5-1-23

We hope everyone enjoyed their Easter Break!

General Announcements

Solo Festival

We have scheduled our Solo Festival for May 11-12.  All students will be performing during their Band class, either as a soloist or with a small group.  Once we have our schedule worked out we will invite our parents and supporters to come and see us play!  Students should have chosen their performance music by now, so feel free to ask them about it.  (Sign-up is posted in the google classroom, if they haven't yet settled on a piece to play.) 

Jazz Band at Lakeside Mall

Congratulations to our Haynes Jazz Band, who had an outstanding performance at the Lakeside Mall!  We received many compliments from our parents and supporters, and even from total strangers!  We represented ourselves and Haynes Academy very well, and the Mall folks have already invited us back for Christmas!

Please share any media from this event here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nyC1PPVnRutCXrgxcaLt8TN49d-CeCSP?usp=sharing

Jazz Band Festival Pictures (from Southeastern)

Follow these links to see (and purchase pictures from our performances:

Haynes Jazz Band 

Haynes Jazz Combo 

Jazz Band Outstanding Soloists

Please help us to congratulate the following Jazz Band musicians, who received Outstanding Soloist Awards:

Loyola Jazz Festival:  Sam Korn and Jack Roane

Bill Evans Jazz Festival (at Southeastern):  Sam Korn, Cooper Belletto, Zoe Heim, Jack Roane, Livy Best, and Noah Barberot

Congratulations to all of these outstanding musicians!

Practice Schedule Updates

Graduation Practices will be held on Tuesdays until 5:00.  We encourage our Middle School musicians to join us, so they can experience being a part of our incredible High School Band.

Drumline Practice

To prepapre for the Senior Walk-thru, our Drumline will practice Thursday May 4 until 5:00 pm.  We invite all middle school and high school percussionists to join us and see what it's like to be a part of the Haynes Drumline!

Graduation Details

6:30 pm -- Arrive Alario Center and set up

7:00 pm  -- warm-up and tune

7:30 pm -- Graduation !!!

9:00 pm -- load and depart

Graduation will again be held at the Alario Center in Westwego.  (see map here)

Wear the absolute best clothes you own.  (Please no school uniforms, tennis shoes, etc. -- when in doubt, OVERDRESS!!!!!)

Summer Music Opportunities

We are compiling a list of Musical Opportunities for our students.  We encourage all of our students to explore some of these options -- they will learn so much, and get to meet other music students from Louisiana and beyond!  If you are aware of other opportunities that we may have missed, please forward the information to Mr. Phelan, so we can update our lists.  (These events are also posted on our Calendar.)

Concert Percussion Camp (@NSU in Natchitoches, LA)

Summer Drummin at Southern Miss (work with Dr. John Wooton!)

Drum Major Camp (@NSU)

Marching Percussion Camp (@NSU)

Loyola Jazz Camp (work with Dr. Gordon Towell!)

LSU Bands Music Camp (work with Dr. Kelvin Jones!)

All South Drum Major and Color Guard Camp (@ USM)

Tigerland Auxiliary and Leadership Camp (@ LSU)

Band Camp

We are looking forward to Band Camp in July!  This is a fun week of Music and Marching, with some fun games and other things to make it exciting.  Percussion will begin on July 20 with a two-day Percussion Camp, and the full Band will begin Monday July 24.  All High School Band members are expected to participate in Band Camp, and we especially invite all of our Middle School Band members to join us.

Senior Reminder

As a friendly reminder to our Seniors, please return all school-owned instruments and equipment at your earliest convenience, so we can get things ready for next year's Band.

Haynes Band Donation Portal is OPEN!

By popular demand, we will be leaving our online Donation Portal open for the rest of the school year.  Feel free to share the link below with friends and family, and Thank You for supporting our students!  (Give NOLA Day is coming up soon, and our students will certainly benefit from some additional new instruments, so please share the link below!)

Haynes Band Donation Portal 

Shirts Have Arrived

Students may pick up their ordered shirts and sweatshirts at any time.  Thanks to everyone who purchased a shirt, and who wears it proudly to show their support of the Haynes Academy Band!

High School Band

It's College Audition Season!  

No matter your school of choice, Band is one of the most fun and rewarding activities you can join.  You will immediately make tons of new friends, find a "home" on campus, and become an active member of your school community from Day One.  Most schools also offer some form of Band Scholarship for participating in Band.  (Many of these scholarships are not related to being a Music Major -- instead they are focused on students who just want to PLAY FOR FUN!)

We have had several college Band Directors on our campus this year, and EVERY ONE of them has shared some of the benefits to our young people of playing music in college.  From having an instant circle of friends, to fun activities, to all of the obvious musical and artistic opportunities, College Band is a great choice for students.

We strongly encourage all of our students to explore the musical offerings at your school of choice.  Please contact Mr. Phelan if you would like additional information.  

Middle School Band

Testing Week

We are catching up on Thank You cards for our Donors Choose projects, and generally de-stressing after our long days of testing.

We are also choosing our solos and/or small ensembles (as detailed above).

We invite our Middle School musicians to join us for Graduation practices on Tuesdays until 5:00 pm.

We look forward to seeing everyone soon!