Symphonic Band

INFORMATION ON OUR NEXT PERFORMANCE

FOOTBALL GAME - October 14th (senior night)

Photo opportunity available for seniors and their families starting at 5 PM.
Senior recognition will happen at the beginning of halftime. Seniors will enter with their parents, then go to their place in the drill for movement one. Please submit your senior recognition form to Mr. Cosner ASAP.

Call time: 5:30 p.m.
Dress: band uniforms, black socks!
Downbeat: 6:30 p.m.

Pre-show: "Louie Louie," "National Anthem"
Show: "How to Train Your Dragon" (w/drill)

This performance is an assessment grade. Students are expected to be on time (early is "on time") with their instruments, proper dress, and ready to take care of business.

Teacher: Mr. Brian Cosner
Contact: bcosner@ssusd.org
Classroom: Band Room

Symphonic Band, 17th Annual South Hills High School Showcase of Bands in West Covina, CA, 2021

Course Description

Symphonic Band is the advanced wind and percussion ensemble at BHS. Students will continue developing their reading and playing abilities to perform more challenging music, including solo and small ensemble pieces. The ensemble also functions as the school’s marching band and will perform at football games, parades, and field tournaments.

Course Objectives

Students will:

Improve their technique, range and playing ability on assigned instruments
Continue developing their musicianship in preparation for more advanced ensembles
Learn to generate a good tone, match pitch and observe dynamics within the ensemble
Understand the cultural context of music and develop concert etiquette
Perform with good posture, engagement, and artistry
Learn and perform marching routines

Attendance Expectations

Late-Start Wednesdays

Symphonic Band will start at the normal time (6:45 a.m.) on Late-Start Wednesdays until marching season is over.

Performances

Please carefully read through the dates below and put them in your calendars. Performing is a mandatory aspect of this class. If there are any conflicts you are aware of now, list them below and your student will receive an alternate assignment for the planned absence.

Missed performances with insufficient notice will result in a zero. Some circumstances may warrant an alternate assignment for partial credit only.

Call times and more details will be made available as events approach.

Football Games

TBA (2025-2026 season)

Performances On Campus

Sept. 26, 2025: Culture Fest Concert @ BHS Performing Arts Center, 7 p.m.
Dec. 9, 2025: BHS Music WINTER CONCERT, Tuesday 6:30 p.m. Call time is 5pm.
Dec. 13, 2025: Christmas Parade, Grace Lutheran Church, 9 a.m. Call time is 7am.
Feb. 7, 2026: Solo & Ensemble Festival @ BHS, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
March 12 - 14, 2026: Sonoma Invitational Wind Band & Orchestra Festival
April 23, 2026: All-District Music Showcase
May 12, 2026: Spring Concert @ BHS Performing Arts Center, 6:30 p.m. Call time is 5pm.
May 29, 2026: Commencement Ceremony @ BHS Field, 8 p.m. Call time is 6pm.

Performances Off Campus

A permission form will be required for the following performances as transportation will be provided.

Dec. 13, 2025: Christmas Parade TBA @ City center, __ a.m.

Grading

Much of making music is about the rehearsal process and grades are reflective of that importance. Band is also a performing arts class, therefore performances are a mandatory component of this class and will be reflected in the grade. An important note: most class time is to be treated as rehearsal, not practice. Practice should primarily be done at home or otherwise outside of class. Students will not be able to engage successfully in rehearsals if they do not practice on their own time.

Process (40% of grade)

- - 4: Consistent participation and engagement with activities; is always prepared and on task during rehearsal; consistently demonstrates leadership, assists other students, and contributes to the ensemble’s success
  - 3: Usually participates and engages with activities; is usually prepared and on task during rehearsals; sometimes demonstrates leadership, assists other students, and contributes to the ensemble’s success

- - 2: Only somewhat engaged in activities and/or needs reminders to participate appropriately; is not always prepared and/or on task during rehearsals; rarely demonstrates leadership, assists other students, and contributes to the ensemble’s success

- - 1: Is distracting to others during activities; is not prepared for rehearsal; does not contribute to success of the ensemble

- - 0: Fails to attend rehearsals, refuses to participate, etc.

Assessment (60% of grade)

- Performances

- - 4: arrives early with necessary materials; helps section prepare for performance; performs selections with accuracy; observes concert etiquette

- - 3: arrives on time with necessary materials; performs selections with accuracy; observes concert etiquette

- - 2: arrives late or without necessary materials; performs selections with some accuracy; does not observe all concert etiquette

- - 1: arrives late, does not have necessary materials; is distracting to the ensemble; performs selections with little accuracy, does not observe concert etiquette

- - 0: misses performance; gross infraction of concert etiquette

- Playing/Scales Tests

Grade Rubric

A 3.3 - 4.0

B 2.5 - 3.2

C 1.7 - 2.4

D 0.9 - 1.6

F 0.0 - 0.8

Why Learn Music?

MUSIC IS A SCIENCE. It is exact, specific, and it demands exact acoustics. A conductor's full score is a chart, a graph that indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody, and harmony all at once and with the most exact control of time.
MUSIC IS MATHEMATICAL. It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions, which must be done instantaneously, not worked out on paper.
MUSIC IS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. Most of the terms are in Italian, German, or French; and the notation is certainly not English -but a highly developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.
MUSIC IS HISTORY. Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creation, often even the country and/or racial feeling.
MUSIC IS PHYSICAL EDUCATION. It requires fantastic coordination of fingers, hands, arms, lip, cheek, and facial muscles, in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic, back, stomach, and chest muscles, which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.
MUSIC DEVELOPS INSIGHT AND DEMANDS RESEARCH.
MUSIC IS ALL THESE THINGS, but most of all, MUSIC IS ART. It allows a human being to take all these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. That is one thing science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling, emotion, call it what you will.

That is why we teach music!

Not because we expect you to major in music
Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life
Not so you can relax
Not so you can have fun
BUT - so you will be human
so you will recognize beauty
so you will be sensitive
so you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world
so you will have something to cling to
so you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more
good - in short, more life
Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live? That is why we teach music!*

*Attributed to: SOUTHERN MUSIC COMPANY 1100 BROADWAY. P.O. BOX 329 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78292