I hope you have been having some great time off.  I am very excited for this upcoming season (for many reasons), so I want to be sure we're prepared BEFORE we go into rehearsals. 

The band booster officers had a meeting this past month to discuss upcoming events and some minor changes as well.  Be sure to check out the minor summer uniform change in the summer mailing document.  Those who do not have the capabilities of accessing the document online will receive a copy in the mail.  Please be sure to fill out the last two pages that relate to updating our contact info and parent sign ups for chaperoning and Harvest Festival. 

Also, the band website will be changing this upcoming fall as our school district goes to a standard format for all programs/teachers.  This website will still exist, but we will be utilizing the other format primarily.  Notice of this change will be given when the other site is created and up-to-date. 

If you haven't clicked on the "subscribe" button above these news updates, I highly recommend it so that you DO get notifications when I update them. 

Hey all,

We are gearing up for the summer, so please review the summer dates in the previous PHS Band News post. 

We are taking our student leadership team to a leadership clinic in Columbus, NE.  Please click here for the information sheet.   Congratulations to the following students on being selected as our student leaders for the 2011-2012 year:

Drum Majors

Alicia Hamilton

Paige McCollum

Kelsey Schirmbeck

Flutes

Anna Glynn

Kiley Wheately

Clarinet

Kayla Dale

Laura Glynn

Saxes

Jenna Lepper

Trumpets

Nathan Hudson

 

Horns

Sam Petracek

Low Brass

Nathan Breault

Erin Petry

Percussion/Drumline

Cooper Schuh

Flag Captain

Laura Brink

This was an email sent out today:

Hey all,

Just wanted to get out some info.  First off, if you check out the website (www.plattsmouthband.com) you'll notice that I put up some great links to some great summer camps.  I highly recommend checking them out.

Also, if you want to plan ahead, our summer marching band camp dates will be the following.  I will be sending out a more detailed mailing, but I wanted to get info out via email to those who would be interested. 


July 9th                                   Leadership Clinic in Columbus, NE with Frank Troyka (All able, especially leaders, encouraged to attend.  More info will be passed out when it is received)

July 18th – 22nd:                  Only Flags Rehearse 9am – 3pm

July 24th:                                Plattsmouth High School Leadership Clinic (Only Drum Majors, Section Leaders, and Captains)

July 25th – 29th:                   Only Drumline Rehearse 9am – 3pm

July 30th:                                FRESHMEN DAY – Only Freshmen rehearse 9am – 3pm with Mr. K and Section Leaders

August 1st – 5th:                    FULL BAND (Everyone) Rehearses 9am – 1pm & 6pm – 9pm

August 8th – 12th:                 FULL BAND 9am – 1pm & 6pm – 9pm

August 12th:                           Exhibition – We will have our annual drill down contest/exhibition for the public @ 8pm

August 13th:                            Cass County Fair – We will have a schedule for you as this gets closer.  It usually occurs in the late morning/afternoon hours.


Also, I have created a Google Voice number in order to better accommodate my personal and professional life.  If any of you have been texting/calling my personal cell phone number, I would ask that you begin using (402) 882-2263.  This number will still go to my cell phone, but will also document my phone calls/text messages and I also have the option of "Do Not Disturb" for when I need to be a family man.  If it is a true emergency, however, my regular cell phone number is always available. 

More dates and info to come with our summer mailing!  Thanks!

-Zac Konrad

Here is a list of our upcoming obligations for the remainder of the year, as well as info concerning our summer marching band camps:

Auditions

Color Guard Auditions - Thursday, 4/21 @ 7pm (High School Band Room)

Percussion/Drumline Auditions - Monday, 5/2 @ 7pm (HS Band Room)

Drum Major Auditions - Thursday, 5/5 @ 4pm - 7pm (Individual Sign Up Times) (HS Band Room)


Performances/Events

Commencement - Sunday, 5/8 @ approximate 11am - 2pm (High School Gym)

Fine Arts Banquet - Monday, 5/9 @ 6pm (High School Commons)

Final High School Band Concert - Tuesday, 5/10 @ 7pm (High School Auditorium)


Camps

*Frank Troyka Leadership Clinic in Columbus, NE - July 9th (All Day)

Color Guard Camp - 7/18 to 7/22 @ 9am - 3pm (High School)

Leadership Camp - 7/23 @ 9am - 3pm (HS)

Drumline Camp - 7/25 to 7/29 @ 9am - 3pm (HS)

Freshmen Day - 7/30 @ 9am - 3pm (HS)

Full Band Camp (week 1) - 8/1 to 8/5 @ 9am - 1pm and 6pm - 9pm (HS)

Full Band Camp (week 2) - 8/8 to 8/12 @ 9am - 1pm and 6pm - 9pm (HS)

Exhibition/Drill Down  - Friday, August 12th @ 7pm (HS Soccer Field)

Cass County Fair - Saturday, August 13th @ approximately 4pm - 8pm




*I would like to take a van full of students up to participate in this great clinic.  Information will be passed out as it is received.  I especially want to recommend my anticipated student leaders to attend, but will take anyone interested in leadership improvement. 

Here is some info about past events for the PHS Band.

Congrats to the PHS Band on a great performance at District Music Contest!  Although the numbers are not always where we want them, I was quite pleased with the progress we have made in both groups and know that we are moving in a very exciting direction.  Also, congrats to the following individuals on receiving "Superiors" for their solos:

Daulton Carpenter - Snare Solo
Jaycie Wetenkamp - Clarinet Solo
Kiley Wheatley - Flute Solo

Kudos to all of you that participated!

Here is a note I sent out regarding our pancake feed:



"I just wanted to give a big thank you to everyone involved with the Pancake Feed yesterday.  It's always nice seeing so many faces from past and present. 

A special thanks to Sharon Petracek for her planning of the big event.  There were an amazing group of parents/adults helping out (Melinda Baum and her team, Monika Cobb, Phil Brink, Keith Petracek, Amy Voogd, Sheila Stanford, Teresa Anderson, Linda and Dave Hanson, Jason and Emily France, Chris Hudson, Tracy Rinner, Deanne and Ricky Eledge, and Mark Smith).  If there were more, I either missed you or have an awful memory!

Also, thank you to all the groups/students that performed.  We're looking forward to having even more entertainment next year!

Also (again) thank you to Brenda Jessen and Meri Sedlak on the wonderful artwork.  It was a wonderful time and I hope many of you were able to check it out!

Thanks so much again and we appreciate your support!"

Lots of upcoming events:

On February 25th (Friday), the PHS Jazz Band will be traveling to Omaha to perform at the UNO Jazz Fest.  Information regarding their performance can be found here. 

The following day, February 26th (Saturday) Plattsmouth High School will be hosting an Indoor Drumline/Flags contest.  Information about that event can be found here.

Our next concert will be on March 15th at the High School at 7pm.  We will be performing with the 6th - 8th bands.  It should be a great time!

Also, congratulations to the students on a successful day at Elkhorn Band Olympics.  A special congrats to Kiley Wheatley on placing 2nd out of all the 10th grade flutes and Sam Petracek on placing 5th out of all the 9th grade horns.

A belated congratulations to the following students on making Wayne State Honor Band:

Anna Glynn - Flute
Kiley Wheatley - Flute
Nicole Masters - Clarinet
Laura Glynn - Clarinet
Jaycie Wetenkamp - Clarinet
Nathan Hudson - Trumpet
Kevin Voogd - Trumpet
Erin Petry - Trombone


Be sure to check the reminders for dates and other info.  I also updated the Winter Arts section with some info.

Also, we are welcoming Mr. Tristan Bassinger, a student teacher from Peru State College for the first eight weeks of the semester.  If you get a chance to, please say hello to him.  He's been doing a great job already!

Check reminders here about our concert tonight and our upcoming pep bands.

Also, please be out there selling tickets for our fundraiser with the Omaha Lancers.  More info here.

Congratulations to the following students on making the following honor bands:

Jaycie Wetenkamp (Clarinet) - Hastings Honor Band/UNO Honor Band
Kiley Wheatley (Flute) - UNO Honor Band
Erin Petry (Trombone) - UNO Honor Band
Kevin Voogd (Trumpet) - UNO Honor Band
Nathan Hudson (Trumpet) - UNO Honor Band
Sam Petracek (French Horn) - UNO Honor Band

It's been a while since our last post, but there are lots of upcoming activities.  Be sure to be checking the schedule and calendar as we are getting into our Winter Arts season as well as basketball pep band.  Most importantly, I want students to keep working on their individual musicianship.  There are lots of opportunities to practice to be better players (honor bands, concert band pieces, solo/ensemble literature, etc).   I am always open to helping with lessons, so please talk to me and I would love to meet with any of you.

Our Lancers fundraiser is currently going on, so please make sure that you are selling those tickets.  Our goal is for each student to sell four tickets!  Once you have collected money, simply bring it to me so that I might pass it on to our Band Booster representative, Linda Hanson.  Click here for more information about the fundraiser.

Keep practicing those instruments and be sure to check our upcoming reminders/schedule!

Hey all!

There are lot of things (as always) happening in the Plattsmouth Band world.  If you click here, you can see some reminders about our jazz band and honor bands.  I am currently sitting and watching two of our own (Laura Brink, Clarinet and Nathan Hudson, Trumpet) represent us quite positively at the Doane College Festival of Winds. 

We are finalizing information about indoor drumline/flags.  For drumline, we have help sessions/auditions the following days (these are all Mondays):


11/15 @ 7pm - 9pm        Help Session for those auditioning for indoor pit (mallets).  Marching line need not attend.

11/22@ 7pm - 9pm        Help Session for those auditioning for marching line.  Pit need not attend.

11/29@ 7pm - 9pm        Auditions.  They will work as a group from 7pm - 8pm and individually audition from 8pm - 9pm.  In order to be considered, you MUST attend auditions.


We are in the process of finalizing schedules for our indoor competitions, as the dates have changed significantly from last year.  A list will be distributed as soon as it is complete. 

Thanks for all you do!  I'm looking forward to the remainder of the year!