Six members of our band program represented YCSD this past week at the Westchester County School Music Association’s Area All State festival. Based on their spring 2018 NYSSMA scores, top music students from across Westchester are invited to participate in an honor band, orchestra, or choir.  These ensembles are open to 10^th-12^th graders only, rehearse with an esteemed college music educator, and present a concert at SUNY Purchase.  The concert took place this past Thursday.  Congratulations to these YHS Band members on this fantastic musical achievement!

Justin Chee, Clarinet (11)

Paul Duffy, Bassoon (12)

James Ernst, Trumpet (12)

Alicia Menduni, Horn (10)

Ryan Onatzevitch, Trumpet (12)

Swaroop Pujari, Alto Sax (10)

On Friday 11/9, the YHS Jazz Band traveled to NYC to see the big band at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club. Ms. Kluga was so pleased with the whole experience for our students; the band was fabulous, and Mr. Childers, our new MESMS 7&8^th grade band director, was a wonderful host. Mr. Childers plays sax in the Birdland band and introduced many of his fellow musicians to our students, which was a real treat!  Thank you to our awesome parent chaperones for helping make this experience a success for our students!

Similar to NYSSMA, YHS Jazz Band students are eligible to audition for our Westchester All County Jazz Band.  Being selected is an elite musical honor and a fantastic opportunity to perform with some of Westchester’s most talented student jazz musicians!  Interested students should prepare a jazz NYSSMA solo, fill out an application and attend the audition.   You do not need to improvise to audition. Please see Ms. Kluga for solo literature and an application.  The audition date is Saturday 1/5. The application is DUE to Ms. Kluga by Friday, 12/14.

Application is available: AC-Jazz-Student-Application-2019

A reminder regarding our spring festival trip dates (which were outlined in the YHS Band Handbook back in September). Please make sure they are included on your family calendar.

CONCERT BAND: our festival trip is SAT. 5/11.  5am-10pm. Chaperones needed. Details to follow.

WIND ENSEMBLE: our festival trip is FRI 4/5 – SUN 4/7 2019. Details to follow.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this weekend a success!  After sorting through and organizing mountains of “stuff” Friday afternoon and evening (the donations were truly overwhelming, thank you so much!!), we kicked off our sale at 9am Saturday and, despite the weather, enjoyed a steady stream of customers throughout the day.  In all we made over $3,500 in profit (and the special band, choir, and orchestra memories, of course, were priceless…)  None of this would have been possible without your help and support; many thanks to all who donated items, refreshments, or your valuable time to help make this endeavor a success! 

Also, many special thanks to band parents Kelly Bard, Adriana Beaudreault, MariaElaina Cirone, Laura Lee Milhaven, Theresa Ryan-Onatzevitch, Lisa Statler, Jennifer Weitman and Deborah Woodard for their tireless organizational, logistical, and advertising expertise!!  

SPECIAL THANKS to band parent Theresa Ryan-Onatzevitch and orchestra parent Melissa Montaruli for their amazing work organizing all of the parent volunteers and working out so many of our logistical and planning details behind the scenes.  In addition, SPECIAL THANKS to Adriana Beaudreault for securing bountiful food donations for our volunteers, Stacey Warren for securing the local charity Green Drop, to whom we donated all our remaining items, and to Lisa Statler for securing the WHUD Family Fun Crew to attend out event!

Some reminders as we head into our LAST WEEK of this, our largest fundraiser.  Last year, we sold 1,620 boxes. We hope to beat that goal this year, with your help!

**ALL CITRUS FORMS AND PAYMENTS ARE DUE IN CLASS WEDNESDAY 10/31**

IF YOU SOLD TO A YCSD EMPLOYEE ON OUR CAMPUS (YHS, MESMS, ADMIN), we ask that you please fill out an online form that will help us sort these orders. The link can be found on your student’s Dashboard, or here:  citrusform.yhsbands.com

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE A BOX OF CITRUS TO DONATE TO A LOCAL FOOD PANTRY? Purchase a box to be delivered to YHS, and e-mail Ms. Kluga with the type of box you ordered and your intent to donate. Boxes will be delivered to the food pantry by the Menduni Family – thank you!

CITRUS COUNTING HELP NEEDED THIS WEEK

We are looking for parent volunteers to help us tally our orders during the school day on Wednesday 10/31, Thursday 11/1 and Friday 11/2 from 7:15-9:00am and from 12:30 – 2:15pm.  If you are interested/able to be a part of these monumental counting sessions, please e-mail Ms. Kluga.

PLEASE SAVE THESE CITRUS DATES! 

* Your order forms and payments are due in class on Thursday 11/1. 

* Our TONS of citrus will be delivered Monday 12/17.  Your student is responsible for picking up their entire order between 2:30 and 7:00pm at YHS.

A reminder regarding our spring festival trip dates (which were outlined in the YHS Band Handbook back in September). Please make sure they are included on your family calendar.

CB parents and students: our festival trip will be SATURDAY 5/11/19.  5am-10pm. Chaperones needed. Details to follow.

WE parents and students: our festival trip will be FRIDAY 4/5 – SUNDAY 4/7. Details to follow.

Many thanks to all band students who supported our Varsity Football team this season!  Our community appreciates your time, enthusiasm, and the spirit your music adds to our games

Order forms are now available for download on Dashboard and www.yhsbands.com under “documents.”

Your participation is important. Please help your student participate in our Citrus Sale. Even if your family is able to cover the entire cost of your student’s festival trip, that cost does not include participation fees for chaperones. We are required to fundraise to cover this expense.

  PLEASE SAVE THESE CITRUS DATES! 

* The citrus sale ENDS Wed. 10/31.  All forms and orders due in class on Thursday 11/1.

* Our TONS of citrus will be delivered Mon. 12/17.  Your student is responsible for picking up their entire order between 2:30 and 7:00pm at YHS.

VIEW YOUR ON-LINE SALES

Students can access their on-line sales by visiting https://www.ifundraise.com/member and entering their six-digit personal ID#, which was distributed in class.

 DONATE BOXES TO OUR LOCAL FOOD PANTRY

If you are interested in purchasing a box to donate, please make your purchase and e-mail me the information. YHS Band parent Karen Menduni will be helping organize these donated boxes and get them to the Food Pantry at the Presbyterian Church.

 QUICK LINKS FOR E-MAIL SALES
The links below will take you directly to our ensemble sale sites. To receive credit, customers can then select your student’s name from a drop-down menu during checkout.

Concert Band       www.floridaindianrivergroves.com/ecommerce/837673

Wind Ensemble       www.floridaindianrivergroves.com/ecommerce/498649

This is a fun community event and fundraiser for our YHS Music Dept! Please consider donating your gently used items, and your time J

Donation drop-off is THIS FRIDAY 10/26 from 2:30–7:00pm, YHS Band Room.  We are asking for donations of gently used items to sell.  It would be helpful if you could please bring donations pre-sorted by type of item. (Ex. all kitchen items in one box, all clothing in one bag). 

Volunteers needed! And, baked goods are needed to stock our bake sale table.  Parents, please see the e-mail from parent-organizer Theresa Ryan-Onatzevitch ([email protected]) to see how you can help. Sign up via this link: Sign up via this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508094CA5AE23A7F49-yhsmusic

Student volunteers are also needed especially Saturday 1-3pm.  Students are also encouraged to bake items for our bake sale table.  There are student sign-up sheets in the band room.

A flyer is attached FYI. 

Parent volunteers will be needed. 

All left-over items will be donated to the American Red Cross via the GreenDrop organization. A flyer with more information on Green Drop is attached.

Thank you all for your continued support!  Please contact Ms. Kluga with any questions.

Musically Yours,

Ms. Kluga

We will have rehearsal from 7:20-8:30 in the Band Room. Thank you for your flexibility! We hope to have the Pep Band perform on Thursday evening to support the Varsity Football team in their final game of the season.

What: Pep Band performance at our final YHS varsity football game of the season

When: Thursday, October 25th.  Be at the band room by 5:00 (game begins at 6:00)

Wear: Your YHS Band polo shirt.  If you think you will be chilly, please wear a long-sleeved turtleneck/t-shirt under the polo.  If you still think you’ll be cold, bring a coat/sweatshirt.

Snacks: If you are able to bring hot chocolate or a snack to share, please let me know. Thanks!

Just like any sports team, our band needs quality players at every position to perform our best. In Concert Band, we are in need of euphonium, French horn, bassoon, and tenor sax players. Students, please consider helping our musical team (and giving yourself an opportunity to shine!) by switching to one of these instruments.  If you are interested in finding out more, please attend one of our sessions after school where you can try out the instrument.  Information is posted in the band room.

(And, FYI, if you do decide to make the commitment to switch, YHS owns these instruments so there would be no additional rental cost).

A reminder that due to the college conference on Thursday evening, Jazz Band will meet Tuesday from 7:20-9:00.

Many thanks to the crew of band students who performed at Friday night’s football game vs. Somers! Although the game did not go the way we all wanted, Ms. Kluga is so happy that we were able to be there to support our team.

Our final football Pep Band performance will be this Friday vs. TBD. More info to follow.