Wind and Percussion Schedule (posted 2/3/12)

The Wind and Percussion Sectional Schedule for the next six weeks can be found by clicking on the link above.

Third Quarter Playing Chart (posted 1/20/2012)

You can get the third quarter playing chart by clicking on the "Practice/Playing Chart" link above.

Revised Wind and Percussion schedule, 8th Grade High School auditions (posted 1/13/12)

Clicking on the Wind and Percussion Sectionals link above will pull up the revised schedule for the week of January 17-19. Some groups have been combined to make room for the eighth grade high school auditions. You can view the audition schedule by clicking on Centennial, Howard, or Mount Hebron.

Jazz Band 2012 (posted 1/4/12)

Go to the jazz band page to get the schedule for the 2012 season. There will NOT be a rehearsal on Thursday, January 5th.

CLICK HERE for a copy of the wind and percussion IPA schedule, January 2-5, 201 (posted 12/22/11)

Winter Choir concert is rescheduled (posted 12/19/11)

The winter choir concert originally scheduled for January 26th has now been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 22 at EMMS. The concert will begin at 7:00 PM.

Howard County High School G/T Orchestra Concert (posted 12/9/11)

The Howard County HS G/T Orchestra will perform a 8pm concert this coming Sunday, December 11th, at Wilde Lake HS in the Jim Rouse Theater. Admission is free. All students will be given extra credit if they attend and bring a program into school. The program consists of Dvorak's Carnival Overture, the finale to Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony, an arrangement of Bela Fleck's Metric Lips for percussion ensemble, Beethoven's Leonore Overture, and Gershwin's An American in Paris.

2012 Howard County Middle and High School Solo and Ensemble Festival (posted 12/9/11)

The 2012 festival will be held on Saturday, February 4th at Mt. Hebron HS from 9 am to 4 pm. A packet containing information and application forms can be downloaded here. It is a very valuable experience for a student to perform a solo or in a small ensemble, and we encourage every student to participate if possible.

No Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday, Dec. 13th (posted 12/9/11)

Due to Dr. Robert's performance of the Nutcracker Ballet at the Warner Theater and Mr. Denne's defense of his master's degree thesis, we will not be able to have symphony orchestra on Tuesday, Dec. 13th. Rehearsals will resume on Wednesday, Dec. 14th.

IPA's and Seating auditions for Band students(posted 11/22/11)

Information about Individual Performance Assessments and seating auditions for Concert and Symphonic Band members can be found on their respective pages. Click on the links above to get the details.

New Orchestra Sectional Schedule is now available (posted 11/18/11)

Orchestra Seating Auditions (posted 11/17/11)

Information on orchestra seating auditions for 7th and 8th grade orchestra students has been posted on the 7th/8th Grade Orchestra Page. Auditions will occur following Thanksgiving break during each student's assigned sectional time. There will not be seating auditions for 6th grade orchestra members at this time.

US Navy Band in Concert! (posted 11/9/11)

Once again, the US Navy Band will be in concert at River Hill High School on Friday, December 2, 2011 at 7:30 PM. This is an incredible chance for our young musicians to hear a band at the highest level of musicianship in a live concert setting. This is such an important part of our band students' training that they will receive 150 minutes of extra credit playing time for attendance. The concert is FREE! but plan on getting there early to get a good seat.

Second Quarter Playing Chart (posted 11/2/11)

You can get a playing chart for the second quarter by clicking on the link above. Note that the week of Thanksgiving and the time between winter break will be counted as extra credit for the second quarter.

Seating Auditions for Concert Band and Symphonic Band (posted 10/31/11)

Seating auditions will be held for all band students the week of November 14-18. Concert Band wind instruments will play #14 from the Hal Leonard Intermediate Band Method in the key of Bb and at a tempo of quarter note = 160. Percussionists will play the Summary from page 22 of the Roy Burns Elementary Drum Method at a tempo of quarter note = 120.

Symphonic Band students will play the first part for their instrument to "Exaltation". Key is F minor at the beginning and end, Bb and F major in the middle section. Tempo is quarter note = 160 in the fast sections, approximately 70-80 in the middle section.

Contact Dr. Roberts if you have any questions.

New Wind and Percussion Sectional Schedule (posted 10/14/11)

The wind and percussion sectional schedule for the next six weeks can be found by clicking on the link above. Print out as many copies as you need to help you stay organized. Also, the Symphonic Band students need to make sure that they have "Cutting the Changes" by Anthony Garcia for second-quarter sectionals that begin on November 7th.

Symphony Orchestra (posted 10/13/11)

We are happy to announce the formation of the EMMS symphony orchestra once again. After a hiatus of a few years, interest among the populace of EMMS has swelled to the point that we can once again be successful in this endeavor. There is no charge to participate in this group, but the permission slip must be returned before students can join the orchestra. Rehearsals will start next Tuesday, 10/18 and will occur on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3:15-4:30. Download the permission slip here and return it as soon as possible.

New Orchestra Sectional Schedule (posted 10/10/11)

Click here, or on the link above for your copy. My goal for the first sectional is to get all of the student accounts set up for SmartMusic and to get the students acquainted to using the interface. It would be helpful if the students came with their account already set up and they knew the username and password to access that account. If a student is not able to set up an account ahead of time, then they will need to bring a valid email address to the first sectional that we can use to set up an account.

Individual Performance Assessments (IPA) for Symphonic and Concert Bands (posted 10/3/11)

IPA's for all students in Symphonic Band and Concert Band will be held the week of October 17-20. Students will be given the opportunity to sign up for a five-minute assessment time starting this week. It is important that students check with the teacher of the class that they will be coming from to make sure that some other assessment or test is not being held at the same time. Eighth-grade students should NOT sign up on Thursday, October 20th, since this is the day of the Eighth Grade Field Trip. All studentsenrolled in band are required to take part in this assessment. Contact Dr. Roberts if you have any questions.

Requirements are listed on the Symphonic Band and the Concert Band pages. See the links above.

SmartMusic is being adopted by the Ellicott Mills Orchestra and Band Program (posted 9/29/11)

The orchestra will be using SmartMusic this year for the first time. This is an option for band students. SmartMusic is a program that allows students access to a plethora of practice opportunities including literature, recording, assignment submission, performance with accompaniment, and many method books. The SmartMusic website - www.smartmusic.com - contains more information about the program and provides a method for downloading the application and purchasing a subscription. The normal subscription price of $36 has been lowered by 15% to $30.60 for Howard County students. Be sure to select Ellicott Mills as your school during the registration process to receive your discount. FYI, the SmartMusic site will encourage you to buy a microphone when you register. This may or may not be necessary depending on your system at home. I have addressed this question as well as others on the EMMS SmartMusic FAQ page. If you have a question that is not answered there or on the SmartMusic website, contact Mr. Denne.

Aspen Family Portal (posted 9/29/11)

Aspen is the new grading/attendance/communication system used by all of the schools in Howard County this year. In addition to the live access to teacher's gradebooks, this system also has the capability to generate email communication between teachers and parents. Although I know that most parents filled out an email address on the emergency card at the beginning of the year, it will take some time to get all of those email addresses entered into the system. We found out on Wednesday that parents have the ability to add their email address to the Aspen database through the family portal. We would sincerely appreciate (as would the data entry clerk) if parents could log in and either make sure the listed email is correct or add the email address if it is missing. Thank you!

Welcome to Music at Ellicott Mills (posted 8/29/11)

If you are reading this, then you have successfully found the place to turn to for information and materials for your child's performing arts group at Ellicott Mills. You can click on the "Required Materials" link on the left to see what materials your child will need this year. The "Calendar" link, again on the left, has a list of concerts that have been scheduled for this year. Please make a note of those on your family calendar. We will be updating that page as we make decisions about which groups will be performing on which nights. By clicking on the "Teachers" link above, you have ready access to your child's teacher by using the email link there.

The Refresh Button (posted 8/29/11)

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 (posted 8/29/11)

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.

 

Thank you!