The school year has started with a flourish of activity in the Fine Arts.
The High School band stepped off the new year cheering on the football team at a game on just the third day of school. They added several new songs to their stands list and have performed different materials during each of the halftime performances. The home-coming game saw several new things for the band. We were excited to include the 7th and 8th grade band in the stands for the first half of the game as well as the pre-game performances. The middle school band also performed with the high school on one of the halftime selections.
The band also moved to a new area of the stadium for homecoming. We were a bit crowded with all of the 7th and 8th grade band and Bellas in the stands with us, but the energy was palpable. It was crowded, but homecoming was exciting!
The Drum Line has prepared for a few additional performances as well. They traveled to the game at San Antonio TMI and kept the Brentwood section fired up. They will be traveling to the game in Shiner as well.
The Jazz Band has continued to challenge me with finding new literature. I have been impressed with their ability to read through a lot of music. We are currently preparing to perform at the 60th Anniversary Fall Festival. We will be playing during lunch and hope to see all of you out there.
We are proud that not only was Nathan Thom selected as third chair trombone to the region jazz band, but he ranked high enough to submit a recording to the area round. All of the band students between 7-12th grade will have an opportunity to audition for the region concert bands in December. They have had the music for a while and should be working on it at home.
Drama is in the middle of the One Act Play competition. They are preparing a short play called, “Check, Please!” It is a comedy about all of those awkward first dates that many of us have had. We will perform it for our Brentwood family on Sat. Oct. 14th before taking it to the area contest on Oct. 27/28. An email will go out soon with a link to purchase tickets.
Choir is preparing to join the band in their field band competition in October. We are preparing a difficult selection while also working on new sight-singing techniques and Christmas Concert preparation. The 7th and 8th grade choir students have a solo and ensemble event they are preparing for at Regents in November. Mrs. Chiu has brought a lot of energy back into the program and is raising the expectations for the class. We are working with a core group of students to re-establish the Encore! choir. There is a new energy around the program!
Finally, we are excited about a plan to make our visual arts more visual. FAB has graciously purchased two collapsible foam walls that we will be using to display artwork in the CSA during the December and May concerts. The concert schedule has been changed just a bit so that we can be campus based rather than discipline based. The 4th graders will be singing during the Elementary Christmas Concert. 5th-8th grade band and choir will have their concert on Dec 4th and the High School band and choir will be on Dec. 7th. The Art students will have some of their pieces on display in the foyer at each of these. The goal is t0 celebrate the arts departmentally as much as possible. There will now be an Art Show with each of the December and May secondary concerts so that the band and choir kids can see and appreciate the work that the art students are doing, and so that the art students can hear their classmates in concert on the same night. And of course, when we are preparing for the musical that will be performed in February, we see all of the programs working together for a grand production.
It is an exciting time to be a part of Brentwood Fine Arts! If you have not already done so, please join FAB and come along for the ride.