The Crownover Orchestras have had a great fall semester so far. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the students at their first concert of the year. We had a great time presenting our wild west concert for such a large audience! I hope to have some photos and video clips to share with everyone soon after everything can be organized. Families can save a digital copy of our concert program if anyone did not get to save one at the concert. We have a few major events yet to come in the first half of the year, including our picture day coming up next week and our next concert coming up in December. We also now have our first round of competitive achievements to celebrate. Thank you for taking a look at our November orchestra news and we look forward to seeing everyone again at our next performance!
Our annual picture day will be coming up next week on November 4. Please review the info below to help us have a smooth and successful day. We are on a tight schedule to get both band and orchestra photos done on the same day, so we need all students to have everything they need when it's time for their photo. Students are welcome to bring clothes to school ahead of time and store them in the orchestra room.
Prelude Orchestra families - please note that students in Prelude will be in their orchestra t-shirts and jeans for their group photo. If you prefer they have a formal outfit for the professional individual portrait that will be taken of them with their instrument, the student is more than welcome to pack a change of clothes of your choice.
The Guyer Orchestras arrange an order of GHS orchestra sweatshirts and hoodies about every 2 years. Middle school students are welcome to participate in ordering orchestra spirit wear. Participation is optional. Orders must be placed online by November 9.
On Saturday, October 25, Crownover sent 32 students to the all-region auditions. At these auditions, students compete against hundreds of students from around our region in a blind audition for a panel of judges who are specialists on their instrument. Crownover had 16 students selected - an outstanding result for our students! Crownover had the 4th-most placements out of over 30 campuses represented from our region. Crownover had by far the most placements from Denton ISD - twice as many as any other DISD campus. Students also audition regardless of grade level, so we are especially proud of our 6th and 7th graders who were selected!
Our students worked incredibly hard in after school sectionals and individual practice for the past 3 months to prepare for this event. All of our students who participated have grown so much as musicians and I am so proud of all of their hard work and progress.
Our students' all-region rankings are used to place students in the upcoming Denton ISD All-District Clinic and Concert. On top of our 16 all-region placements, our students' performances secured an additional 13 placements in the DISD All-District Orchestra.
All-Region students will participate in the All-Region Clinic and Concert on December 12-13 at Denton HS. Please view the Clinic/Concert Information Letter for details about this event. These students also qualify to participate in the All-District Clinic/Concert on January 10. Please let Ms. Harvey know ASAP if there is any reason you cannot participate.
Claire Kwon - 6th Grade
Ellie Fraga - 7th Grade
Merida del Carpio - 8th Grade
Jinny Choi - 8th Grade
Samuel Francis - 8th Grade
Opshori Haider - 8th Grade
Oliver Hollingsworth - 8th Grade
Daniela Silva - 8th Grade
Grace Yoon - 8th Grade
Bela Escobico - 7th Grade
Arianna Matthew - 7th Grade
Dorothy Kyrias - 8th Grade
Royden Amponsah - 7th Grade
Walker Brown - 7th Grade
Finn Parson - 7th Grade
Vedant Ganpule - 8th Grade
All-District students will participate in the district Clinic/Concert on Saturday, January 10 at Strickland MS. Please view the All-District Clinic/Concert Information letter for details about this event. Please let Ms. Harvey know ASAP if you cannot participate on January 10.
Annabella Baylog - 7th Grade
Anna Bird - 7th Grade
Charley Carr - 7th Grade
Harold Amponsah - 8th Grade
Joanna Anoop - 8th Grade
Elijah O'Rourke - 8th Grade
Jacob Glenn - 7th Grade
Shawn Daulla - 8th Grade
Olivia Stevens - 8th Grade
Delilah Williams - 8th Grade
Ellison Riall - 8th Grade
Amelia Safarli - 7th Grade
Hunter Buechel - 8th Grade
Merida del Carpio - All-Region Band
Harold Amponsah - All-Region Band
Joanna Anoop - All-Region Choir
Arianna Matthew - All-Region Choir
On Tuesday, November 18, our officers will participate in our annual fine arts officer field trip along with all of our band, choir and theatre officers. Students will travel to Group Dynamix in Carrollton to participate in team building and leadership activities. Students will receive an information letter and permission form soon. We will leave during 8th period and return approximatley 7:30 pm.
Our next concert will be our Guyer cluster concert that we call our annual "String Fling." At the cluster concert, performances will be heard from Crownover, Harpool and Guyer orchestras. The concert will be taking place at Guyer in the gym.
Students will wear their orchestra t-shirts and jeans for this concert.
We have a tradition of offering meal purchases (usually from chick-fil-a) for pickup on site the night of the concert to help students and families with their schedule that night. More info to come on that. We typically also have some concession items and dippin' dots ice cream on site!
We look forward to sharing all of our annual String Fling traditions with our audience members new and old!
Each group has a required on-site warm-up time to combine with Harpool for a rehearsal on their pieces.
Chamber Orchestra Warm-up 5:00-5:30
Philharmonic 5:30-6:00
Prelude 6:00-6:30. Short break then rehearsal with all orchestras on combined piece. 6th graders are recommended to pick up and eat your meal pre-orders before your warm-up since you won't have much time after.
Concert begins at 7:00
Thank you so much to all family and friends to participated in our fall fine arts fundraiser. The orchestra reached their goal for our expenses for the year thanks to your help. Due to the fact that we are participating in a couple of things this year that may cost more than we typically spend in transportation (as well as the rising costs of all of our field trips), and the need for supply replacement and repairs throughout the year, we may run a short spring fundraiser the second half of the year to make sure we do not have to cut anything out of our schedule or have repair needs to being attended to. More info on that to come.
Congratulations to former RCMS/GHS bass player Ian Grems for securing a position in the bass section of the Turku Philharmonic in Finland. We wish him safe travels and an exciting adventure in his new position! While at GHS, Ian was a high school all-state bass player He went on earned a bachelor's and master's degree in bass performance, studying with renowned bass profession Jeff Bradetich at UNT. Prior to this most recent placement, Ian was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami.
Congratulations also to Ryan High School alumni Harry Dearman for securing a position in the bass section of the Vancouver Symphony!
We were excited to see former RCMS/GHS violinist Reema Russell featured in promotional materials for Stephen F. Austin University College of Music. Reema is currently pursuing a degree in music education. We look forward to seeing all that Reema accomplishes!