djmartin

Monday, January 29th

 Parents, we need YOUR help!  Many hands make light work – the reason I’m able to do what I do is because parents/families like you make it possible – check out the Sign-Up Genius to claim your role!

Tickets will be $8 for adults, $5 for students, and 5 years and under free. (You will see the tickets listed as $6 for adults and $3 for students but there is a $2 facility fee per ticket, so they end up being $8 and $5.) 

Performers do not need a ticket. Also, starting this year, the online ticket purchase has to go through Ticketmaster, and they are adding over $5 of fees per ticket, so you can avoid the Ticketmaster fee by going to the box office in-person or calling to purchase them at 402-554-6287. Their Box Office hours are M-W, noon – 5pm & Thu-F, 10am – 5pm. You can also access this information and more on our All-Millard Orchestra Website by clicking HERE.

Financial Support
If your family/your business would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support All-Millard, please send a check ℅ Mrs. Martinez made payable to Millard Public Schools (or MPS) with “All Millard” in the memo line – thanks for your support!

Chaperones
It’s helpful to have at least 5 chaperones for morning rehearsal and 3 for afternoon rehearsal. Parents/legal guardians – please consider volunteering! Here’s the Sign-Up Genius Link.

Details for MNHS Students:

Symphony and Chamber Students will arrive to MNHS by 8 AM on Monday, Jan. 29. We will all ride buses to the Baxter Arena for rehearsal (9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.). Students will be bused back to MNHS after rehearsal. *Lunch is not provided at the arena – students will eat lunch upon returning to MNHS, then head to class

I would appreciate 2 more adult chaperones to ride the buses (time commitment is 7:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m.). If you’ve already volunteered through the permission form, I’ve emailed you directly – thank you!

Students will need to bring instruments, pencils, folding music stand, music, and anything else that will assist in creating beautiful music (rock stop, shoulder rest, rosin, etc.). Students should also bring a bottle of water and a snack Snacks not provided

Students will not need backpacks; they can leave these in their lockers or in a dressing room at school. They will need coats – the temperature looks to be around 43 degrees F.

Large instruments (basses, cellos, tubas) will transport on the bus and can be left at the arena until after the concert, at which time the student/families will have to transport the instrument home and back to school for Wednesday’s rehearsal (string players will not need instruments on Tuesday, 1/30).

Wear your orchestra shirt (if you have one) to rehearsal!

The concert starts at 7 PM on Monday, Jan. 29. Report time for students is 6:30 p.m., but early arrival at 6 PM for families to locate parking, visit vendor booths and find their general admission seats is recommended.

Concert attire is our traditional formal concert black as outlined in the orchestra handbook.

Use the attached jpg to advertise All Millard on your social media accounts! Tag your posts and photos of the event with #AllMillard2024 #Proud2bMPS and remember to @MNHS_Orch as well!

After the concert, we will need help loading the percussion equipment onto the district trucks, and help unloading the trucks back at MNHS. Please consider signing up to help! Even if you don’t sign up, I’ll be happy to accept help on site! Just come down to the arena floor and join the party! Or head back to MNHS and meet us at the loading dock!

Details for other Millard Public Schools students are in the Calendar.

Jan. 26 & 27th.

UNO BOCH Festival:
Rehearsals begin Friday for accepted students. All are welcome to attend the final performance on Saturday, 1/27 at 4 p.m. at the UNO Strauss Performing Arts Center!

Jan. 22 and 25th.

Volunteers needed to represent MNHS Orchestra at the 8th grade Activities Fair Jan. 22 and 25, from 5:15-6:15 p.m.

Jan. 19, 26, and Feb. 3
An opportunity for our high school orchestra students to offer lessons to string students in grades 4-8 that also raises funds for our orchestra program. Students will have the opportunity to volunteer in class. They also have the opportunity to attend 3 sessions to learn more about teaching private lessons (Jan. 19, 26, and Feb. 3). Once students have completed the private lessons instruction course, they can be on the list of recommended high school string tutors that I share with our elementary school and middle school orchestra staff.

Students interested in auditioning for one of the MNHS Jazz Bands, please see the post on Google Classroom. 

All orchestra students are encouraged to participate in the January practice challenge!
Make it part of your routine to practice at least 15 minutes per day during the month of January.
We will report practice minutes every Friday in class. There will be prizes for top practices and top section teams.

Concerto Competition entries due Dec. 5
Auditions for performance with the Millard North Orchestra Concert on March 7, should be a well-prepared movement from a standard concerto/aria for your instrument/voice.  More information may be found here.

UNL Young Artist Award recognizes Nebraska high school juniors who are talented in art, music, dance, theater, or film and emerging media. Selected students and their families are invited to UNL for Red Letter Day in the spring to see what a career in the arts may be like.

Applications are due to the website by Dec. 2.

Every orchestra student, grades 9-12, is required to record and submit a Mid-Year Assessment that will serve as their first second semester grade and help determine their orchestra placement for the 2023-24 school year.  Students received the materials in class Dec. 1, and have received practice strategies and some work time in class.  However, they are expected to do most of the prep work on their own outside of class.  Assessment Materials are also linked here, as well as on Google Classroom.

Our next concert is November 30.  The theme is Haunted Holiday. 

The Program

We appreciate donations of refreshments for our post-concert celebration. You can check out a (very) rough draft of the program here.

Perfume/cologne – Performers, please avoid applying perfume or cologne for concerts. Some of our students have sensitivity to strong odors. This, coupled with the bright, hot lights on stage, can cause some to pass out. The general rule is to follow typical hygiene practices (bathing, deodorant, etc.) but not to add any additional perfumes or cologne that may trigger a reaction from your fellow musicians.

Reminder About Concert Attendance – Orchestra is a co-curricular activity, meaning it is considered an academic class (curricular) that has requirements outside of the school day (co-curricular). Several of our orchestra students are engaged in sports, work, and other extracurricular activities. In the event of a conflict, the orchestra concert takes precedence because it is the outcome of our academic work.

School Attendance on concert days – students must attend at least 4 classes on the day of the concert in order to participate. For example – if a student needs to rest, then feels better, they need to attend periods 1-4 or 4-7 to perform at the concert. However, if a student stays home the entire day, even if they feel better for the concert, they are not allowed to attend. Hopefully everyone is happy and healthy next week! If there is an illness/emergency, parents/legal guardians must email or call Mrs. Martinez to notify her of the absence.