Bison Bands February Newsletter

Dear Parents, Guardians, Friends, and Families:

It's hard to believe that we are cruising through February with March right around the corner! It's also hard to believe that we are looking forward to the end of winter and all the joys that spring may bring.

With this in mind, we thought it best to share some important information regarding some upcoming events and activities connected with Fenton Bands. All parents, guardians, and students should read this entire newsletter so that they know what is happening and what is expected of them.

Remember, this newsletter is entirely translatable into any language! Just click the "translate" button above.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions via email, phone, or message at our contact information below.

Sincerely,

Garett George

The Pep Band 2025 wrapped up last weekend! This year's pep band had great energy, enthusiasm, and excitement. We witnessed people in the stands getting up and dancing to our music and we also impressed several basketball officials who said "you have a great band here" (Januayr 31 official) and "I love the songs you play" (February 7 official).

Congratulations to all of the Pep Band Wall of Fame 2025 Members for attending all of the games this season! Those members are: Yahir Mondragon, Pirote Thach, Natalia Alvarado, Joshua Cade, Manny Flores, Brandon Fontanez, Denisse Hermida, Edith Gonzalez, Garrett Wawczak, Fernando Cosio-Marin, Eddie Partida, Alianna Perez Parry, Emila Szeliga, & Valentin Camargo.

This Tuesday, February 25th, from 5:50-8:00 PM, Fenton will host its Instrumental Solo & Ensemble Contest. Please click here for our S&E rules and information. Parents, guardians, families, and friends are welcome to attend any or all of these performances! We will have Lt. Colonel Bryan Miller as our adjudicator for the evening. He will be evaluating and providing live feedback for our students!

Please let Mr. George know if you have any questions.

We can't believe thaat The Fenton Music Department will be traveling to Southern California this coming weekend already!!! Call time is 5:45 AM on Friday. All important details can be found on these slides and at our trip website. Students should start locating their band/choir/trip shirts, look at their packing lists, and begin preparing!

Please let us know what questions you may have.

The Fenton Winter Band Concert will take place Thursday, March 6th @ 7:00 PM. Call time is 5:45 in the auditorium.

The Concert Band, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and Banda club will all be performing at this concert. This concert will feature our Jazz and Concert Band festival music, which showcases the music of Tito Puente, Kathaj Copley, Claude T. Smith, Louis Jordan, Jorge Vargas, and more!

At this concert, everyone will be wearing our concert dress uniform. There are parts of this uniform that the students are responsible for having and are not provided by Fenton Bands. Please click here for our Concert Attire information. Additionally, concerts are a summative assessment for all students and they earn a grade for their attendance, participation, and performance. Their Concert Etiquette rubric is here.

Sophomores should plan on bringing cookies to help contribute to the refreshments afterwards. A store bought package would be preferred. Students can bring these the night of the concert or any class time before. Refreshments will be served thanks to our Music Boosters.

All family members and friends are invited to attend this event.

Percussionist Dr. Eric Hines, will be soloing with the Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Wind Ensemble at our winter Concert! The Jazz Ensemble will be playing Tito Puente's "Ran Kan Kan." Dr. Hines will be soloing on timbales for this piece.

Additionally, Dr. Hines will perform a marimba solo with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. The piece is a concertino is entitled "The Test of Time." This has many polyrhythms that provides a lot of interesting grooves and pulse throughout the song.

Dr. Hine's performance is sponsored by the JCS Arts in Education Grant and by the Bensenville Arts Council. He has also been working with all of our percussionists in workshops throughout the winter, focusing on snare drum, mallets, and timpani. Additionally, Dr. Hines has been visiting with our Jazz Ensemble and providing them with workshops on Latin percussion and rhythm section techniques!

We are very gratefull for this opportunity provided by the sponsoring organizations!

The Fenton Jazz Bands have been working hard! The Jazz Ensemble has been rehearsing from 5:30-8:00 every Tuesday.

Recently, the Jazz Ensemble attended the Elmhurst University Jazz Festival High School invitational last Thursday. They performed for judges Neal Alger (EU jazz faculty), Sharrel Cassidy (EU Guest Saxophone Artist) and Danny Gottlieb (EU Guest Percussion Artist). Our performance had solos by Lita Aguilar, Garrett Wawczak, Danny DiPaolo, Edith Gonzalez, Brandon Fontanez, and Emila Szeliga.

The Jazz Ensemble has also been busy with gigs at the Fenton's Hot Chocolate, Fitzgerald's Jazz Club, and our Fine Arts Connection tour that took us to BMS, WDJH, and the Radcliff on January 21.

The Fenton Concert Band is made up of freshman through juniors who are pursuing their instrumental skills in a traditional band setting. These students work on critical listening, ensemble listening, scale development, music literacy, and more at an intermediate level.

The Concert Band rehearses 5th hour and have been making great progress this quarter. They have been building music literacy skills, sight reading skills, rhythm skills, and time keeping skills. They have also been learning about programmatic music!

The Concert Band will be performing at the Winter Band Concert on March 6th.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble is made up of sophomores through seniors who audition for the ensemble. The SWE pursues advanced band literature while also working on critical listening, ensemble listening, instrumental skill development, scales, music literacy, and more at an advanced level.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble rehearses 4th hour and have been making tremendous progress! They have been building sight reading skills, rhythm skills, phrasing, and time keeping skills. They have also been learning about marches, lyrical pieces, and theme development in their music.

The SWE will be traveling to Northeastern Illinois University on Friday, March 14th for the Illinois Music Education Association Large Group contest. They will perform in their concert hall, watch other high school bands, and receive a clinic. Families are welcome and encouraged to attend this event.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be performing at the Winter Band Concert on March 6th.

Information regarding ALL Marching Band Dates, Commitment forms, and more can be found in this slide deck. Please click on this link for that information!

In these documents, you will find out 4th of July information, when Band Camp is, when student leader applications are due, when drum major tryouts are, how Color Guard and Drum Line will work, etc.

Please note that Fenton will be starting two weeks later than usual due to construction. The Marching Band calendar has been adjusted accordingtly to fit within this schedule.

The Fenton Music Boosters will be hosting the annual Spaghetti With A Song fundraiser on Sunday, March 9 from 1-4 PM. Come out and support our performing students while helping the music boosters build their scholarship fund.

This fundraiser requires the assistance of our music families. Please visit this informational page here to find out ways you can easily support our music department. You can also donate to SWAS using this form here.

Reminder that the Music Boosters meet on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM in the band room. Our next meeting is March 12th at 7:30 PM.

A big shout out goes to our Fenton Band student leaders! They go above and beyond each and every day to hold sectionals, set up rehearsals, tear down rehearsals, build pep band binders, and just make sure everyone is having a good time. They lead sectionals at our Fenton Pep Night and help everything in the band run smoothly. I couldn't be more proud of them for their service, dedication, and leadership! When you see them next time, give them a big thank you on behalf of the band!

Front row from left to right: Lita Aguilar, Emcee/High Brass Section Leader; Alita Thach, Secretary/Flute Section Leader; Mr. George

Second Row: Aurora Reyes, Saxophone Section Leader; Paula Serpa, PR/Ambassador; Pirote Tach, Drum Major; Natalia Alvarado, Librarian/Clarinet Section Leader.

Third Row: Julia Windham, Drum Major; Brandon Fontanez, Drumline captain; Arturo Hurtado Jr., Band Manager, and Ruby Alfaro (not pictured), Color Guard captain.

Since the second week of January, Fenton band students have been participating in the Jamuary (because when you practice, your jamming!) and Fameuary (because practicing will make you Famous!) Winter Practice Challenge! Students have been earning weekly prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes along with honorable mentions and most improved for each class. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and overall winners will be announced at our concert on Thursday March 6th!

Please remember that, whether competing in a fun practice challenge or just setting goals for improvement, progress does not happen without time spent practicing. Students have hopefully gained skills, insights and habits so that they can continue making progress for the remainder of the semester. As a general rule, about 60 minutes outside of class will make any student achieve great progress!

Students can use the practice facilities at Fenton during their lunch time, Bison Time, study hall, or after school. Every family should be noticing some music playing in the home where possible.

Thank you for your support!

Pit Orchestra is coming soon for our Spring Musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." Students can earn community service and be apart of an exciting production! Students will be receiving music and materials soon. We still have needs for alto saxophon, clarinet, and flute. Interested students should contact Mr. George.

Click here to see the rehearsal calendar.

February

25 Instrumental Solo & Ensemble Contest @ FHS 5:50-8:00 PM

28 Southern California Trip - call time is 5:45 AM!

March

4 Jazz Ensemble Dress Rehearsal in the Auditorium with Dr. Hines 5:30-8:00 PM

6 Winter Band Concert in the Auditorium. Call is 5:45 PM, concert start at 7:00 PM

9 Spaghetti With a Song 1-4PM

12 Music Booster Meeting in the band room at 7:30 PM

April

9 Music Boosters Meeting @ 7:30pm

23 Spring Assembly/Middle School Show "Charlie Brown"

24-26 Musical: 24-26

28-30 Drum Major Workshops after school

May

1 Drum Major Tryouts After School

2 Student Leader Applications Due

7 Spring Band Concert @ 7:00pm

13 Music Dept. Awards @ 7pm

14 Music Boosters Meeting @ 7:30pm

22 Graduation 22 @ 7pm

26 Memorial Day Parade @ 10:00am

June

4, 11, & 18 Marching Band Rehearsals/Color Guard & Drumline tryouts 5-7PM

Future Dates

4th of July Parade Rehearsal: July 3 1-3:00 PM

4th of July Parade: 8:45 AM call

Band Camp: August 4-8 8AM-noon, 1:30-4:00

2027: Music Department Tour to Disney world, Orlando Florida (pending board approval)!

2029: Music Department Tour to Hawaii (pending board approval)!

For a complete FHS Band Calendar, click here.

Recently, students registered for classes next year. Has your student registered for band next year? They should! Please take an opportunity to ask your student about this and encourage them to participate next year. Need to get them registered for band? Send Mr. George an email at georgeg@fenton100.org. It is never too late to join!

Playing a musical instrument is challenging, and it takes time to learn and refine the skills necessary to be successful. They have come so far just this school year and we want to see that growth continue. Your student's instrumental music education and development is a multi year process.

There is much to work towards and look forward to next year. Here are just a few highlights:

• A later start to the school year!
• Our various field trips to festivals and performances!
• Making friends through music that last a lifetime!
• So much more!

Each and every student contributes to the sound of the band! We want and need you to be apart of the Fenton Band in 2025-2026!

On December 14th, the Fenton Music Department will be celebrating the 100th Annual Holiday Band & Choir Concert! We have plans to celebrate this by inviting alumni to join the Fenton Bands in the performing Sleigh Ride! Any alumni interested in participating in this exciting event should fill out the form here. If you know of a Fenton Band or Choir alumnus, please forward this link to them!

Alumni can also join our remind here for notifications about this event.

Alumni can also join our Facebook group for more information here.

Got some throwback pictures of the band? Please share them here!

We are very grateful for the efforts, time, and positive attitude of our band students! They are a tremendous source of energy for each other and our community! We are all so lucky to be able to get together, learn about music, share a laugh, and grow as a band family.

We look forward to sharing our music with our Fenton community at Solo & Ensemble contest, our Winter Band Concert, or at another event soon.

Be on the lookout for information regarding our Spring events in April.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Musically yours,

Garett George

georgeg@fenton100.org

O: 630-860-4944

C: 929-322-4944 (google voice)