Yearly Archives: 2018

December Newsletter:

I can’t believe that we are already a little more than a week out of the concert. We have some important dates coming up. Please look through for all of the information for the upcoming week.

A special reminder for symphony students, there is a mandatory rehearsal on Wednesday, 12/5 from 7-9 in the orchestra room.

Congratulations:

Alex Kisiel and Andrew Orals were accepted into the ILMEA All-State. I look forward to hearing them with the orchestra in Peoria in January.

Congrats as well to Alex Kisiel for winning the 2018-2019 LZHS Concerto Competition. He will be performing the Grieg Piano Concerto on the May concert. Thank you as well to HOPE for sponsoring our second judge for the event.

Please also see the link below for a video from the Concert Choir performance with Sinfonietta at Orchestra Hall last night. https://goo.gl/d76yVp

Concert information:

The orchestra department is participating on several concerts December. All orchestra students are performing on the Winter Orchestra Concert on Thursday, December 13 at 7:00 in the PAC. It is a required performance as part of the orchestra classes.

Concert Orchestra: Students must be on stage to rehearse at 5:30. It is important that students are at the dress rehearsal, in their seat, and ready to play at 5:30 It is important that we are ready to play for a call time. I would suggest arriving at least 15 minutes before the call time to ensure that everybody is set and ready to go for the performance.

Symphony Orchestra: Students must be dressed, and on the stage by 6:20 to rehearse Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire. Please make sure you are here and ready to go by 6:20. Students should plan an appropriate amount of time to get their instrument out and ready to go for the performance.

Concert Dress: Please follow dress code as outlined in the handbook.

Boys must show up in black pants, tux shirt, black shoes, and socks. We will distribute tux jackets and bow ties before the concert.

Girls wear solid black: Girls have the freedom to choose their apparel as long as sleeves extend below the elbow and skirts or slacks to the ankle, and the midriff must not show while standing or sitting. This may be a long-sleeve all black dress or black blouse or sweater and ankle-length skirt. Full black slacks are also appropriate, and encouraged for cello players. Girls must also wear black closed-toe dress shoes (not more than 2” heel) and black stockings or hose.

Snacks:

Trying to get the right mix of students bringing snacks here is what we are going to try, Snacks for Freshman and Sophomores this concert:

Violin, Viola and bass: A snack or treat

Cello: Water or juice

Bear Strings performance:

Bear Strings:

On 12/19 there will be a dress rehearsal starting at 5:00 for the 7:00 concert. Pizza will be provided. Please wear a “ugly sweater” for the performance.

Sinfonietta:

I think there was an error on the schedule I sent out in December. Please see the calendar for the official performance times for Sinfonietta:

December 2017

11        Rehearsal 3:20-4:30

12        Choir Concert- 7:00- Choir pieces

13        Orchestra Concert 7:00- Mozart Dissonance

14        Gig at Echo- 5-7^th period

18        Rehearsal 3:20-4:30

Thank you again for a great performance last night. I look forward to hearing everybody at the upcoming concerts.

HOPE News:

Please join us for our HOPE meeting tonight at 6:30 in the orchestra room!

As always, thank you for your support of the orchestra program at LZHS. I look forward to seeing all of you at our concerts in the next couple of weeks.

Orchestra Parents and Students:

I can’t believe it is already October, and we are a week out from our first concert of the year on October 17^th at 7:00. More information about that below.

The last month we have done some great things in orchestra. There have been several opportunities to get to know classmates both in and out of class including a fantastic picnic, decorating for homecoming, and we are also looking forward to a great trip to the CSO on October 19^th with the band.

I would also like to thank Dr. Chetel for joining us from Augustana College to work with Symphony Orchestra on the Respighi Ancient Aires and Dances Suite III.

On the night of the concert Culvers will be hosting a LZHS Orchestra Night. I encourage

all of you to grab your pre-concert dinner, or post-concert custard from Culvers on the 17^th. 15% of the sale will go directly back to support LZHS Orchestras and HOPE. You can present or mention this flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13IwMz-_uXc55tbKjHPGC4D_vMAmYnuUh/view?usp=sharing

News:

Concert Information: The concert will start promptly at 7:00-

Performance order:

Concert Orchestra

Bear Strings

Symphony Orchestra

Concert Orchestra:

Call time is 5:00 for rehearsal. Please come dressed and we will also take a picture for the yearbook at that time. Call times are the time that the rehearsal will start. Students not in their seats and ready to perform will be marked down on the summative concert attendance grade.

Symphony Orchestra:

Call time is 6:15. Please be dressed by 6:15 so that we can take the yearbook picture.

Dress:

Please follow dress code as outlined in the handbook. Boys must show up in black pants, tux shirt, black shoes, and socks. We will distribute tux jackets and bow ties before the concert

Girls wear solid black: Girls have the freedom to choose their apparel as long as sleeves extend below the elbow and skirts or slacks to the ankle, and the midriff must not show while standing or sitting. This may be a long-sleeve all black dress or black blouse or sweater and ankle-length skirt. Full black slacks are also appropriate, and encouraged for cello players. Girls must also wear black closed-toe dress shoes (not more than 2” heel) and black stockings or hose.

Sinfonietta Auditions: Auditions for the after school orchestra here at LZHS called Sinfonietta will be the week of October 16^th. The rehearsals will be every Tuesday from 3:15-4:30. Students should audition on an excerpt from a prepared piece and the ILMEA scale sheet (I will pick one major and one minor scale). Students will be performing advanced music composed for small chamber orchestras. This year students will perform at Symphony Center in December with the Choir, and at the NIU string day in February. Any student interested in auditioning should sign up for a time here:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZHwpohIblDCjfvcb9Qe23r4SzupjEird5GNKAVCThKM/edit?usp=sharing (Links to an external site.)
You must have the following contract signed at the time of your audition along with reviewing the calendar:

Contract:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nZhXqEWDwFjOQPx4lwEdiUI00TLOInHC/view?usp=sharing (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Calendar:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NUkd648qYmFDEWmw6StoeLyyYB9b56_Z/view?usp=sharing (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Rehearsals will begin Tuesday, October 23

News from HOPE:

Please become a member of HOPE. In order to get your name in the program you must register by 10/12.  You can register here: https://squareup.com/store/hope-orchestra-boosters

 We need your help:

The mission of the Orchestra Boosters is to give LZHS orchestra students opportunities for enhancing their musical experience. We sponsor fundraisers throughout the year and work directly with Mr. Sackschewsky to collect resources for underwriting professionally coached sectionals and visits by guest clinicians. Last year over $5000 was raised and spent on orchestra students. Booster members assist the orchestra program in funding GUEST CLINICIANS, INSTRUMENT SECTIONALS, FIELD TRIPS TO CSO, JUDGES FOR CONCERTO COMPETITION, SOCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR ORCHESTRA STUDENTS and MORE.

The Board is looking for new parents to serve in leadership roles (Secretary, Fundraising, co-Treasurer, co-President) for the school year. Without a new officers, we fear we will not continue beyond the current school year.  Please consider working alongside current officers so we can continue our mission. If you are interested, please contact Marie.Gilbert@comcast.net. 

Concert Refreshments:

This year we are going to try something a little different for the reception after the concert.  We are going to divide treats up by section instead of grades. For this concert:

All Violins and Basses: will bring a treat/snack for after the concert

All Violas and Celli: Will bring individual water bottles or pre-packaged juice

HOPE Fundraiser: We are currently in the middle of a Yankee Candle Sale. You can sell all products online, and the credit you receive can be used toward trips, concerts, or any other orchestra related expense. You can download the login information here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WT4KUx4_WzUU2gPh9TcmMK66jVdxLRX_/view?usp=sharing

Thank you for supporting our Patron Booster Program.

HOPE board.

Thank you as always for your support of the orchestra program. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing everybody at the concert on the 17^th.

Nathan Sackschewsky

LZHS Orchestra Director

I hope that the first few weeks of school are going well. As much as I enjoy the freneticism of the beginning of school, I really love the feeling of getting settled into the swing of the year where we can start really making music. I would like to offer a special thank you to Marie Gilbert and Christine Chialdikas for helping with the Orchestra Picnic last Friday. We had almost 50 students attend. It was so fun to see the students have an opportunity to socialize together outside of class. As you are looking through the news, please make sure that students who are planning on participating in ILMEA have their registrations completed by this Friday.

News:

1. This year the Orchestra will be attending the CSO on Friday, October 19^th. It is a field trip during the school day, and students can expect to be back about 5:00. There are a limited number of tickets, and because the band students are joining us tickets will sell out fast. Please get your form and money in ASAP.
2. Join HOPE: Please take the time to join HOPE this year. We are looking for 100% participation from families. You can join here.
3. Parents of freshman boys, and boys who grew: Don’t forget to get your men’s tux shirt. The cost for each shirt is $17, please fill out the attached form and bring in your check for $17.
4. ILMEA Signup is currently going on. Please fill out the form and bring in your $5 to cover your audition cost. I will have audition prep times if you would like to come in and get some audition help and tips. Sign-up is due by Monday, September 17. If you have not registered and brought in your check by Monday, you will not be able to audition.
5. I would encourage you to add the orchestra calendar to your personal calendar.The calendar is all over the orchestra blog, and it will always be the most up to date calendar.
6. Bear Strings has started. If you are looking for a fun opportunity to work on different music styles from what we do in class, I recommend joining Bear Strings, which rehearses on Thursdays from 3:20-4:30. You can find more about it here.
7. Sinfonietta auditions will be the week of October 15^th. Remember that students should plan on auditioning with no more than 5 minutes of a concerto and one major and minor scale from the ILMEA scale sheet.

I look forward to seeing everybody at our first concert on October 17^th, more information as we get closer.

Nathan Sackschewsky

LZHS Orchestra Director

Welcome to the Orchestra News Page. Every month you will find important information about activities, and ways to stay involved in the program.

I will post more after we get going the first week, but some important information for everybody before the first day:

1. You will not need instruments on Wednesday. We will get lockers and instrument assignments on Wednesday, so plan on playing on Thursday.
2. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Orchestra Open House on Wednesday, August 29th at 7:00 in the orchestra room. HOPE will once again supply some treats. Come and learn about the year in orchestra, and meet some fellow orchestra parents.
3. Join HOPE and the orchestra in celebrating the new year on Friday, 9/7  with our 3rd annual kick off picnic at Breezewald Park from 4-6. More information to come, but mark your calendar now!
4. The school is selling year signs again this year. I would encourage everybody to purchase one for their front yard. How cool would it be to have streets filled with orchestra yard signs. They are only $30 and proceeds go back to LZHS. Please fill out the attached form and return it to the school.
5. Parents of freshman boys, and boys who grew: Don’t forget to get your men’s tux shirt. The cost for each shirt is $17, please fill out the attached form and bring in your check for $17.
6. ILMEA Signup is currently going on. Please fill out the form and bring in your $5 to cover your audition cost. Mr. S will have audition prep times if you would like to come in and get some audition help and tips. Sign-up is due by Friday, September 14.
7. I would encourage you to add the orchestra calendar to your personal calendar. The calendar is all over the orchestra blog, and it will always be the most up to date calendar.

I will have more information for you about the rest of the year soon. I am so excited about the great performance and learning opportunities for orchestra this year. I hope to see everybody soon, but please feel free to reach out to me by email if you have any questions.

Nathan Sackschewsky

Orchestra Director at LZHS