Pie Time!

Support your Ashford School Music program by purchasing a Lyman Orchard Pie from the PTO fundraiser.  Be on the look out for forms heading home next week.  Please contact Ms. Dotson for more information.

AshfordBand@gmail.com

Conduct Us

One more fantastic article on the study of music...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&adxnnl=1&smid=fb-share&adxnnlx=1381887408-ngieJCPytgJ%20twz%202y%20/YQ

Music and our Minds

Check out 2 great articles about the positive, life-long impact that music education has on our lives:

Nobel Prize Winner owes a lot to his bassoon!
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2013/10/nobel-medicine-winner-says-i-owe-is-all-to-my-bassoon-teacher.html 

Using music to close the academic gap:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/using-music-to-close-the-academic-gap/280362/ 

Essay Contest

The 2014 SBO Essay Contest

School Band & Orchestra is pleased to announce the 14^th annual scholarship competition for music students, grades four to 12. Since its inception, the SBO Essay Scholarship Contest has awarded more than $270,000 in scholarship funds and music products to 132 students and their school programs.

In 2013, the winning student entries came from nine states: two from Georgia and one each from California, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Five winners were selected from grades four through eight and five from grades nine to 12, each receiving a $1,000 scholarship, with their respective school music programs receiving a matching award of musical products from co-sponsors NAMM, Alfred Music Publishing, Sabian Ltd., Woodwind & Brasswind, and Yamaha Corporation of America.

This Year’s theme:

Now more than ever music education is important because…

250 Words or Less

Due by December 1, 2013

www.sbomagazine.com

Ashford Open Mic Night

OPEN MIC NIGHTS 

Music, poetry and more.

Solo acts to full bands - All levels and styles are welcome.

Tell your friends and bring your family.

Our audience is growing!  

Families often attend for a fun and inexpensive night of entertainment by local musicians, 

including some who perform in our summer concert series.

The house band provides a P/A with mics, amps, and drums or bring your own.

Need a band to back you up?  We have it!

First timers and closet musicians to seasoned professionals perform.  

We end the night with a monster jam where everyone gets up on stage.  

Come have some FUN and hang out with local musicians and families.  

Students are highly encouraged to attend.

Knowlton Memorial Hall, under the Ashford Library (next to Cumberland Farms) 7-10 pm

$3.00 suggested donation to benefit the Ashford Park & Rec. Dept.  $10.00 family max.

FALL Dates:  Sept. 20^th,  Oct. 18^th,  Nov. 15^th, Dec. 13^th

Want to know more about it?  Please contact John Boiano at 860-798-5692

Inside the instruments... a cool view!

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/03/inside-instruments/

Can you tell what instruments you are inside?

10 Easy Ways to Optimize Your Music Practice

Check out this recent article from NPR on setting up productive practicing sessions!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/09/03/216906386/10-easy-ways-to-optimize-your-music-practice

Summer is fast approaching and I wanted to fill you in on some local musical opportunities for your children. Summer can be a difficult time to keep students motivated on their instruments. One of the following programs will keep students busy, engaged and prepared for next year. You may also want to take a trip to a music store to purchase some "fun music" to keep your students interested. It is amazing what some movie music can do for practicing motivation!

1) Private Lessons: I will be starting my Master's program this summer, so unfortunately I will not be able to provide the normal Summer Lesson Program. UConn's Community School of the Arts has wonderful private lesson teachers that offer short term, summer packages. I encourage you to check them out. If you would like a recommendation please give me a call.

2) UConn's Community School of the Arts: Private lessons, Jazz Camp and Rock and Roll Camp, provide students with the opportunity to continue their playing at a higher level with other local musicians. CSA has a wonderful faculty and does an excellent job with our students! Read more about their summer programs here.

3) Hartt's Community Division: An alternative community school at a very well established music college. The faculty is top rate and the programs provide wonderful guidance and inspiration to high level players. Find out more about their programs here.

4) SmartMusic: Smart Music is a computer based music program. For $30/year, students are able to access thousands of band songs, solos, lesson books and exercises from their home computer. This program allows students to receive immediate feedback on notes and rhythms, record themselves playing and share recordings with family, friends and teachers! Students are familiar with the program from our lessons in school. It is a great practice motivator and a very cheap alternative to buying books at the music store.

If you have any questions about the summer opportunities or your child's best option, please contact me by email or phone. Thank you all for another great year of music making. I truly appreciate all of your support and encouragement. It is a pleasure to work with your children!

Penny War & Fundraiser Results

After a grueling Penny War and fabulous Small Ensemble Concert, the results are finally in! The students destroyed the adults with a score of -10,241 to -20,457. In total the students raised $952.54 for the WINGS program.

Congratulations to everyone involved!!

2011 Penny War - Teachers vs. Students!

Do you have loose change hanging around your house, filling up your pockets and piling up in the car?? Put that change to good use at Ashford School. It's time for the Penny War, held by the music department, in support of the 5th Annual Small Ensemble Benefit Concert! This year the Penny War will be adults versus students, so everyone in the Ashford School community is encouraged to play. Bring your change to the lower lobby before/after school or during lunch. Put all of your pennies (worth 1 point) in the jug labeled (students or teachers) and put all of your silver coins and dollars (negative points) in the opposing team's jug. All of the funds raised will go this year's concert beneficiary, the WINGS program. Good luck to both teams!

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Important Dates

Spring time is always a busy and exciting time for the music department. The Small Ensemble Concert, Middle School Jazz Festival, High School Fly-Ups and Spring Concert are just around the corner. Please check the website frequently to stay on top of announcements and dates. Here is a list of upcoming after-school commitments that your child may be involved in:

Tuesday, March 22nd - Trumpets Grades 6-8 (3:30-4:30)

Thursday, March 24th - Clarinets Grades 7-8 (3:30-4:30)

Thursday, March 31st - Saxophones Grades 6-8 (3:30-4:30)

Tuesday, April 5th - Percussion Grades 6-8 (3:30-4:30)

Tuesday, April 12th - All Small Ensemble Musicians Grades 6-8 (*****3:30-5:00***)

Wednesday, April 13th - After School Jazz Band (3:30-4:30)

Thursday, April 14th - Small Ensemble Concert at Night

Tuesday, May 10th - Evening Jazz Band Rehearsal on Stage 5:30-7:00

Thursday, May 12th - MSJF 12:00-8:00 @UConn

Although it looks like many dates, I have worked very hard to limit the amount of out of school rehearsals that an individual student has to attend. I love that our students are very versatile and busy after school, these Small Ensemble Rehearsals and Jazz Band rehearsals require all students to be present in order to be successful. I appreciate your efforts to make sure your children are at the required events. If there is a major conflict please let me know ASAP and we can see if we can adjust.

I appreciate the work that the students are doing. Please remind them to be practicing their parts and listening to the songs online. Their work at home will determine the success of our groups. I am looking forward to a very successful spring season!

Thank you for all of your support of your children and the music program. We could not do this without you!!

4th Grade Band Starting

Our 4th grade instrumentalists will be starting full Concert Band next Monday, February 28th at 2:45pm. All 4th and 5th graders will meet together to learn about ensemble playing and prepare our music for the Spring Concert. 4th grade students will now attend band on Monday in addition to their normal lesson time on Tuesday.

Practicing

The 4th graders are doing a great job in lessons. As we get into harder material, I would like to give you a heads up about how your children should be practicing at home. Please let me know if you have any questions.

• Students have their homework written down on their green practice charts. If they are absent or they are confused about what they wrote down you can check their assignment here.

• Students should be practicing each number in their book about 10 times/week or until that number has been mastered. They should use the following steps when practicing their book exercises.

1. Play just the rhythm on one note
2. Say the note names (both do re mi and then letter names)
3. Say the notes and move their fingers/slides on their instruments
4. Play it!

• The following article from MENC provides many generally helpful practice tips.

• SmartMusic is a wonderful home practicing tool that can purchased for $36/year. Many of our students have had great success with the program. After you look at the website please let me know if you have any follow up questions or if you would like to see the program in action.

Thank you all for your support. I truly enjoy working with your children and am very proud of their progress!

Jazz Club

Are you interested in playing jazz music? Come check out Ashford's Jazz Club on Wednesday after school. During Jazz Club we will listen to all types of jazz music, play new jazz songs and scales, and learn how to improv. All students in 5th - 8th grade who have played their instrument for at least one year are welcome to attend. This club is for beginner to advanced jazz players.

Sign up sheets are available in the lesson room. Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, October 27th at 3:30pm. Students may take the late bus home.

Hope to see you there!!

QVMSMF 2010

Congratulations to the following students who will be representing Ashford School in the 2010 Quinebaug Valley Middle School Music Festival Band:

Tessa Weidig

Kaitlyn Lyons

Jessica Bassett

Zack Cosgrove

Colin Bizilj

Zane Cosgrove

Gavin Metsack

James Potter

Kasey Phillips

Sarah Caldwell

Tyler Metsack

Holden Lippert

Patrick DesRocher

Stay tuned for more updates about the festival which will take play on Monday, November 8th and Wednesday, November 10th.

Donate Pennies, Make a Change!

Donate Pennies, Make a Change!

To help raise funds for the Small Ensemble Benefit Concert, the music department will be holding the annual Ashford School Penny War. 7th and 8th grade will battle, trying to earn the most positive points.

Pennies = 1 point

Nickel = -5

Dime = -10

Quarter = -25

Dollar = -100

Bring your change to the lower lobby from 3/31-4/13. All students, families and staff are encouraged to participate!

4th Annual Small Ensemble Benefit Concert

Join select Ashford Band and Chorus students for the 4th Annual Small Ensemble Benefit Concert. This year, Ashford students will be supporting Chilean Earthquake Relief with a chamber music concert that promises to delight audience members! Come see our musicians perform everything from popular theme songs, to patriotic folk songs to ragtime. Donations will be accepted at the door and refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!

When: Thursday, April 15th 7:00pm

Where: Ashford School Cafeteria

CSA Brass Day

The Community School of the Arts will be hosing Brass Day on Sunday, January 31st at the University of Connecticut. Join us on January 31st, for an day-long Brass Festival featuring master classes, workshops and performances by Don Lucas, the West Point Academy Brass Quintet, and the University of Connecticut brass faculty.

Highlights will include

• High School Brass Quintet Competition
• Workshops and Master Classes for Music Educators (CT CEU's are available for certain workshops)
• Featured performances by
  • Don Lucas, President of the International Trombone Association and Professor of Trombone at Boston University
  • West Point Academy Brass Quintet
  • UConn Faculty Brass Quintet
  
  
  
  
  The day long festival is appropriate for high school, college and professional players. Upper level 8th graders may enjoy parts of the day as well, though it is geared for higher level players. Regardless of attendance to the day long festival, all students are encouraged to attend the concert at Von Der Mehden Hall at 7:00pm. The concert will feature the above groups and tickets can be purchased for $7.00 at the door.
  
  
  
  
  Find more information including a detailed schedule and registration information here: http://csa.uconn.edu/brassfest/

Fundraiser a Success!

Thanks to the generous support of our Ashford community, the music department raised $1,200.00 in the annual pizza and pie fundraiser sponsored by the PTO. Miss Dotson and Mrs. Porri would like to thank all of the parents and staff who participated and donated. A special thank you to Gavin, Austen, Jennie, Justin, Kasey and Sarah who stayed after school to organize the orders. Thanks also to Mrs. Colonese and Mrs. Mahue who helped deliver orders on Thursday evening!

10% of the funds will go to the Gil Armitage Band Scholarship fund which provides equipment and materials for students who may not be able to financially participate in the band. The rest of the money will go toward the purchase of new equipment for the music room and band. Stay tuned for more details.