1-15-24 Newsletter

Announcements

Heritage School of Music

In addition to their financial support, the Jazz and Heritage Foundation will be holding auditions very soon for their Heritage School of Music!  This FREE program (yes, totally free!) educates students in Music Fundamentals and Performance, and the more advanced groups may even perform at French Quarter Festival and/or the Jazz and Heritage Festival!  They are especially interested in recruiting additional trombone and bass players for the Spring semester.

Learn more here: Heritage School of Music Flyer

Honor Band Weekend!

Next weekend is the District Six Honor Band weekend at Tulane University!  Our students are looking forward to a fun weekend, and we invite everyone to come out to see their concert:  Sunday Jan. 21, 2:00 pm at Tulane's Dixon Hall.

Here is the full schedule for the weekend.  As always, please contact Mr. Phelan with questions or concerns.

Upcoming Dates

We have added several performance opportunities to our Calendar for the Spring semester:

Solo and Small Ensemble Festival -- Feb. 28 - March 1 in the Black Box Theater (all Band students)

LMEA Large Ensemble Assessment (Band Festival) - March 18 at the Chalmette HS Cultural Arts Center (High School Band, maybe 7th and 8th Band)

Jefferson Parish Superintendent's Assessment (Band Festival) - March 25-27 at West Jefferson HS auditorium (all Band students)

We hope to see you at any or all of these events!

Haynes Band Media Folder

If you have any pictures or video from any of our performances or activities, please share them to the folder linked here.  Thanks!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/139ORTm-6tqc_vL1GdumZ90XxyRvkqVlY?usp=sharing

Taste and Tunes

We're already working on this year's Taste and Tunes performance, and WE NEED YOU to help make it the best one yet!  Learn more on our Taste and Tunes web page, and check back often as this page will be continually updated.

Taste and Tunes web page 

Band Fee

The Haynes Academy Band charges a $30 annual fee, which covers the purchase of music, transportation, etc.  This fee has been posted to student accounts.  Please contact Mr. Phelan with questions or concerns.

Band Camp 2024

That's not a typo -- we're already looking ahead to Band Camp next July!  In order to help everyone plan their summer vacations (and to hopefully increase our Band Camp participation!) we have tentatively scheduled Band Camp 2024:

July 22-23 (Monday and Tuesday) = Percussion Camp

July 24 (Wednesday) = Drum Corps at USM in Hattiesburg

July 25-26 (Thursday and Friday) and July 29-31 (Monday-Wednesday) = Full Band Camp

We have no other details yet, including location or times, but we ask that you make every effort to have your students at Band Camp on all of those days.  Thanks in advance for your cooperation!

Band T-shirts and Sweatshirts

Haynes Band T-shirts and Sweatshirts have arrived!   Please send payment ASAP so we can send yours home.  We did order a few extras, so contact Mr. Phelan to get your student the most stylish shirts on campus!

High School Band

After school practices (Tuesday and Thursday)

Spring practice will run until 5:30, so we may be prepared for parades and festivals.  

We will begin enforcing an Attendance Policy for all rehearsals, to further encourage our students to organize their time efficiently.   Please note that COMMUNICATION IS KEY when resolving scheduling conflicts.  Parents, we ask that you help your students to plan ahead, and to address conflicts as soon as they arise.  This is a great skill for "the real world"!!!

Tuesday's practice will be an indoor practice, working on Safe Harbor, and reading another possible piece for festival.

Thursday's practice will likely be an outdoor marching practice (weather permitting).  We will concentrate on Crazy Train and Locked Out of Heaven.

Absence Request Form (Updated!)

Also, students must have solid black shoes, socks, and pants to march in this year's parade.  If you still haven't gotten these items, please do so.

Jazz Band

Our Jazz Band will continue practiciing this Wednesday until 5:00 pm, as we begin to prepare for the Bill Evans Jazz Festival at SLU in Hammond.

The Week in Review

High School Bands

This week, we worked on Safe Harbor and sightread a new piece, Air for Band, to prepare for the LMEA competition. Both pieces went well, and congratulations to euphoniums and clarinets for scoring points :) 

We also reviewed attendance policies, so please be sure to show up to practice!

On Thursday, we practiced Crazy Train and marched around campus. Here are a few things to keep in mind: dress to the left, maintain good posture, stay in step and in line (especially while turning), do core workouts, and practice playing while marching at home. 

During jazz band, we worked on Niobe and Moon Juice for the Bill Evans Jazz Festival, and we received two new pieces: Musicians Can’t Dance, which will likely be our opener, and Work in Progress.

Look at the calendar for any events announced during practice, and have a good weekend! 😁

- Ryan and Hannah

P. S. Our new Bass Drum heads are looking and sounding great! (Mr. P)

Closing

Please visit our Calendar for all the latest updates, and feel free to contact Mr. Phelan at any time with questions or concerns.  We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Mr. Phelan