Dear Intermediate and Advanced Orchestra Parents,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2018-2019 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 1st week 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 $35.00 class fee for orchestra and covers an
orchestra t-shirt, replacement of broken strings, and periodic specialized
sectional (small group) coaching. Class fees were due on Friday, September 6.
If you need to make payment arrangements please send a note with your child.
You can also contact me by email or phone.
Orchestra Parent
Booster Meeting
Our first parent booster meeting will be Monday, September 17
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 upcoming events, fund raising opportunities, ways to get
involved to help the orchestra, and spring travel plans for all groups.
Pasta Supper
You are cordially invited to our annual Performing Arts
Department Pasta Supper. The dinner and concert will take place on Monday,
September 24. Doors open for the silent
auction at 5:30 p.m. with dinner starting to be served at 6:00 p.m. Both the
Symphony and Chamber Orchestras will be performing beginning with the Combined
Orchestras at 5:30 p.m. and the Symphony Strings at approximately 6:20 p.m. The
orchestra concerts will be followed by a performance by the GVHS Marching Band
and the GVHS Choirs. Tickets are $10.00 pre-sale and $12.00 at the door. For
every pre-sale ticket sold the student earns $3.00 in their fund raising
account.
Orchestra
Website/Remind 101
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. We will also be using Remind 101 to communicate with parents and
student. To join our GVHS Orchestra 2018-19 Parents Remind group text @gvorc to
number 81010.
Fundraising
Our first fund raiser of the year is selling coupon books
from Save Around. The books are $25.00
and feature discounts from many local and national restaurants and businesses. For
every book sold the student earn $10.00 in their account. Students will also
have an opportunity to seek sponsors for the orchestra as a fund raiser. I will
be providing a sponsor contract to students in the next few weeks. Students can
seek donations from individuals or businesses and will earn 100 % of the
donation amount in their fund raising account. The business or individual who
donates will have their name or business listed in all of our concert programs
this year and will be acknowledged on our orchestra website.
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.
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 is $72.00 and I would like to have the dresses paid for by October
11. 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
