I hope everyone was able to enjoy time with friends and family during this long holiday weekend. We have another busy band week coming up!

Tuesday, April 22nd: Grade 7 early morning band is canceled for tomorrow due to the grade 8-9 band field trip to Summerside

Grade 8 and 9 band students will travel to Summerside tomorrow (Tuesday) to perform in the PEI Band Days festival.

Grade 8 students are asked to meet at East Wiltshire at 7:15 am tomorrow. Uniforms, instruments and music need to be on the checklist before leaving home in the morning!

Grade 9 students are asked to meet in the band room at 8:45 am and they will be leaving EWS at 9:00 am. Please refer to the previous post for all of the BAND DAYS information for grade 8 and grade 9 students.

Wednesday, April 23rd: Grade 8 early morning band (7:45-8:45 am)

Thursday, April 24th: Grade 9 early morning band (7:45-8:45 am), Jazz Band (3:00-4:00 pm)

Looking ahead to next week:

MONDAY, APRIL 28th: GRADE 9 EARLY MORNING BAND (final full band rehearsal before the band trip; all students who are travelling to Fredericton on Wednesday must attend)

Tuesday, April 29th: Grade 7 early morning band

Wednesday, April 30th and Thursday, May 1st: Grade 9 Band trip (grade 8 AM rehearsal is canceled

Friday, May 2nd: PEI Area Association Day (No Classes)

There has been a lot of activity in the band area this week as we prepare for upcoming spring band events. It’s been a busy week and a very busy day, so if I’ve made any mistakes in the information below please let me know!

The first big event this month is PEI Band Days which is being held in Summerside at the Scott MacAulay Theatre at the College of Piping. Both the grade 8 concert band, and the grade 9 concert band will be performing on Tuesday, April 22nd in the morning. Full participation in this event includes performing, participating in a clinic with an adjudicator, and listening to other bands.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ’s)

What should I bring? 

• Full uniforms (including black pants, band vests, white shirts, and dark shoes if possible) are required for these performances.  
• In addition to their instruments and music, students should bring a water bottle, and a snack or two!  We will have a late pizza lunch when we get back to the school at approximately 1:00 pm.

When are we leaving?

Grade 8

7:15: Arrive at EWS in uniform

7:20:  Meeting in the band room, load equipment van and load bus

7:45:  Leave for Summerside

8:45:  Arrive at venue and set-up

9:00-9:30:  Warm-up

9:30-10:00:   Perform on stage and receive onstage clinic/adjudication

10:00-10:30:  Break 

10:30-12:00:  Watch performances in the theatre (Gulf Shore, EWS Grade 9 Band, ME Callaghan)

Grade 9

8:45:  Meet in the band room, load bus

9:00: Leave EWS 

10:00:  Arrive at venue

10:00-10:30:  Set-up

10:30-11:00:  Warm-up

11:00-11:30:    Perform on stage and receive onstage clinic/adjudication

12:00: All students (Grade 8 and Grade 9) leave for EWS

1:00: Pizza Party in the cafeteria

Can parents and guardians attend PEI Band Days performances? 

All performances are free, and the public is welcome to attend. If you are planning to drive to Summerside, and will be taking your student (and their instrument) in your own vehicle, please let me know.  Please note that the festival organizers have requested that all students arrive at the theatre at least 45 minutes before their performance time.

Three staff chaperones (Mr. Cusack, Ms. Borman, and Ms. Ferguson) will also be coming with us to Summerside to help out, and to enjoy the show. Please remind your students of your expectations for their best behaviour during field trips. We want this to be a positive experience for everyone involved.

The full schedule for the PEI Band Days Festival can be found here: 2025 PEI Band Days

Sorry for the late post! We will follow the usual early morning and after school rehearsal schedule this week. Information for grade 8 and grade 9 band students about the upcoming PEI band days festival will be provided before the end of the week.

Thank you!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Here are a few reminders and updates for this week:

Grade 9 trip band payments are due on Friday, April 11th. The total due is $165.

Payments can be made online using SchoolCash. Students may also pay this week by cheque or with cash. Please enclose these payments in an envelope or Ziplock bag labeled with the student’s name and homeroom class. Thank you.

*Please note that an adjusted payment schedule and/or funding can be made available to assist deserving students who may need financial support in order to participate.

The date for the spring concert has been changed to Tuesday, May 27th (7:00 p.m.) to avoid a conflict with the Eliot River Spring Fling.

We will follow the regular rehearsal schedule again this week! Students are asked to please make every effort to attend all rehearsals in order to allow us to prepare together for upcoming concerts and events!

We will follow the regular early morning and after school band schedule this week. We have a lot of performances and events coming up in April and May so I’m looking forward to getting back to our full band rehearsals!

Tuesday, April 1st: 7:45 a.m.  Grade 7 early morning band

Wednesday, April 2nd: 7:45 a.m. Grade 8 early morning band 

Thursday, April 3rd: 7:45 a.m. Grade 9 early morning band

Thursday, April 3rd: 3:00-4:00 p.m. Jazz Band

Upcoming Performances

Tuesday, April 22: PEI Band Days at the Scott MacAulay Performing Arts Centre at the College of Piping, Summerside

9:30: Grade 8’s perform (Set up at 8:30, Warm-up at 9:00)

11:00: Grade 9’s perform (Set up at 10:00, Warm-up at 10:30)

Wednesday, April 30th-Thursday, May 1st: Grade 9 Band trip to Sackville, NB and Fredericton, NB

Thursday, May 8th: PEI Beginning Band Day at Athena Consolidated School. Grade 7 Concert Band will participate.

Friday, May 9th: Grade 7, 8, and 9 band performance and information sharing about the band program for grade 6 students (East Wiltshire gym)

Tuesday, May 27th: SPRING CONCERT (All four bands will perform in our final big concert of the school year)

Wednesday, May 28th at 10:00 am: Concert by the CEC Symphonic Band (Truro, NS) at East Wiltshire

TBA in June: Grade 8 Band Field trip

Congratulations to all of the band students on a very successful second term in the band program! The music is sounding great, and we have been making excellent progress in all four EWS band ensembles. Thank you to the students for their efforts, and thank you to parents for your support in getting students to early morning and after school rehearsals. I know that it’s not always easy, particularly in the dark winter months!

I have already announced this to most of my band classes, but we are taking a well-deserved two week break from early morning and after school band practices before we begin again in April for the third and final term of the school year.

Grade 7, 8 and 9 early morning band practices are CANCELED from March 11-13 (the week before March break ) and from March 25-27 (the week after March break). 

Students are encouraged to practice their band music and their scale assignments during this time!

Grade 7, 8, and 9 Practice Guide:

Grade 7: Ab concert full 8 note scale, arpeggio, and thirds, pg. 20 Sawmill Creek, Beginner’s Rock, Acropolis and Lullaby for Winds

Grade 8: Eb concert scale and arpeggio, 9 stroke rolls, Too Much Percussion, Cayuga Lake and The Pilgrimage

Grade 9: F concert scale, arpeggio, and thirds, 9 stroke rolls, Black Forest Overture, Be Still My Soul, The Dragon Lord and How to Train Your Dragon

Have a great weekend!

Don’t forget that all band students are asked to bring their uniforms (BLACK pants, white shirts, and vests) and instruments for yearbook photos tomorrow!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend. We will follow the regular early morning band schedule this week. Jazz band rehearsal time will be announced this week. We may have to change our rehearsal time due to parent-teacher interviews.

Yearbook pictures for all four bands (Grade 7, 8, 9 and Jazz) will be taken on Wednesday morning (March 5th). All band students are asked to bring their uniforms including BLACK PANTS on Wednesday so that the photos look professional. Thank you!

Permission forms for the grade 9 band trip were provided to grade 9 band students on Thursday at early morning band practice. If said permission form is most likely crumpled at the bottom of your child’s kit bag or locker, you can find printable PDF versions below! In order to finalize reservations for accommodations and activities we need to have signed permission forms returned by this Friday (March 7th). Payments are not due until Friday, April 11th. Thank you for your help with this!

2025 Grade 9 Trip Contract

2025 Permission Form

The grade 9 band students have been working hard to prepare music for spring performances. The dates for this year’s band trip are Wednesday, April 30th and Thursday, May 1st. We will be travelling to New Brunswick to participate in a variety of activities and band events. Please click on the link below for an overview of this year’s itinerary.

Grade 9 Band Trip 2025 INFORMATION Slides

An adjusted payment schedule and/or funding can be made available to assist deserving students who may need financial support in order to participate.

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, March 7th: Signed participation/permission forms due. It would also be appreciated if we could be notified by phone call or email as soon as possible if your student is unable to participate so that we can make immediate adjustments to our bookings. 
• Friday, April 11th: Band trip payments ($165) are due. *Payments can be made online using SchoolCash beginning on Monday, March 3rd.

Please contact Alison Peters at ampeters@edu.pe.ca if you have any questions.

I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

We will follow the usual early morning and after school rehearsal schedule this week.