Practice records are due Monday for 7th and 8th grade orchestras only. Click below to save, view and print a copy of the practice records
posted on: September 08, 2007
Dear Friends and Parents,
Would you like an opportunity to hear the ASO and world-renowned conductor Pinchas Zukerman? Well read on...
_______________________________________________________________________
Enjoy $12 tickets to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra!
Join us for a concert October 11/12/13 at 8pm
Contact Angela White at 404.733.4848 or angela.white@woodruffcenter.org to get the discount.
GREAT SEATS STILL AVAILABLE!
HAYDN: Symphony No. 83, La Poule
CHAUSSON: Poeme for violin
RAVEL: Tzigane, for violin
SAINT-SAENS: Symphony No. 3, “Organ”
Pinchas Zukerman, conductor
*Offer not valid at box office, subject to availability.
posted on: August 29, 2007
The Doemel's are in Germany for a few weeks. We landed today and have already done so much!. Click on the pictures for a larger view of some castles and scenes. What a fastidiously beautiful country. We will visit Bonn to see Beethoven's house and Vienna, home of so many wonderful musicians. Stay tuned.
posted on: June 17, 2007
...is a traditional English round, the oldest example of counterpoint, a music composition technique, in existence. The title might be translated as "Summer has come in" or "Summer has arrived", The language is Middle English, more exactly Wessex dialect. It is the oldest piece of six-part polyphonic music in existence. Its composer is anonymous, possibly W. de Wycombe, and it is estimated to date from around 1260.
Thank you to the departing 8th grade students. Many of you I hope to see regularly at Lassiter. You helped make this a great three years for me and I have enjoyed working with you. I’m proud of what we accomplished and hope you are also.
I hope you have a wonderful high school experience. Please keep in touch.
posted on: June 17, 2007
Here's a copy of the last practice record
posted on: May 22, 2007
I apologize for not posting lately. I have experienced technical difficulties that are now fixed.
Our last concert of the year is tonight! Hopefully you received the letter I sent home with details.
The 8th graders were to bring in their concert clothes today and stay after school for a final rehearsal
and to combine the two classes. They will have a pizza dinner at school at about 5:45.
6th and 7th graders are to arrive at 6:15, dressed and ready to play. 6th graders will meet in the band room, 7th graders in the chorus room. There will be a reception in the cafeteria following the performance. See you there.
posted on: May 15, 2007
The Mabry Symphony WILL rehearse tomorrow morning, Thursday, May 3rd, at 8 a.m. Please arrive early enough to be ready to play at 8.
posted on: May 02, 2007
Congratulations to the Mabry Orchestra iMovie team. The team's movie, "Music: Our Common Bond" was awarded the "Best Cinematography" award at the 2007 Mabry Film Festival. The film was nominated in four categories including Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Picture. "Music: Our Common Bond", along with all the other excellent films nominated for Best Picture, can be seen by clicking this link.
posted on: April 29, 2007
Congratulations to (from L to R) Ian M., Jessica I., and Katherine J. for being chosen to be part of the 2007 Cobb County Middle School Honor Orchestra. After auditioning, they were chosen from hundreds of middle school string players to participate. The performance, at McEachern HS on Saturday, April 14th, was a wonderful example of the wealth of talented musicians being developed in Cobb County. Jessica and Katherine are 8th graders who will be part of the Lassiter HS Orchestra next year. Ian is a 7th grader! Congratulations for this honor that your hard work has brought you!
posted on: April 18, 2007
Practice Records are due next Monday, April 23rd. Here's a copy.
posted on: April 16, 2007
On the Concert and Activity Calendar you received in the Fall the date for our Spring Concert was listed as May 3rd.
For several reasons the date for this concert has been moved to Tuesday, May 15th at 7 p.m.. Please contact me at
Chris.Doemel@Cobbk12.org with any conflicts.
Thursday, May 3rd is the Lassiter Orchestra's "Night At The Movies". The 8th Grade Orchestra will perform at that event.
You received a form recently to purchase tickets. On that form the date was incorrect. The correct date and time are Thursday,
May 3rd at 7:30 p.m.
posted on: April 16, 2007
Enjoy $12 tickets to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra!
GREAT TICKETS AVAILABLE!
April 26th, 27th, 28th at 8:00 pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall
PROGRAM:
MAXWELL DAVIES: An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise
TURNAGE: Three Screaming Popes
MACMILLAN: Britannia
BRITTEN: Sinfonia da Requiem
ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos. 1 and 4
Donald Runnicles, conductor
Scott Long, Highland bagpipes
Mr. Runnicles takes us to his British homeland: the source of Elgar’s popular success, Britten’s deeply felt and universal anti-war ode, and “a trajectory of exuberant fun” from Turnage. From Scotland comes a loving evocation of a wedding, which ends with a bagpiper greeting the dawn of a new day.
CONTACT RUSSELL WHEELER AT (404) 733-4807 OR russell.wheeler@woodruffcenter.org to purchase. Offer not valid at box office.
posted on: April 11, 2007
THE MABRY SYMPHONY will rehearse tomorrow morning at 8am in the orchestra room.
posted on: April 11, 2007
If you're interested contact Carol Doemel at Carol.Doemel@Cobbk12.org
posted on: March 30, 2007
PLEASE return the CCSD "Permission To Participate In Overnight Trips" form (IFCB-6), the notarized medical release form (IFCB-5. Our secretary will notarize it for free) and front/back copy of your insurance card now.
There will be a parent information meeting on Tuesday, April 10th at 7pm in the Mabry Theater regarding our Spring Trip.
posted on: March 28, 2007
The 8th grade orchestra will have a playing test on Monday, April 9th. The material is the 2 octave F Major scale and arpeggio, #134,135 in the Essential Techniques III book.
posted on: March 28, 2007
The Mabry Symphony will rehearse tomorrow morning at 8AM. Please arrive before 8 so we can begin on time.
posted on: March 28, 2007
Science Daily - A newly published study by Northwestern University researchers suggests that Mom was right when she insisted that you continue music lessons -- even after it was clear that a professional music career was not in your future.
The study, which will appear in the April issue of Nature Neuroscience, is the first to provide concrete evidence that playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brainstem's sensitivity to speech sounds. This finding has broad implications because it applies to sound encoding skills involved not only in music but also in language.
The findings indicate that experience with music at a young age in effect can "fine-tune" the brain's auditory system. "Increasing music experience appears to benefit all children -- whether musically exceptional or not -- in a wide range of learning activities," says Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory and senior author of the study.
"Our findings underscore the pervasive impact of musical training on neurological development. Yet music classes are often among the first to be cut when school budgets get tight. That's a mistake," says Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology and Physiology and professor of communication sciences and disorders.
"Our study is the first to ask whether enhancing the sound environment -- in this case with musical training -- will positively affect the way an individual encodes sound even at a level as basic as the brainstem," says Patrick Wong, primary author of "Musical Experience Shapes Human Brainstem Encoding of Linguistic Pitch Patterns." An old structure from an evolutionary standpoint, the brainstem once was thought to only play a passive role in auditory processing.
Using a novel experimental design, the researchers presented the Mandarin word "mi" to 20 adults as they watched a movie. Half had at least six years of musical instrument training starting before the age of 12. The other half had minimal (less than 2 years) or no musical training. All were native English speakers with no knowledge of Mandarin, a tone language.
In tone languages, a single word can differ in meaning depending on pitch patterns called "tones." For example, the Mandarin word "mi" delivered in a level tone means "to squint," in a rising tone means "to bewilder," and in a dipping (falling then rising) tone means "rice." English, on the other hand, only uses pitch to reflect intonation (as when rising pitch is used in questions).
As the subjects watched the movie, the researchers used electrophysiological methods to measure and graph the accuracy of their brainstem ability to track the three differently pitched "mi" sounds.
"Even with their attention focused on the movie and though the sounds had no linguistic or musical meaning for them, we found our musically trained subjects were far better at tracking the three different tones than the non-musicians," says Wong, director of Northwestern's Speech Research Laboratory and assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders.
The research by co-authors Wong, Kraus, Erika Skoe, Nicole Russo and Tasha Dees represents a new way of defining the relationship between the brainstem -- a lower order brain structure thought to be unchangeable and uninvolved in complex processing -- and the neocortex, a higher order brain structure associated with music, language and other complex processing.
These findings are in line with previous studies by Wong and his group suggesting that musical experience can improve one's ability to learn tone languages in adulthood and level of musical experience plays a role in the degree of activation in the auditory cortex. Wong also is a faculty member in Northwestern's Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program.
The findings also are consistent with studies by Kraus and her research team that have revealed anomalies in brainstem sound encoding in some children with learning disabilities which can be improved by auditory training.
"We've found that by playing music -- an action thought of as a function of the neocortex -- a person may actually be tuning the brainstem," says Kraus. "This suggests that the relationship between the brainstem and neocortex is a dynamic and reciprocal one and tells us that our basic sensory circuitry is more malleable than we previously thought."
Overall, the findings assist in unfolding new lines of inquiry. The researchers now are looking to find ways to "train" the brain to better encode sound -- work that potentially has far-reaching educational and clinical implications. The study was supported by Northwestern University, grants from the National Institutes of Health and a grant from the National Science Foundation.
posted on: March 20, 2007
Right now I'm listening to the Mabry 8th Grade Orchestra performance with Barrage the other night. And I'm incredibly proud of them. I hope they realize the skills they have and that they will continue to grow and keep music-making a part of their lives.
I also listened to Crooked Still and the Wild Band of Snee tonight, because Rushad will be here next Thursday. He'll be playing 2 'shows'. The first @1:35, the 2nd @ 2:45.
The shows are
open to the public. Check in at the front office and come to the theater at the times above.
posted on: March 13, 2007
As of 3/13 at 8:56pm, all practice records I have received have been entered into I-Cue (and will show up in I-Parent).
posted on: March 13, 2007
To see the 8th grade orchestra performance at the Barrage concert and to see the 11Alive news story click the link below.
posted on: March 13, 2007
were due today.
posted on: March 12, 2007
The 2002 federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation names arts education as part of the “core curriculum” for schools, on par with reading, math and science. This legislation underscores research that supports music education as a critical component to the overall educational experience of our youth. By listing the arts among the core academic subjects, NCLB established a goal that all students have the opportunity to achieve in the arts, and reap the benefits of a comprehensive, creative, innovative education.
Even with this policy directive outlining the role of arts and music education in schools, the federal legislation has not made its way to state and local schools. As a result, more than 22 percent of schools surveyed nationally have reduced instructional time for music and art. Parents, employers and community leaders expect schools to prepare children to be creative and successful in the information age, and still, there is a discrepancy in many schools between the curriculum and desired outcomes for student learning, particularly in the areas of arts and music education.
Legislators need to know that their constituents support and believe that music education in schools is vital to ensuring a quality education for all children. As Congress begins to consider reauthorization of No Child Left Behind legislation, we must demonstrate our commitment at the federal, state and local levels to making sure students have the opportunity to learn music and arts in school, and to expand their minds through more creative and innovative education.
By communicating your views to your Member of Congress, you are taking a critical first step to ensuring a commitment to arts education. By demonstrating community support across the country, we can encourage legislators to not only reauthorize NCLB legislation with language that strengthens access to music and arts education, but to also strengthen the federal commitment to ensure that a quality arts curriculum is implemented nationwide.
Please take a moment today to tell your Member of Congress that reauthorization of No Child Left Behind must continue to support and strengthen our national commitment to the arts, both in theory and in practice, in schools across the country.
posted on: March 12, 2007
Is our trip to the Woodruff Arts Center on Wednesday, March 14th to attend a performance by the Atlanta Symphony. We need to leave by 9AM to get to Woodruff in time. Chaperones please be here no later than 8:40. Check in at the front office and come back to the orchestra room. Students need to bring $6 or so for lunch at Colony Square. Casual but nice dress is appropriate. No shorts, t-shirts or torn clothing. We'll be back before 2PM.
posted on: March 07, 2007
Below is a link to the newscast about the Barrage event last week.
http://www.11alive.com/news/education/article_education.aspx?storyid=93350
(I could only get it to show the video on Netscape and Internet Explorer, not Safari or Firefox.)
Click on Donna Lowry Reports
You need Windows Media Player to view it, which you can download for free.
Thanks to Emily's Dad for his time and energy in getting this on the air.
Click on the picture above for a larger view.
posted on: March 06, 2007
posted on: March 02, 2007
This went home in a letter dated 2/15 but here it is again.
Mabry Seventh and Eighth Grade Orchestra Students will participate in the Cobb Orchestra Directors Association (C.O.D.A.) Middle School Orchestra Festival at Dodgen Middle School. The Seventh Grade Orchestra will perform on Monday, March 5th at 6:25 p.m. and the Eighth Grade Orchestra will perform on Tuesday, March 6th at 7:15 p.m.
This is an important performance and all students are expected to participate. The performances are open to the public and you are encouraged to attend.
We will have a pizza dinner at Mabry before we leave for Dodgen. Dinner will be provided with funds from our fall fundraiser. We will leave Mabry after dinner and travel by school bus to Dodgen. The Cobb County Board of Education provides school buses free of charge for transportation to festival.
IMPORTANT There is no return transportation provided. Please arrange pick-up from Dodgen at 8:30 P.M. Most of you will be at the performance and will provide transportation home for your child.
IMPORTANT Students using school-owned instruments must return the instrument to Mabry by 9:00 a.m. the next morning.
IMPORTANT Students will bring their concert uniform with them to school on festival morning. Concert dress for boys is solid black slacks, long sleeve white dress shirt with long tie, black socks and black or dark dress shoes. Concert dress for the girls is a long (ankle length or longer) solid black skirt or black slacks, long sleeve white dress shirt and black or dark dress shoes. Please adhere to these guidelines closely. This is an important performance for these young musicians and they should dress appropriately.
As always, we need parent chaperones for this field trip. If you can ride the bus to Dodgen with us, or provide transportation for string basses and cellos please contact me at Chris.Doemel@Cobbk12.org
Your children and the Cobb County Orchestra Directors put tremendous effort into producing this festival. Students should be practicing diligently on their festival music. We hope you will come out and support them at this exciting event. We look forward to seeing you at our 11th Annual C.O.D.A. Festival.
posted on: March 02, 2007
The Mabry Symphony will perform at the District 12 GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation (Festival) tomorrow, February 26th at 4:30 at McEachern HS. Students will leave Mabry at 2:00 and return at 6:30.
What to Wear? Students should bring their concert uniform with them to school Concert dress for boys is solid black slacks, long sleeve white dress shirt with long tie, black socks and black or dark dress shoes. Concert dress for girls is a long (ankle length or longer) solid black skirt or black slacks, long sleeve white dress shirt (3/4 length is ok) and black or dark dress shoes. Please adhere to these guidelines closely. This is an important performance for these young musicians and they should dress accordingly.
Charperones: To date, no parent has indicated they will chaperone this trip. We must have 2 other adults accompany us on this trip. If you are able to chaperone, please arrive no later than 1:50, check in at the front and come back to the orchestra room.
posted on: February 25, 2007
Barrage tickets went home Friday (2/16) with the 6th and 8th grade students who purchased them. 7th graders will be bringing them home on Wednesday (2/21).
posted on: February 17, 2007
I sent home a letter today with incorrect dates (what a surprise). Our Festival dates are: Seventh Grade Orchestra, Monday, March 5th and 8th Grade Orchestra, Tuesday, March 6th. These are the same dates as on the calendar in the orchestra handbook you got at the beginning of the year. The Seventh Grade Orchestra will play at 6:25 p.m. on Monday and the Eighth Grade orchestra will play at 7:15 on Tuesday.
posted on: February 15, 2007
This past Saturday renowned violinist Joshua Bell performed at Emory. During the day he worked with members of the Emory Youth Symphony. Here is a picture of Mabry 8th grade violinist Emily with Bell. The pictures are clickable for a larger view.
posted on: February 12, 2007
6th Grade: We'll be continuing to reinforce the new notes F natural and C natural as well as slurs and string crossings. You’ve been given 5 of the 9 pieces we will play at String Jamboree (March 22nd). Don’t wait for a specific assignment to begin working on these pieces.
Use the ‘left hand’ and ‘right hand’ warm-ups we do in class to warm up before you practice at home. At this stage you can’t over do these important repetitions.
7th Grade: We’ve made great strides in our festival music (March 5th). American Folk Trilogy, Iowa Spring and Castle Lore are coming along nicely.
I chose this music because it uses the new skills we’ve learned this year. Advanced rhythms and bowings, lots of high threes and low ones for the upper strings, open position for the cellos and shifting opportunities for the basses.
8th Grade: Our festival music is coming along also. But before festival (March 6th) we’ve got the exciting performance on the Barrage concert (February 23rd). MacPherson’s Lament needs all of our attention between now and then. The other 2 pieces we’ll do at festival, Brandenburg No. 3 and Postcards From Russia are both tough also. Please make certain you give them the time they need so you are prepared for this important performance.
Mabry Symphony: As stated earlier on this blog, the performance on February 13th has been cancelled. The music for our festival (February 26th) is sounding great. Rites of Tamburo and Finale from Symphony No. 2 are both exciting. Meeting only once a week is a challenge. Please make sure you’re preparing your music so when we get together we can work on ensemble issues.
All: Please practice regularly and efficiently. We’ve talked at length in class about how to practice.
Locate then isolate the problem, work it out SLOWLY, put it back in context (with the measure or few beats before and after) then gradually work it back up to tempo.
Some problems won’t be fixed in one practice session, that’s why regular practice is so important.
Remember, each one of you is important to the quality of both the Mabry and Lassiter Orchestra programs.
posted on: February 11, 2007
Congratulations to Andy, Rachel, Ruth and Emily for auditioning and being accepted into the 2007 Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Orchestra. Being accepted into the All-State Orchestra is the highest honor in the state for school musicians. Middle school musicians from all over the state auditioned in a rigorous two-audition process. The All-State event is in Savannah the first weekend in March. Congratulations again and thank you for representing Mabry so well.
posted on: February 07, 2007
This is a link to an NPR program where Mark O'Connor plays through various fiddle styles. It's very cool!
Mark O'Connor playing fiddle styles
posted on: February 06, 2007
The Mabry 8th Grade Orchestra has been invited to perform on the program with Barrage. On Friday, February 23rd we will travel to Kell High School after school by county school bus. We will rehearse, then have dinner about 7 pm. Dinner will be cheese or pepperoni pizza. Students may bring their own dinner. The performance begins at 8:00. We are first on the program.
If your child will not stay for the Barrage portion of the performance, they need to be picked up at 8:15 from Kell. If they will stay for the program, please pick them up at 9:30 pm at Kell.
Basses and cellos must be returned to Mabry the following morning. Let me know now if that will be a problem.
The uniform will be our new t-shirt and nice jeans. Please, no holes or graffiti.
We will need chaperones for the trip to Kell, to help with dinner.
For more information on Barrage visit their web site at: www.barrage.org.
Email questions to Chris.Doemel@cobbk12.org
posted on: February 06, 2007
Practice records are due. Please turn them in before the end of the day on Thursday
posted on: February 06, 2007
The Mabry Symphony WILL rehearse tomorrow at 8:00. Our attendance and promptness in arriving has not been good. Our Pre-festival concert is just around the corner and our Festival performance is only 4 rehearsals away. Please arrive in time to BEGIN PLAYING at 8:00. Percussionists arrive at 7:45 to set-up.
posted on: January 31, 2007
The Mabry Symphony will perform twice in February. On Tuesday, February 13th at 7 PM the Mabry Symphony will present a joint performance with the Lassiter Symphony in the auditorium at Kell HS. Please tell and invite your family and friends. There is no admission. We will perform Rites of Tamburo and the Tchaikovsky Finale from Symphony No. 2 in C.
On Monday, February 26th at 4:30 the Mabry Symphony will perform at the GMEA Festival at McEachern HS. Will will leave school early that day and travel by bus to McEachern.
posted on: January 22, 2007
The Mabry Symphony will rehearse from 7:55 until 8:45 tomorrow morning in the orchestra room.
Please arrive early so we may begin playing on time.
posted on: January 17, 2007
Both 6th grade and both 8th grade classes will have a playing test this Friday.
The 6th grade will play #116, Song For Maria. The 8th graders will play an excerpt they were given
today in class from the Bach Brandenburg Concerto. For the 8th graders it will determine their seating
for our Festival performance.
posted on: January 17, 2007
posted on: January 12, 2007
There is a seriously cool piece I'd like you to hear called Julie-o. It was written by the cellist and a founder of the Turtle Island String Quartet, Mark Summer.
You can hear and watch it on YouTube. Please be sure to have your parents approval before you go to YouTube.
There are 2 versions that I've seen. In the search line type "Julie-o John" OR "Julie-o Sarah." Both are great. Unfortunately the Sarah version video is not synched with the audio.
If you're a cellist I've got the music to this piece that you can borrow.
posted on: January 09, 2007
I hope all of you had a restful holiday season and are ready and excited to get back to work! I know I am.
I want to thank you for the many gifts and holiday wishes. They definitely brightened my Christmas. Thank you.
Very soon all three grades will have their music for festival or jamboree. I'm choosing festival music with heavy student input so our preparation is enjoyable and skill oriented.
7th grade Festival is Monday, March 5th. 8th grade Festival is Tuesday, March 6th. 6th Grade String Jamboree is Thursday, March 22nd.
posted on: January 08, 2007
The Lassiter Orchestra's Winter Concert is this Friday at Kell High School at 7:30pm. There will be light hors d'oeuvres prior to the concert in the auditorium lobby at 7pm. A special guest is performing with the Lassiter Symphony. Milton Masciadri, Professor of Double Bass at The University of Georgia will be performing 2 fabulous pieces. If you have never seen Dr. Masciadri, it is a special treat. The rest of the program will include music of Mozart, Saint-Saens, Puccini, and Copland. The best part...IT'S FREE!!
Hope to see you there!
posted on: December 15, 2006
Click below to download and print practice records.
posted on: December 12, 2006
What a great concert the other night.; I am extremely proud of the hard work all three groups put into preparing for this performance. Most important are the new skills that were put into play.
The 6th graders play as well in-tune and with as nice a sound as any group I've ever started. I tell them all the time that I'm excited about what they will be able to accomplish over the next 2+ years.
The 7th graders continue to work hard and are making good progress. 7th grade is a big skill building year and they are doing well on all the skills that will take them to a higher level of playing.
The 8th grade orchestra is starting to play with a very mature sound and is working hard on advanced skills like vibrato and shifting. Mrs. Doemel said afterward that she is really looking forward to this group and what they will bring to the Lassiter Orchestra.
A special thank you to all the parents who volunteered to help with the evening. I absolutely could not have done it without your help.
posted on: December 12, 2006
The Mabry Symphony WILL rehears this Thursday, December 14th, at 8 am. Please arrive at 7:50 to prepare so we can begin at 8.
posted on: December 11, 2006
The Mabry Symphony WILL NOT perform on December 5th. Also, the rehearsal on the 7th is cancelled. Please learn the 2 pieces you have so when we get together we don't have to use our limited rehearsal time to work out notes and rhythms.
posted on: November 30, 2006
Fall 2005 Concert Letter-3.doc
Click on the file name above to view and download the Winter Concert letter.
There is also a request for chaperones.
posted on: November 28, 2006
This is excerpted from the Orchestra Handbook that was handed out in August.
Uniform Information
IMPORTANT! Due to the design of most concert stages, Mabry's included, short skirts will not be allowed as concert attire. All students need to feel comfortable and relaxed during their performance and should dress in a way that will not inhibit the posture required to play their instrument.
Unless otherwise stated, Mabry Orchestra concert attire is as follows: for the young ladies a long (ankle length or longer) solid black skirt or black slacks, long sleeve white shirt, and black or dark dress shoes, for the young men solid black slacks, long sleeve white shirt and long tie, black socks and black or dark dress shoes. T-shirts, jeans and sport shoes are NOT appropriate concert attire. Students not dressed appropriately will not be allowed to take the stage and will be considered unexcused. Please address problems regarding this to me early enough to be resolved. The school dress code is enforced at all orchestra functions.
posted on: November 28, 2006
The Mabry 6th, 7th and 8th grade orchestras will perform on Thursday, December 7th at 7pm in the theater at Mabry. The 7th and 8th grade orchestras should arrive at 6:15 to tune and warm-up. The 7th grade orchestra will meet in the Chorus room and the 8th grade orchestra will meet in the Orchestra room.
The 6th grade orchestra will stay after school that day for a final run-through and to combine classes. This is the only time we will be able to combine both classes so please make plans to stay after school. We will order pizza for dinner (or you may bring your own dinner from home).
We will need chaperones through out the evening. Chaperones are needed in the Orchestra, Chorus and Band rooms beginning at 6:15. We will also need help with the 6th grade dinner at about 5:30. Also, chaperones are needed during the concert to sit with each orchestra that is not playing. Please volunteer to help.
There will be a reception following the concert in the cafeteria.
posted on: November 20, 2006
Whether or not your son or daughter will ever be 'great' on the cello, violin or whatever, if they ever hope to be great at anything, this is a 'must read'.
"The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.
For example: Simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate practice, which is why most golfers don't get better. Hitting an eight-iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day - that's deliberate practice.
Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson notes, "Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends."
Evidence crosses a remarkable range of fields. In a study of 20-year-old violinists by Ericsson and colleagues, the best group (judged by conservatory teachers) averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the next, 5,000. It's the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport. More deliberate practice equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance."
This quote says the same thing with smaller words. "The average ones practice until they get it right. The great ones practice until they can't get it wrong."
It's all about the reps. Pitching, hitting, throwing a football, free-throws, back hand-springs, left handed lay-ups, Grand Jete's, building muscles or playing the viola. It's all about the repetitions, done correctly of course!
posted on: November 15, 2006
The Mabry Symphony will rehearse tomorrow morning. Please arrive at 7:50 so we can begin playing at 8:00. Percussionsts please arrive early enough to be set up at 8.
posted on: November 15, 2006
This is the 'front page' of my blog. It'll only hold so many posts. If there's something you can't find (practice records, or our calendar for instance), click on General Information on the right. All posts will then appear. Scroll down until you find what you need. Practice records are the last three pages of the orchestra handbook, which is at a link in a post called Orchestra Handbook. The calendar is there also.
posted on: November 14, 2006
Monday, November 13th.
posted on: November 10, 2006
Congratulations to Chad, Emily, Andy, Rachel, Ian and Ruth. Each passed the first round of auditions for the Georgia Music Educators All-State Orchestra. The audition consists of scales, a prepared piece and sight-reading, so passing the audition is a great validation of the skills they've worked so hard to master. The final audition is January 13th and the All-State event is in Savannah the first weekend in March. Good luck to all of them as they prepare for the next round
posted on: November 09, 2006
The Mabry Symphony will rehearse tomorrow morning. Please arrive at 7:50 so we can begin playing at 8:00. Percussionsts please arrive early enough to be set up at 8.
IMPORTANT! The Mabry Symphony is an extracurricular activity, you are not required to participate. But, as a member, your attendance is critical. Just like any other 'team', every member is important. For a group that only meets once a week and is attempting to prepare for concerts and a festival performance, attendance is mandatory.
If you choose to go to a study session instead of Symphony you will be counted absent. After 3 unexcused absences you will be replaced.
The way to avoid this is to know when tests are being given, study and be prepared.
posted on: November 08, 2006
The fundraiser was a huge success. Thank you to all who participated.
The fundraiser products will be delivered and distributed on Thursday, November 16th.
To avoid congestion, families who’s last name begins with the letters A-L can pick up their order from 4:45 until 6:30 and families whose last name begins with the letters M-Z can pick up their orders from 6:30 until 8:30. Please DO NOT arrive for your order before 4:45. It will not be available.
Please enter the back (bus) lot through the Steinhauer Road driveway adjacent to the Sweat Mtn. baseball fields. Park and come into the covered play area. Your brochure will be pulled and your order retrieved. You will check your order and sign to verify it’s accuracy.
We need volunteers to help with the distribution. There will be a volunteer meeting in the Orchestra room at 4:30 this Thursday, November 9th. If you can help with the distribution but cannot attend the meeting this Thursday, please email me at Chris.Doemel@Cobbk12.org. There will be 2 shifts for volunteers. 12-4 to assemble the orders, and 4:30-8:30 to help with the distribution.
Thank you again for supporting the Orchestra fundraiser.
posted on: November 06, 2006
Congratulations to the Lassiter Math Team. The LHS Math Team came in first at the Cobb County Invitational Math Competition. The Lassiter Math Team competed against teams from the Wheeler High School and Kennesaw Mountain High School Magnet School teams.
8th graders should keep this in mind as you decide on plans for next year.
posted on: October 31, 2006
The 2nd payment for the spring trip is due November 5th.
posted on: October 30, 2006
If you're a cello player it's required, If you're not a cello player, it's required.
posted on: October 27, 2006
This is from a business magazine, but the principles hold true for anything ...especially for music. The part titled "deliberate practice" is especially interesting.
Secrets of Greatness
What it takes to be great
Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work
By Geoffrey Colvin, senior editor-at-large
October 19 2006: 3:14 PM EDT
(Fortune Magazine) -- What makes Tiger Woods great? What made Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett the world's premier investor? We think we know: Each was a natural who came into the world with a gift for doing exactly what he ended up doing. As Buffett told Fortune not long ago, he was "wired at birth to allocate capital." It's a one-in-a-million thing. You've got it - or you don't.
Well, folks, it's not so simple. For one thing, you do not possess a natural gift for a certain job, because targeted natural gifts don't exist. (Sorry, Warren.) You are not a born CEO or investor or chess grandmaster. You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that's demanding and painful.
Buffett, for instance, is famed for his discipline and the hours he spends studying financial statements of potential investment targets. The good news is that your lack of a natural gift is irrelevant - talent has little or nothing to do with greatness. You can make yourself into any number of things, and you can even make yourself great.
Scientific experts are producing remarkably consistent findings across a wide array of fields. Understand that talent doesn't mean intelligence, motivation or personality traits. It's an innate ability to do some specific activity especially well. British-based researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda conclude in an extensive study, "The evidence we have surveyed ... does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts."
To see how the researchers could reach such a conclusion, consider the problem they were trying to solve. In virtually every field of endeavor, most people learn quickly at first, then more slowly and then stop developing completely. Yet a few do improve for years and even decades, and go on to greatness.
The irresistible question - the "fundamental challenge" for researchers in this field, says the most prominent of them, professor K. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University - is, Why? How are certain people able to go on improving? The answers begin with consistent observations about great performers in many fields.
Scientists worldwide have conducted scores of studies since the 1993 publication of a landmark paper by Ericsson and two colleagues, many focusing on sports, music and chess, in which performance is relatively easy to measure and plot over time. But plenty of additional studies have also examined other fields, including business.
No substitute for hard work
The first major conclusion is that nobody is great without work. It's nice to believe that if you find the field where you're naturally gifted, you'll be great from day one, but it doesn't happen. There's no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice.
Reinforcing that no-free-lunch finding is vast evidence that even the most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call it the ten-year rule.
What about Bobby Fischer, who became a chess grandmaster at 16? Turns out the rule holds: He'd had nine years of intensive study. And as John Horn of the University of Southern California and Hiromi Masunaga of California State University observe, "The ten-year rule represents a very rough estimate, and most researchers regard it as a minimum, not an average." In many fields (music, literature) elite performers need 20 or 30 years' experience before hitting their zenith.
So greatness isn't handed to anyone; it requires a lot of hard work. Yet that isn't enough, since many people work hard for decades without approaching greatness or even getting significantly better. What's missing?
Practice makes perfect
The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.
For example: Simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate practice, which is why most golfers don't get better. Hitting an eight-iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day - that's deliberate practice.
Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson notes, "Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends."
Evidence crosses a remarkable range of fields. In a study of 20-year-old violinists by Ericsson and colleagues, the best group (judged by conservatory teachers) averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the next, 5,000. It's the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport. More deliberate practice equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.
The skeptics
Not all researchers are totally onboard with the myth-of-talent hypothesis, though their objections go to its edges rather than its center. For one thing, there are the intangibles. Two athletes might work equally hard, but what explains the ability of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to perform at a higher level in the last two minutes of a game?
Researchers also note, for example, child prodigies who could speak, read or play music at an unusually early age. But on investigation those cases generally include highly involved parents. And many prodigies do not go on to greatness in their early field, while great performers include many who showed no special early aptitude.
Certainly some important traits are partly inherited, such as physical size and particular measures of intelligence, but those influence what a person doesn't do more than what he does; a five-footer will never be an NFL lineman, and a seven-footer will never be an Olympic gymnast. Even those restrictions are less severe than you'd expect: Ericsson notes, "Some international chess masters have IQs in the 90s." The more research that's done, the more solid the deliberate-practice model becomes.
Real-world examples
All this scholarly research is simply evidence for what great performers have been showing us for years. To take a handful of examples: Winston Churchill, one of the 20th century's greatest orators, practiced his speeches compulsively. Vladimir Horowitz supposedly said, "If I don't practice for a day, I know it. If I don't practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don't practice for three days, the world knows it." He was certainly a demon practicer, but the same quote has been attributed to world-class musicians like Ignace Paderewski and Luciano Pavarotti.
Many great athletes are legendary for the brutal discipline of their practice routines. In basketball, Michael Jordan practiced intensely beyond the already punishing team practices. (Had Jordan possessed some mammoth natural gift specifically for basketball, it seems unlikely he'd have been cut from his high school team.)
In football, all-time-great receiver Jerry Rice - passed up by 15 teams because they considered him too slow - practiced so hard that other players would get sick trying to keep up.
Tiger Woods is a textbook example of what the research shows. Because his father introduced him to golf at an extremely early age - 18 months - and encouraged him to practice intensively, Woods had racked up at least 15 years of practice by the time he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, at age 18. Also in line with the findings, he has never stopped trying to improve, devoting many hours a day to conditioning and practice, even remaking his swing twice because that's what it took to get even better.
The business side
The evidence, scientific as well as anecdotal, seems overwhelmingly in favor of deliberate practice as the source of great performance. Just one problem: How do you practice business? Many elements of business, in fact, are directly practicable. Presenting, negotiating, delivering evaluations, deciphering financial statements - you can practice them all.
Still, they aren't the essence of great managerial performance. That requires making judgments and decisions with imperfect information in an uncertain environment, interacting with people, seeking information - can you practice those things too? You can, though not in the way you would practice a Chopin etude.
Instead, it's all about how you do what you're already doing - you create the practice in your work, which requires a few critical changes. The first is going at any task with a new goal: Instead of merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it.
Report writing involves finding information, analyzing it and presenting it - each an improvable skill. Chairing a board meeting requires understanding the company's strategy in the deepest way, forming a coherent view of coming market changes and setting a tone for the discussion. Anything that anyone does at work, from the most basic task to the most exalted, is an improvable skill.
Adopting a new mindset
Armed with that mindset, people go at a job in a new way. Research shows they process information more deeply and retain it longer. They want more information on what they're doing and seek other perspectives. They adopt a longer-term point of view. In the activity itself, the mindset persists. You aren't just doing the job, you're explicitly trying to get better at it in the larger sense.
Again, research shows that this difference in mental approach is vital. For example, when amateur singers take a singing lesson, they experience it as fun, a release of tension. But for professional singers, it's the opposite: They increase their concentration and focus on improving their performance during the lesson. Same activity, different mindset.
Feedback is crucial, and getting it should be no problem in business. Yet most people don't seek it; they just wait for it, half hoping it won't come. Without it, as Goldman Sachs leadership-development chief Steve Kerr says, "it's as if you're bowling through a curtain that comes down to knee level. If you don't know how successful you are, two things happen: One, you don't get any better, and two, you stop caring." In some companies, like General Electric, frequent feedback is part of the culture. If you aren't lucky enough to get that, seek it out.
Be the ball
Through the whole process, one of your goals is to build what the researchers call "mental models of your business" - pictures of how the elements fit together and influence one another. The more you work on it, the larger your mental models will become and the better your performance will grow.
Andy Grove could keep a model of a whole world-changing technology industry in his head and adapt Intel as needed. Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder, had the same knack: He could see at the dawn of the PC that his goal of a computer on every desk was realistic and would create an unimaginably large market. John D. Rockefeller, too, saw ahead when the world-changing new industry was oil. Napoleon was perhaps the greatest ever. He could not only hold all the elements of a vast battle in his mind but, more important, could also respond quickly when they shifted in unexpected ways.
That's a lot to focus on for the benefits of deliberate practice - and worthless without one more requirement: Do it regularly, not sporadically.
Why?
For most people, work is hard enough without pushing even harder. Those extra steps are so difficult and painful they almost never get done. That's the way it must be. If great performance were easy, it wouldn't be rare. Which leads to possibly the deepest question about greatness. While experts understand an enormous amount about the behavior that produces great performance, they understand very little about where that behavior comes from.
The authors of one study conclude, "We still do not know which factors encourage individuals to engage in deliberate practice." Or as University of Michigan business school professor Noel Tichy puts it after 30 years of working with managers, "Some people are much more motivated than others, and that's the existential question I cannot answer - why."
The critical reality is that we are not hostage to some naturally granted level of talent. We can make ourselves what we will. Strangely, that idea is not popular. People hate abandoning the notion that they would coast to fame and riches if they found their talent. But that view is tragically constraining, because when they hit life's inevitable bumps in the road, they conclude that they just aren't gifted and give up.
Maybe we can't expect most people to achieve greatness. It's just too demanding. But the striking, liberating news is that greatness isn't reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone.
posted on: October 25, 2006
The first round of auditions for All-State Orchestra is this Saturday at Pope HS. You should have received a note with your audition time and panel number on it. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your audition time to tune and warm-up. When you arrive, check-in at the registration table.
Here is a link to a map and directions to Pope.
Remember you need original music, not copies. Get lot's of sight-reading in between now and Saturday.
Good Luck!
posted on: October 25, 2006
Please be at school NLT 4:30. Come in the back door (Sweat Mountain entrance) and we'll meet in the cafeteria. Chaperones please arrive at 4:15. Enter in the back door and come to my room. I'll give you the coupons and meal tickets for your group and we'll talk a little. See you then!
posted on: October 12, 2006
The 2nd practice record is due Monday, October 9th. Grades must be turned in by the end of the day on Tuesday, 10/10. If the record isn't turned in by then the student will receive a zero for that portion of their grade. PLEASE turn your practice record in on Monday!
posted on: October 07, 2006
Look for a special titled "The Music in Me" on HBO. I saw a preview of it and it's outstanding. One of the young people highlighted is a Cobb County music student. I've heard conflicting times of when it will air. I've heard this Saturday and also Tuesday. Check your TV Guide. You'll enjoy it.
posted on: October 04, 2006
Here are 2 pictures of violin/viola left hands. The one on the left is correct. The one on the right is not. On the correct hand notice the thumb pointing toward the ceiling, the straight wrist and the tall square first finger.
Click "Continue reading" below to see pictures of cello and bass left hands.
The picture on the left is a correct cello left hand. The picture on the right is incorrect. On the correct picture notice the well spaced, arched fingers and the thumb directly behind the 2nd finger at the back of the neck. Another common cello problem is when the fingers "cave in" at the first knuckle and are not gently arched from hand to tip of finger
The picture on the left is a correct bass left hand. The picture on the right is incorrect. On the correct picture notice the well spaced, arched fingers and the thumb directly behind the 2nd finger at the back of the neck. Another common bass problem is when the fingers "cave in" at the first knuckle and are not gently arched from hand to tip of finger
posted on: September 28, 2006
These things are happening in October.
Monday October 2nd - Last day to turn in Six Flags form and money.
Tuesday, October 3rd - Fundraiser ends. Turn in order brouchure and money.
Saturday, October 7th - Solo and Ensemble Festival.
Monday, October 9th - 2nd practice record due.
Friday, October 13th - Trip to Six Flags (Teacher Workday).
October 16-20 - Conference Week.
Saturday, October 28th - All-State Audition, Pope HS.
posted on: September 28, 2006
Here's what's going on in class.
6th Grade: The 6th grade orchestra is awesome. We're working hard on our left hand 'set-up'. They know what it looks like. Have them show it to you and monitor their practice to make sure they stay in that position. I have asked them to spend some time in front of a mirror so they can monitor their left hand themselves. We'll soon be learning notes on the A string.
7th Grade: We're working on new notes, C# and G#. This requires a new hand position for cellos and a new finger pattern for violins and violas. We're also working on rhythms that include eighth notes in different arrangements.
8th Grade: These classes are working on shifting, vibrato and our 2nd 2-octave scale, G Major.
posted on: September 26, 2006
A Mabry parent forwarded this article to me. It details a study showing what we know already, that studying music makes you smarter! I love this kind of stuff because it's great ammo when I talk to prospective orchestra parents. Check it out because there's a bunch of other cool stuff at this site.
This kind of research is a great plus for studying music, but as I've said in another post on this blog, if I felt that my raison d’être was to help my students score higher on the SAT test, I'd quit teaching tomorrow. My intent is to provide students the means to explore, create and appreciate beauty.
Here are a few quotes you may have already read.
Red Auerbach
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Thomas Carlyle
Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.
Frank Zappa
Remember, information is not knowledge; knowledge is not wisdom; wisdom is not truth; truth is not beauty; beauty is not love; love is not music; music is the best.
Victor Hugo
Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.
Frank Zappa
Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.
Plato
Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.
Music is what feelings sound like.
posted on: September 24, 2006
What an awesome job I have. And what an incredibly supportive community we have at Mabry.
By the end of the day today there were 11 offers from parents to help with the fundraiser distribution. Our Six Flags field trip has almost as many parents chaperoning as kids going! (maybe they're just coaster fans)!
In the media you often hear about parents who stop parenting and turn their children over to the public schools to raise their children. That's obviously not happening at Mabry. Parent involvement is as high as I've ever seen it, and I've had some great parents involved in the Mabry Orchestra program (and now involved in the Lassiter program)!
So, this post is just to say thank you. Thank you to the former Mabry parents who made so much possible. Thank you to the current 7th and 8th grade parents who have been so supportive and involved. And thank you to the 6th grade parents who are already stepping up to the plate and helping to continue the tradition of excellence we have established at Mabry.....with your help.
Thank you.
posted on: September 20, 2006
The 8th grade orchestra has been busy learning new skills and reading new music. Vibrato and shifting are the new skills. Ask your musician to demonstrate each for you.
The first playing test for 8th graders will be Thursday, 9/21. From the Essential Techniques book, lines 106 and 107 will be the material tested. A demonstration of a beginning vibrato will also be assessed.
posted on: September 17, 2006
The Mabry Orchestra fundraiser will begin Tuesday, 9/19. This has been a great fundraiser in the past and we hope to repeat that success. Look for information on the products and procedures to come home on Tuesday.
All money raised will be used to enhance the students' orchestra experience.
Cobb County Schools policy prohibits door-to-door fundraising sales by students.
posted on: September 17, 2006
Click here and check this out! And don't just look at the pictures. Read what it says about each finger pattern. I don't like the way the 1st finger looks, but otherwise it's good.
posted on: September 14, 2006
Look for information coming home soon about our Fun Field Trip to Fright Fest on Friday, October, 13th. We'll need lots of chaperones!
posted on: September 11, 2006
is this Friday, 9/15. Please return the registration form to Mr. Doemel and deposit the $15 fee in a receipt envelope in a black deposit box.
posted on: September 11, 2006
The first practice record for 7th and 8th graders was due today, Monday, 9/11. Progress Reports will be distributed Friday, 9/15. I will accept practice records through the end of the day on Wednesday. Anything received after that time will not show up on the progress report.
Please check the orchestra calendar posted here and sent home in the Orchestra Handbook for other important dates.
posted on: September 11, 2006
8th grade parents were recently sent home a survey to judge interest in a Spring trip to Orlando. The response has been overwhelmingly in favor of the trip, so we are making those plans. If you have not returned the survey please do so ASAP. On that survey there was an initial payment date of September 15.
Please DO NOT send any money for the time being. We are just now making a request to our administrators for approval of the the trip and researching several different tour companies to find the best deal. We will send a separate letter at a later date with a payment schedule. Thanks for your continued support of the Mabry Orchestra Program.
FYI, we have what seems like a a great new 6th grade group this year, thanks in large part to word-of-mouth from the Mabry/Lassiter Orchestra community. Thanks and keep it up!
posted on: September 11, 2006
The orchestra handbook contains important information for students and families. Please mark all calendar dates that apply to you on your family calendar. Practice records are on the last 3 pages. Please review the list of class expectations. The supply list will outline what is needed for class every day. There are also sections on our uniform, “How To Practice” and a “Parent Guide” that will help you help your child get the most out of orchestra. In the 7th/8th grade handbook are forms for both Solo & Ensemble Festival and All-State Orchestra.
These handbooks were sent home with all students this week.
Click
here
here to view and download the 6th grade handbook.
Click here to view and download the 7th/8th grade handbook
posted on: August 31, 2006
A warm welcome to the new 6th grade orchestra members. I begin each year with excitement and anticipation about the possibilities in each new group of beginners. In the little time that I've actually spent with them so far, I get the feeling that this group has the potential to be really special.
Your child should have come home with an equipment list on Thursday or Friday. Please use this list as a 'shopping' list when you go to rent an instrument. These are important items that your child will need for class. I'd like every student to have a book on Monday (8/28) so we can begin.
Learning an instrument is not easy. It takes effort and regular practice. The time during class is for learning new skills and reviewing learned ones. Class time will not be used doing the 'reps' that are necessary for each student to 'own' these skills. Please help your student develop and maintain a habit of regular daily practice. While 20 to 30 minutes of practice is ideal, even 10 minutes of good, sustained practice at home every night will make a huge difference. And daily practice is ALWAYS better than cramming in 2 hours of practice on Sunday afternoon.
Welcome!
This will be my primary method of mass communication. Please check in often.
posted on: August 26, 2006
posted on: August 09, 2006
Click play to view the video.
posted on: August 09, 2006
Welcome Back! I hope you had a WONDERFUL summer! We'll share all the fun stuff we did during the first few days of school. We'll also play the first day of school! So make sure you bring your instrument and new book! For 7th graders it's the Essential Elements 2000, Book 2. For 8th graders it's the Essential Techniques 2000 book.
I'm really excited about this year. We've got an awesome 7th and 8th grade orchestra and I'm looking forward to another great 6th grade.
HELP!! Talk to all the 6th graders you know and that ride your bus or live in your neighborhood! Tell them about us and suggest they give us a try. They'll believe it if they hear it from you!
See you Monday!
posted on: August 09, 2006
Click here to view and save or print the 2006 All-State form.
Click here to view and save or print the 2006 Solo & Ensemble form.
Both forms are in an MSWord format.
posted on: July 29, 2006
Click here to view and print or save the orchestra calendar for this coming year. The calendar is in a MSWord document. The TBA's will be replaced soon. In the mean-time I wanted you to have what I know so far.
posted on: July 29, 2006
• District Auditions – October 29th 2006
Students who are auditioning for All-State Orchestra must play the following: an etude, scales, and a sight-reading selection. The required etudes and scales are listed below.
ETUDES:
VIOLIN
Wohlfahrt: Foundation Studies, Carl Fischer, Book 2, #27 QN =76
VIOLA
Wohlfahrt: Foundation Studies, transc. Merle J. Isaac & Ralph Lewis, Carl Fischer, Book 2, #47, QN =85
CELLO
Schroeder: 170 Foundation Studies, Carl Fischer, Volume 1, #30, QN = 86
BASS
Rabbath: A New Technique, Alphonse Leduc, Book 1, #5, QN = 80
SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL (All scales must be played from memory): Student will be asked to play the following scales and arpeggios, separate bows (QUARTER NOTE = 60):
VIOLIN G and A major, 3 octaves
VIOLA C and D major, 3 octaves
CELLO C and D major, 3 octaves
BASS F and G major, 2 octaves
SIGHT-READING: There will be only one sight-reading selection at District Audition. This selection will be of a Lyrical/Technical nature.
posted on: July 27, 2006
Local Fair Share: The state’s education funding formula requires school systems to leave a portion of earned education funding with the state to be distributed to more needy districts. In FY 2006, Cobb’s “Local Fair Share” contribution was $111.4 million. In FY 2007, that contribution is expected to be $119.8 million, an increase of $8.4 million.
posted on: June 11, 2006
Summer Music Camps are great fun!. If you're interested here's the information I've received so far:
Encore Music Camp
GA American String Teachers Association Summer Camp
Kennesaw State University Summer Music Clinic
UGA Summer Music Camps
Upbeat! String Camp 770 475-2660 or 678 427-3502
Classic Music Institute Summer Music Camps
Florida State University Summer Music Camp
Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp
Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music International Fiddle School
posted on: June 11, 2006
First of all, thank you very much for the picture and generous gift. I haven't used it yet because I've been looking for something that will remind me of your class.
You have the awesome honor of making history for the Mabry Orchestra. Our performance at the GMEA Conference was a first for Mabry and the plaque we received will always represent your hard work and dedication.
You helped make this a great three years for me and I have enjoyed working with you. I’m proud of what we accomplished and I know that I grew along with you.
Each class I teach holds a different memory for me and your group is special for its friendly personality and work ethic. While it may not have been ‘cool’ for you to show it, when all is said and done I think you were proud of what we became and accomplished.
If I were a doctor I’m pretty sure it would be said that I don’t have a very good ‘bedside manner’, and, like you’ve heard me say, I’m ok with that! Let’s look at it this way, every kick in the rear was a shove in the right direction.
I hope you have a wonderful high school experience. Please keep in touch. You know where to find me!
posted on: June 06, 2006
The Mabry Symphony will have a final performance on Wednesday, May 24th in the Mabry Theater. There will be 2 performances. The first will be at 1:00pm and the second at 1:50pm. The program will consist of selections from our GMEA performance in Savannah in January.
posted on: May 21, 2006
Practice Records are due Monday 5/22.
ATTENTION!! There are only 2 days betwen this date and the date I have to have final grades in.
posted on: May 18, 2006
I am very proud of what the Mabry Orchestras have accomplished this year. They’ve made excellent progress that exceeded my expectations. At festival all of the Mabry Orchestra performances received the highest possible scores, including sight-reading. The trips to Six Flags, Woodruff, and Savannah were great fun, and I was always proud of the student’s behavior. I hope you share my excitement about what we can accomplish together in the next year or two.
I recognize and appreciate that many of the Mabry Orchestra students are talented and dedicated in other areas as well. Fortunately, the Mabry and Lassiter Orchestras involve very limited before or after school activities. It is one of the reasons that students are able to participate through high school while maintaining their involvement in other activities.
Scheduling has begun for next school year. Click here to download/print an intent form to complete and return so your child will be enrolled in orchestra in 2006-2007. Please contact me at Chris.Doemel@CobbK12.org with any questions.
posted on: May 17, 2006
2006
October 7th - GMEA Solo and Ensemble Festival, Smitha MS
October 28th - GMEA All-State Orchestra district auditions, Pope HS
2007
January 13th - GMEA All-State Orchestra final auditions, TBA
February 12th - Middle School Honor Orchestra auditions - Dickerson MS
February 26-28 - GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation (Mabry Symphony only) - McEachern HS
March 1-3 - All-State Orchestra event - Savannah
March 5th - CODA MS Large Group Performance Evaluation, 7th grade – Dodgen MS
March 6th - CODA MS Large Group Performance Evaluation, 8th grade - Dodgen MS
March 23rd-24th - Middle School Honor Orchestra - McEachern HS
posted on: May 09, 2006
Our last concert of the year will be Thursday, May 4th at 7 p.m. in the Mabry Theater. There will be a reception following the performance.
This concert is the culmination of our hard work this year and one I'm sure you will not want to miss. While we usually have an excellent turnout for our concerts, I hope we can have 100% of parents and students in attendance. We have worked hard this year and it is always exciting to play for a full house.
The 7th graders will stay after school the day of the concert for a final run-through. We will have a pizza dinner as the sixth graders did for the holiday concert. 7th graders will bring their concert clothes with them to school that morning.
Sixth and eighth graders need to be at school no later than 6:15 to tune and prepare. Sixth graders will meet in the band room, Eighth graders in the orchestra room.
Cello and bass players will need their own instruments. Please bring them on Wednesday morning so we can use them in c