Week of October 16

Halloween Concert — October 26

Our first concert of the year is almost upon us! The students have been working hard and are excited to showcase what they have learned in the first two months of school. The concert’s theme is Halloween! We encourage the band students AND audience members to wear costumes. We will hold 3 costume contests with prizes: middle school and younger, high school, and adult. At the end of the concert, we hand out candy to everyone!

We are looking for donations of Halloween candy to hand out following the performance. If you are able, please pick up an extra bag or two on your next trip to the store and have your student drop it off in the band room.

Below is some pertinent information for the concert.

Call time is 6:00pm. Students should be at West and ready to go no later than 6:00pm. We will be taking a group photo and rehearsing the finale at 6:00, followed by fundamentals and tuning.

The auditorium seating area will open at 7:15pm. Please do not arrive earlier than 7:15 as the auditorium won’t be open until 15 minutes before the concert. Those who arrive early may wait in the lobby.

Concert time is 7:30pm. All four of our bands will perform on this night. The concert should be just over an hour and features 200 musicians! Students are expected to stay for the entire concert and we encourage families to do the same!

The concert will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel. More information and links can be found here.

Holiday Parades — November 21 and November 30

Each year, all students in our four bands combine to perform in the Oshkosh and Appleton Holiday Parades. This is a required performance for all students.

The uniform for the parades is as follows:

All students will wear their marching uniform jacket, pants, and hat provided by the school. Students are responsible for providing long black socks and all-black shoes. Shoes that are not all-black will be made all-black. Expensive and/or fancy shoes are unnecessary! Find a pair of cheap all-black shoes that will last all four years at Walmart, Target, Goodwill, or your favorite local store. Students with financial difficulties should contact Mr. Singer or Mr. Wilson for assistance. (Students will not board the bus or be able to perform without the proper attire.)

It will be cold! The band program provides clean black ear warmers to be worn underneath the marching hats. The uniforms were fit with a little room so students can wear thermals, sweatshirts, Underarmour, or the like. Please do not wear anything with a hood as that will make the jacket bunchy. It may be a good idea to bring hand and/or foot warmers as well.

Clarinet and saxophone players may wish to purchase plastic reeds for the cold temperatures. Plastic reeds have strengths in quarters (2.5, 2.75, 3, 3.25, 3.5) rather than halves (2.5, 3, 3.5) like cane reeds. We recommend ordering a quarter stronger than you typically play. So, if you typically play a 2.5, order a 2.75 (though we should consider moving you up to a 3 cane reed). If you typically play a 3, order a 3.25. If you typically play a 3.5, order a 3.75. We recommend using the Légère Signature brand. Légère has other cheaper models, but this is definitely a “you get what you pay for” situation. From our experience, we do not recommend other brands at this time.

Brass players may wish to purchase a plastic mouthpiece for the cold temperatures. Please get a clear, white, blue, gray, silver, or black mouthpiece. Below are links to recommended mouthpieces. You can purchase these on Amazon, at Heid, or through the Kelly website.

Trumpet Mouthpiece (choose 3C, 5C, or 7C based on your metal mouthpiece)
Horn Mouthpiece (choose the MC model)
Trombone Mouthpieces
- Double-check your instrument for small or large shank (or ask Mr. Singer)
- Straight Tenor Trombone Mouthpiece (choose the 6-1/2AL model)
- Trigger Trombone Mouthpiece (choose the 5G model)
Euphonium Mouthpieces
- Double-check your instrument for small or large shank (or ask Mr. Singer)
- Yamaha Euphonium Mouthpiece (choose the 6-1/2AL model)
- King and Wilson Euphonium Mouthpiece (choose the 5G model)
Tuba Mouthpiece (choose the KellyBerg model)

Holiday Parade Volunteers

The next events that we need assistance with are the Appleton Holiday Parade (November 21st) and the Oshkosh Holiday Parade (November 30th). we still need lots of help for both parades. Please take a moment to visit our Volunteer Sign-Up to contribute to your student’s success!

For the fall holiday parades, we need help with the following:

Water Donations
- These positions will donate 24-36 bottles of water for dinner.
Dessert Donations
- These positions will donate 24-36 dessert items for dinner. These can be homemade or store-bought.
Pizza Pick-Up: 3:45-4:15pm
- This position will pick up our pizza dinner and deliver it to school.
Pizza Serving: 3:45-4:45pm
- These positions will serve pizza, dessert, and beverages to students. We’ll also need help at the end of dinner to clean up.
Follow Vehicle: 5:00-8:45pm
- This vehicle will follow the band down the parade route and carry our first aid kit with the potential to transport a student for the remainder of the parade if necessary.
Pull Band Trailer (Need truck -- F150 or similar): 5:00-8:45pm
- This position will pull our band trailer to and from the parades.
Uniform Distribution: 4:30-5:30pm
- These positions will assist students in finding uniforms and hats.
Uniform Collection: 8:30-9:15pm (Appleton) or 7:45-8:30pm (Oshkosh)
- These positions will verify that students have hung their uniforms up properly and put the hats back on the shelves.

BAND-O-RAMA — DECEMBER 16

We are excited to continue our tradition of having all 750+ district band students perform at Band-o-Rama!

This year’s performance will be on December 16th at 6pm in the Oshkosh North Fieldhouse. Due to fire code, each student we are asking each student to bring only 2-3 audience members. Please let us know if you’d like to bring more, as we may be able to accommodate that as well.

More information to come soon!

Six Flags Trip — May 18, 2024

This year, we will be traveling to Six Flags Great America on Saturday, May 18, 2024. This will be an optional trip for any student in the music department and will replace the previous activities in Milwaukee following WSMA performances.

The only criteria to attend is not missing performances; all performances must be attended or made up by the trip date. Costs will be determined in the spring, but fundraisers will be available throughout the year. Hope to see you there!

Grading and Make-Up Procedures

Are you curious about how grades are determined? Click here for more information!

Do you have to miss a pep band performance? Students who have a school-related activity are excused from the pep band performance. Students missing for any other reason must make up the performance to gain the points. Students wishing to be excused for a school-related activity should fill out this form prior to the date of the performance.

Do you have to miss a concert or parade performance? All students missing a concert or parade performance for any reason must make up the performance to earn the points.

View make-up procedures here. Please contact Mr. Singer or Mr. Wilson with questions.