Spring Trips Chaperone Meetings and Required Forms

If you are chaperoning for the spring trips for band, orchestra, or choir and have not already done so, make sure you complete the SPS online volunteer application by early March at the latest. Be sure you sign up as a 'Category B' chaperone. Also, note that there is an additional required form for your emergency contact information. 

Orchestra and Band Disney Chaperones

Mr. Gillespie and Mr. Valdez have scheduled a mandatory chaperone meeting for Saturday March 18th in the band room at 5 pm. They will go over chaperone expectations and SPS trip policy rules. Chaperones will be assigned students at this time, so at the trips meeting on Monday 3/20, families will know who is in charge of their student(s).

NYC Choir Trip Chaperones

Ms. Rowley will set a date for the chaperone meeting for the choir trip soon. 

Trips Meeting for Parents and BPA Boosters Meeting March 20

The March in-person booster meeting, originally scheduled for Tuesday March 7th, will now take place on Monday March 20, in the library. Booster board business will begin at 6 pm. At 7 pm, the Disney travel agent will be in the PAC for orchestra and band parents, students, and chaperones to go over the details of the trip. The choir trip information meeting will continue in the library. It's very important for all students who are attending these trips and their parents to attend this meeting.

Get Your Musical Tickets Now!

The Ballard High School Playmakers are pleased to present The Secret Garden, a heartwarming story of redemption and growth, March 16, 17, and 18 and March 24, 25, and 26. This classic of children’s literature, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, was first published in 1911 and has delighted generations ever since. The Secret Garden Musical is a reimagining of the classic tale, replete with ghosts and intrigue, and is a sweet celebration of the healing powers of nature. The beautiful, sweeping score was written by Grammy Award winning composer Lucy Simon, sister of Carly Simon. The script and lyrics were written by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman.

Follow the young orphan, Mary Lennox, whose journey of recovery from isolation and loss begins when she is sent to live with her uncle on his country estate and meets the down-to-earth people of the Yorkshire moor. Shepherded by a chorus of ghosts, Mary discovers a hidden garden which harbors its own secrets. In the garden she soon begins to thaw and grow like the small spring shoots breaking through the hard ground. Through Mary, the magic of the garden spreads to her uncle and cousin as they begin to confront the grief that has kept them locked inside.

Ballard High School’s The Secret Garden is directed by Eia Waltzer; Indira Rampersad is the assistant director and accent/vocal coach; musical direction is by BHS choir director Courtney Rowley and choreography by Eia Waltzer. BHS band director, Jay Gilespie, will conduct the pit orchestra. For more details about the musical, visit the Ballard Performing Arts website.

Tickets

$20 for adults

$15 for seniors

$10 for students.

Order tickets at https://www.showtix4u.com/.

Band

Upcoming Band Performances

May 4 or 5 – CWU jazz festival, day trip for both jazz bands

May 23 – North High School band festival at Lincoln

June 2-4 - Honkfest. Details to come.

June 13 – Final Jazz concert at the Royal Room, 5:30 load in, 6:30 downbeat

Disney Marching Practices

Please mark calendars for additional marching band practices. These practices are preparation for the Disney performances and are required for students going on the trip. Rehearsals will be held immediately after school and a few will require parent chaperones for marching in the streets. Please use the SignUp Genius to choose a volunteer spot.

• Thursday March 16
• Friday March 17 (chaperones required)
• Friday March 24 (chaperones required)
• Friday March 31 (chaperones required)
• Tuesday April 4 (chaperones required)

March 25th Pep Band Performance

Mark your calendars. The Pep Band has been invited to perform at the "Running of the Beavers" on March 25th at Golden Gardens from 8-9:30 am. Logistics for the performance to follow.

Be the Ultimate Band Booster – Become a Band Rep!

Our band rep has a senior this year and we need to find a new parent band representative liaison to help Mr. Gillespie communicate with families, organize field trips, and support the marching band. Sharing this role with another parent is a great way to go and it’s a super fun volunteer position. You’ll work in tandem with the jazz band rep, and that position has been filled. We’re hoping to find volunteers for next year now to shadow our current reps this year to learn the ropes. Contact Carol at bpabbandrep@gmail.com.

Choir

Upcoming Dates

Concert Choir to PLU Invitational

Friday, March 3

6:30 am – 3:30 pm

Concert Choir rehearsal with Choral Arts Northwest

Sunday, March 12

7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Sammamish High School

Concert Choir performance with Choral Arts Northwest

Sunday, March 19

1:30 pm Call time

4:00 pm Concert

Edmonds Center for the Arts

Concert Choir will be collaborating with Choral Arts Northwest for this amazing performance! Families are encouraged to attend the March19th performance in Edmonds. Entry fee is “pay as you’re able.” For more information, see: https://www.choralartsnw.org/season/#march

Orchestra

Symphonic Orchestra Performed at Wintergrass Sunday, Feb 26

Once again, the Symphonic Orchestra performed at Wintergrass, a four-day, family-friendly bluegrass and acoustic music festival in Bellevue at the Hyatt Regency and Westin Hotel. Our orchestra performed at 10:45 am as part of the Wintergrass Youth Orchestra. 

With concerts and dances on five different stages, Wintergrass also features music education programs for kids and adults, workshops, and impromptu jams. Look for videos here: https://wintergrass.com/

Chamber Orchestra Trip to Central Washington University Orchestra Festival March 11th

Chamber Orchestra has been accepted to the Central Washington University Orchestra Festival! The orchestra will perform, work with a clinician, listen to other high school orchestras, and listen to the CWU Orchestra perform.

Schedule:

• Meet at Ballard HS –10:00 am. Bring a lunch to eat on the bus or when we arrive at CWU (Ellensburg). We’ll have some time to get situated and find our warm up space when we arrive.
• Performance time – 1:40 pm.
• CWU Orchestra Concert – 3:30 pm.
• We will depart after the concert at about 4:30 pm.

Chamber Orchestra SPS Northwest Region Pathways Concert March 21st

Chamber Orchestra has been invited to take part in the SPS Northwest Region Pathways Concert. On Tuesday, March 21 at 7:00 pm, we will join other area elementary, middle, and high schools in a combined concert that serves to encourage young students in orchestra to continue through high school! More details to come soon.

Theatre

For questions about Theatre Arts classes that meet during the school day, email Mr. Riley’s theater substitute, Ms. Indira Rampersad at igrampersad@seattleschools.org.

The Secret Garden Musical Production Update

Students and the crew are staying in touch via GroupMe and the cast calendar. 

For questions contact director Eia Waltzer at eiaradio@yahoo.com.

How Theatre Families Can Help Support the Musical

Sell ads and sponsorships for the program and musical! 

Please sell advertisements and sponsorships for the program. These are due to Jill by March 3rd at the latest. Payments for advertisements and sponsorships should be in the form of a check to Ballard Performing Arts and handed in to the payment box at school for BPAB treasurer, Jill Hansen.

Download the sponsorship form.

Download the advertising form.

Completed forms can to handed to stage manager, Max, or emailed to bpabevents@gmail.com.

We need lots of volunteers to help run the musical. Please look at the sign up genius

and volunteer for whatever you can. If you indicated an offer of help on the T-shirt form that you filled out many weeks ago, you have already been added to the sign up genius and Sally (bpabevents@gmail.com) has contacted you, unless your form was illegible or incomplete! If you need to change your offer of help, please do so in the sign up genius. 

Buy your tickets and save your seats – tickets are on sale now!

The district only pays for teachers’ salaries; everything else we have to raise or donate.

Spaghetti Dinner Recap

Many of us are still smiling and singing those catchy one hit wonder tunes from our amazing Spaghetti Dinner! Thanks to the live entertainment by our talented students and the hard work of over 115 volunteers, we raised almost $7,000 for Ballard Performing Arts!



Congratulations to our 50/50 Raffle Winner, Ken Berry, who won $750!

Goodwill Truck March 18

We will need help sorting donations! Students, sign up for a shift to earn service hours. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F084FA9A92CAAF85-goodwill2

Social Media Help Wanted

Social media has become integral to all aspects of the BPA. Our students are ramping up with performances, trips, and visiting specialists.You can help highlight programs, get the word out about dine-outs, concerts, events, and fundraising, and use social media tools to tell the story of our fundraising efforts through reels, stories, and posts. The social media team needs you! This is easy-to-post content lifted from our weekly newsletter. Learn how to use the pro-version of the popular software Canva and get the inside scoop on everything that is coming down the pike with our programs. Please reach out to Jeannette Chen at bpabsocial@gmail.com - she has a graduating senior and would love to train an enthusiastic parent who wants to keep the momentum going!

Band Rep Needed

Our band rep has a senior this year and we need to find a new parent band representative liaison to help Mr. Gillespie communicate with families, organize field trips, and support the marching band. Sharing this role with another parent is a great way to go and it’s a super fun volunteer position. You’ll work in tandem with the jazz band rep, and that position has been filled. We’re hoping to find volunteers for next year now to shadow our current reps this year to learn the ropes. Contact Carol at bpabbandrep@gmail.com.

Communications Chair Wanted

We’re looking for a parent to corral our communications that feed our newsletter, website, social media and other communications channels. You’ll work with BPA president and board members and directors to make sure parents are informed through the newsletter. Work with parent volunteer newsletter editor, social media team, website coordinator, and publicity volunteers. It’s a great way to stay on top of all the goings on! Contact Rachel Hart Rios at bpabcommunications@gmail.com.

Spaghetti Dinner 2024 Committee Forming Now!

Now that you have experienced the joyful community vibe of the Spaghetti Dinner event, why not step up to help run the event next year? It would be ideal to form the committee now while the event is fresh in our minds to help make planning easier for next year. If you are interested, email bpabpresident@gmail.com.

Still humming those tunes from the Spaghetti Dinner, like Vocal Jazz’s rendition of “Somebody I Used to Know” by Gotye?

Watch them all over again!

Check out the 2023 Spaghetti Dinner playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6isQb4_SEgKq0L0svpHTEmUM5YyBbTI5

If you have a good video of a performance from Spaghetti Dinner, please send your YouTube link to bpabcommunications@gmail.com.

Check out past performances any time on our YouTube and Vimeo channels.