"The President's Own" United States Marine Band will be hosting a virtual clinic on Thursday, February 25, during Symphonic Band (1st period) class. Euphonium player Gunnery Sergeant Hiram Diaz will lead the class covering such topics and intonation, time, and sight reading. The clinic will be open to other students with permission of their 1st period teacher. A recording of the class may be available for all students. For more information, ask Mr. Gillespie.

Mr. Gillespie and band students are enjoying experimenting with music collaboration software "Soundtrap".  Marching band will begin working on "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd. Please check with your student to make sure they've signed in to Soundtrap so Mr. Gillespie can invite them to other collaborative projects in the future.

Although Starbuck's Hot Java Cool Jazz live event was cancelled last year and again this year, Ballard High school's Jazz Band has been invited to submit a recording for a video tribute to the event. More information on where to find the videos coming soon.

Saxophone professor at New England Conservatory, Jerry Bergonzi, a renowned figure in the jazz performance and pedagogy world, is going to do a master class with Jazz students on Friday, February 26^th. This is an amazing opportunity to meet and talk with a true jazz legend. 

This just in! Dr. Sophia Tegart, Flute Professor at WSU, offered to do some free master classes for the flute players. We have two sessions set up, one on phrasing/breathing and one on vibrato set up for the Wednesday, February 24^th and the Wednesday after that, March 3^rd, at 2pm.

All BHS orchestras will be collaborating with other orchestras around the region (Cleveland, Rainier Beach, Seattle Pacific University) to perform as a full orchestra and produce 2 pieces for Pocketgrass. One piece will be a collaborative performance with Martha Redbone, a Native & African-American vocalist/songwriter/composer/educator based in New York. Pocketgrass is a 45-minute variety show scaled to fit things we love about the Wintergrass Festival onto a small screen. Each monthly episode features music, magic, a story, a lightning workshop and fun for everyone in the family. Stream episodes via the Wintergrass YouTube Channel. The date of the Pocketgrass episode featuring the BHS orchestras is June 2021. Stay tuned to the newsletter for more details!

The winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, told by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater through what Entertainment Weekly called, "the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade", Spring Awakening explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood with a poignancy and passion that is illuminating and unforgettable.

The link to submit your audition, an electronic copy of the script, and monologue choices will be emailed to you after you have filled out the Microsoft forms audition form. A permission form will also be sent to your parent/guardian. Your audition submission will NOT be accepted until I receive notification from a parent allowing for you to continue with the process. 

Submissions will be due by March 27^th

Directors will register students through the Opus Event Manager at Opus Event, the same as in previous years. Since it's virtual and we don't have to worry about scheduling students or accompanists, less information is required. For ensembles, only one student name is required, but the student listed will be the one receiving the link to record and will also be the one receiving the invoice. We are asking for a parent email address as well, in case they need to be contacted for payment.

Payment is due by March 27th. If payment is not received by this date, the student's entry will not be forwarded onto the adjudicator.

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed the Spaghetti Dinner and Show, we raised over $5000 for the Ballard Performing Arts Program!

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