It is that time of year, the time when we begin the quest to pick out music for next year. Click RIGHT HERE, listen to some of the tracks and let me know what pieces you think we should play next year.
~ Mr. Strusz
It was a great year and now we have one more thing to celebrate: making it to 1000 comments! That is a big milestone. What can I do to make this more fun for all of you so we can make it to 2000 by the end of next school year?
~Mr. Strusz
As some of you might have heard, my daughter is here! After a long wait, beginning on Thursday at 3:30 in the morning, my daughter, Anna Grace Strusz, was born. She arrived at 3:10 a.m. on Friday, June 11. She is more beautiful than I could have imagined! She and my wife are doing great.
Does anyone have any words of wisdom for my wife and I or for Anna?
~Mr. Strusz
Great job last night at our Spring Concert! Thank you so much for your wonderful gift. With the birth of my daughter coming at any point, your gift will be very helpful!
What did you think about the concert last night? Did you like the choice of songs? Order of groups and music? What about performance venue? Would you change any of these things if you had the ability?
~Mr. Strusz
You found out today that my wife and I are expecting our first child on or about June 8. Here is your chance to guess the name. Give me your best guess of a first and middle name. A prize will be awarded if you get it correct!
~Mr. Strusz
You found out today that my wife and I are expecting our first child on or about June 8. Here is your chance to guess the date and time she will actually be born. Give me your best guess for the DATE and TIME OF DAY that you believe is correct. A prize will be awarded for the closest guess!
~Mr. Strusz
Our Spring Concert is right around the corner, June 8, 2010, in the South Brunswick High School Auditorium beginning at 7:30 p.m. We need to choose the order of songs for the concert. It can be the same order that we used in Hershey or a brand new one. Please click HERE to vote and then come back here and explain why you voted the way that you did.
UPDATE: Here is your current song choices:
What was your favorite part of Hershey Park?
Congratulations to both the Jazz Band and Wind Symphony for your Superior ratings at Hershey! You both performed very well. What did you think of our performance?
Here is your chance, choose the pieces that you want to play for Hershey. Your choices are the following:
Click on the following link and fill out the form. Check back here on Sunday to see some of the results.
Have a great weekend!
~Mr. Strusz
Here are the recordings from Tuesday’s rehearsal and the Adjudication form that they will use at Hershey. Print it out and grade yourselves. What kind of things do you hear? What should we work on? How will seeing the form change how you perform?
~Mr. Strusz
Jazz Band members, what songs do you think we should play for Hershey and what order do you think we should play them in? You can pick one song to warm up on and two songs on which we will be judged. Give us a reason as to your selections and order of performance.
~Mr. Strusz
Hershey is right around the corner, six short rehearsals away as of today, Thursday, April 29. It is about that time when we start thinking about the order of songs for Hershey. We will be judged on two songs and will be allowed to play one more as a warm-up. What order do you think that we should play the songs in for Hershey. We can use a different order for the concert on June 8, so let’s keep this debate just to the Hershey Music Competition.
Give us your best order and a little reason as to why you put the songs in your order.
~ Mr. Strusz
We are just under 1 month to Hershey. Here are the recordings from Thursday, April 20. What do you think? Where are we now and where do you think we need to take our songs?
~Mr. Strusz
800 is way in the rear view mirror. We are close to 1000! We only need 20 as of 6/01/10. So close….
We made it! This past weekend, many of you posted and now our blog has over 800 posts. Congrats and thanks. As a treat, I am posting something that Ashish sent me about a month ago. I have been waiting for the right time to post it and this is it. Enjoy and let us know what you think.
~Mr. Strusz
Take Your Kids to Work Day is coming up on Thursday, April 22. Usually, we do something unusual or different for the rehearsal because we do not have the full group. Based on your suggestions, I will decide on what we are going to do during our rehearsal. Your job is to make a case for your idea. Do you want to conduct, sit in a different place in the room, flip the rehearsal set-up? These are just suggestions, please come up with some of your own ideas too. The most important thing for you to do is to justify your answer. I am looking forward to hearing some good ideas!
~Mr. Strusz
Below are four different versions of Semper Fidelis. Please keep in mind that the recordings are from different sources and were recorded at different levels. Don’t let the quality of the recording influence your judgement.
Which version do you like the best and why?
I wanted you to learn this piece by reading the music and experiencing playing it. Now that you have had a chance, I am posting the recording of the song.
What are we doing well compared to the recording?
What do you think we need to improve on after listening?
We are closing in on 800 posts since this blog started! Congrats to all. I will let you know when the big #800 happens.
~Mr. Strusz
A couple of you wanted to know about the painting project I worked on during Spring Break.
This is the original color of the room (we bought it this way color was not our choice):
This is the room after the 1st coat of primer:
This is the final result after two coats of primer and two coats of regular paint:
What do you think?
Next question: what room do you think this is going to be in my house?
Are you a former member of the Crossroads Music Department? Where are you now and what are you doing? Let us know, say hello and give the current members some feedback on things that you here on the site.
Do you know a former member of the department? Get in touch with the person and invite them to post here. It would be great to hear from them.
~ Mr. Strusz
When you are at home and not listening to the great music we play every day (ha ha), what kind of music are you listening to? Who are you favorite artists?
~ Mr. Strusz
Now that it finally stopped raining, how has your spring break been? What did you do during all the rain? Now that the sun is shinning, how are you enjoying the rays?
Think about what we have worked on and talked about this year. Can you come up with a slogan that would describe our work so far this year?
Which of the pieces from this morning was your favorite and what about it did you like? Here are the ones we took a look at:
~ Mr. Strusz
Smooth: