Many thanks to San Diego Symphony violist Gareth Zehngut (B.M. and M.M., Juilliard School ) for joining us today.
Les Mis details at miramesatheatre.org A Busy March The month of March is notoriously busy, and this March is no different. From honor performances to musicals, concerts, clinics, master classes, and festivals, the month of March is a never-ending to-do list. Here's whats going on this week. Les Miserables This year's musical, Les Miserables, opened on Friday (March 15th) to rave reviews. This show features all aspects of our VAPA program here at Mira Mesa High School, and I would encourage everyone to come out and see the show. For more information on the show, which runs through next weekend, please visit miramesatheatre.org. NOTE: There will be a "preview" performance excerpt of the musical featured on Fox 5 this week (Tuesday). String Orchestra Clinic with Mr. Horimoto Friend of the orchestra, Mr. Horimoto, will be at our string orchestra rehearsal on Monday afternoon (March 18th), from 4:30 - 6:00 pm. Please note the start time, which has been adjusted (although the end time remains the same) to accomodate our Marauder athletes. Pre-Festival Concert (Preparatory Concert) On Tuesday night, March 19th, the Concert Orchestra, String/Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, and Wind Ensemble will be performing in a Pre-Festival Concert. This performance is being put in in preparation for upcoming festival performances by the aforementioned ensembles. General admission tickets for this performance will be available at the door for $5, and proceeds benefit our Mira Mesa Orchestras and Bands. (Another) Viola Performance Coaching Opportunity San Diego Symphony violist, Mr. Gareth Zehngut, will be visiting school on Thursday, March 21st. He will be on campus for periods two and three, assisting our violas. Sunday, March 24th at 6:30pm Musicians in the Making On Sunday, March 24th, San Diego's J Company will be sponsoring a concert, Musicians in the Making. This concert provides emerging young artists the opportunity to perform in a concert setting. This year's edition features one of Mira Mesa's own, Ms. Jennifer Hsu (piano). The concert will be held on Sunday, March 24th, at 6:30 pm, at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, which is located at 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. For more information on this unique concert, please click on the promotional flyer on the left. You may also visit www.sdcjc.org/jcompany for more information. Congratulations to Ms. Jennifer Hsu for being selected to perform in this concert! Words of Praise Last, but certainly not least, is some well deserved praise for our fantastic students here at Mira Mesa High School. At last weekend's Honor Band & Orchestra Concert Mira Mesa High School was well represented. There were 37 student-musicians selected from Mira Mesa, by far the most among any SDUSD school. The concert was fabulous, and inspired at least one San Diegan to write to the Union Tribune. I will let Mr. Haney's words speak for themselves (from his letter to the editor): On Saturday night, March 9, Symphony Hall hosted the annual San Diego Unified School District’s annual High School Instrumental Honor Concert. Chosen by audition and encumbered by numerous practice sessions, 143 students from 12 high schools performed under the direction of renowned guest conductors. The free concert was introduced by San Diego Symphony maestro Jahja Ling and included remarks by school board members Kevin Beiser, and Richard Barrera with a presentation by Deputy Superintendent Phil Stover. Have a great week. Work hard, and enjoy the process.
Schedule for March 4th - March 10th One of the busiest weeks of the year, with events from Monday - Sunday. With that in mind, the schedule is below:
Copley Symphony Hall Picture Day Notes | This Wednesday! Wednesday is picture day for our ensembles. I really want to have everyone represented in our ensemble pictures. We have experienced tremendous growth over the past year, and we should document it with a fine group picture. Students can leave their concert clothes in the orchestra room in the morning. All students will be given time to change into concert attire to start the period on Wednesday. We will take more pictures than needed, but we do need to submit a group photograph to the yearbook. Don't forget your concert attire on Wednesday! Baskets for Taste of Mira Mesa Please help our orchestra by helping put together a basket to be auctioned off at the Taste of Mira Mesa. 100% of the proceeds from any donated basket will donated to our orchestra program. Ideas: a movie basket, food, a basket for personal pampering, anything! So, chat with local businesses and help our program. Help us coordinate baskets, which are due by March 15th. If you bring in the items for the basket, we will even put it together for you. This is a great fundraising opportunity for us - let's take advantage. Honor Concert Notes The SDUSD Honor Band & Orchestra concert is this Saturday at 7:00 PM. The concert is at Copley Symphony Hall, and admission is free. Mira Mesa is represented by 37 band and orchestra students, by far the most of any school in the district. Come on out and support our incredible musicians as I know that they will be putting on a fabulous concert. Dates to Keep In Mind In addition to the dates listed above for this week, here's what's ahead:
DonorsChoose.org Materials Tangible Assistance - Thank You Again, thank you for making our DonorsChoose.org resource project a reality. As you can see, your altruistic efforts have tangible, real-world results. As we seek to continue to provide quality educational experiences (like string coaching), opportunities, and resources, your continued support will be absolutely essential. Your support does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. The Week Ahead
Save the Date(s)
Fundraising Opportunity The Taste of Mira Mesa is fast approaching. This is a HUGE fundraiser for the school and its programs. At any rate, those in charge of the Taste are offering a unique fundraising opportunity that will directly benefit our orchestra program. The message is copied below: You can put together a basket for the Taste of Mira Mesa and whatever the proceeds are from that basket, you will make 100% of that money. Suggestion, get donations for your basket, cute filler stuff, buy items on sale and we will put the worth of the basket at full price to get the highest bid for your group. Please email Mr. Mulvaney if you can help donate/recruit/help coordinate a basket for this event. The Taste of Mira Mesa is highly attended, and these baskets will go directly towards funding our orchestra program.
Basket submissions are due by March 15th. BBC Concert Orchestra Quick Recap Even thought last week was a short week (with no school on Friday), I believe it served as a perfect example of what can be achieved when we work together as students, teachers, families, and community members. A quick review of last week shows: (1) the complete and entire funding of a DonorsChoose.org resource project, (2) Monday coachings with the best string players around, (3) Wednesday sessions with members of the San Diego Symphony (many of whom also happen to teach at San Diego State University), (4) continued sectional work on Monday afternoon, (5) pit orchestra rehearsals on both Wednesday and Friday, and (6) an incredible opportunity on Friday evening to not only attend the BBC Concert Orchestra performance at Copley Symphony Hall, but also meet the conductor and sit in on rehearsal. Really, there is no other program in San Diego that can offer the depth and breadth of opportunities like Mira Mesa. So, to everyone who helped make last week possible - Thank You! A Note of Thanks For those students and parents who would like to be able to extend a note of thanks themselves, please consider emailing Mr. Jacob Lapré, Educational Coordinator at the La Jolla Music Society. The La Jolla Music Society has been, without question, our most involved and influential partner in music education. Also, I am sure they would love you to "Like" their Facebook page and even leave a note of thanks on their timeline! Collaboration with Professionals Our Schedule This Week
Have a great week! String Snapshot: San Diego Symphony musicians sharing their time and talents with our Symphony students.
Enter the code "INSPIRE" when checking out (in the "Match or Gift Code" field) and your donation will be doubled! PROMOTION ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH February 18th! This school year, we have been working hard to make sure our students have the materials they need to succeed. So, I've created a classroom project request on a 501(c)3 charity website called DonorsChoose.org.
As you may remember, we took the first step in funding student opportunity this fall. At the time I noted that any one project would not furnish the needs of a rapidly expanding orchestra program (we now have over 130 students enrolled in orchestra). With a one week matching offer now available, it is time for us to take our next step. I'm writing to ask you to join me in supporting our students. This week only, any donation you make to our project will be doubled! If you know anyone who is passionate about music education, please pass this along. Your tax-deductible donation will have a positive impact on our program, and you can feel good knowing you are taking an active role in ensuring music opportunities for all student-musicians at Mira Mesa High School. I've already helped get us started by making a donation in the amount of $25.00 (which was then doubled by DonorsChoose). If we can find 20 individuals to match my donation this week using the matching code "INSPIRE" we can fully fund this project! To join me in supporting our students:
The INSPIRE match code will double your donation for the next 7 days (through February 18th). Please feel free to send me any questions you may have, and know that our students (and I, of course) appreciate your continued support. Again, here is a direct link to our project. As always, thank you. Another week and another chance to take in a world famous orchestra (meet the conductor, too)! But First... Congratulations to the record 14 Mira Mesa string players who earned acceptance into the 2013 San Diego Unified School District Honor Orchestra! Our students represented both themselves and our program very well in their auditions, and I for one could not be happier for them. Plan on cheering them on at Copley Symphony Hall on Saturday, March 9th! This Week's Schedule
Keith Lockhart - Friday's Conductor BBC Concert Orchestra | Keith Lockhart, Conductor We still need a few drivers/chaperones. Please email Mr. Mulvaney if you would like to attend. My Honda Civic will not fit everyone! The BBC Concert Orchestra (concert info is here) will be in beautiful San Diego for one night only - Friday, February 15th. Once again, our Mira Mesa Orchestra program has partnered up with the La Jolla Music Society to bring this opportunity to our students. This time, there's a twist - our students, parents, and teachers will have the opportunity to meet conductor Keith Lockhart prior to the concert! Our students will have the opportunity to ask the conductor questions (about the concert, pieces to be performed that evening, conducting as a career, you name it). Many thanks to the La Jolla Music Society for helping arrange this not-to-be-missed opportunity. NOTE: All attendees (students and chaperones) should plan on meeting in the orchestra room at Mira Mesa between 4:00 - 4:15 pm for a brief meeting. We should plan on carpooling from Mira Mesa to Copley Symphony Hall by 4:30 pm to allow ample time for rush hour traffic. After meeting Mr. Lockhart at 5:30 pm, students will have time (in groups) to grab dinner at nearby restaurants. There are any number of places to grab a bite to eat near Symphony Hall (pho, sushi, pizza, tapas, etc). We will meet back in the lobby of Symphony Hall at/by 7:30 pm, where we can distribute tickets for the concert. Following the concert, as is customary, we will meet in the lobby and head back to Mira Mesa. This Week | February 4 - 8 There's plenty of opportunities for our Mira Mesa student-musicians this week, from honor auditions to master class opportunities with acclaimed bassist Dr. Kinghoffer, to continued preparations for Les Miserables... and yes, Monday sectional rehearsals for some. With that in mind, let's take a look. Honor Orchestra Auditions Auditions for the 2013 San Diego Unified School District's Honor Orchestra will take place on Tuesday, from 5:00 - 9:00 PM at Serra High School. Serra High School is located at 5156 Santo Road. As goes without saying, students who are auditioning should show up early to Serra High School (dressed appropriately), find their assigned warm up room, tune carefully, and take a good warm-up. Prepare as diligently as you can. In fact, here's a nice write up by Boston Symphony Orchestra Bass Trombonist Douglas Yeo. Here's your pertinent information:
Best of luck to everyone as you prepare. As always, I appreciate EVERYONE who has the courage to take an audition. Taking an audition says a lot about your individual desire to push yourself, so thank you for accepting that challenge. Bass Clinic on Friday The San Diego State University School of Music will be hosting an incredible musician this Friday. Dr. Klinghoffer, who serves as the Dean of Performing Arts and Lecturer of Double Bass at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance will be presenting a FREE master class on Friday, February 8th. In addition to his faculty positions, Dr. Klighoffer holds music degrees from both the Yale School of Music and the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. The masterclass runs from 3:00 - 5:00 PM, will feature SDSU bass students, and is absolutely free. Here is the informational flyer. Calendar Items
Also on the horizon - the BBC Concert Orchestra at Copley Symphony Hall (February 15th). Chaperones/drives wanted. Email Mr. Mulvaney if you would like to volunteer (and join us, of course). We may even have a chance to meet the conductor beforehand! |
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