The Ensemble

The Percussion Ensemble is a music club/ensemble that is offered at MaST II Tacony. Students in grades 5-12 are permitted to join this ensemble by the required deadlines. Percussion Ensemble is an audition-based ensemble allowing students who have 1+ years of percussion experience to audition. 

Auditions

Auditions require students to bring the following materials to Mr. Williams' general music classroom 224W to audition:

1. Drum Sticks

2. Pitched Percussion Mallets (Medium or Soft Rubber preferred, any set is applicable)

3. Audition Excerpts distributed in the final lesson of the previous school year.

The audition date will be held on Thursday September 5th, 2024 from 2:30pm - 3:30pm (the normally scheduled rehearsal time slot.) Students will be prepared to play a mallet percussion excerpt, a snare drum excerpt, demonstrate a proper pocket on drum set, and tune one of the timpani in the classroom to a selected note (provided on the day of audition.) Students will conclude their audition by sight reading an excerpt on an instrument/multi-percussion setup they have not encountered before. They will be scored off of the following criteria out of ten possible points:

1. Tempo/Steadiness - This is the student's ability to maintain steady time, and perform without speeding up or slowing down their playing.

2. Rhythmic Accuracy - This is the student's ability to accurately perform rhythms on the page with a clear understanding of how they relate to the tempo of the excerpt.

3. Pitch Accuracy - This is the student's ability to accurately perform the pitched notes on the page correctly with proper technique, and intonation on the selected pitched instrument.

4. General Musicianship - This is the student's ability to behave and maintain a professional etiquette during the audition sequence. This will be scored before, during, and after the student's audition is complete. Prior auditions, rehearsals, and performances will be taken into consideration when scoring this portion of the audition.

5. Sight-Reading - This is the student's ability to read music without prior experience or practice. This will reflect the student's ability to quickly pick up the correct notes, rhythms, and techniques required to perform the excerpt provided to them. They will be given a very brief amount of time to look over the music, and the score will be calculated once they begin their first note. Restarting will be considered a negative deduction to their overall score in this category.

Not all sections of a student's audition will be scored by every one of these categories. The score out of ten will reflect the overall performance when considering all categories. This audition is not meant to concern or overwhelm your students. This audition should be taken as an opportunity to gain valuable practice for professional auditions, job interviews, and other situations which may give a student nerves or anxious feelings. If there are any concerns or questions that are not addressed in the above prompts please feel free to contact me directly. See the "How To Reach Me" section of the homepage of my teacher site for my contact information.

Audition results will be announced via email to the auditioning students' school email address (parents will also be CC'ed if their information was provided.) on Friday, September 6, 2024 at the conclusion of the school day. This gives the student the opportunity to experience audition results in a professional manner whether they are positive or negative.

Rehearsals and Performances

Students who participate in Percussion Ensemble must attend rehearsals once a week after school in order to participate. If your student is signed up for Percussion Ensemble they are required to attend all rehearsals in order to participate in the Winter and Spring Concert. Students in this ensemble will acquire skills in the performance of percussion instruments, and the practicing of music in a variety of styles at several different levels of difficulty which appropriately match a student's performance level.

Students who participate in Percussion Ensemble must bring the following materials to each rehearsal in order to participate properly.

1. Pencil - A student must bring a pencil to rehearsal to ensure that they can write in the names of notes, notate rhythms, and make any necessary changes to the music as is announced by their percussion ensemble director.

2. Binder/Folder - A student must bring a binder/folder to rehearsal to store all of their materials (concert music, pencils, etc.) These binders/folders are provided by the percussion ensemble director to students. The binder/folder color must remain unaltered and black due to the concert requirements.

3. Water Bottle - A student must bring a water bottle to every rehearsal. Doing this can allow for proper hydration while working on music in rehearsal. Students are permitted opportunities to fill their water bottle during rehearsal.

There are set expectations for students with regards to attendance and behavior in order to participate in the ensemble. These are listed here along with the information sheet that is distributed prior to signing up for the program.

Attendance

Students must attend rehearsals once per week after school. The times for rehearsals are listed below:

Every Thursday from 2:30pm - 3:30pm in Mr. Williams' general music classroom 224W.

Students who are absent from rehearsal must let me know within 24 hours of the rehearsal in order to excuse the absence. I accept contact in the form of Remind Messages, Google Classroom messages/comments, email messages, phone calls, and in-person conferences. If an in-person conference is used to excuse the absence this must be completed by the absent student, or the absence will remain unexcused. If I do not receive notification within 24 hours of the missed rehearsal time the student's absence will be labeled as unexcused. Listed below is our procedure for the number of absences a student may receive within the ensemble, and the consequence associated with the number of absences.

First absence: no action is taken.

Second absence: a conference with the student occurs reminding them of expectations.

Third absence: a conference with the student occurs reminding them of expectations.

Fourth absence: a conference with the student's parent/guardian occurs reminding them of the expectations and that their student has been absent (If the student is in grades 9-12 the student will be contacted instead.)

Fifth absence: a conference with the student's parent/guardian occurs reminding them of the expectations and that their student will be dismissed if they are absent one more time (If the student is in grades 9-12 the student will be contacted instead.)

Sixth absence: the student is formally dismissed from the Percussion Ensemble Program. The student will no longer be allowed to participate in this year's program.

Behavior

There are also behavioral expectations for students within the Percussion Ensemble program. These expectations with their accompanying procedures for their violation are listed here along with the information document distributed upon signing up for the program. If a student's behavior is disruptive to the point of interrupting the pace of rehearsals for the ensemble the following actions will be put into place as established consequences for the behavior.

First Offense: The student will be pulled to the side after rehearsal to discuss their behavior.

Second Offense: The student will be pulled to the side after rehearsal to discuss their behavior, and their parent/guardian will be contacted to discuss the students' behavior (If the student is in grades 9-12 the student will be contacted instead.)

Third Offense: The student will be suspended from rehearsal for two weeks.

Fourth Offense: The student will be formally dismissed from the Percussion Ensemble program.

There are two concerts in which students are required to participate in for the Percussion Ensemble Program. These concerts are mandatory in order for students' to be in the program. If a student has any conflicts related to either Concerts or their accompanying tech rehearsals they must contact me by the deadline of September 13th, 2024. This will allow for the proper time to plan alternative plans for performances and tech rehearsals. Listed below is the concert schedule for students participating in the Percussion Ensemble Program at MaST II Tacony:

Upper School Winter Concert Tech Rehearsal: TBD - 2:30pm - 6:30pm.

Upper School Winter Concert Date: TBD - Doors open at 6:00pm.

Spring Concert Tech Rehearsal: TBD - 2:30pm - 6:30pm.

Spring Concert Date: TBD - Doors open at 6:00pm.