Thoughts on Practice

I recently came across this quote by the violinist Sir Yehudi Menuhin:

"There is no such thing as a difficult piece of music. A piece is either impossible or easy. The process whereby it migrates from one category to the other is known as PRACTICING." ~ Sir Yehudi Menuhin

I like this quote. But, I like a lot of quotes. The process of encapsulating an idea into a rather short, memorable series of words is appealing to me. I think that is why I enjoy Twitter as well (@GraftonBAND)

Back to the quote...

What Sir Yehudi is trying to say is pretty self-explanatory. That being said, next year we will play some music that will be impossible for some of you when we begin the year. I am not going to sugar-coat it. Many of you will struggle. The group will struggle. But...

What we will accomplish as a group is not doing the impossible but rather changing the impossible. That is what practice is all about. We will accomplish this together. I can't wait.

Central District Audition List now Available!

For those looking to get a jump-start on your audition preparations, the CD audition list is now available. A link has also been posted to the right of these postings. Auditions will be held in Grafton on Saturday November 16th.

Grafton to Host Central District Auditions in 2013

Grafton High School has again been chosen to host the Central District Music auditions on November 16th 2013. Citing the great location, facilities, and supportive students and parents, the district was eager to come back to Grafton for the annual event. Next year, the day will also include the jazz ensemble auditions which have usually occurred at another site prior to the general auditions. We are looking forward to hosting this large event.
Look for updates and postings related to the auditions in the coming days.

Grafton High School Music: Graduation Information for Band Students

Grafton High School Music: Graduation Information for Band Students: Graduation is fast approaching and the band is an integral part of the ceremony. Band students will be performing at the Hanover Theatre as ...

Memorial Day to Remember

We had a spectacular day for the annual Memorial Day Parade on Monday. In the nearly 2 decades of marching for the town of Grafton, it has to go down as one of the most picturesque parade days I can recall. This year, students from GMS met up with the GHS band at Norcross park and we completed the parade as one unified band.

The students performed the service songs from each of the 5 branches of the armed forces. These arrangements were written specifically for the band for our Memorial Day parade.

As we begin to wind down our band activities for the school year it is always great to have the parade as a way to honor those who have served in the armed services, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. 

GMS Concert at GHS Tuesday June 4th

The future stars of GHS (and current stars of GMS) will take the high school stage on Tuesday June 4th at 6pm for the Spring Concert. The band, chorus and jazz band will be featured during the performance. Hope to see you there!

MetYSO to become Claflin Hill Youth Symphonies

My son and I had the good fortune of attending a recent MetYSO performance. The groups were wonderful. I was particularly impressed with the quality of literature performed by the ensembles and the level of achievement of the individual student musicians.
I would encourage interested students to audition for the group. Auditions will be held on June 2nd and  August 25th I am attaching a flyer with contact info, etc.

Lions Club All-State Band

The GHS Band was honored to have 5 students chosen (1 student had to decline the invitation) to perform with the Lions All-State Band this year. During the week of April vacation the students rehearsed and performed with the group as part of the Lions State Convention. It was a grueling rehearsal and performance schedule for the students but the students were thankful to the sponsoring Lions Clubs and the GHS music boosters for supporting them.

Pictured L to R Martin Wyatt, Robbert Haskins, Nick Lawrence, Austin Boyle

Not pictured Marissa Barton

Memorial Day Parade

On Monday May 27th the students of the GHS Band have been given the honor of marching in the annual Memorial Day Parade. Students will meet at the high school at 8:30am. The schedule is as follows:
9:45am: North Grafton – Start at St. Mary’s Church School to Quinsigamond Corner, with stop at bridge
10:30am: South Grafton – Start at Library to Soldiers Memorial,
11:15am: Grafton Center – Start at Norcross Park to a stop at the Common, to J.F. Kennedy School (via Oak Street)
12:00pm: J.F. Kennedy School Flag Raising

Students will wear khaki pants/ shorts with a green top. 
We will be boarding the busses at 9am to go to the staging area at North Grafton.

It is important that band students have their music memorized or have printed copies and a lyre to hold their music.

The trumpeters for taps will meet at the American Legion Delisle Goulet Post 92 at 7:15am. They will rejoin the band at North Grafton.

The Memorial Day Parade is a required performance as per our course expectations.

Grafton High School Students will be able to: Understand and demonstrate the duties and responsibilities that come with citizenship

A Great Day at Great East

We had a wonderful day of music and fun at the Great East Festival on Friday May 17th. The Band, Concert Choir and Chamber Choir each performed for adjudicators in the morning at Westfield North Middle School. The Band and Concert Choir received gold medal ratings while the Chamber Choir received a prestigious platinum rating. The adjudicators where highly complimentary of the ensembles' performance. They spoke of the high quality of literature and the student's exceptional musicianship.

We had a terrific day at Six Flags following the adjudication. The weather was fantastic and the students where awesome. Special thanks to Mr. Roix, Mr. Graves, and Mrs. Thurber for helping to chaperone the trip.

Mr. Roix captured a great video of Chris, Mary and MaryTheresa on the Scream ride. The sun was in the perfect spot for a really cool "launch" of the ride. You'll see what I mean when you watch the video.



You can see more photos and highlights of the trip from our Twitter feed @GraftonBAND

The physics of music

Mr. Eschelbacher's physics classes recently built homemade musical instruments as part of the study of the physics of sound. Here is Doug A. demonstrating during band class.

Thank you for making graftonmusic.blogspot.com a success!

Thanks to those of you who keep up-to-date on the goings-on of GHS music by visiting this blog, we are fast approaching our 5000 view. Please keep visiting and we will keep the news from GHS music flowing. You can also follow GHS music on twitter @GraftonBAND.
Follow @GraftonBAND

Boosters seeking baked goods for Arts Night Bake Sale!

The Music Boosters are seeking donations for their bake sale at Arts Night next Thursday, May 16th.  We are looking for a variety of donations, including brownies, cookies, cupcakes, breads, pies, fudge, etc.  All item should be wrapped.  Thank you for helping support the Grafton Music Boosters. 

To sign up, go to:
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/5080C4CADA82EAA8-arts/5112242

A Night of the Arts at GHS

On Thursday May 16th, Grafton High School will be filled with the sights and sounds of the arts. The annual Arts Night and Spring Concert will bring together the visual and performing arts as well as many projects and interactive displays from various academic departments. The doors will open at 6pm and give visitors a chance to browse the displays and visit with the student artists and presenters. At 7pm the music department will present the Spring Concert which will feature various ensembles performing an eclectic blend of musical styles. Groups scheduled to perform include the Chamber Choir, Chorus, the jazz workshop and the Concert Band. Please join us in celebrating the artistic achievement of these talented GHS students. Admission is free and all are welcome.

End of the Year Events: A Review for Band

The dates for the end of year events have been posted for quite some time in the classroom, but I wanted to commit these to the blogosphere...

Other than the Great East Festival, these events are required performances for band students.

Thursday May 16th Spring Concert/ Arts Night
Doors open at 6pm for the Arts Fair
Concert begins at 7pm

Friday May 17th Great East Festival
Students participating will be involved throughout the day

Monday May 27th Memorial Day Parade
Students will meet at 8:30am at GHS. The parade finishes at noon time back at the high school.

Friday May 31st Graduation
Information for Graduation from a previous post

GHS PEP Outreach Event

On Wednesday May 15th, GHS PEP will be performing a musical outreach program for the the 7th and 8th grade band students. The students will be coming to our auditorium for the performance.
The PEP band will rehearse on Thursday May 9th at 2pm to prepare for this program.