Marching Uniforms Update
Our night at Little Theatre was a great experience. The play was great–Maria Jones, Stephen Olmstead, Matthew Zahn (11th Grade English teacher), and Patty Moran (Ms. Maxey’s executive assistant) added a special dimension as the guest spellers. The reception before spilled over into intermission and afterwards–it was great.

Pat Jones was an excellent host, though John Pettit earned his share of the spotlight with his patter while awarding the many door prizes. Kudos to Laurie Young for selling all those door prize tickets! Special, special thanks to Mia Jones for her tireless, indefatigable leadership and organization making the whole evening happen. And, many thanks to all you who supported the night by buying tickets and selling tickets to your friends and family members.

As announced at the performance, we have ordered the uniforms, paying half the cost now, with the other half due on delivery in a few months. So, we’ll see how much more fund raising we may need to do for this particular project. Our erstwhile treasurer is still toting up the income and expenses, but whatever the outcome, the event definitely brought us closer to our goal of new marching band uniforms!

Booster Meeting Highlights
At the January booster meeting we ordered the marching band uniforms (whoo hoo!). We also approved supporting our 9 all state band auditioners in their auditions at JMU on February 25. We’re still working out all the details. Next booster meeting: February 8.

Jazz Happenings

• District Jazz Audition Results: Congratulations to the nine TC Williams band members selected to the District Ten Jazz Band: Bobby Warden, Garrett Youmans, Duncan Forrester, Denny Okudinani, Stephen Olmstead, Jonathan Forbes, David Salmons, Maria Jones, and Kevin Bueno. Nick Braun and George Waskowicz are alternates. Rehearsals are at Episcopal High School, January 26-28. The culminating performance, open to the public, is at 5pm on the 28th.
• Jazz Band A to Compete: Our top jazz band travels to Rockville, MD, on February 18 to compete at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (MAJF). The MAJF High School Jazz Band Competition will include 12 high school jazz bands that are from schools located in the Mid-Atlantic states, including North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. If the Titans place in the top three based on their 9:30am performance, they come back and perform again at 5pm. Get more details on the competition. Hold the date and come out to support them!
• For those who missed the TC Jazz Winter Swingin’ Concert, here’s the playlist to the concert on YouTube.

Marching Band Camp in August
Marching Band Camp will start the week of August 13, 2012. As you are planning summer events for your family, please keep in mind that marching band members need to be in town for camp the last three weeks of August. An important step for excelling in competitions is for the whole band to participate actively at band camp. If you have questions, talk to Mr. Thomas.

Boosters Private Lesson Scholarships Available
Private lessons are a great way for students to improve their musicianship, which also improves the sound of whatever band they are in. Our directors are really good, but there are at least 10 different instruments in each class, so there are at least 10 different performance techniques. And that’s asking a lot of anyone! Fortunately, we have a lot of very good private lesson instructors in this area, many of them current or former members of the different service bands.

But, you say, private lessons are not in our family’s budget. Not a problem, the TC Band Boosters has a private lesson scholarship program. We will help with the cost of lessons. Have your student talk to their band director, if they are interested in lessons. After they talk the director will give them a scholarship application to fill out to get the ball rolling. It’s that simple! If they forget to bring the scholarship application home, don’t worry. Get it from the Booster web site.

Admirals Discount Card Supports Hammond Bands
Support the Hammond band program by purchasing a 2011-12 “Admirals Discount Card.” Just $10 gets you the card with discounts 2012 to several area businesses including Baja Fresh, Bugsy’s, Papa John’s, Domino’s, Krispy Kreme, Subway, McDonald’s, Quizno’s, Burger King, Sports Authority, and Jiffy Lube. The card could more than pay for itself with just a few visits! I can’t wait to get mine!

To get yours find Hammond band student or contact either Vaughn Ambrose, vambrose@acps.k12.va.us or David Fye, david.fye@acps.k12.va.us. Or, send a check made out to FCH Band for $10 to their attention at Hammond: 4646 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA 22304.

Summer Band Opportunities
If you know of a summer band opportunity, please pass it along. Here’s one from Ripley Forbes:

Bar Harbor Brass Week (June 24-30, 2012) is an intensive educational and performance experience for select college and high school brass musicians. Daily activities include rehearsals, coachings, masterclasses, and private lessons–all led by a prestigious faculty of many of the finest brass musicians and educators in the country. Learn more at http://www.barharborbrass.org/General_Info.htm.

Upcoming Dates

Check the Booster site calendar for all you information needs.

January 26-28: District Jazz Band at Episcopal High School. Concert open to all at 5pm on the 28th.

February 2-4: District Honor Band. Concert open to all at 3pm at Hayfield

February 8: Band Boosters meeting, 7:30-8:30pm

February 9: Pick Up Corbi products (from final fund raiser), 3-5pm

Week of February 13: Two 40-minute rehearsals (marching band only) TBA

February 18: Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, Rockville, MD Jazz Band A competes, starting at 9:30am

February 20: George Washington’s Birthday Parade, Marching Band

February 23: Concert Band Workshop, 6pm-8pm, TC Auditorium, open to parents

February 25: All-State Band auditions at James Madison University

February 28: Concert, 7pm start, Symphonic, Wind Ensemble, GW, Hammond (Pyramid Concert, Chick-fil-A for sale!)

March 2-3: Virginia State Band Assessment at Annandale High School, Concert, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Bands

March 14: Band Boosters meeting, 7:30-8:30pm

March 16-17: Chantilly Jazz Festival, Jazz Band A

March 21-25, 2012: Universal Studios: Orlando, Florida & OrlandoFest!

Ideas? Suggestions?
Send your ideas and suggestions for this newsletter and the TC Band site to any of the following:
Sharon Dooley, President, qplguy@gmail.com
Laurie Young, Secretary, ldyoungdesign@verizon.net
Donna Pettit, Treasurer, dpettit@csc.com

Cheers!
Sharon Dooley
President, TC Williams Band Boosters

Jazz Band B

Jazz Band A

Enjoy! Go ahead–share this with family and friends!

Hear for yourself the jazz program that placed nine students in the District X Jazz Band at auditions last week. As always, free parking in the garage next door.

If you already have your ticket, see you there!

If you don’t have your ticket yet, don’t let that stop you. We’ll have some tickets at the door, so come on out to the Little Theatre anyway (600 Wolfe Street). Just $30 gets you into the show and a great wine-and-cheese reception before hand.

Wine-and-cheese reception starts at 7pm. Curtain at 8pm.

And, did I mention the door prizes? Well, we’ve got ‘em, including tickets to a Caps game and a $50 gift card for Universal Orlando–if you know a band member (or chaperone even) going on the spring band trip in March, this would be a great gift for them. And, there could be more!

Remember, all the proceeds support new marching band uniforms.

Hope to see you there!
Sharon Dooley
TCW Band Boosters President

I tried posting the playlist for the concert from Youtube, but it isn’t working. So, to see all the videos easily, click the “video” link below all the sharing options, where it says “This entry was posted in Video.”

Enjoy!