Week of November 14

 

Titan Winds and Percussion Summit — November 18

For those students who signed up to participate in the Titan Winds and Percussion Summit, the event is this coming Friday. Below is the schedule.

  • 8:12 am - Arrive in band room, pack up equipment

  • 8:30 am - Depart West

  • 8:45 am - Arrive at UW-Oshkosh and prepare

  • 9:00 am - Event begins

  • 12:30 pm - Performance concludes, pack up equipment

  • 12:45 pm - Depart for Fast-food lunch in the Festival/Menards area (student cost)

  • 2:00 pm - Depart for West

  • 2:15 pm - Arrive at West, unload equipment

Holiday Parades — November 22 and December 1

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.

Holiday Parade Volunteers

The next events that we need assistance with are the Appleton Holiday Parade (November 22nd) and the Oshkosh Holiday Parade (December 1st). we still need lots of help for both parades. Please take a moment to visit our Volunteer Sign-Up page to contribute to your student’s success!

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

  • Dessert Donations

    • These positions will donate 24-36 dessert items for dinner. These can be homemade or store-bought.

  • Pizza Pick-Up: 3:45-4:15

    • This position will pick up our pizza dinner and deliver it to school.

  • Pizza Serving

    • These positions will serve pizza, dessert, and beverages to students. We’ll also need help at the end of dinner to clean up.

  • Uniform Distribution: 4:30-5:30pm

    • These positions will assist students in finding uniforms and hats.

  • Uniform Collection: 8:00-8:45pm

    • These positions will verify that students have hung their uniforms up properly and put the hats back on the shelves.

Holiday Stocking Stuffer Ideas

The holiday season is here and your student would love to get a few upgrades this year! Below is a list of items that might help your student become a better musician. If you have any questions about specific brands, please let us know!

All Music Students

  • step-up instrument

  • private lessons (scholarships available)

  • app store gift card for music apps

  • folding music stand for home practice

  • professional instrument cleaning or maintenance

  • instrument stand

  • solo/ensemble sheet music

  • music store gift cards

  • local symphony tickets

  • music-related clothing

Woodwind Players

  • cleaning swab

  • step-up mouthpiece

  • step-up barrel (clarinet)

  • step-up ligature

  • reed case

  • reeds

  • neck strap

  • cork grease

Brass Players

  • step-up mouthpiece

  • brass mutes

  • valve oil

  • slide grease

  • mouthpiece case

  • polishing cloth

Percussionists

  • sticks and mallets

  • practice pad

  • practice snare drum or mallet instrument

  • drumset

Basketball Pep Bands

Basketball season begins soon and that means we begin our second pep band season! Call time in the West band room is 6:45, and we’ll begin playing before the Varsity games around 7:00, depending on the timing of the JV game that precedes the Varsity game. For most games, we expect to play for pregame and halftime. We expect the halftime performance to be over between 8:00 and 8:15. A list of basketball pep band assignments can be found here.

When we play halftime, students may sit in the student section or pep band section during the first half but should be back in the pep band section with two minutes left on the clock before halftime to prepare for the second performance. The uniform for these games is West or blue and white gear or the student section theme.

Band-o-Rama — December 17, 2022

We are excited to continue our new tradition of having all 700+ district band students perform at Band-o-Rama!

This year’s performance will be on December 17th 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. (There will be not tickets this year.) The event will also be recorded and a video will be shared following the performance.

Due to the magnitude of the performance, we will have a required rehearsal in the fieldhouse prior to the performance. Below is the high school schedule for the day:

  • 12:40 pm Arrive at North and report to homerooms

  • 1:00 pm 6-12 rehearsal

  • 1:30 pm 7-12 rehearsal

  • 2:00 pm Combined Wildcat, Spartan, and Concert Bands rehearsal

  • 2:30 pm Combined High School rehearsal

  • 3:00 pm Combined Wind Ensemble and Varsity Band rehearsal (Wildcat, Spartan, and Concert Bands students dismissed)

  • 3:30 pm Wind Ensemble and Varsity Band students dismissed

  • 5:30 pm call time to homerooms

  • 6:00 pm Performance

Band-o-Rama Volunteers

We will need lots of volunteers to help make Band-o-Rama a huge success! The following volunteer positions are needed. Position descriptions are available here. Please sign up on our Volunteer page. Thank you for your assistance!

Saturday, December 17th (Morning)

  • Water Donations (24-36 pack) (Please bring with your student in the morning.)

  • Chair, Stand, and Percussion Placement (8:00am to 10:00am)

  • Homeroom Monitors (MS: 10:30am to 1:45pm, HS: 12:30 to 3:45pm)

Saturday, December 11th (Before Concert)

  • Homeroom Monitors (5:15pm to 6:50pm)

  • Ushers (5:15pm to 7:00pm)

Saturday, December 17th (After Concert)

  • Tear-Down (7:00pm to 8:00pm)

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.

Important Upcoming Dates

  • November 18 from 8:12am to 2:15pm — Titan Winds and Percussion Summit (Optional for All Band Students)

  • November 22 at 7:00pm (call time is 3:33pm) — Appleton Holiday Parade (All Band Students)

  • November 29 at 7:00pm (call time is 6:45pm) — BLUE Basketball Pep Band

  • December 1 at 6:15pm (call time is 3:33pm) — Oshkosh Holiday Parade (All Band Students)

  • December 6 from 8:00am to 3:33pm — Eighth Grade Band Day (Wind Ensemble)

  • December 13 at 7:00pm (call time is 6:45pm) — WHITE Basketball Pep Band

  • December 17 from 12:40 to 3:30 (tentative) — Band-o-Rama Rehearsals (All High School Band Students)

  • December 17 at 6:00pm (call time is 5:30pm) — Band-o-Rama Concert (All District Band Students)

  • January 3 at 7:00pm (call time is 6:45pm) — BLUE Basketball Pep Band (Eighth Grade Night)

  • January 6 at 7:00pm (call time is 6:45pm) — WHITE Basketball Pep Band

Oshkosh West Bands