Auburn Junior High School Bands
332 East Samford Avenue, Auburn, Alabama 36830
(334) 887-1969 · lcornelius@auburnschools.org
June 4, 2007
Dear Auburn Junior High School Band Members and Parents,
I hope that you all are having a wonderful, relaxing, and fun first week of summer! Thank you for helping to make this past year such a great experience. I am looking forward to a great summer, but I will also be glad to be back with you in August. I am very excited about what lies ahead, especially since this past year was so successful! This letter will inform you of several things that must be tended to this summer.
Enclosed is an events calendar for the upcoming school year. Please mark all of these items on your calendar since all applicable events (rehearsals, concerts, etc.) listed are required for all band members. We have many exciting events planned, including several concerts, all-state/all-district auditions, and the spring trip! Please be very diligent in coordinating this events calendar with family calendars and notify me as far in advance as possible about potential conflicts. All families should be respectful of these events, as the group does not function as it should without all members present. Most of our students are involved in many activities, so it is very important to compare the calendars and schedules for all activities as early as possible in order to avoid all conflicts. Any outside-of-school activities we have are co-curricular and are considered an extension of the class itself.
A registration form is included with this letter, which will provide me with current information that I would need in keeping records and for ordering supplies. I will soon be ordering those supplies, including new black binders, new music, and new band t-shirts. The band fee to cover the cost of these items will be $45.00 and may be mailed along with the registration form. I am asking that you return both items by Friday, June 29, so that I may proceed with these orders. Checks or money orders should be made payable to AJHS.
For all formal concerts next year, members will wear a uniform. This uniform consists of a long-sleeve, white dress shirt with collar, black dress pants, black dress shoes, black socks, black cummerbund, and black bow tie. If you need a cummerbund and bow tie, I can order those for you. Please indicate that you need these things in the space provided on the enclosed registration form and send your check made payable to AJHS along with the form. A single check combining the cost of the uniform parts and the band fee is encouraged. All other items besides the cummerbund and bow tie that make up the uniform are the responsibility of the student. An exact date for band pictures in the fall will be announced, and members must have all uniform parts by that time.
If you are a student who uses a school-owned instrument (horn, baritone, tuba), please contact me at your earliest possible convenience so that we might set up an appointment to check out the instrument to you before the school year begins. This needs to be done by the end of July.
All percussion students will need to make sure that they have the following equipment when school begins: Mike Balter #4 or 4B rubber bell mallets (approximately $20), Mike Balter model #13 or 13B ensemble medium blue yarn marimba mallets (approximately $20), Vic Firth TI general timpani mallets (approximately $21), and a good pair of standard concert snare drum sticks. You may order these items at Art’s Music (1-800-341-2787), Capitol Music (1-800-288-4132) or online at Steve Weiss Music (www.steveweissmusic.com) or Percussion Source (www.percussionsource.com). Students will be responsible for bringing this equipment to class each day just as the other students are responsible for bringing their instrument to class. If you have any trouble finding these items, please contact me and I will help you.
If you are a Symphonic Band trumpet player, please read this paragraph carefully. A challenge I face each year is securing enough low brass players for the Symphonic Band. Just like when you listen to your stereo or CD player at home you like to hear lots of bass sound, a band only sounds as good as it should if there are enough low brass players. Our symphonic band will only be as successful as we would like for it to be at concerts and contests if we have more low brass players. A perfect way to arrange this is for trumpet players to move to baritone. Baritone is a school-owned instrument, so anyone who moved to baritone would not have to purchase another instrument. The embouchure that you use for the mouthpiece is virtually the same as trumpet except that the baritone mouthpiece is slightly larger. Trumpet players who struggle with producing a good tone or who have difficulty playing higher notes often do quite well with baritone. In the past several years, we have found great success using this method. I can think of numerous examples of trumpet players who were assigned to the Symphonic Band for eighth grade who switched to baritone and who enjoyed it so much and were so successful that they scored high enough to be selected for the Honors Band in ninth grade. This likely would not have happened had they stayed with trumpet. One of those players has now advanced enough that he is the first chair player in the Auburn High School Honors Band. If you are interested in playing baritone, or if you would like to discuss it further, please email me at lcornelius@auburnschools.org. This could be a huge benefit for the band as a whole as well as for you personally.
Thank you in advance for helping me take care of all these details. My office hours will be very irregular this summer, so if you have any questions or need to discuss anything, please contact me via email or leave a message at the school for me during that time and I will get back with you as soon as I can. I am truly excited already about working with you in the fall! You are a special, talented group of people that I know will have a wonderful upcoming school year.
If you need to contact me this summer, please call me at school (887-1969) or email me at lcornelius@auburnschools.org.
See you in August!
Larry Cornelius
REGISTRATION FORM
2007-2008
Student’s Name__________________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Names___________________________________________________________________
Mailing Address_________________________________________________________________________
Zip Code______________Home Phone_________________________Work Phone___________________
Family’s e-mail address____________________________________________________________________
Student’s t-shirt size (adult size)______________ Instrument______________________________________
I am assigned to (circle one): Symphonic Band Honors Band
Please check ONE of the options below regarding the uniform:
_____Yes, I need for Mr. Cornelius to order my student a cummerbund and bow tie. I am enclosing a check
made payable to AJHS for $15.00.
_____I need for Mr. Cornelius to order a cummerbund only for my student. I am enclosing a check made
payable to AJHS for $10.00.
_____I need for Mr. Cornelius to order a bow tie only for my student. I am enclosing a check made payable to
AJHS for $5.00.
_____No, I do not need for Mr. Cornelius to order any uniform parts for my student.
Please return this form to the address below by Friday, June 29. There is a band fee of $45.00 that will cover the cost of music and materials, notebook, and band t-shirt that should be returned along with this form.
Please send checks or money orders only made payable to AJHS.
Larry Cornelius, Band Director
Auburn Junior High School
332 East Samford Avenue
Auburn, Alabama 36830