March 11-15

Audition Information has been posted! Be sure to get the information and sign up for your audition time. Click here to go to my Audition Info page.

Come check out the Pioneer production of Hello, Dolly! this Friday and Saturday and next Wednesday through Saturday. Curtain is at 7:00 and tickets are available at lunch in the quad or at the door prior to each production.

The Jazz Band will be performing with Castillero for their annual "Jazz Around Town" fundraiser concert Saturday evening March 30 at San Jose State. I don't have the details yet, but anticipate the call time will be between 6-7 and the students should be done by about 9:30. For information about ticket orders, please contact me.

A gentle reminder as we get back into our Listening Logs; students who are absent are welcome to make up their work on Monday during S period. Also, if students need extra time or additional help with the writing process, they should come in during S period. This week, I will even grant an extension to those students who were in class, but just wasted time and didn't get the assignment done. Moving forward, however, students who are in class but don't do the assignment will not get any additional support. Students who are absent or students who need more support will always be welcome to come in during S period and complete their work.

Plan to join us on Wednesday, April 3 for our Spring Concert. Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band will be presenting all new music that we've been working on since the Benefit Concert. The program will begin at 7:00 and admission will be free.

I'd like to thank the following parents who are scheduled to chaperone our San Francisco weekend; Mr and Mrs Hubbard, Mrs Liebscher, Mrs Raimondi, Mrs Schumway Lipps, Mrs Yetkinler, Mrs Archambault, Mrs Thompson and Mr Carrillo. We are looking for one more dad who could travel with us. If you can join us, please contact me ASAP- chris_mccoy [at] sjusd [dot] org. If you have any payments left, please make those right away. If you need to extend your payments, do extra fundraising or need more financial help, let me know so that I can arrange that for you.

February 11-15

THANK YOU to everyone who put in so much work to make our Benefit Concert a success! Thanks to Mrs Summers, Mrs Kanga and Mrs Taher for leading our efforts and to the dozen other parent leaders and the dozen or two more volunteers who made that evening possible.

In addition to our Benefit Concert, Jazz Band performed Friday morning for nearly 1,000 valley leaders. Thanks to Mrs Grimaud, Mrs Canteenwala and Mr Carrillo for driving for us and making this event possible!

This week will be a much slower week in classes. Monday will be a day to clean up and debrief. There will even be a day or two this week where Wind Ensemble, Orchestra and Jazz Band may have a homework or practice day.

Rehearsal for Hello, Dolly! will be on Monday and Wednesday at 6:30-9:15. Please be prompt!

Join us at California Pizza Kitchen on Wednesday for our next dining partner event! CPK will donate 20% of your order (including alcoholic beverages) back to our program. Good from 11:30 am to 9:00 pm and for either dine in or take out orders! You must present this flier to your server. You can also

We'll begin our final arrangements for our Spring Trip this week. We are looking for a couple more parent chaperones, so if you'd like to join us please let me know. Also, last minute student additions need to happen this week as we begin to work on our rooming list. If you have any questions about this- check out the Tour 2013 page.

February 4-8

Our Benefit Concert is on Saturday! If you missed the email I sent out earlier this afternoon, read it here. There's lots of important information about volunteering, tickets, raffle, student call times and more! Don't forget that you must get your tickets by Wednesday for your student to earn their $5 credit for each ticket sold. Get your tickets here! Raffle tickets are also due by Wednesday for your student to earn their 80% account credit. Use this link to our facebook page to invite your friends, too.

Congratulations to the Jazz Band for their outstanding performance at CMEA on Saturday! This week, we have our Joint Venture gig at the convention center downtown (Parkside Hall). We need parent drivers for this event! We will meet at school at 6:30 am (I know, it's early) and return some time during 4th period (around 11:30). We need drivers for each direction, but you don't have to stay the whole time. Students will even have quite a bit of time off stage to work on homework or other things. We've done this performance since 2005! Let's continue to show these valley leaders what Pioneer can do! For more info about Joint Venture, check out their website.

We are still looking for a few more parents to join us as chaperones on our Spring Trip to San Francisco. The cost for chaperones is just $150 for the weekend! We are going to have a great time, but we need more parents to make it happen. Check out the info here, and be sure to send in your tour contract so I can add you to our list!

Hello, Dolly! practice this week is Monday from 6:30-9:30. Next week, we'll rehearse Monday and Wednesday 6:30-9:30. Please be prompt so we can start on time! Remember your pencil!

January 27- February 1

Jazz Band CMEA festival on Saturday! We will meet at Santa Teresa HS at 8:10 am in front of the theater. We'll warm up, then perform at 8:50, then sight reading, then group photo and dismissal around 9:50 am.

Jazz Band will be performing at the Joint Venture Conference downtown next Friday, 2/8. Call time for students is 6:30 (yes, I know it's early, but there will be doughnuts!). Students will miss periods 1-3. We do need parent drivers who can drive us to the gig and then back to school (about 11:30). This conference puts us on stage before about 1,000 of the valley's leading figures in business, politics and education and we've been a part of it since 2005!

The Band & Orchestra Benefit Concert is just 2 weeks away! Tickets are selling fast as we approach our goal of 2 tickets sold per performer. Be sure to order your tickets this week so that your student can earn their $5 account credit from each seat sold. Raffle tickets are also a great way to raise money for your student. Our grand prize is a $500 Apple gift card! Tickets are just $3 each or 4 for $10. Students earn 80% of the proceeds from raffle tickets they sell in advance. If your student has brought the tickets home, return the payment and the tickets (with name & phone number) in the envelope provided. If your student hasn't picket up a packet of tickets yet, encourage them to do so soon! I'm very excited about this event. Each ensemble has some fun music, plus we have great raffle prizes and some incredible items for our silent auction! You don't want to miss out- it's our most important fundraising performance of the year!

Rehearsal for Hello, Dolly this week is on Monday from 6:30-9:30. Please be ready to start rehearsal on time!

On a totally non musical note, the flu and all sorts of sickness are going around. Please, eat well, wash up often and get as much sleep as you can. We need everyone at their best for our performances!

January 22-25

The Band & Orchestra Benefit Concert is fast approaching! On Friday, we'll be taking photos during each of the three classes and students need to have their performing attire. Orchestra students should come dressed in their dresses and tuxes and bring a change of clothes. Wind Ensemble & Jazz band students should bring their clothes to change into during class time. These photos will then be available for purchase at the concert. VIP and Reserved tables have already sold out, but there are plenty of individual tickets still available. Raffle ticket pre-sales also kicked off last Friday. Much more information is available in an email I sent to all participating students and parents. If you missed that, get the details here.

On Friday, I distributed account statements to students in Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble and Orchestra. There are still many students who have yet to pay for expenses from the first semester. It is imperative that you either pay for those costs, or use the fundraising opportunities for the Benefit Concert to help you. Remember, students earn $5 credit for each ticket and 80% of the raffle tickets sold in advance. Fundraising info for the Benefit Concert is on the Benefit Concert page.

I'm glad to see the number of students participating in our Spring Trip continues to increase. I am looking for several more chaperones though. If you are interested, please contact me or get more info on the Spring Trip page. There are a few families who paid the original deposit and still have an extra positive account balance. In this case (and this case only, since it was my mistake), I am happy to give you Benefit Concert tickets and raffle tickets up to the value that you over paid. There are only a few families in this situation, but if you'd like to take advantage of it, please email me so that I can set aside your admission and raffle tickets.

Because there was no school on Monday, rehearsal for Hello, Dolly pit orchestra is Wednesday. Students have asked for rehearsal to be moved to 6:30-9:30. This will be our rehearsal time until after the ski week break in February.

January 14-18

Band & Orchestra Benefit Concert- This week, students will get raffle tickets to begin selling. Tickets sell for $3 each or 4 for $10, and students make 80% of that as account credit. The grand prize this year is going to be an iPad! Raffle winner need not be present to win, so sell those tickets to friends, neighbors and anyone else who wants to support our program and have a shot at an iPad! In addition to the raffle, we continue to collect donations for our Silent Auction including dinners, hotel stays, golf, entertainment packages and more. If you would like to help us purchase some of the things that go with the raffle and auction, please consider sending in a $10 donation to "Pioneer Performing Arts" and we'll include a free raffle ticket! VIP tickets are sold out, but we have several reserved tables (seats 6) and plenty of individual seats available. Students earn $5 to their account for every ticket in advance.

Today, I saw Brian Hubbard (11th grade, French Horn) perform with the Santa Clara County Honor Band. What a great performance! If you attended, be sure you turn in your Live Review this week to get your extra credit! I will not give extra credit for honor band reviews beyond the one week deadline.

If you participated in the We Care Coffee fundraiser, please get your money turned in right away!

Musicians for Hello, Dolly! should check out the new page on my blog which includes rehearsal schedule and performance information.

Jazz Band will be performing at the 8th grade recruitment night Thursday in the gym. Call time is 6:00 and we'll perform from about 6:30-6:50. Students will be dismissed as soon as we are done cleaning up at about 7:00. Recruitment night is casual performance in jeans and band polo. For CMEA on Saturday February 2, we will meet at Santa Teresa HS at 8:10 am. We'll warm up, then perform at 8:50, then sight reading, then group photo and dismissal around 9:50 am. The Joint Venture gig downtown is Friday, February 8. We'll meet at school early at about 6:30 am and return to school for classes after lunch. We will need parent drivers that morning! Both the CMEA festival and the downtown gig are formal performing attire.

Spring Trip is coming up fast! There is still time to get your contract & deposit in this week. We need a few more chaperones! If you can help, please send in a contract and deposit, or if you have questions, send me an email. All the info is here.

January 8-11

Welcome to the Spring 2013 semester!

The Band & Orchestra Benefit Concert is in just 33 days (February 9, 7 pm)! Concert and ticket information is all online at the Benefit Concert tab at the top of the page. Be sure to get your tickets ordered in advance because your student earns an account credit for each ticket sold.


If you participated in the We Care Coffee fundraiser, you need to turn in your money this week! As a reminder, for each Gourmet Grab Bag you turn in $130 and make $50 account credit and for each Mini Grab Bag you turn in $52 and make $20 account credit. Checks should be payable to "Pioneer Performing Arts."

Sign-Ups for our Spring Music Trip are past due. We have over 75 students signed up, but there are more who still need to get their form and deposit turned in! Also, I am looking for about 3 more parents who would be willing to accompany us as a chaperone. Complete info, including the tour contract is on the Spring Trip 2013 tab above. We'll have a great musical experience with clinics and the SF Symphony and fun times as well. I hope all students in Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble and Orchestra are able to participate.

Jazz Band has a busy schedule this six weeks. On Thursday the 17th we'll be performing at the 8th grade recruitment night here at the school, details tba, but expect to be here from about 6-7:15. The CMEA Jazz Festival on Saturday, February 2 is at Santa Teresa HS. I have requested a morning time, but don't have the details from the host yet. Once I know more, I'll pass that along. On Friday, February 8 we will again be performing for the Joint Venture Silicon Valley State of the Valley conference downtown. We have the morning shift again and students should plan to miss periods 1-3 that morning. We will need parent drivers for kids and equipment that morning, with a possible window of 6:30 am to noon. Once I get our specifics, I'll let you know.

Students interested in performing as part of the pit orchestra for Hello, Dolly! need to let me know this week. We are looking for up to 3 violin, 1 viola, 1 cello, 1 bass, 4 reed players who can double (I fl, cl, alto; II cl, alto; III cl, tenor; IV cl, bass cl, bari), 3 trumpets, 2 trombone, 2 percussion and a guitar/ banjo. Look for rehearsals to begin next week. I anticipate one or two nights a week (about 6-9:30, based on student scheduling) until ski week. After ski week, rehearsal will kick into high gear with Monday to Thursday nights 6-10. Performances are March 15, 16, 20-23 at 7:00. While missing a performance is non-negotiable, it may be possible for a member of the pit to have conflicts the earlier rehearsals by advance notice. All student musicians are given a semester elective credit for their work in the production! I can also assure you that there are no rehearsals on Fridays, weekends, or over the ski week. The only Friday/ Saturday commitment is the performances themselves.

Extra Credit Live Review Opportunity- All band students can go to the Santa Clara County Honor Band performance on Sunday, January 13 at 2:00 at Evergreen Valley HS and earn double credit on their spring semester Live Review! Many students earned a lower grade in the Fall Semester because they simply chose not to do or turn in their written work. Don't let this happen to you- start the semester off strong!

Finally, if you've not looked at the 2012-2013 Performance Calendar, please do so. All of our events are scheduled in advance (most of them before the year even starts) so that you can plan accordingly.