Symphony Orchestra (11/18/08)

The next rehearsal of the Symphony Orchestra will be Tuesday, December 2.

Navy Band in Concert- FREE!! (11/18/08)

The US Navy Band will be performing in concert on December 5 at River Hill High School. The performance will begin at 7:30. This is an incredible opportunity for our students to hear one of the world's finest concert bands live. Band students will receive 60 minutes of extra credit on their playing charts by attaching a program to their playing chart.

Orchestra Field Trip to Baltimore Symphony - 11/21/08

No Jazz Band, Friday, November 14 (11/13/08)

The Jazz Band will NOT rehearse on Friday November 14. Students must print out and return a permission slip to Dr. Roberts in order to be involved in this activity. You can get a form on the Jazz Band page link above.

Students who have returned permission slips will be allowed to rehearse on Friday, November 21.

Seating Auditions for Symphonic and Concert Band (11/12/08)

Seating auditions will be held for all wind and percussion students during their sectional scheduled the week of November 17th. Please Note: Because of performances at awards assemblies on November 17th, the sectionals originally scheduled for that day willl be moved to Friday, November 21 instead.

Symphonic Band winds: First movement of "Three Pieces for American Band, Set 2". Use a Concert D for tuning. Tempo is 104.

Symphonic Band percussion: Roy Burns, page 48. Tempo is 120.

Concert Band winds: Hal Leonard #36. Use an Eb for tuning. Tempo is 120.

Concert Band percussion: Roy Burns, summary on Page 18. Tempo is 120.

The Concert Recording for Fall Concert I is available on the recording page. If you forgot the username and password, please email your director. (11/10/08)

Second Quarter Playing Chart (10/31/08)

The second quarter playing chart is available by clicking the link above entitled "Practice/Playing Chart".

EMMS Fall Concerts at Howard High School (10/29/08)

The Music Department will be presenting its fall concerts on Monday and Tuesday, November 10 and 11, at Howard High School at 7:00 PM.  The seventh- and eighth-grade performing groups are scheduled for Monday and the sixth-grade groups are scheduled for Tuesday.  All students should arrive at the auditorium wing of Howard High School by 6:15 in concert dress. Concert dress is a white front-buttoning shirt, black pants, and dark shoes and socks/hose.  Tennis shoes or sneakers are unacceptable. 

Out of respect for all of the performers we expect all students to stay for the entire performance.  The concerts should last somewhere around one hour.  Please check with your child’s director if you have any questions.

Howard County Middle School Honors Band (10/27/08)

The HCMS Honors Band will be a band composed of representatives from every middle school band program in Howard County. If you are interested in becoming a member of this organization 1) check the schedule below to make sure that you would be able to participate in all rehearsals and the concert and 2) email Dr. Roberts to let him know that you are able to do it and interested. Students will be picked the week of November 24.

Friday, December 19	Honors Band Music Distribution	Music ponied to schools for students
Tuesday, January 13	Rehearsal	4:30 – 7:00 pm	Clarksville MS
Thursday, January 15	Rehearsal	4:30 – 7:00 pm	Clarksville MS
Tuesday, January 20	Rehearsal	4:30 – 7:00 pm	Clarksville MS
Thursday, January 22	Rehearsal	4:30 – 7:00 pm	Clarksville MS
Monday, January 26	Rehearsal	9:00 – 2:00 pm	Clarksville MS
Wednesday, January 28	Rehearsal	4:30 – 7:00 pm	Clarksville MS
Friday, January 30	Optional Rehearsal	4:30 – 7:00 pm	Clarksville MS
Saturday, January 31	Dress Rehearsal	9:00 am – 12:00 pm	Location TBA
Sunday, February 1	Concert	3:00 pm	Location TBA
Monday, February 2	Snow Make-Up Concert	7:00 pm	Location TBA

New Music for Symphonic Band (10/24/08)

Symphonic Band members can gain access to the new music by following the links on the Symphonic Band page.

Wind and Percussion Sectionals (10/16/8)

The Wind and Percussion sectional schedule for the next six weeks is now available. You can print your own copy by clicking here or by following the link (Wind & Percussion Sectionals) above.

Back to School Night (10/2/08)

In case you missed the pre-Back to School Night Meeting held at 6:30 last Thursday, you can download the information sheet by clicking here! The second page is our form for the music department fundraiser. Rather than having our students sell items door-to-door, we ask for a direct donation to the music department. We print the list of supporting patrons in the concert programs. If each family makes a donation of only $20 to the department we will have plenty of extra support for continuing our instrument, equipment, and music purchases to keep the music coming.

If you've already sent in a donation we thank you very much!

Concert Band Seating Auditions (9/19/08)

Seating auditions for all concert band members will be held during regular sectional times scheduled the week of September 29- October 3. The music for all woodwind and brasswind players will be numbers 12 and 14 (on page 4) in the Hal Leonard Intermediate book (the one with the orange cover). Students should practice with the Bb sounding for intonation. Music for percussionists will be the Summary on page 18 in the Roy Burns Elementary Drum book (the one with the blue cover). Tempo for all students is quarter-note=120.

Practice carefully so that you can play your best!

Listening Assignment (9/12/08)

All wind and percussion students in both Concert Band and Symphonic Band have been given a listening assignment. To complete the assigment, the student must find recorded music of their instrument being played by professionals. The assigment gives the student an opportunity to "choose" the sound that they are most drawn to and, as we share these recordings with each other during our sectional time, will provide a wide repertoire for all of us to hear. Since most of what we learn in music is by imitation and since our primary concern as musicians is to make beautiful sounds, it's extremely important for us to have a "superior concept" of our instrument's sound in our ear. Each student has been asked to listen to these recordings on a daily basis. We're "programming" our ears with the very best sounds that we can find!

Students may fulfill this assignment by purchasing a CD, downloading mp3 files and either saving to an mp3 device (such as an iPod), or saving to computer and burning to CD. Contact Dr. Roberts if you have questions about how to fulfill this requirement.

Online Grades (9/12/08)

Grades are now available for band students. Follow the link above that reads "Grading" and then click on the link that reads "Band Grades-Click Here". You will be asked for student last name and the password. The password is the one that you provided to Dr. Roberts on the Information Sheet. If you have forgotten your password email Dr. Roberts.

Percussionists rock! (9/5/08)

Due to the overcrowded situation in the Symphonic Band, the percussion section has been given regular Plus assignments rather than having the opportunity to rehearse with the band every day. In order to help percussionists stay on top of their responsibilities Dr. Roberts has put together a chart of assigned parts for each of the pieces that we will be performing. The names listed as "principal" are the primary performers of that part and the names listed as "assistant principal" are the backup performers. It will still be necessary for all percussionists to know all parts, as they have in the past, but this will allow us to make the most of our sectional rehearsal time as well as being prepared for the band rehearsals that they will attend. You can download the assignment list here!

Band Sectional Schedules (9/3/08)

The Wind and Percussion Sectional Schedule is now available. Click on the link above that reads "Wind and Percussion Sectionals". All band members should have their required materials for the first sectional.

Concert Band Practice Copies (8/28/08)

Concert Band members can access the music for the first quarter by clicking on the "Concert Band" link above. Remember that you will need the Acrobat Reader to download and print out the music. If you don't have Acrobat Reader you can download this free program by going to http://www. adobe.com and clicking on the "Get Acrobat Reader" button.

Symphonic Band Seating Auditions (8/26/08)

All students in the seventh- and eighth-grade Symphonic Band will audition for chair placements the week of September 8-12. (The exact schedule will follow soon!) You can gain access to the parts by clicking on the "Symphonic Band" link above. You should prepare the entire 1st part for your instrument for the piece "Canticle of the Sun".

If you have forgotten the password to gain access to these files email Dr. Roberts.

Welcome Back! (8/25/08)

We are very excited about starting the new year at EMMS. This website is our primary means of communication with parents and students in the EMMS music program. Explore the links on this site, and watch for changes as the year progresses. This home page consists of the site links and this announcement section, presented in the style of a blog. New announcements will be added at the top of the section with the date attached so you can keep up with what is going on and what has changed on the website. Each ensemble has a page that contains information pertinent to that ensemble, and the links for those ensembles are on the top of every page. Symhonic Band and Chamber Orchestra are 7th and 8th grade groups while Concert Band and Concert Orchestra are 6th grade groups. Both choirs are currently served by one page. One section of the website that is unique to EMMS is our Tuning Page. This page provides reference pitches that students will use in a variety of exercises.

Calendar Updates

Concert dates are posted on the calendar (click on the calendar tab on the left). Back to school night is September 25th, and the annual meeting for music parents starts at 6:30 pm before the rest of the back to school night activities. By default, the calendar shows one week at a time. There is a preferences icon on the bottom left of the calendar that allows you to change the default setting to view one month at a time instead.

The Refresh Button

Your browsers refresh button can be your best friend in making sure that you have the most up to date information on this website. Until we figure out how to automatically refresh pages every time you open them, your browser may load the old image from the cache memory and not display the most recent information. Click refresh often on all pages!

G/T Ensemble information

G/T ensembles are great opportunities to broaden experiences for the musician who just can't get enough. The middle school G/T orchestra has expanded into two groups, opening up many more opportunities this year. Information about G/T orchestra, band, and chorus can be found by clicking on the links on the left side menu of this page.

Music Department News

  In a continuing effort to save our paper and copy resources for music, we are asking that parents of all performing arts students, that is all students in band, choir, and orchestra, after reviewing the information, print out, complete, and return the Parent/Student information sheet to your child’s director as soon as possible and no later than Friday, August 29th, 2008.  Click here for your copy.

Thanks to all of the families and friends who made monetary contributions to the Music Department for the 2007-2008 school year.  With your generous support we were able to purchase new portable recording equipment, upgrade our website server and software, and purchase two piano dollies for the department pianos.  We spent every bit of the $2000 dollars generated by donations and fund-raising activities.

Thank you!