October Letter From Ms. Burger

Dear Symphony and Chamber Orchestra Parents,

Thank you for your support at our recent Open House performance and parent booster meeting. The orchestra is now preparing for our second performance. Included in this letter is information you will need for this performance as well as some of the items discussed at the parent booster meeting.

Pasta Supper

Our annual Performing Arts Department Pasta Supper will take place on Wednesday, October 8.  The band will be hosting a silent auction starting at 5:30 with dinner being served starting at 6:00 p.m. Both the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras will be performing beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m. Call time for both orchestras will be 4:00 p.m. The orchestra concerts will be followed by a performance by the GVHS Marching Band and the GVHS Choirs Fall Concert. The dinner of salad, rolls, pasta marinara, chicken parmigiana, and cake is being catered by Ventano’s Italian Restaurant. Tickets for the Pasta Supper may be purchased for $10.00 pre-sale and $12.00 at the door. In addition, students will receive $3.00 in their fund raising account for every pre-sale ticket sold. All students will need to be in uniform for this performance and all other formal concerts during the year. A reminder of concert uniform is below:
Girls                                                          
Floor length GVHS black dress                     
Black stockings or tights                                
Black dress shoes                                            
                                               
Boys
Black long sleeve dress shirt
Black dress or tux pants
Black long tie
Black dress shoes and socks 
Black jacket

Chicago, Illinois Trip

As I am sure you have heard both the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras will have an opportunity to travel along with the GV Symphonic Band to Chicago Illinois to perform in Symphony Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony. The orchestra and band were invited to perform in this World Strides Heritage Festival of Gold as a result of their superior performances last year in Vancouver, British Columbia. I realize that this is an expensive undertaking for some of our families but want to give our students a chance to perform in a famous concert hall as well as experience a beautiful city. The trip is not mandatory but I am hoping that a majority of our students will find a way to be able to join us for this amazing opportunity. I have attached a proposal for the trip and the payment schedule. If you would like your child to participate, please return the letter of intent by Tuesday, October 7 and a $75.00 deposit by Wednesday, October 15. 

Please open GVHS Orchestra Links for FORM

Monday Rehearsals

We will begin Monday full Symphony rehearsals on either October 20 or October 27.  I will confirm the start day in early October. Rehearsal time is from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Students will be given a full schedule at the first rehearsal but we rehearse pretty much every Monday afternoon and Tuesdays during Early Bird class (if the student does not have another Early Bird class). As this is our only time to play with the wind players it is extremely important that we have all students in attendance on a regular basis. Please do everything in your power to not schedule appointments or events for your students on Monday afternoons.

Winter Concert Raffle

The parent booster club will be holding a raffle at our Winter Concert on Wednesday, December 10. We are currently looking for prizes for this raffle. If you have connections with local businesses (restaurants, coffee houses, show tickets, etc) we would appreciate you seeking donations from them. We will also be providing a donation letter in a few weeks to use when soliciting donations.

Home Practice

The importance of home practice cannot be stressed enough.  Please encourage your student to set a regular practice time and to share with you what they are working on in their orchestra class. Our full Symphony music will be quite a challenge for most of our students so regular practice is a must!

Class Fees/ Handbook Paperwork

Please try to take care of any paperwork and/or class fees that have not been paid yet as soon as you can. All fees and paperwork were due in mid-September but we still have several students who have not taken care of these items. If you are having difficulties with the fee, please contact me to make arrangements.

Thank you for your continued support of the GVHS Orchestra program. I am extremely grateful to be teaching such outstanding students and I look forward to many wonderful performances with them.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you might have.  My email is sab564@interact.ccsd.net and my school phone number is 799-0950 ext. 4063.

Sincerely,

Shelly Burger

Green Valley High School Orchestras

Pasta Supper Tickets

Orchestra is selling Pasta Supper tickets for Wednesday, October 8th, 2014. Event starts at 6:00pm. Tickets are $10 of which $3 proceeds will go into student's orchestra account for pre-sell. Sell 10 tickets first before it is distributed to the students. Need RSVP by Friday, October 3rd, 2014.

This event is hosted by the music department. Food will be provided by Ventano's Italian. Entertainment will be provided by GVHS Orchestra, Marching Band, and Choir. There will be a silent auction during that time run by GVHS Marching Band.

ADVERTISEMENTS ARE DUE!!

Attention Parents and Students!!

This is a great way to raise money! 

Find businesses and sponsors to place an advertisement or dedication in our program. 

Proceeds will go into Student's  Orchestra account. 
Go to the website if you need the copy of the Ad/Sponsor Form.

Don't Forget! Bring your Ads in THIS FRIDAY!!

New Links On Website

Please check out NEW Links on the website on the LEFT.

You can find:

GVHS Orchestra Handbook

Advertising and Sponsor Form

Letter From Ms. Burger

Dear Green Valley Orchestra Parents,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2014-2015 school year! I know the beginning of the year is often chaotic and filled with lots of paperwork needing your attention so I thought that it might be helpful if I sent a note regarding important items for our orchestra program.

Handbook forms

Your child should have brought an orchestra handbook home the 2^nd day of school. This handbook contains expectations and information for our orchestra program. At the back of the handbook are several permission slips that require your signature. If these forms have not been returned yet, please have your child get them in as soon as possible.

Class Fee

There is a $40.00 class fee for orchestra and covers an orchestra t-shirt, replacement of broken strings, and periodic specialized sectional (small group) coaching. Class fees are due by Friday, September 12. If you will need an extension to this deadline or need to make other payment arrangements please send a note with your child. You can also contact me by email or phone.

Open House

Green Valley's annual Open House will be held Tuesday, September 16. The Symphony Strings and Chamber Orchestra will be combining to perform for this event. The Open House presentations start at 6:00 p.m. in the gym followed by classroom visits for each of your child's classes. The Chamber Orchestra and Symphony Strings play at the beginning of the Open House and will be finished performing no later than 6:40 p.m.

Orchestra Parent Booster Meeting

Our first parent booster meeting will be Monday, September 22 in the Orchestra Room. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. and should be done no later than 7:00 p.m. All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend. We will be discussing fund raising opportunities, ways to get involved to help the orchestra, and Spring travel plans for all groups.

Orchestra Website

Helpful information about the GVHS Orchestra and our activities will always be posted on our orchestra website. Please consider subscribing to this valuable resource. The address is www.gvhsorchestra.org. Once you get to the website it will be very easy to subscribe and start receiving email updates.

Random Drug Testing

GVHS participates in a random drug testing program. The program is optional for the general student body but all students who participate in our athletic program as well as our top performing arts groups are expected to participate. All Symphony and Chamber Orchestra students need to return the drug testing parent permit and the $10 fee to the school banker no later than Friday, September 26. (If your student has already purchased an athletic packet they have already been enrolled in the program.)

Program Ads

Our first fund raiser of the year is selling ad space in our four formal concert programs (Pasta Supper, Winter Concert, Community Concert, and Spring Concert). If you own a business or know someone who would like to advertise for an extremely low cost please have your child pick up an ad contract to fill out. Ad space starts at $75.00 and at least  75% of the money raised from the sale of the ad goes to directly to the student who sold it. Ad contracts and art work for the ad are due by Friday, September 26 to be in time for our first program.

Home Practice/Equipment

The importance of consistent home practice cannot be stressed enough.  Please encourage your student to set a regular practice time and to share with you what they are working on in their orchestra class.  Violin and viola players should be taking their instruments home on a REGULAR basis and ALL cello and bass players should have playable instruments to practice on at home. If this is an issue, please contact me as soon as possible. If your child currently does not have their own instrument, please consider renting one from one of our local music stores. I can certainly make recommendations as to good places to rent for reasonable prices. The best situation for a student is to own or rent their own but if this is not possible, please contact me as soon as possible and I will find a school instrument to loan to your student. In addition to a working instrument at home, all violin and viola players need to have a shoulder rest to use in class daily. It would also be fantastic if every cello and bass player owned their own rock stop to use for concerts. I have shoulder rests available for purchase at school. Violin rests are $15.00 and Viola rests are $20.00. If your child will be using a school instrument at home you will also need to fill out a loan of musical equipment form. Your child will be bringing this home in the next few days for your signature.

Uniforms

We will be using the same uniform as last year. Girls that are new to our program will need to purchase the Green Valley Orchestra Dress. We will be fitting girls for dresses during class at the end of September and then ordering the dresses to be here in time for our Winter Concert. The cost of the dress will be approximately $75.00. I should know the final cost in a couple of weeks and would like the dresses paid for by October 1. Boys that are new to our program will need to purchase a black long sleeved dress or tux shirt, black dress pants, and a black long tie. All students will also need black dress shoes and black dress socks or stockings.

Thank you for your continued support of the GVHS Orchestra program. I am extremely grateful to be teaching such outstanding students and I look forward to many wonderful performances with them.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you might have.  My email is sab564@interact.ccsd.net and my school phone number is 799-0950 ext. 4063.

Sincerely,

Shelly Burger

Green Valley High School Orchestras