It’s going to be another busy week for band students! Please note the changes to the rehearsal schedule for this week:

Tuesday, May 7th: Grade 7 early am band 

Wednesday, May 8th: Grade 8 early am band, and Jazz Band after school (3:00-3:30 Pizza Party, 3:30-4:30 pm rehearsal. Please note the time change.

Thursday, May 9th: Grade 7 early am band, followed by field trip to Athena Consolidated to perform in the PEI Beginning Band Day showcase. Grade 7 students will have pizza in the band room at EWS when they return from Summerside. Uniforms are required for this performance. Details will be posted by Wednesday.

Friday, May 10th: Grade 9 early am band, followed by the Band Program Orientation Concert for grade 6 students from our feeder schools in the EWS gym at 9:30 a.m.. All four bands will perform (7, 8, 9, and Jazz). Students are asked to please wear uniforms for this concert. The following students have signed up (or have been asked) to perform instrument demonstrations and are asked to please have a demo melody prepared by mid-week: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XpoKlTYUITCfBkE-hZL5hTgbgJ6laNDlZrbjJ1ct0X8/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you, and have a great week!

Congratulations to the grade 9 band on winning the award for the Most Promising Middle School Band at the New Glasgow Music Festival awards presentation yesterday! The band’s performance was outstanding, and they deserved this recognition from the adjudicator. The award comes with a $100 cheque which we will use to support extra-curricular band activities.

Thank you to Ewan Campbell for representing East Wiltshire at the Holland College Community Band concert on April 30th. One student was chosen to perform in the concert from each of the six Island schools participating in the Band for Life program this year. Our Band for Life volunteer, John MacDonald, plays in the Holland College Community band, and he has been attending grade 7 and grade 9 early morning band rehearsals this year. We greatly appreciate the support and encouragement that he provides to our band members!

Thursday, May 9th:  Beginning Band Day at Athena Consolidated in Summerside. Grade 7 band students will participate. Grade 7 Band students will travel by school bus to Summerside. The event will being at 10:00 a.m. and should finish by 1:00 p.m. There will be a pizza party in the band room for the grade 7’s when we return to EWS. More details will be posted early next week. As usual, we will need help with transporting the larger instruments. Please send me an email at ampeters@edu.pe.ca if you are available. Thanks!

Friday, May 10th: Band Program Orientation Concert for grade 6 students (at East Wiltshire). All four bands will perform (7, 8, 9, and Jazz). Students are asked to wear uniforms for this concert which will begin in our gym at 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday, May 29th: EWS Spring Concert 7:00 pm

TBA: Grade 8 Band Field Trip

I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend! We will follow the regular early am band schedule this week:

Tuesday, April 30th: Grade 7 early am band 

Wednesday, May 1st: Grade 8 early am band, and Jazz Band after school (3:00-4:00 pm)

Thursday, May 2nd: Grade 9 early am band

This week EWS band students in grades 7, 8, and 9 will have the exciting opportunity to attend a performance by the National Youth Band of Canada at Bluefield High School.

The concert will be presented on Wednesday, April 24th at 10 am and will conclude at 11:15 am. Students will be bused to and from this event.

About the group:
The National Youth Band of Canada (NYB), Canada’s premiere youth wind ensemble, is the most comprehensive music education youth project offered by the Canadian Band Association. Annually since 1994, the National Youth Band of Canada has provided an opportunity for the country’s outstanding 16-22 year old musicians to gather for an enriching and inspiring musical and cultural experience. The young musicians perform under the leadership of a renowned Canadian conductor and a Yamaha Canada featured soloist.

Tuesday, April 23rd: Grade 7 early am band

Wednesday, April 24th: Grade 8 early am band, and Jazz Band after school (3:00-4:00 pm)

Thursday, April 25th: Grade 9 early am band is canceled (Enjoy the extra sleep after a very busy two weeks of concerts and clinics!)

The grade 9 band students were outstanding representatives of East Wiltshire during our concert band tour last week. They received compliments on their respectful attitudes from hotel staff, customers in restaurants, the tour bus driver, and from festival volunteers at Mt. A and at North Nova Education Centre. They also received very positive feedback on their musical performances at the festivals in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A huge thank you to our chaperones, Mr. Tremere and Mrs. Smith, for volunteering their time and for helping to make the trip run so smoothly!

The GPS tells us that we will be at East Wiltshire by 7:15 pm!

See you soon 😊

We have had a wonderful two days on the road with the grade 9 band!

We are on our way to Amherst for our supper stop and we are ahead of schedule.

Please check the blog at about 6:00 pm for an updated ETA.

I will also ask students to notify you when we are on the bridge.

See you soon!