances!!
One more time for good measure…PRACTICE CARD #6 AND BE CLEAR IN YOUR SUBMISSION!!!
- PLEASE LET US KNOW IF WE CAN ASSIST IN ANY WAY FOR YOUR STUDENT’S SUCCESS!!!
- Color Guard assignment was sent out by Mr. Zavalla and can also be downloaded below.