12.5.25

Hello Dragon Band Students, Parents and Families,

I hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving break!  We’ve had a good week of rehearsals in preparation for our Holiday Concert, students are practicing hard for region band auditions and the winter guards are underway learning their shows for the upcoming season!

Coming in January

• Mulch Sale

• We’ll begin our annual mulch sale when we come back to school for the spring semester

• Students sell as many bags of mulch as they can through January and then we deliver all the bags to the customers in March

• More details to come

• Sectionals

• We’ll begin one day per week sectionals for students in Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band

• Dates and times will be added to the calendar soon

• Full Orchestra

• Students in Wind Ensemble and Wind Symphony will have the chance to participate in one of our two full orchestras

• Rehearsals begin in January and go through February to UIL Full Orchestra Concert and Sightreading on March 4th

• TMEA Area Auditions

• Students earning a high enough chair at Region Band auditions will advance to the Area level auditions

• Area auditions are on Saturday, January 10th in Duncanville (near Dallas)

• The area auditions are important because this is the chance for students to make All State!

• Jazz Band

• We’ll start jazz band one day per week in January

• The group will play at various events in the spring months

Next Week’s Rehearsals

• Mon 12.8 Symphonic Band and percussion 7:30-8:30am

Holiday Concert

• Monday, December 8th, RRISD Hartfield PAC, 6:30pm

• Four concert ensembles perform a variety of holiday music!

• 6pm Concert Band arrive and warm up on stage

• 6:10pm All other bands arrive

• 6:10pm Symphonic Band move to Green Room, warm up at 6:15pm while CB performs

• 6:30pm Concert Band performs and moves to the audience after performing

• Wind Symphony - after Concert Band finishes, move to the Green Room for warm up while SB performs

• Wind Ensemble - after Symponic Band finishes, move to the Green Room for warm up while WS performs

• NEW THIS YEAR!  Silent Auction in the PAC Lobby before and after the Holiday Concert!

• Auction will begin at 6pm and conclude 15 minutes after the end of the concert

• Items will have a starting bid and minimum bid increments, to be determined by item

• Bid as many times as you like if there’s something you have your eye on!

• All silent auction winners will be announced on Tuesday, December 9th

• Individual auction winners will be contacted on Tuesday, December 9th to arrange for payment and pick up of auction items

• Some auction items:

• 20 of our fun and crazy dogs from the varsity show

• Gift baskets of various kinds

• Gift certificates

• Breakfast with the directors

• And more!

• STUDENTS!

• We are asking each section to create a gift basket for the auction - this is completely optional for students to participate in!

• Each section should choose a theme for their basket

• Please use a basket, sleigh, Santa’s bag or something festive for your creative display

• Be creative, involve everyone in the design, and have fun

• Each section’s completed basket should be brought to the concert by 6pm on December 8th

Dragon Band Spring Semester Concert Ensemble Auditions

• During band classes the week of Monday, December 8th

• All students will audition for their spot in the concert ensembles for the spring semester

• Audition material has been selected from the region etudes

TMEA Region Band Auditions

• Auditions are Friday-Saturday, December 12-13th at Cedar Ridge High School

• Phase 1 - Friday, December 12th, arrive by 5:00pm *tentative*

• Phase 2 - Saturday, December 13th, arrive by 10:00am *tentative*

• Specific times and instructions have not yet been sent by the contest host.  When I have those I’ll send them out to everyone.

Attendance

• If your student is well enough to attend school, they should be coming to practice and events unless they get sick in the middle of the day and are sent home by the nurse

• Look ahead at the rehearsal and event schedule and plan your appointments and tutorial help around it

• The band's calendar is on dragonband.com

• Attendance at rehearsals and events is mandatory unless otherwise specified

• Absences due to sickness are excused with notification from a parent if the student has a fever, is vomiting or cannot otherwise get out of bed

• Absences due to prolonged sickness/injury are excused with a doctor's note

• Who do I email?  Mr. Mobley for Varsity Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony and Concert Band 2, Ms. Benford for Junior Varsity Marching Band and Symphonic Band and Ms. Bouhadana for Concert Band 1, Mr. Hammack for all Percussion and Mr. Mendieta for Color Guard

• Absences that are not excused-birthdays, completing homework, studying, test preparation, part time job, pop concerts, parties, vacations, weekend getaways

Grades and Eligibility

• RRISD Eligibility Calendar

• Students must remain academically eligible to participate in football games and marching contest performances and all TMEA activities

• Should a student become ineligible they will still practice with the group during band class and in some cases, outside of the school day

• There are two types of official grade reporting - IPR (Interim Progress Report) and Report Card

• We are required to go by these official methods to determine eligibility

Heads Up!

• TRUMPETS AND TROMBONES!!

• Walsh is hosting a Bell Trumpet and Trombone trial event on Tuesday 12/9

• If any of your students are looking to upgrade their setup, then we gladly welcome them into our band hall!

• The event is 5-7PM on 12/9 at Walsh Middle School and students may enter from Door 15, to the right of the main entrance

• TRUMPETS AND TROMBONES - please let me know if you are interested in attending the event

• We want to make sure that we have a space and instrument for everybody to be able to find their best tone throughout the event!

• Parents for Arts Education

• We have an amazing opportunity to get in front of thousands of community members (last year over 32,000 people were there!) at the Round Rock Arts Festival on October 3rd-5th

• Thanks to Scot Wilkenson and the City of Round Rock Arts and Culture Department, PAE/SAE will be covering the "Make Music" area and we need additional volunteers!  

• Lots of students need service hours (especially "outside" service hours for NHS) and we can provide that

• Here's the link to a Google form to sign up for a 3 hour slot

• https://forms.gle/W3MmuKrBMbuznkVN8

• 📢 Here's how you can help right now:

• ✅ Sign up at www.paetx.org – It takes just a minute!

• ✅ Follow & share our mission on social media to spread the word.

• ✅ Encourage parents, grandparents, and students (ages 18-118!) to join us.

• FRENCH HORNS

• The TXST Horn Studio is hosting Holiday Horns, a community horn choir event open to horn players of all ages and stages

• Monday, December 1

• 6:00–8:00 PM

• Evans Auditorium, Texas State University

• The event is free, but registration is required. You can register here. Music will be emailed in early November.

• Schedule:

• 6:00–6:45 PM – Rehearsal

• 6:45–7:00 PM – Break

• 7:00–7:30 PM – Holiday Horns Concert (open to the public)

• 7:30–8:00 PM – Reception with hot chocolate and cookies in the lobby

• FLUTES

• All flute students are invited to participate in Austin Flute Society Events this year! We have several events that are made for YOU - the students! Here are a few highlights: 

• Flootapalooza is a solo performance opportunity open to all students! Learn any solo or etude and perform it for your friends and family on a beautiful stage! Performers will receive positive feedback and an outstanding performer in each age group will be awarded. This exciting event will be held Saturday, February 7. A sign up form will be on the website soon.

•  All AFS events are $10 to participate OR students can purchase a $20 membership that is good from now until next August, and all events are FREE! For more information and events, they can visit www.austinflutesociety.org

Coming Soon

• Friday-Saturday 12/5-6, TMEA Region Orchestra Clinic and Concert

• Monday 12/8 Holiday Concert, 6:30pm, Hartfield PAC

• Friday-Saturday 12/12-13, TMEA Region Band Auditions

• Thursday 12/18 Last day of the fall semester

• Friday 12/19 - Friday 1/2 Holiday break

• Tuesday 1/6 Spring Semester begins

• Saturday 1/10 TMEA Area auditions

• Tuesday 1/6 Band Booster Meeting, 7:00pm, Band Hall

• Monday 1/19 No School

Thank You Everyone,

David Mobley

Band Director, Round Rock High School

201 Deepwood Drive, Round Rock, TX 78681

512-464-6028

dragonband.com

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