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Report at 7:30 tomorrow

2012-02-16T21:23:00.002-05:00

We are now reporting at 7:30 on Friday night, trying to depart as soon as possible, around 7:45. There is a basketball playoff game at 6:30pm and we want to get going prior to the end of the game. All the uniforms and instruments are in the bandroom. We will be boarding the busses, everyone is responsible for getting their own instruments and uniform on their bus.

Considerations for Leadership Positions

2012-02-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

I have been working on the contracts to put online with the leadership positions. As soon as they are ready I will post everything.

Points. How much influence do they have? Well, for one thing, some people helped just for points and although I cannot tell who that is, people dropping an item in the middle of the field after I pass by are in no way getting away with it. There are many of those situations throughout the year. I hear everything and we have 7 other staff people who see everything as well. So, although the points have a guarantee for anyone in the 1 through 20 spots to get one of the 30 positions, the other 10 spots are filled on a whole bunch of other criteria. Some of them I will go through now.

Showing your face in the bandroom. There are people on the top of the list who did not step into the bandroom at all except for rehearsals. There are, tonight, people that I haven't seen in months, who expect one of the top positions. To be one of the top officers you must be proactive and be helping all the time, not only when points are being awarded. You should stop by once in a while to check up on everything, to see if we need some help. I tried, along with the staff, to see what people seemed to do stuff at those unusual times, when nobody else wants to help and those people have been awarded to the best of our ability. This was taken into account as well as the service points.

Performance, level of musicianship and colorguard skills. There are people, low on the point list who are superior musicians, great leaders, and helped on the field with their amazing attitude who now have positions. In most circumstances this is very obvious, sometimes not so much. We take into consideration how great a marcher and musician/flag twirler you are.

We do our best to make the decisions and sometimes make mistakes. It is natural and part of this subjective process. If you are happy with your position, great. If you are not take a day or two to calm down, and see me tomorrow or another day and I will let you know how I came to that decision. I will be happy to meet with anyone with any questions. I will not talk about another band member, just your situation.

Leadership positions will be posted tonight

2012-02-13T16:06:00.001-05:00

The Marching Band leadership positions will be posted sometime between now and 8pm tonight. Everyone in the top 20 points received a position. Some other people, who are superior musicians, great leaders, or met the other criteria that we have were awarded leadership positions. Look at the Leadership page of the website.

To Everyone Going on the Disney Trip

2012-02-12T12:58:00.000-05:00

Things you should do this week before the trip

DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO NOT GET SICK! GET PLENTY OF SLEEP, EAT RIGHT, DRINK PLENTY OF WATER, WASH YOUR HANDS REGULARLY, AND TAKE VITAMINS IF YOU DO THAT.
Do not pack until late in the week after you see what the weather is down in Orlando. It can be really cold or really hot which will determine what to pack.
Pack light, we do not have a lot of room on the busses for huge luggage and trunks, use the packing list in the itinerary. There are specific directions about what to pack under the bus and in your carry with you in your seat.
Bring snacks on the bus with you. We will stop at the very large and inexpensive truck stops along the way, however you need some initial snacks to get you through the night.
If you have a smartphone there are APPS for universal and disney ride wait times. Download them to your phone.
If you have a smartphone you should download the disney trip pdf itinerary from the first page of the website and save it as a pdf on your phone or iPad for the week.
Bookmark the twitter site on your iPad or smartphone. I have to approve you so do it during the week and make sure there is some way I can tell it is you so I approve you (or send me an e-mail with your name). I send out tweets throughout the trip. Many parents already get these tweets. You can also get the tweets automatically as text messages to your phone. There is a direction page on the website for all this.
Each of our Disney rooms has a theme. A tradition at the All-Star resort is for people to dress up their room windows with characters (stuffed animals, signs, etc) if they are on the first floor. All our disney rooms are on the first floor and in a consecutive order. If you want, you should bring some stuff to put in the window.
Use the packing list in the pdf itinerary to make sure that you have everything for the trip.
GET PSYCHED! WE ARE DAYS AWAY!

Lost Phones - Please Read

2012-02-10T14:35:00.000-05:00

For the first time we have not one but two smartphones that were taken from the rehearsal last night. This is clearly something we are not used to here in the Roslyn Band program and something I never even had on my radar as a Roslyn band director. If you mistakenly have taken one of these phones or find one of them please text me immediately so that we can get them back to their owners as soon as possible.

We run our trips, camp, and program in a very trusting and family oriented way. Our possessions are literally open to each other at all times. This trust brings about a relaxed atmosphere where we can all feel very confident that our personal items are safe. It is our culture. When we have to worry about having our things taken we feel like we need to walk around with a "bunker" mentality, watching everything and always being worried about someone going through our stuff and taking our personal belongings. It changes the entire aura around our band not to mention the way in which I run the trip along with our culture. Rules will have to be modified and the trips will change in a way that is necessary to protect our belongings which are now, for the first time, in jeopardy of being taken.

Please return the phones to my inbox in the bandroom or my teacher mailbox by noon on Monday, no questions asked. After that time the "missing" phones will be out of my hands as the band director and we will have to modify the way we run the trip next week so that we can protect everyone's belongings.

These phones are also an emotional and social lifeline to us these days. These two people deserve to have their phones back. Please, anyone who can help, e-mail me.

Thanks

My thoughts on the schedule for 2012

2012-01-12T23:55:00.000-05:00

My opening disclaimer. None of this is final. I will take input and comments from anyone but will have the final decision as to what the schedule will be. E-mail me at your leisure. This is a working schedule which will be honed and adjusted until we finalize it, usually at the end of March.

I have been thinking about next year's schedule since mid October. I feel we need to compete on all the weekends except for Columbus Day so I added the one show back which was cancelled last year. We are a competitive band and taking two weeks off in the short season hurts us in terms of continuity, judging, and camaraderie. I am leaning towards going back to this schedule which we did for the first 6 years when I worked here at Roslyn, where we topped out at 130 members. Our schedule, as listed is the same as last year's before the Manhasset show was canceled.

I will be plugging in the home games when we get them, usually in early March. If we have a home game on the Rosh Hashanah or Columbus Day weekend we will not do it, since those are our weekends off, one for the holiday and one for our traditional Columbus day weekend off. In addition, we do the Friday night lights Soccer tournament each year so that will be added as soon as I have a date as well, as long as that is not on one of those two weekends. I have already been told by several that due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday falling right after a weekend, many of our people will be out of town with family so we will keep off of that weekend of September 15th through the 18th.

The Dome. I feel that we need to stay and see the finals at the dome. We haven't done this for two years and it is time to see these top bands again, which are among the best in the country. I strongly believe our band members need to see these bands to know what we are aiming for. We would miss a day of school which I feel is worth the trade off. Since we are missing no school for the trip I feel this is acceptable. A field trip for a day for this reason is educationally sound and worth it. Ask any of the band members who went in past years and they will agree.

I am leaning towards doing the Peach Bowl trip which is called the Chick Fil-A Bowl next December. Of course, this will depend upon if I can get 60 kids to commit by June 1st with an initial deposit of $50. Of course, the economy will play a large part in determining the feasibility of a trip. We did the trip in 2006 and it was amazing. The company that runs it totally has their act together, the group is child centered, the venues are amazing, and it is great for families to come to Atlanta. You can fly in, stay downtown, and get to everything without a rental car. The CNN building, amazing aquarium, parade and stadium (where an great pep rally is held in the building adjacent to it) is all within blocks of great hotels, restaurants, etc. This is one of the best trips I have ever been involved with and although the date is not yet set, we would probably be leaving on December 26th and returning the night of January 1st. As usual, this takes tons of planning and BOE approval.

Keep checking out this blog for explanations about updates to the schedule.

Next Years Show!

2011-11-22T18:15:00.000-05:00

Reflection, adjustment, and realignment are a key part to building a great program. This past year I was super happy with the entire year, more than ever. We had a great band from the first day of camp through the dome. Great friendships, great music, and a phenomenal year. Unfortunately, the judging results didn’t reflect a meteoric rise through the class. Since we are all competitive, I have been thinking all year about the direction of the program, what we are doing and where we are going, so that we may be able to get more recognition numerically from the judging community. Our kids deserve to win, and with that in mind, I have been brainstorming the future direction of the program. First things first, we will keep all the great things we have going for us right on track. Please read on.

Reflecting upon the past season it is obvious that by writing a simple show musically we got away from what our strength is, music. We marched great, the guard looked phenomenal, pit was better than ever, battery was solid and magical as usual, and everything was tight (no phasing at the dome at all, a first) but by making the music easy and getting away from our strength of a solid and challenging musical program, we lost a large part of what was carrying us to high scores in the past, our music.....our wind sound. Last year one of the ensemble music judges had us in 2nd place at the dome.

This year, with my arrangements, which I deliberately made easy, we got away from the music and we need to get back to it.I asked John Oddo in the locker room what is going on here with the judging? What are we doing wrong, whey are we not getting recognized? He then went on to say "Do you want me to blow smoke at you or tell you my opinion?" As I always do, when I ask John, I want a real answer. John is one of the top marching people in the country, a member of the drum corps hall of fame, he is brought in all over the nation to clinic and help drum corps and marching bands. He then went on to say something very interesting, door opening for me and true. He said "We haven't found our Niche." That was a lightbulb moment for me. Yes, we have been floundering, going in a different direction each year, not really grabbing onto a style or "the kind of band we are" or "the type of shows we do" going through 4 or 5 phases in my 8 years here.

When I got home I went through historically what we have done since I got to Roslyn.My 8 years directing at Roslyn, 5 phases, not a real way to create an identity or culture of "What we do." Yes other bands do this all the time, each year they do a different type of show. However, the best programs have an identity. It makes it easier to culturally build a program. Please notice, I have no judges results here, this all has nothing to do with that.

Phase 1
2004 Elton John Show (pop rock show)
2005 Bon Jovi Show (pop rock show)

Phase 2
2006 Piano Lesson (innovative, unusual drama show)
2007 The Workout (innovative, unusual drama show)

Phase 3
2008 Zarabanda (straight ahead, classical, movie music type show)
2009 Gold Rush (straight ahead, classical, movie music type show)

Phase 42010 Straight Classical music with actors

Phase 52011 The Playdate (innovative, unusual drama show, easiest music we have ever done)

Phase 6 (final phase hopefully)

So after much thought, pretty much round the clock for the past months, I have decided that we need to try the Broadway direction. There are a whole bunch of reasons for this.1. Our culture in Roslyn will support and embrace this. Broadway is a big part of our lives in Roslyn, our kids go to shows regularly, know the idiom, and it is in our culture.2. The music will be more demanding and show us off.
3. People will recognize what we are doing.
4. The shows will be fun.
5. We can pump out a stream of great shows, people will know what we do, and it will be exciting whenever Roslyn takes the field.

With that being said, I think the perfect show to kick us off in this direction is Wicked. Our Roslyn community and family will be so excited, it will inject energy into our program, and we will most likely pick up kids. The style is great and these arrangements (now on the downloads page) are true to the show, demanding, recognizable, and fun. In addition, Wicked is also one of the hottest shows right now.I have had my eye on this Wicked show for many years but it was only available to our zip code the past month. Always wanting to do this show after I saw the show myself, I have periodically checked the regional protection on these arrangements and the publisher just recently made it available to our zip code in Roslyn. I thought this was a sign.Since we are dealing with the time factor here at Roslyn as always, to maximize our 80 hours of rehearsing I would like to order this, Rob and I can get the arrangements to our in school bands to work on after the concerts and throughout the year, and John can write the drum parts now so that we can really get a jump on this. Proper prior planning and we can be competitive in our class. I know that we totally belong in SS2 and would like to stay there.

As usual, I will write the drill with Stephanie, make it simple so that we can max out this music and with Jimmy's help we can march great and nail this thing. I would like to add a bunch of horn pops into the show, we can figure that out early as well so that we can start rehearsing it. A box sequence is in the works as well.We will have two solo dancers, one in white and one in green, pretty self explanatory, they will be the witches dancing solo throughout the show. We will keep our dancers as well. No speakers, no talking, nothing. We will have auditions for the two dancers. I think this will be the best show ever! Listen to it on the downloads page of the website.They are Hal Leonard arrangements with that annoying beep every 40 seconds, I am planning on making a recording with the Wind Ensemble and Mr. Oddo, Mr. Carman and Mr. Romeo playing the new drum parts once they are written. The audio is now on the website. We will have the music online asap.

Today's scores. What do they mean?

2011-10-29T16:54:00.000-04:00

Ok, here's the first big question. Are we slotted for last place tomorrow? Maybe. Do today's scores mean anything? Maybe. Can we still win tomorrow? Maybe. Yes, anything can happen. Some of the judges clearly love our show, and some don't like it. There is no way of knowing whenever you design a show and learn it as to how it will be received by the judges or the audiences. It may do well, it may not. In any case, we are having a ton of fun performing it and hopefully, in the indoor arena, we will be able to get some good numbers.

And now for the most important thing and I know I run the risk of repeating myself but this is very important. We must never, never, ever let the opinions, numbers, or placement by judges affect how we feel about ourselves, our program, or how great we are. I have seen alot of bands over the years and I am being very honest when I tell you that this program is incredible, one of the best I have ever witnessed. It is truly a privilege and honor to direct such great people. We have so many great and amazing things going on here. We are a family, a team, a positive force in so many peoples lives. We must totally see the big picture and be proud, so proud of all of ourselves. As we embark on this last day of the 2011 season let's all remember......We Rock!

And going back to my great analogy about subjective judging. It is like gambling at Atlantic City on the roulette wheel. We throw that marble, if it lands and we win we will "Go crazy." If we lose, we will go to the buffet, or as the band will do tomorrow, the Mall. And once again: In the current subjective judging environment winning or losing may not mean much.

I want to thank all the great kids and parents for helping us build this dynasty. Together we have and will continue to build upon our great Roslyn Marching Bulldogs.

Why we compete, from the mouthes of (older ) babes

2011-10-22T14:30:00.000-04:00

Recently I have been pondering this whole "competing" thing with the marching band. Two things have come into play to bring about my reflection. The subjectivity and randomness of judging results, coupled with my coming in contact with many band directors at Newsday with fine bands who do not compete have forced me to grapple with this whole concept. As a staff we struggle with the competition environment. As I always do, I went on to poll some of our band members. They were incredible with their statements. I received these quotes. "Competing makes us strive to be great." "We learn about real life and subjectivity." "We form bonds which band members for the rest of our lives." "We become a family and work together to accomplish a goal." So, as usual, and I say this many times as an adult with 6 of my own children....."The kids are fine, I am not." I am referring to the fact that the kids are more resilient, more flexible, more adaptable to change, and more forgiving with the judging results than we as adults are. While we, the staff and parents, are all upset about the judge's results, scratching our heads to figure out what they were looking at, our great band members are eating a hot dog and deciding if they will by the sprinkle cupcakes or the white frosted ones on the food line. We will compete forever. We must realize why we compete and although we aim to win, we must realize that the results, no matter what they are, in this environment are more like spinning a roulette wheel at Atlantic City. If we win, we get excited and feel amazing. If we lose, we knew it was just a gamble and go to the buffet.

Judging - Too Hot for the Blog

2011-10-22T08:25:00.000-04:00

I want to meet with any parents who can stop by the field at 2pm today for about 10 minutes. We can meet at the small bleachers next to the gate to the field. Don't change your schedule around, but if you can stop by for a quick meeting with me about the judging it would help us greatly. No big deal, but I want us all to be on the same page before we go into these last three competitions.

The Last Two Weeks of the Season

2011-10-18T09:24:00.000-04:00

This is an important e-mail about the last two weeks of the season. Please read!

As director I always get complaints from parents and band members about the added night during each of the two weeks and the heavier rehearsal schedule. Not many complaints, but enough to get me to write this blog explaining what is at stake here. First of all, the schedule has been up since April so none of this should come as a surprise. People start missing things due to their not being used to the schedule, fatigue, and not seeing the big picture. Some band members have SAT and other classes scheduled on Thursday nights, fully knowing that we had these two Thursdays scheduled when they signed on with the band. It is your responsibility to miss those things and be at these rehearsals. Our schedule is minimal and it is requred to be at each and every rehearsal.

Please realize that we rehearse 80 hours and that 11 1/2 hours are in these last two weeks. That is 15% of our rehearsals are ahead of us. Add the fact that these rehearsals are right before the Dome and on show days and the real impact in terms of concentration is pretty much doubled. So, as a band director and staff we pretty much consider 1/3 of the rehearsals are in the last two weeks (in terms of how much work we can get done and how much better we can get). These rehearsals combined equal band camp!

THESE REHEARSALS WILL HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON OUR SEASON!

OUR REHEARSALS DURING THE LAST TWO WEEKS

Thursday, October 20th - Newsday 6pm to 11pm (one hour rehearsal)

Saturday, October 22nd - Mineola Show 2pm to 11pm (three hour rehearsal)

Wednesday, October 26th - Rehearsal 6:30 to 9pm (2 1/2 hour rehearsal)

Thursday, October 27th - Rehearsal 6:30 to 9pm (2 1/2 hour rehearsal)

Saturday, October 29th- Rehearsal after Phoenix (2 1/2 hour rehearsal)

We need every single person at these rehearsals. Students who miss any of our very light schedule will obviously be able to remain in the band because we will not hurt everyone by making a hole at this late a date. But realize that missing a rehearsal will eliminate you from the right to even interview for a leadership position. Since every single person expects one of the 25 leadership positions, this should be enough of a deterrent. Once again, missing one rehearsal is the equivalent of 3 or 4 rehearsals in any of our competitor’s bands which would be an automatic out.

Our competitors practice 200 to 400 hours in a season. We get it done with a fraction of that due to 100% attendance, focused rehearsals, and proper planning. We need everyone to get enough sleep, keep up with their school work, and eat right. We cannot afford to have anyone get sick this week.

Homework

You will be able to do homework in the Newsday stands during the show, and on the bus ride to and from Syracuse. We have the busses with outlets in front of every seat so you can bring your laptop and plan on 10 hours of homework/study time. We show no movies and leave that time open for you to use in any way you see fit.

New Confidential Post

2011-10-16T20:49:00.001-04:00

There is a new confidential post on roslynbandonly.com
Ask any of the band members for the username and password. Your computer probably stored it from the last time you went there. Will be up for one day.

Great Job at the "Friday Night Lights"

2011-10-15T10:46:00.000-04:00

It is very difficult making the call with the rain. It is the hardest job for any band director. You will get people angry if you go out in the rain, you will get people upset if you don't go out and it clears up. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the field clears off and drains in about 10 minutes. So we really had to stay to see if the rain would stop. In addition, we have not been on the practice field in 9 days, a huge amount of time in the middle of the season. If it rains this Wednesday, October 19th, we would be going to perform at Newsday without performing the show outside for 15 days! So this was a difficult situation to say the least. At 7:30 we brought the band out to no rain but then at about 8pm it started to rain, borderline time to go inside. Luckily, it lightened up a bit when we finally went on. We got the run through in, and the band looked and sounded great! This was very very important and we got it done. Thanks to everyone for being so understanding with the inevitable confusion and for being a great team! The parents were amazing, drying off the instruments and putting them back into the trailer. We also made the necessary Newsday show adjustments. We needed to get 45 seconds off the show. With the Newsday rule of 10 minutes on the field, we were way too close with the 9:50 we have been running with the show. Making the adjustments, we got it down to 9 minutes last night, perfect for the Newsday show. The Newsday announcer makes an announcement, which will be as we enter the field, then Lindsay will talk over the band playing in the opening to set up the show, a few phrases which describes what is going on. In competition that introduction by Lindsay will be during the pre-game, which is that time when the band is first on the field, playing around. We have 13 minutes total in the Competition environment so we can let the band play without the "set up phrases" covering up the music. We also need the special announcement by the Newsday announcer because it sets up how great we are to everyone, reading our accomplishments and getting the attention of all the camera people on hand so that we get some good coverage. Many bands at Newsday do not have a resume to talk about and those that do don't think about putting that in the announcement. Last year the MSG Varsity crew put us as the second to last band in the entire telecast and said the phrase "And now from the best, to the biggest" between us and Northport. The announcement helps facilitate this as well as the fact that we have a very entertaining show. Great job to the band last night! And thanks to everyone who helped and for being understanding with the rain.

Disney Trip Itinerary and Waiting List

2011-10-04T12:05:00.002-04:00

We have just received permission from DIsney to add some people to the trip to fill the rooms to 4 in a room. This all has to be finalized with Disney by Friday. They are very strict about security due to our performing in Disneyworld. If you are currently signed up for this trip and would like to pull out, please let us know so that we can add a person in that spot. If you are on the waiting list, I will be contacting you to see if you still want one of the spots.

Our Performances and list of what park we are in each day will be posted here shortly.

http://web.me.com/patpatterson/Roslynband.com/Florida_Trip.html

Homecoming Schedule

2011-09-30T16:55:00.003-04:00

Homecoming, Saturday, October 1, 2011

Report to the school at 12:30pm. If you have an SAT get there when you can. We need to work on the two parade tunes, Broadway and Rocky.

About 30 of the older players will be performing at the Cafeteria grand opening at 2:00, we will all be performing the parade tunes at the field for a pre-game at 3:30pm. Game starts at 4 and our full half time performance will be between 4:45 and 5. You will be dismissed after halftime but are strongly encouraged to stay for the entire game.

As always, in the case of rain, still report to the school at 12:30pm. The cafeteria opening will go rain or shine and with our turf field's ability to drain almost immediately we will have to wait to decide what will be going on.

Great Job Today at the Brentwood Show

2011-09-18T19:36:00.000-04:00

Great job today. We never had a 70 in the middle of September. We are an easy 5 to 8 points better than we have ever been! The judges loved the show. And our show would have been much clearer to everyone if Lindsay’s voice was heard, I didn’t get the PA fixed until the closer. Our overall score is the highest we ever had at this time of the year. Right now, the subjectivity is working in our favor.

And now for some big news. Our visual total was the 2nd highest in the entire show! 2nd on the Island! Our colorguard and marching has catapulted us to one of the highest visual bands on the island! Today, we beat some bands that we never beat before. Special kudos should go to Mr. Downey and Ms. Lusardi for our visual numbers today.

Music we were 4th overall in the show. Another first! 4th music on the island, even with a super low number by one music judge.

The audience loved the show! The entire audience reacted to our effects, the ice cream truck, the sleeping, and the ending. Everyone is talking about us once again. We will really shine! We are great!

On the way home on the bus I looked at the nysfbc.org website to check out last night’s scores. WE ARE CURRENTLY IN 2ND PLACE IN THE STATE IN OUR CLASS. Jordan Elbridge won with a 68.75, Johnson City with a 67.2, Norwich with a 66.95, Corning East with a 64.7 and Phoenix at another show scored a 65.05. We are 2.15 points above the highest band in the class below us and within striking distance of the top band. Of course, judges subjectively make the call on all of this, but right now it is pretty exciting to be placed that high on the opening weekend.

I will be putting the video up on youtube within the hour. Sign up for the twitter tweets if you want to be tweeted when it is up. I will send out a text if I get it up before 9pm.

I am so proud of all of you. And congratulations for waiting on the field for 5 plus extra minutes while we tried to fix the sound system. That was a great opening performance. With a championship at stake we need to work hard and go for it!

1st Performance of the Season - Bravo!

2011-09-10T19:24:00.001-04:00

Great job today! The band looked and sounded great, especially for a first performance. The video is now up on our youtube site. Look for things we can fix before next week. Make positive comments on the site.

Thanks to all the parents who helped and to the band members who helped out as well. A special thank you to Amy Pinchiaroli for filling in, you were great! And thanks to the 6 people who stayed an extra hour to help out loading the trailer. I know you totally did it to help out the band, stayed there late while everyone else went home and for that reason you have "hit the jackpot" by getting awarded 200 points for showing me that you really care about the band! Want to know who they are, just check the attendance and awards spreadsheet. Yes it was beautiful out and I really don't blame people who went home right away after the game today, we are all very busy and some were taking in a nice day, spending time with their family, doing homework, or just getting a breather after a few days getting into the routine with homework. Those special people who do that incredible amount extra may be awarded my special "jackpots" throughout the season. They can come at any time and will be awarded to people who go "above and beyond" what is expected from any band member. Congrats to todays "jackpot" winners. And I want to continue our "no drama" policy with the band program. We have taken some great strides this year in minimalizing the amount of drama between band members. For instance, do not see people getting more points than you as a competition against you. We are all on the same team. Congratulate anyone in our band who excels. Look around. Did someone in your section or another section of the band do something great today? Tell them, write them a text, compliment them. Write a positive thing on the youtube site about something you see. Make freinds with everyone! This is what is making our band great this year!

We have a very important rehearsal on Wednesday so lets all focus and be as great as we can next Sunday at the Brentwood show, our first competition. I am so very proud of our entire program. I left the school today thinking that I am a very lucky person to be the director of such a great group of people!

Competition Season is here!

2011-09-09T13:03:00.000-04:00

As the season starts I will start posting about our up and coming competition season. This year’s show is very creative and you will see some very interesting things going on throughout it. We have a crowd pleaser here and hopefully a “judge pleaser” as well.

I just posted the “Brentwood Show Sheet.” I do this for every single event. I will also blog about each show before and after so you can come right here if you want to know what is going on.

Twitter - I give twitter updates. You can have every one sent to your cell phone as a text, or simply bookmark our twitter site to see what is going on throughout the season. I will be tweeting more on competition days this year so put your phone on vibrate. I will tweet out the score from the back judges room as well if I know before it is announced. Just don't cheer and/or boo and get me in trouble.

Many bands choose not to compete. They choose to perform a less involved and simpler show at only the Newsday festival and their home games. We, the “Roslyn Marching Bulldogs” compete. We are better for it and will accomplish great things by being a competitive band. Short and long term goals are an important part of life and through this great activity, we will “shoot for the stars.”

Our scores have risen and we have been beating more and more bands each year at the dome. And at the dome “ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.” When we received 2nd out of 12 we were ranked dead last all season in the competitions. The dome brings in the best judges and doubles the slate to minimize the impact one judge can have. Judges from outside our area are more likely to make the call and lead the local judges to do the right thing when we are at the dome.

And now a paragraph about all the band shifts this season. We are in Small School 2, which is a higher class than Small School 3 or Large School 3. We get an automatic bump up for being in that class, or at least that’s what should happen. The Field Band Conference did a spreadsheet of average scores over the past 5 years and adjusted, moving some bands into our class and some bands up a class. Mineola got moved up to Small School 1 and Malverne got moved to Small School 2, our class. Copiague moved out of the National Class and are competing in Large School 2 which is why Mineola, in Small School 1 will be performing last in the local shows, unless there is a National Class Band there which is the most prestigious class. We usually go on later in the local shows because of our more prestigious Small School 2 class. We go on after all Small School 3 and Large School 3 bands, which is most of the bands who compete on Long Island.

The order within classes is done by a draw upstate. This year, for instance, we are going after Malverne at the Mineola, Brentwood and Phoenix Shows. Phoenix is going on after us at their show but before Copiague and Brentwood, which pretty much means that they are competing. Some bands compete in their home show. If they are scheduled with their class they compete. If they are at the end, then they are just doing an exhibition. We drew a great spot at the dome, which is why we are checking out in the morning on October 30th. We are towards the end of the class with just Corning East and Johnson City after us, both new bands which were moved to our class.

You need to be competetive but remember, this is totally subjective, like figure skating. People who are sports people and are new to our idiom may have some trouble with this. You may see our band, hear the score and wonder what happened. Yes, the judges TOTALLY make the call, in fact, they decide everything, total subjectivity.

Remember, we are great, look at how far we have come and everybody in the Marching Band community, judges, other band directors, audiences, and the public fully knows Roslyn as a “powerhouse” marching band. We are proud as ever and I as director feel truly privileged to run such a great group of kids and great parents. We had parents who bring out our equipment, parents running band camp, and the largest contingent of spectators go to the dome from Roslyn each year. Our parents even cheer for our neighbor competitor when they win the class over us! We are the greatest people anywhere! Total team players. The kids are perfect! They give up part of themselves for the team every single day! Hard working, fun, smart, bubbly, and love band! What more could I ask as a director? A fair read from the judges? YES, I want it all! I want our kids to get the score they deserve! I am very positive, a “glass half full” kind of guy! It will happen, at some point, and you will know when my post simply says “YES, HERE WE GO.” It may be this year, next year, or 10 years from now, but it will happen. It is inevitable. We are on the right track!

Syracuse Trip Return Time

2011-09-08T12:00:00.000-04:00

Please note - Due to our performance time of 11am, we will be checking out of the hotel on Sunday, October 30th in thevearly morning, leaving after awards to stop at the Carousel Mall for lunch, then driving home to arrive at Roslyn between 7 and 8pm that night.

Attendance and the impact on missing anything on our schedule

2011-09-05T20:42:00.000-04:00

This week I have had number of last minute absence notifications from events and/or rehearsals, more than in the past 4 years combined. Perhaps people are thinking that my more relaxed approach to Marching Band equals a more relaxed approach to our attendance policy. This could not be further from the truth. I am relaxing the Marching Band rehearsals and camp to make it more fun and to make it a better experience for all. As always with our marching band, there are severe ramifications to missing anything on our schedule. In a band like ours, attendance is just about 100%. Please fully realize that missing any event or rehearsal - anything on this band schedule - will just about guarantee you not receiving any leadership position in the marching band. People with one or more misses over their years in the band aren't even considered for these positions. Any band members who are excused told me within a few days of the schedule going up in March that they had a major attendance problem and I worked the program around them and excused them or told them not to be in the band. Major family issues are pretty cut and dry as to what we consider an excusable absence. Weddings, Bar mitzvahs and Bat mitvahs, Communions, Baptisms (all of immediate family members) are usually told to me right after the schedule goes up since these are set up years in advance. Obviously, deaths in the family are excusable. Concert tickets, other concerts, tickets to sporting events, SAT prep classes, studying, etc are considered unexcused absences. If you miss a rehearsal for any of these you will be pretty much out of the band if you come 5 minutes late to anything else that year. This is like being in an RCP or Spotlight show. It is your job to stay healthy, get plenty of sleep, and be there for everything on the schedule. People are depending upon you. It is also your job to do your academic work around our one weekly rehearsal each week. Anyone who is in this band already knows this. We have band members who work family events around our schedule. We have about 20 people who are not in the band because they were unable to come to one of our events. This is a very special group where every single person has a very important position. We only have 11 events and need every person at every one. Here is it directly from our band booklet.

Marching Band Rehearsal Attendance

During the fall season, rehearsals are held on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 9:00 pm, and on competition days for an hour or two prior to leaving for the competitions. Attendance at rehearsals and performances is MANDATORY. Students who have a conflict with any rehearsal MUST SUBMIT a parental note at least TWO WEEKS in advance. Students with ONE ABSENCE will be given a WARNING from the band director. Any additional absences will result in removal from the Marching Band.

Marching Band Competition Attendance

Band members must attend all competitions and shows. As in a school musical, each position is crucial to the success of the entire unit. The show is custom written for the exact number of people in the band, and even one hole effects each member’s drill, which must be modified at the competition, which is not acceptable. Anyone who has a conflict with one of the shows may not be a part of the marching band. In a competitive marching band, every person has a leading role.

Band Camp Blog 1

2011-08-17T09:20:00.002-04:00

Day three of band camp. I allotted some time to write a blog today. I can now give you my impressions of the new camp. It is great! The cabins are clean and well kept, the grounds are manicured and everything is close. The bugs are at a minimum. The walk from the cabin to the field and rehearsal areas is a matter of a few minutes. The parents have been great as usual. We had some great activities, steal the bacon the first night and crazy hats last night. We moved the curfew to 12 midnight this year and it is working out great. The kids all made it to breakfast and were perky! We do a lights out right away at 12.

We adjusted the schedule yesterday to try something different. We loaded up the night rehearsal and are now giving a larger break in the afternoon. This is a rehearsal schedule that a band director in the midwest told me works great. We tried it yesterday and the kids are responding great. We got through all rehearsals with no fatigue. Water breaks every hour to refresh.

7:30 - Wake Up
8:00 - Breakfast
9:00 to 11:30 - Rehearsal
12 noon - Lunch
1:00 to 3:30 - Rehearsal
3:30 - Pie Mafia activity
3:45 - Afternoon snack provided by Camp Taconic
4:00 to 6:00 - Pool time, break, shower, relax, do homework
6:00 - Dinner
7:00 to 9:00 - Rehearsal
9:15 - Ice Cream Snack provided by Camp Taconic
9:45 to 10:45 - Night Activity run by "Band Fans" parents group
10:45 to 12 midnight - Free time
12 midnight - curfew, lights out soon to follow

7 hours of rehearsing, breaks throughout all rehearsals.

This worked out great. The kids now have more time to go to the pool, shower, and change before dinner, while keeping out of the hot sun in the middle of the day.

We have some pressure to learn the drill due to the rain the first one and a half days. We are in no way passing that pressure onto the kids. The staff will figure out what we need to do as the week progresses to finish the drill with the primary goal being to keep the kids happy and loving band. We will be sticking to this schedule from today through Saturday and using Sunday exclusively as a run through day, running through the entire show. The kids have learned all of the music and we will be working outdoors all day today in an attempt to catch up on the drill.

The last day of camp and our rehearsal hours

2011-08-14T07:01:00.000-04:00

Many parents have asked me if we can all leave after breakfast the last day of camp. I feel that I need to explain why the 7 day camp is crucial and why we have to stay the entire final day to rehearse. We all need to see the big picture here. We are a competitive band that must be at a certain level when we take the field in competition. I will explain.

Just about every band we compete against rehearses 3 times as much as us. They work all summer, two to three times a week, and put in around 200 to 300 hours. We compete against them with a rehearsal schedule of 40 hours during the season and about 40 at camp, about 80 total hours. To drive this point home, bands that we compete against do basics for 80 hours. Considering the academic nature of our school we must keep these rehearsal hours down to minimize stress on the students. We can compete, consistently scoring in the middle the prestigious Small School 2 class, due to our maximizing rehearsal time, high level of concentration, and incredible planning prior to rehearsals. Most bands show up to rehearsals and wing it, wasting the kids time.

For any band, every hour at camp is worth 3 hours at home. The concentration level is higher, there are less distractions, and by rehearsing at camp we are getting more done because we are reinforcing our show every day, during three separate sessions. Cutting out 4 or 5 hours of rehearsing on any day at camp equals six night rehearsals (15 hours) during the season. That last day is like adding a second night of rehearsals for six weeks. Although I realize that there will be traffic on Sunday night, that it would be so much more convenient to go home early on Sunday after breakfast, I must ask you to see the big picture here. Would you rather have them rehearse that last day, or add Thursday night rehearsals during the season. Cutting the rehearsal hours will have a major impact on our season. In addition, the last day has to be a "band day" which is why I took out the relay. I feel that doing activities the last day makes if a "fluff" day and lowers the concentration level of the kids, when they should be reinforcing all that they learned during the week. We need that time. We are at camp to learn the drill, learn the music, and reinforce running through the show over and over again so that we remember it two weeks later. I truly believe that our kids have "fun" playing and doing the show. That's why they are in band. Although the activities are also "fun" and help with bonding, too much emphasis on them takes away from the real goal of band camp, to learn the show. Please realize that the really important "fun" is performing, making music, and doing these great shows. This is why I am slightly adjusting the band camp activities as well. We need to get as much practice time in as possible, and still let the kids have enough free time to relax, take a nap, do some homework, or even practice their instruments by themselves to reinforce some of their music in the show.

Band Camp 2011 Format

2011-06-17T17:46:00.000-04:00

Band Camp Parent Volunteer Explanation

My Opening Remarks

When we started Band Camp for Roslyn High School, I asked Susan and Jed Schlacter and Bruce Goldman to work with me in organizing an away camp. The school district budget did not have funding for a week of chaperones, so we enlisted parent volunteers to serve in that capacity. Susan, Jed and Bruce ran the parent part of the camp in its entirety. Although I had run about 20 camps prior to joining Roslyn, they took on that part of the responsibility and were so successful at it that I was freed up to really focus on running rehearsals with the kids.

The Schlacters and Bruce have done an incredible service, creating a culture which is ingrained in anyone who has been to band camp with us. Our Band Camp is special – combining learning with team building; during this educational, social, and fun week, we all bond and truly become a tight knit family (BOTH student band members AND parents.)

As much as we did not want to admit it, we knew that the Schlacters would be moving on at some point. Both of their children were former Marching Bulldogs for four + years, but their younger child is already a junior in college! Susan, Jed and I have agreed to use my backup plan this year – they will advise our parents in Roslyn, before camp, who wish to take on more responsibility. Knowing that people might be reluctant to take over this first year, I will run the entire camp - both the music and the team building aspects as I did the 20 years prior to coming to Roslyn.

We are in a good position: the culture and expectations are set. Because the routines are established, new parents can step in easily and be a tremendous help to the students. We will gain advantages from my 30 years of collected experience (I directed my first Band Camp in 1984); I will take the excellent culture we currently enjoy and hone/modify this year’s camp to make it a better experience for all.

Two major modifications that I made this year are to select a new camp, Camp Taconic, and to create a new contract that puts more responsibility on the camp staff rather than the parents (specifically supplying needed refreshment to our students twice a day). By shifting the snacks and water responsibilities to the Taconic Staff, I have reduced the need for all the parents to stay at the camp the entire day. The location of Camp Taconic, in the Berkshires, is a wonderful locale for day trips, shopping, and the arts; there will be occasions, on a rotating basis, for parents to go into the surrounding areas during the day or evening to enjoy the area. We still need parents to help run and judge the afternoon and evening activities (and to participate in “Pie Mafia”), and we encourage the parents to watch the progress of our kids through the course of the week, but the required “on call” time should be less than in the past. I am also flexible with parents coming just before bedtime to take on a bunk, especially if they have been chaperones with us before.

Meetings and Planning

I have also built the band schedule to allow me the time to take on a greater role with the parents. Our band schedule starts out with basics, which Mr. Downey and Ms. Miller will be running, while the parents and I meet each morning after breakfast to discuss open items and plan out the day’s activities. I will also have the opportunity after dinner, about 7 p.m., for a recap/touch base with everyone.

I am establishing a structure in which the ”Parent-Director of the Day” will be the "go-to" person, answering questions and being in charge between those two meetings and at night, so that I can fully devote the balance of my attention to running rehearsals with the band.

Bunk Chaperone

One parent is needed in each bunk each night from 11pm through wake up at 7:30am. The bunk chaperone’s job is to be a pair of eyes in the room, an adult to help watch over them in case there is an emergency. Bunk chaperones are not to be disciplinarians or the generals of your platoon. The process is simple. If there are any problems in the girls bunks, the chaperone notifies Ms. Miller; boys’ chaperones will notify me. Ms. Miller and I can rectify any issues in a few minutes. Our kids are great, so bunk chaperoning is a piece of cake. Before signing up for a slot you can look to see who is in that room; the bunk list is listed below. In the past, if parents asked to be in the bunk with their own children, we tried to accommodate that request, and we will try to do so again. However, depending on which parents volunteer to be chaperones this summer, I cannot at this time commit that every parent will be in a bunk with his/her own child.

Extra Female or Male Chaperone at Camp

These are chaperones who are at camp, and will double up in two of the bunks. They are there in case we have an unsupervised bunk due to one of our bunk chaperones being suddenly called away on a personal issue (a child needs to go to the infirmary, for example).

Afternoon and Night Activity, and Pie Mafia

These parents will run the afternoon activities, the Pie Mafia for the day, and the night activities, as listed. Once again, since these activities are already established; it is pretty simple to coordinate. If you enjoy leading students and have done this before, it would be a perfect place for you to join in. Other parents, who are also Bunk Chaperones on those nights, will be there to help you. On the last night, I need a parent to help run the Senior Ceremony, which is a huge part of our Band Camp.

Parent Director of the Day

This is a parent who has done at least two band camps with us, has a rapport with me, and can be in charge for the day, an overseer of the parents. Do not feel intimidated - if you have previously volunteered as one of our band camp chaperones, you are well qualified to take on this role! As I stated, the camp staff is providing all snacks and water during the day, and a night snack of ice cream each night. This Parent Director would help to organize/coordinate the afternoon and night activities and the Pie Mafia, and any other little things we decide on each day. This parent must also be a Bunk Chaperone on the nights for which he/she signs up.

Please sign up

In the coming weeks, Susan and Jed plan to meet with the parent volunteers to review the afternoon and night activities, the Pie Mafia, explaining how these activities have been run in the past. I would like the parents to sign up as soon as possible, so that we can organize these informal meetings and be fully prepared for a great band camp. I will be updating the schedule daily, so you can look right here to see who is on it.

We need you! We want you! And we are sure that this will be an incredibly rewarding and satisfying experience for the parent volunteers! Thank you for helping to make this such a memorable experience for your kids.

Rehearsal Cancelled

2011-06-01T16:24:00.001-04:00

Due to the weather forecast for the evening, the rehearsal tonight, June 1st, is cancelled.

Possible Show Change during 2011 Season

2011-05-25T17:33:00.000-04:00

I just received an invitation from Randy Knudson, the band director at Manhasset High School to compete in their competition. I am contemplating doing this competition on Saturday, October 15th instead of the Huntington Show on Sunday, October 16th. The Huntington Show is on our schedule. Manhasset has a marching band that competes in the USSBA conference. USSBA allows new bands in their conference to compete in one show for free, without having to join the conference.

The benefit of going to the Manhasset show is that we get another set of judges to see us, it is closer to Roslyn, we are exposing ourselves to a new audience, and it is a night show, which are more fun to do.

In terms of the NYSFBC (the conference we compete in), we still have 3 shows, Brentwood, Mineola, and Phoenix which is the required number of shows to compete at the Carrier Dome so that would not be a problem.

Many bands compete in two conferences. Manhasset runs a great show and it might be time for us to compete since the date works out great for us.

Let me know if there are any conflicts with the date change, if you would like to make the change or stick with the Huntington Show.

Disney Trip Deadline is Monday

2011-05-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

Right now I have 28 people who have brought in deposits and are definitely going on next year's February Disney Trip. I need 60 by Monday or the trip will not happen. If you are on the list on the Website with a question mark next to your name please let us know your status. If you do not bring in a check to Mr. Gazzo or myself by Monday we will take you off the list. Please get the word out!

Student Leaders List Up Tomorrow

2011-04-28T18:48:00.001-04:00

The student leaders for 2011 will be posted tomorrow. All people on the top 20 service point list will be receiving positions. This is really the top 28 if you put the 8 seniors back in. So if you were in the top 20% of the service point earners for the 2010 marching band season, you definitely have a position (we had 100 in the band last year). The service points are a significant part of this process now.

While most band members get to rehearsals right on time, and leave right after the rehearsal, approximately a quarter of the band comes early, stays late, and spends many hours helping out whenever they can. These top 20 people have ALL gotten positions.

If you didn't get a position, you didn't get into the top 20 percentage of the service point earners which means you didn't do enough extra things while others did. Translated, you did not come early, stay late, or volunteer doing extra things enough to break into that top group, which would have secured you a position on the leadership team.

This was clearly stated at Band Camp last year and the point and attendance sheet was updated after every single event and rehearsal. It is always on roslynband.com.

Next Year's Schedule is Finalized - Our Attendance Rules

2011-04-02T07:17:00.002-04:00

As of March 30th, we finalized our 2011 Marching Band Schedule. Please realize that all rehearsals from Band Camp on are absolutely mandatory to be in the Roslyn Marching Band. Due to the academic nature of our high school, our entire schedule is one third to one fourth the amount of practice hours of all our competitors. Check their websites and you will see. We can be competitive due to the fact that we have 100% attendance, rehearse efficiently, and focus incredibly well at each and every rehearsal and event. We also do about half of the shows other bands due. We leave several weekends open for college visitations while our competition goes every single weekend. It works for us but you must understand, for this reason, we need everyone at everything on the schedule. All information, forms, directions, the band camp packet, absolutely everything, is on the roslynband.com website. As always, if you have any questions just e-mail me.

Now on to the schedule. Band Camp will be Monday, August 15th through Sunday, August 22nd at our new Camp Taconic. Our first performance will be at the home game on Saturday, September 10th. We will be doing one more show this year, the Brentwood Show on Sunday, September 18th, the "Friday Night Lights" Soccer game, which is the only date we do not know yet, and the Homecoming on Saturday, October 1st. Since the Homecoming is on the same day as SAT's it will be in the late afternoon, with the Parade and game scheduled so that it does not conflict with the tests. There is a home game on October 6th, a Thursday afternoon, due to the holiday being that weekend. Our regular Columbus Day weekend is off with nothing scheduled, the Huntington Show is on Sunday, October 16th, Newsday on Thursday, October 20th, the Mineola Show on October 22nd and the Phoenix and Championship on the 29th and 30th of October as we always do. We will be staying for the finals this year and coming home on Monday, October 31st by 2pm. Remember, with our marching band having so few rehearsals and so few shows, attendance is mandatory for every single day on the schedule. Any absences will result in immediate removal from the group. Our show is a "Broadway type show" designed for every single person in the group! I start writing the drill after July 5th, so anyone can be added or get a full refund for marching band through that date. If you have any questions just e-mail me. The schedule can be downloaded by hitting the schedule link on the roslynband.com website.

Big Changes in the Field Band Classes!

2011-03-30T13:15:00.000-04:00

Wow, there was a reclassification of the bands in the New York State Field Band Conference this week. Click this link to view http://patpat15.com/2011nysfbcclasses. They moved Leroy, Mohonassen, and Mineola up a class to Small School 1, which leaves us to be top ranked in our class. In addition, they moved the three bottom bands in SS1 down to our class, Johnson City, Corning East, and Jordan Elbridge. This is really good news for us because it pretty much means that everything will be more open. Copiague is now out of National and in LS2, Huntington has been moved down to LS3 and a whole bunch of other bands have been moved around. Malverne has been moved into our class SS2 due to their win last year in SS3. We will still be on in the middle to late part of the Long Island Shows, with only Mineola, Huntington, Brentwood and Copiague in higher classes than us while the other 6 bands are in the lower class LS3. This will be an exciting year!

Trip On!

2011-03-08T13:57:00.001-05:00

We have reached a total of 55 people who say they will go on a trip to Disney next February! Traditionally, when we have had 50 commit verbally, we hit about 65 to 70 band members actually taking part in the trip. We will be departing Roslyn on Friday, February 17, 2012 at around 6pm and arriving back to Roslyn on Friday, February 24, 2011. We will be performing in two parades, have a dinner at Epcot for all parents and students one night (to be determined) and visit each of the Disney and Universal Parks during the week. This trip will cost around $1300 and will include food money each day. Remember, at this time it still needs to be approved by the Roslyn Board of Education. I will be proposing the trip to the school board within the next month or so. Due to the economy, I am proposing this trip very early so that families may get the best prices if they want to meet us down there. It is also easier to plan ahead and save money for the trip. Remember, all students must ride the busses down to Florida and back to be a part of this trip. More information to follow.

We're Almost There!

2011-03-07T06:52:00.002-05:00

We are now up to 45 people going on the Florida Trip to Disney next February break. If we get 5 more people I am going to go ahead and propose the trip!

Bowlathon a Huge Success!

2011-03-05T11:56:00.003-05:00

The bowlathon last night was a huge success! We had over 80 people attend, it was a great time, and a successfull fundraiser! Thanks to Claudia Wolfson, Sherri Marx-Eisenstadt, Linda Woods, and Nancy Goldman for running this incredible event. A special thank you to Terri Kurtz for getting our amazing donations of the ipad, nook, etc, and for so many pre-sales of our incredible raffle! It was a great event!

Disney Trip Update, Extending Deadline

2011-03-03T08:54:00.000-05:00

We need another 22 people to go on the Disney Trip next year. I am extending the deadline to Monday, March 7th to make the final decision. In all likelyhood, this trip will not happen in 2012. Right now we have 28 people who e-mailed me that they will go on the trip. I need at least 50 to do the trip. I will not bring a band to disney unless we have at least half of the band going. Please e-mail me if you plan on attending. If you do not e-mail me, I will assume that you are busy and not interested in taking part in this trip next year. In that event we will skip a year and try to do a trip during 2013.

Disney 2012 Update 2

2011-02-16T10:23:00.001-05:00

We now have 26 people out of 76 listed in the band who want to go on a trip to Disney next year. Understandably, it looks like the current economic conditions are impacting everyone and we will most likely have to skip a year. I am keeping the decision to be made on March 1st, so please, if you are planning on going on a trip next year with the marching band, e-mail me asap!

Disney 2012 Update 1

2011-02-13T23:15:00.001-05:00

After receiving only 17 positive responses from people interested in going on a trip to Disney next year, we will most likely be skipping a year and/or rethinking this Spring trip strategy for our program.
Due to the economy, the costs involved in band camp and Syracuse, along with family plans, we will probably be going with the every other year trips and doing the odd numbered years. Even this past trip included only 68% of our 100 piece band. Perhaps there is just not enough interest in these Spring trips with our Marching Band. Many people are hurting with this economy and as a band director I must be sensitive to this.

I will still make the final decision around March 1st, so if you are interested in going please e-mail me before that date. In addition, if you know of any new members or incoming 9th grade definites who want to do the trip, tell them to e-mail me.

I need to hit participation by 80% of the marching band in order to go forward. Right now, with 17 people out of 75 (I am not even including the incoming 8th graders or any new members) I am at 23% interest.

Should we do a trip to Disney in 2012?

2011-02-07T17:23:00.003-05:00

I am thinking ahead in regards to a trip to Disneyworld next year. We would go during the winter break from Friday, February 17 through Friday, February 24. The cost would be about $1300. Due to the economy, I am determining if we should move towards an every other year trip plan. Membership in the Marching Band is very expensive, and I want to be sensitive to the needs of the band members and their families. Theprojected annual costs are $615 for band camp, approximately $200 for the Syracuse trip, and roughly$1300 for the spring trip which totals about $ 2115.

By proposing the trip earlier, next month, we would be able to plan more carefully and recruit more band members earlier. In addition, if we do not get enough interest, we could skip a year and do a trip on the odd numbered years, 2013, 2015, etc.

Please send me an e-mail if your son or daughter would attend a Disney trip next February if it were to happen. This is not a firm commitment, and all information will be confidential. I am only using it to determine if a trip is viable for the 2012 year.

I will be accepting these e-mails up until March 1st and will then make a determination if a February 2012 trip is possible.

Also, if you know of any incoming 8th graders or people who will be joining the band, they may e-mail me as well so get the word out!

The Letter

2011-01-07T15:35:00.000-05:00

Doing these trips is a daunting task for band directors. It is an all consuming, tremendous responsibility that takes hours away from family time during the planning stages and typically falls during the holiday season when families are gathering together.

These are optional trips, not part of the competitive season schedule or the curriculum. They are “extras.” Directors joke: extra work, extra headaches, and extra sleep deprivation! The chaperone pay during the few days of the trip is also an extra, but no band directors who do this ever calculate the actual hourly rate based on the entire trip process, better we don’t know.

So here I am, planning on pulling next year’s trip off the table, an easy decision with the bad economy and knowing the expenses associated with being in this band to begin with. I was thinking we could simply skip a year or maybe a few years until my youngest children (2 and 4) are in full time school, or old enough to go on the trip. It is very hard for me to cut the holidays short or leave them during a break, which is why most band directors either choose not to do these big trips or have their families accompany them With 120 family members going to Florida to be a part of this trip, it is obvious that being with our families during the break is a priority for all of us. Last year at Disneyworld, we had huge numbers as well. Remember that big dinner show at Epcot! It is clearly no wonder that I am torn between my immediate family and my extended band family. And then I receive this incredible letter from Joe Capozzi, one of our chaperones at the Orange Bowl. It reminded me why we do all this. No person on the earth could have worded it any better. Please read on.

5 January 2011

Dear Mr. Patterson:

I want to thank you for including me and congratulate you on an incredibly successful trip.
The experience you provided for your band members far exceeds the fanfare of standing on a field before 80,000 fans and millions more on TV. The memories they will hold forever transcend perfected notes, synchronic steps, and undulating candles. It is the pride, the camaraderie, the esprit de corps, the teamwork, the mutual support, the work, the blood, the sweat, the tears, and the laughter they shared that will so profoundly impact each of them the rest of their lives.

I knew a few of your members prior to the trip from class. It was a pleasure to view them in a different venue as well as to get to know more of the members. To see these 68 students of varying ages, abilities, and experience blend, meld, sync, and bond was the most heart-warming aspect of the trip. To see students who are perhaps not the biggest stars in a Roslyn classroom shine in the Florida sun was a great reminder of why we do what we do, why we teach.

It is not the lessons of the classroom, but the lessons of life that are our most valuable gifts to our students. And through your (and your co-workers) efforts, your consideration, your attention to detail, your support, your encouragement—and likewise admonishment when necessary—your tireless and sleep-deprived dedication to your members, you have provided numerous and significant gifts that will last all of your very fortunate members a lifetime.

As a parent, our children become the barometer for all of life, and I can think of no higher praise to proffer than the thought that I wish my own children could experience a similarly nurturing experience. It takes a Herculean effort to plan and implement this type of undertaking. I applaud your efforts and dedication. To do what you do and have your students walk away with the positive experience they do is beyond commendable—it is almost incomprehensible, especially considering 50+ hours of bus rides!

Congratulations and thank you again for including me.

Sincerely,
Joe Capozzi

Running Late

2011-01-04T15:33:00.001-05:00

Some logistical things were sprung onto me during this trip. Due to the hotel cutting out drivers out of their rooms, the drivers had to wait to go through red tape with BGA to get their rooms back, rooms we already paid for (after they took a taxi back from the hotel to sleep). This cut us back about an hour or so. In addition, we have had some problems finding places to eat on the way home, we stopped at a bunch of areas which resulted in longer rest stops both ways. With finding food areas, since the kids do need to eat, and that has to be a priority, we are running late.

The good news, they will be well rested!

We instituted a “mandatory sleep time” on the busses from 12:30 to 8 am in which all the kids slept very well. They are continuing to sleep, at any given time half the band is sleeping. We will try to squeeze in another 5 to 6 hours of sleep time for them so that we are all in good shape to go to school tomorrow.

Parade Crash Course and Info about today's parade

2011-01-02T10:37:00.001-05:00

First of all, from Claudia, and thanks to her for getting information about the parade

Hi All,

I know that everyone is concerned about where to go tomorrow for the parade. After much “googling” I’m suggesting meeting on the south side of Miracle Mile at Ponce De Leon Blvd, which is where the Band will turn to go west on Miracle Mile. From that side of the street we should be able to see the Band come down the street facing directly at us. If anyone has a better suggestion, please let me know and I will email everyone.

It is approximately 43 minutes from the Hyatt to Miracle Mile. For those of you staying at the Hyatt, I’m suggesting that parents meet in the lobby at 12:45 to be at the parade route by 2:00PM. Also parents can carpool if possible, since we have heard that parking can be difficult.

Please know that this only “my” recommendation. Unfortunately, we haven’t been given very much information about the parade. See you tomorrow. It should be a great day.

Claudia

Now my blog on this and other parades,

As you know, I usually give out all information about every aspect of every venue and event we are involved with. You have nothing at all about today’s parade. You have exactly the same information as I do. Parades are fickle, unorganized, and it is amazing that any of them even get down the street.
From the Columbus Day Parade in New York, to every single parade I have ever been involved with, they all excel in one area accross the board. Total chaos. This parade seems to be no different. The directors and parade committees change yearly and are competitive with each year in how each year’s parade goes so no information is usually passed down to help things run smoother. I have received three different spots to go to with the band, communications from the parade committee demanding that we report to all three spots three hours ahead of time, with the busses not allowed to stay and us not allowed to warm up. Of course this is the way they all do it. Any band director knows this. They also sent an old fashioned waiver to me weeks after the deadline which they needed immediately, remember? I had to have every single parent sign one and get it to them in one day.
Don’t expect anything today from the parade. The Hyatt parents will be meeting in the lobby at 12:45.

Please go to the spot Claudia has chosen, I will tweet out as much information as I can as the day proceeds so you know what is going on. We will be doing a 2 minute stand still of our show closer, wherever the judges booth is, once again I have no idea. I would go to Claudia’s spot to watch the show, you will get to see the band for a longer period of time from the approach through the pass by. If the parade stops alot (it probably will) we will perform our stand still 2 minute show near there as well. It might be possible to walk from there to the end of the parade, it may not, I have no idea how crowded it will be there.

Once again, I will tweet out everything on our twitter.

For the Orange Bowl Trip – All updates from this point on will be on our twitter site!

2010-12-30T08:35:00.000-05:00

During the trips I use twitter for all updates, itinerary changes and trip information. You can get these texted to your cell or simply check our twitter site from any computer or cell phone browser throughout the Orange Bowl Trip.

For directions on how to do the texts see the Twitter Instructions page on the side of this webpage.

2010-12-23T20:42:00.001-05:00

December 23, 2010
Here are some solutions to the log on problem with the Orange Bowl site submitted to me by Marisa Kurtz and Bilal Ahmed. Thanks!

Dear Mr. Patterson, 

I was testing out different things to do on the website to try and got on and I finally figured it out. First, I went on the band website and clicked on the course credit link for orange bowl link (the first one). Then, I clicked on Parents, Students and Adults to join my trip. Once you click that you choose that you are a student and you have not registered yet for travel program. Then you fill in the Trip ID that is 55223 and the other information that it requires. You click on JOIN MY TRIP on the bottom and it signs you on.

I checked to make sure that this was the right trip and it had all of our school information on it so I think this is the right way to do it. Let me know if this works!

-Marisa Kurtz

Hey Mr. Patterson,

To log on to the website to sign up for the credits. Once you click on the link on the band website you click on the box that says parents, students and adults. From there you must select student on step one in order to receive credit. On step 2 say you are registered to travel then on step 3 fill in all the boxes. The trip ID is what is on your link and the travelers ID was emailed to everyone after we registered the first time. You will create your own user name and follow the rest of the steps. After you submit this info, it will tell you to log in with the log in you have just created. Once you’ve logged in it should give you the information. If you are unable to log on once try again I had to do it twice before it worked. Then you are logged in. After you are logged in click on the top right box that says earn high school credit. 3 courses come up and select the ones you want to register for.

The woman my mom spoke to suggested not registering for the courses until after the trip because she said that the students would have to answer questions depending on what they register for that we can only answer after the trip. Again, this is according the a woman my mom spoke to.

Hope this helped.
-Bilal

Band Camp Update - Camp Taconic

2010-12-09T17:28:00.000-05:00

After a long search over the past 3 months we have reached a decision. Camp Taconic in the Berkshires is the new camp we have chosen to go to. The price for camp will still be $615. The dates are August 15th through August 21st. A special thanks to Saul Waxman, Jed Schlacter, and Jim Downey as well as many other parents for helping me with the search. I will be proposing the band camp for approval by our Board of Education at the January 20th BOE meeting. Please remember, this is all subject to BOE approval.

Camp Taconic is state of the art, incredibly clean and new everywhere — great facilities for outdoor and indoor rain practices, delicious meal selections, wifi and full cell service for all carriers. The Berkshires are traditionally cooler than upstate New York, the mountains offer a scenic background to the beautiful lake that surrounds three sides of the camp. The price will be the same and all amenities will be what we are used to and MORE! The Berkshires offer a lot for our parents to see as well. Tanglewood, arts centers, museums, restaurants, shopping, and many of the nicest tourist areas in the country will make some great day trips for parents who are helping us to chaperone. Taconic will be taking care of the afternoon fruit snacks and all water so parent chaperones can avail themselves of some time to explore the area during the day. Travel is a bit longer, about 3 hours away from home however, there are multiple ways of getting home from there. We will have a variety of routes in order to avoid the traffic snarls that we experienced in past years. You only have to cross over one bridge to get back to Long Island. Overall this is a great choice for us. Just look at the two links below and you will see for yourself.

Check out Camp Taconic
Hit link below for the Camp Taconic Map. There are slides of each area, just click around the map.

http://www.camptaconic.com/Content/VirtualMap/VirtualMap.asp

Hit link below for the Camp Taconic video. It is their camp promotional video which shows just about all of the areas of the camp.
http://www.camptaconic.com/Content/Staff/Staff.asp?Link=Video

Band Camp 2011

2010-12-08T19:01:00.000-05:00

Our band has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 7 years. With that in mind, I have decided to take our band in another direction with our band camp venue.

For the past three months Saul Waxman, Jed Schlacter, Jim Downey, and myself have been looking for camps. I made two trips to three camps who have our dates available and we are now about to finalize our plans. In a few days, this Friday or Saturday, I will post a full update on where we plan on having band camp in 2011.

I will also be deciding on next year’s trip, either the Outback Bowl or a Disneyworld Trip. We will probably vote on it to see if there is enough interest.

Orange Bowl Plans Unveiled

2010-12-06T18:05:00.000-05:00

Hot off the press! Ok, here we go! I have just received all the instructions from the Orange Bowl about the game, exactly what and when we are performing. This is very exciting. The Orange Bowl started this tradition of having a major artist perform at their game, many years before the Super Bowl copied their format which is now famous. Being a part of this game is a true honor, it is a top Bowl Game and we will be nationally televised. They could not formalize any of this until the teams were decided, which took place last night. The two teams are Stanford and Virginia Tech.

First let’s start with the parade on Sunday, January 2nd. This is the Junior Orange Bowl Parade, the official parade, which replaced the Miami Orange Bowl Parade which was stopped after 9/11. This is a huge parade in the town of Coral Gables and is part of the Orange Bowl Festivities.
For the Jr. Orange Bowl Parade on Sunday we will do the two new parade tunes “On Broadway and “Rocky” with the drum majors in their drum major uniforms, the guard with flags and the dancers with the yellow streamers. All the band members will play instruments with the exception of Keith Shapiro and Lindsay Wolfson who will hold the banner in front of the band. See what your assigned instruments are on the “Orange Bowl Info” page of the website. The captains will choreograph a simple routine and we will learn them during the three rehearsals before the trip (Wednesday December 15th, Monday December 20, and Wednesday December 22, with uniform and instrument and uniform check-in for the trip that last night). All band members must check in their instruments and uniforms on that night, we will lock them all in the bandroom for the trip.

Now the Game on Monday night. For the Pre-Game, all band members from the two High School Bands will unfurl and hold a 50 yard wide American Flag for the National Anthem, this will most likely be nationally televised on ESPN. This is one of those huge flags. We will practice this very involved unfolding at the rehearsals in Miami as well.

Now onto the halftime extravaganza. When the half time starts, a DJ will call the two bands out and have us play the 2 minute fanfare to begin the festivities while the stage is being set up, we will then be doing an additional special effect after our fanfare to introduce the GooGoo Dolls. We will practice this at the two Massed Band Rehearsals as well.

We will then stay near the tunnel after our segment to watch the GooGoo Dolls show from the field level and then move back up into the stands to watch the second half of the game.

There will be no pit or drum majors in the half time show, I have assigned everyone to instruments. Guard and Dancers will have flags and will learn their routine together with the other guard at the Miami Massed Band Rehearsals. They will all do a flag routine with the band during the fanfare.
All music is up on the 2nd page of the website entitled “Orange Bowl Info.” There are music links to download your parts to practice as well as audio links to listen to the music. Please learn everything and learn the part you are assigned to.

Keep looking to this blog for more information and an update on band camp which I will post this Thursday or Friday.

New Service Point Rules - Why we started the service points

2010-11-27T23:08:00.000-05:00

This year I am getting barraged by calls and e-mails about people not getting their points. Last year, not one call. Michelle and I watch everything, write it down and that is how we do this. If we didn’t see it, then it is not getting points.

Also, if this is WHY you are helping out, please don’t.

The intent of the points is to reward people who are helping out, not to get more people to help out.
We always had those altruistic and hard working kids who never got noticed, now they are, through this simple point list. That is the ONLY reason I made it, so that those people get some recognition.
Last year I didn’t receive any e-mails about “you missed my points.” This year it is out of control. And most of these people are already in the top 20! So here is a new rule, if you e-mail me for more points, I will simply reply “please don’t help out if you are doing it for points. You should be helping out because you love the band and want to contribute to the program.”

A great band person told me last year “If I get some points, great, if I don’t, that’s great too, I just love that feeling of being a part of this and helping out.” That person is one of our leaders now!
In addition, part of life is for the important people to see you do that extra stuff, you need to build those skills as well. The officers you want to be seen by are the President, CEOs, Vice Presidents, and Managers. You should know who they are. Do not ask them about your points, just make sure one of those people, or I see you. In the workplace it is a major skill to get the credit for what you do in a passive and intelligent way. Yes, you could tell your boss “hey, did you see me do that” but it would probably be more effective to “just do it” and be seen doing the work in a modest, hard working fashion. I am the one who ultimately picks the officers and this is the kind of person I am looking for.
We need help at certain times. It is pretty obvious when those times are. The 9 of us are taking notes and watching at those exact times in those places. Those are the times that we need you and that’s where you will get noticed. And know what else? You should be an altruist and do it for no reward!
From this time on there will be no more point adjustments after the date. You should be doing this for the “love of program.” Points are only to give SOME recognition to those who work very hard to keep us going! If you are the type of person who won’t do it without points, don’t. We have plenty of people who will help just because they want to. Those are the kind of people that I am looking for to be our future leaders, hard working, band loving, altruists.

From the Best we go to the Largest!

2010-11-26T16:26:00.002-05:00

Yes, Newsday made the call. At the end of the third hour of their television telecast, they announced the phrase “from the best we go to the largest” to segue from us to Northport, the last band in this year’s tv show. They showed our closer along with Sam Hoffman being interviewed from the sideline after our show. Saving us for the end, along with making that statement surely shows that the Newsday and MSG people feel we were the best band. Our band is truly one of the top bands on the Island, you can see an hear it if you watch the entire show. Compare us to any bands the entire three nights and you will come to this conclusion as well.

I will be posting a pretty comprehensive few paragraphs about where we are going to band camp in the next few days. For vatious reasons which are pretty obvious, we are looking for a switch. I have been researching for weeks and will be posting my findings very soon.

Newsday Festival on TV today!

2010-11-25T11:04:00.001-05:00

Here is an important post which we should read again, now that we are about to be on TV with the Newsday Broadcast. Today Christie Wang, one of our colorguard captains, got major “air time” on National TV! This is amazing and we are all proud of her. In order to get air time the planets have to line up just right. With Christie, it was a home run. Hopefully today, we will get an interview or something extra on the Newsday show on TV. It will be shown all year long so let’s cross our fingers.
Here is the post I made in October. It is important that we all read through this before the upcoming weeks.

I need to preface this blog post with my personal story about learning about press coverage. Some of you know this story, some do not. If you’ve already heard it, please humor me. It describes me coming up the learning curve with all this press stuff almost 14 years ago when the yankees were IN the World Series.

October 26, 2006, I’ll never forget it. All 280 band members in the Mineola Band that day will never forget it. All of a sudden, the scores we were receiving all season, in the 90s, the highest scores on Long Island meant absolutely nothing. We were about to experience something that would change our lives forever. So there we were, at the pinnacle of fame, the band I had come to in 1990 was now going to the World Series, Game 6, the first time the Yankees were in the World Series in 18 years. Little did we know they would win that day and we would be there. It was incredible, breathtaking, uplifting and impossible to describe. We were playing at the game, we got 300 seats in the left field bleachers, and playing for 20 minutes before the game started. The news crews swarmed Mineola High School, like bees, they were everywhere! News 5 showed up at noon, ABC news at about 12:30, NBC and CBS, as well as News 12, all here within minutes with cameras all over the bandroom for 8th period band. Then, the New York Times reporter went to one kid, the one kid in the entire program that I would NEVER want interviewed. Like a magnet, this reporter gravitated to him, I have no idea how or why. He started asking him questions about the band, what it meant to him. The room was insane, wires, cameras, lights everywhere. There was absolutely nothing I could do, it was at the point of no return. He was talking, laughing, and smiling. I was having a heart attack, ignoring all the other things and trying to read his lips from across the room. It was at this time that I realized something a great band director had told me when I was in my early 20s, teaching at Hampton Bays Jr/Sr High School. You can never control the press, you can never get upset about the press, and you have to welcome the press, they are PR for your kids, your program, and bring excitement and enthusiasm to the entire community! You need to prepare your kids for the unpredictability and randomness of press coverage. They need to understand that this is part of being famous. They need to embrace the PR and not be upset if they don’t get the “air time.”

So now it is time for our band “press talk.” Every “dynasty in the making” band needs it, like so many other talks we have throughout our lives as we grow. Talks that prepare us for life. We are now hitting the “big time” and with the Orange Bowl approaching, I need to have this discussion with you.
With the press you never know how much air time you will get IF ANY. It is very fickle. You should NEVER expect it or you will surely be let down. 30 seconds is major, huge, and bands will go years without even that much. Some kids will be shown a lot, some will not be shown at all, it is just a simple reality. My friend’s band was at the Rose Bowl Parade about 15 years ago. Their band was going to be on all three networks. President Bush decided to talk at that time and completely covered up that band performing on ALL THREE NETWORKS. I couldn’t believe it, just really bad luck. And other weird things happened in our show on MSG, for instance, they showed some people over and over and missed other solos or decided to simply not show them. I don’t know if they will use that footage or different footage on the 3 hour show they will air on Thanksgiving weekend. Almost every band gets one tune featured, and some kids interviews will get on the air, but most won’t. They interviewed about 100 student band members and 36 band directors. Few will get on. Our show might get some more coverage because it is artistic, fun, and enjoyable, or they may show us for 1 minute, like they did many bands last year on the Marching Band TV show.

Please do not be upset if you didn’t get in the video, that is the way this works. If you did get some “air time” be thankful, you were lucky. As a whole, us being on TV helps us all no matter what. Be happy for the people who did get on and please stop texting Michelle about the drum major mishap. Obviously something went wrong. All three drum majors got a major shot on the video and that in itself is amazing.

With the Orange Bowl coming up as well as our fast growing fame, you need to totally be ready for anything with press coverage. Be prepared, don’t expect anything, and you may be pleasantly surprised. The Orange Bowl is covered Nationally, and with the Goo Goo Dolls doing the halftime show with us, it may be covered, it may not.

And as far as the MSG website video, you all look amazing, we sound and look great! I am so proud of all of you but most importantly, you should be totally proud of yourselves! We are truly one of the great bands!

The Train is Coming, Enjoy the Ride!

2010-09-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

As a director I am tremendously proud of how far the Marching Bulldogs have come in terms of their development. The students have worked so hard, from the first step at band camp through the night rehearsals and the competitions. As most of you know, I treat band as a leadership training, character development, and goal setting class in addition to the marching and music instruction.

Our marching band is making incredible strides each year, therefore we should be filled with pride at what the band is accomplishing. We are competing with bands that have been in competition for 30 or more years, with deep rooted traditions in the community and schools. Secondly, a goal of the program, which is to steadily improve and progress each year, is clearly being met and should be apparent to all. The band is bigger, the marching is cleaner, and the overall sound and colorguard is getting better each year.

Many bands choose not to compete. They choose to perform a less involved and simpler show at only the Newsday festival and their home games. We, the “Roslyn Marching Bulldogs” compete. We are better for it and will accomplish great things by being a competitive band. Short and long term goals are an important part of life and through this great activity, we will “shoot for the stars.”

Our scores have risen and we have been beating more and more bands each year at the dome. And at the dome “ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.” When we received 2nd out of 12 we were ranked dead last all season in the competitions. The dome brings in the best judges and doubles the slate to minimize the impact one judge can have. Judges from outside our area are more likely to make the call and lead the local judges to do the right thing when we are at the dome.

What I am telling you here is that this judging arena, like life, means that you have to pay your dues. We have to change our culture where many of our kids aren’t playing the music on the field (all bands that come in 3rd through last have this problem). We have to have our guard perfect, and we have to march great. We also have to pay our dues. Building a culture and paying our dues takes time, a tedious and sometimes upsetting process which can take not weeks or months, but years.

Remember, we are great, look at how far we have come and everybody in the Marching Band community, judges, other band directors, audiences, and the public fully knows Roslyn as an “up and coming powerhouse.” We are proud as ever and I as director am so proud to run such a great group of kids and great parents. We had dads fixing the trailer for 3 hours last Saturday, parents running band camp, and the largest contingent of spectators go to the dome from Roslyn each year. Our parents even cheer for our neighbor competitor when they win the class over us! We are the greatest people anywhere! Total team players. The kids are perfect! They give up part of themselves for the team every single day! Hard working, fun, smart, bubbly, and love band! What more could I ask as a director? A fair read? YES, I want it all! I want our kids to get the score they deserve! I am very positive, a “glass half full” kind of guy! It will happen, at some point, and you will know when my post simply says “YES, HERE WE GO.” It may be this year, next year, or 10 years from now, but it will happen. It is inevitable. The train is coming down the tracks of the tunnel, our train, and everyone, yes everyone, sees it and hears it coming! Let’s all enjoy the ride!

Don't stand by yourself on a block and yell "Play"

2010-09-28T07:15:00.000-04:00

We are playing at the Homecoming parade on Saturday at 12 noon. First thing, this parade starts right on time or even a little earlier so be ready and downtown before the parade blocks you in. Second, we will not have the winds do alot of playing at this parade since 90% of the parade route has nobody listening. If you stand on an empty block all you are going to hear is the drum cadence. To be able to perform at all on this day we literally have about 3 times which we can have the winds play in the parade. Any more and the brass players will not be able to get through the show at the Homecoming Game in the afternoon or at the Whitman Competition that night.

At the Homecoming game and the Whitman Show we play at full peak performance which we call “Full Outs.” This means that the brass players give it their all and hold nothing back. The best high school bands in the country only have about 2 full outs a day. In addition, doing a “Full Out” performance takes alot of endurance for 7 minutes straight. This is why many bands cannot sustain and are very weak at the end of the show. When we rehearse we do two full outs at the end of the night to build endurance. On a show day we have to be very conservative since we have to sound the best we can for audiences and judges. With the hours of break time between the afternoon game and the competition we can rebuild some embouchure muscles (the wind players mouth) but if we play more than 3 times in the noon parade we are really chancing it. Many of my bands have bombed on Homecoming day due to these performances within 24 hours. In addition, we are playing two “Full Outs” on Friday, one being the Pep Rally and the other the Soccer “Friday Night Lights.”

Please don’t stand on a block, by yourself, yelling “Play!.” Stand where there is a big crowd, usually by the Clock Tower, in front of the Post Office and about a block after the turn towards the Library. These are the traditional spots where there are the biggest crowds and where we have the musicians all play. We will be playing the second half of the closer, mainly due to the fact that we do not have time at this point in the season to learn a parade tune.

The Parade route is from the High School, down Roslyn Rd to the clock tower, make a right downtown and go around the pond, ending at the Library. The band also stops at the Library while the rest of the parade walks the rest of the way up the hill. Carrying the big instruments up the hill is incredibly difficult so we stop at the library, eat, wait for the parade to finish, then we go right to the field to prepare for the half time show.

Judging is Subjective

2010-09-27T06:56:00.000-04:00

Each set of judges give totally different scores, be ready for anything!

Judges are all different. Each judge has different tastes in music, and different ideas about the concept and quality of each show. Judges also have a tendency to keep bands in the same score range that they were in the year before. Bands literally have to break out of their score range by being much better. Keep it all in perspective. If we win,”Great”. If we don’t, there is always next week. Aim high, be patient. We will become one of the top bands on the Island. Remember, don’t complain about the system of judging, in a few years these same judges will crown us champions. People watching in the stands know who the best bands are, regardless of the score!

Homecoming Weekend, Five Performances

2010-09-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

Here we go, the weekend is coming up. We have a pep rally around 2pm on Friday at the school field, a performance between 7 and 8 on Friday night, a parade Saturday at noon, the halftime show at the homecoming game around 2:30 to 3pm on Saturday afternoon, and the big first competition of the season on Saturday night at Walt Whitman High School.

Just tweets for camp, read the next post.

2010-08-16T09:51:00.001-04:00

I have started posting my band camp tweets. To get the tweets go to our twitter page or read the directions on the right column of this blog to get the tweet texts to your cell phone. This Roslyn Band Twitter Page link is in the right hand column as well. Read the post below for details.

Get the Daily Band Camp Tweets!

2010-08-14T13:05:00.002-04:00

This year I will be changing the format in which I give band camp daily updates. Last year I had time to do daily videos as well as the blog updates each night on this blog.

This year I will have to be teaching all the drill as well as directing the band camp so my time will be limited. In addition, doing the blog & videos took me into my cabin, away from the kids during the night. This year I will be doing tweets throughout the entire band camp to let you know what is going on instead of the blog entries and videos. I can do tweets from my cell phone and stay out with the students and chaperones more.

I received many of positive comments about our Florida tweets and am going to do this for band camp to keep parents, alumni, and family members in the loop!

You can get the tweets by going online to our twitter page http://twitter.com/roslynband and/or by forwarding texts to your cell phone.

Go to the right hand side of this blog to get instructions on how to get the daily band camp twitter text updates to your cellphone!

How to get your tweets is entirely up to you. Some people find the texts annoying and some love knowing what is going on throughout the day. In either case you can check the roslyn band twitter page link http://twitter.com/roslynband to get updated at any time.

Musiker Orange Bowl Plan is Up

2010-08-06T17:15:00.000-04:00

The Musiker Orange Bowl Family plan is now also up on the roslynband.com website. Please, if you plan on going to see the band at the Orange Bowl, do your car rental, hotel, and flight as soon as possible! The prices go up with every day that passes by. See my previous post for some ideas for setting up the trip on your own and the two plans which are available.

Orange Bowl Information for Roslyn Families

2010-08-05T00:28:00.005-04:00

I recently went to Miami to attend the band director’s Orange Bowl meeting. I also drove to all venues, stayed at the hotel the band will be at, and have personally been working on the package details associated with the band members and families. I coordinated my trip with driving my son Joey to start College at Full Sail University in Winter Park last week.

All the Orange Bowl bands and many of their family members are staying at the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Conference Center in Weston, Florida approximately 20 miles from the Sun Life Stadium. It is a beautiful facility on 23 acres with four restaurants/cafes, four outdoor pools, and golf courses and tennis courts nearby. The hotel is spectacular, it also has a Red Door Spa, incredible facilities, and is a clear 4 or 5 star hotel, to notch in every way.

(see link: http://bonaventure.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp ).

The Bowl Event planners are offering a "Family Package" which includes a 3 night stay at the Hyatt, (check-in Dec 31st, check-out Jan 3rd) Bowl game tickets, and the band banquet dinner dance at the hotel. The cost of this package ranges from $1,162 for a single to $2,620 for a family of four. Download this package if interested from the roslynband.com website. The due date for this package is November 1st, so if you need to wait, this may be your only option.

In doing my own research, I found that if you book the hotel yourself you will save.

Both the Bowl game tickets and banquet dinner dance can be purchased separately through the Bowl Event planners. Bowl game tickets are $139/pp for upper deck seating with the band, and the optional dinner dance on Jan 2nd is $40/pp. I am currently working on the pricing of adding families to the "New Year's Eve" portion with the band. The band will be in the ballroom having dinner on the night of the 31st.

As of the beginning of August, rooms at the Hyatt for the same period (check-in Dec 31st, check-out Jan 3rd) will cost $837 for a king and $867 for two double beds for your entire stay! (Taxes and fees are approximately 11% more.) That means a family of four will pay approximately $1,583 ($867 for the room plus tax, $556 for game tickets, and $160 for the optional banquet dinner dance.) You might even be able to find lower rates using AAA, your "miles/rewards," other discounts or advance bookings (be aware that advance bookings may require full prepayment and are non-refundable).

Room rates will only go up as the college football season begins and the Orange Bowl date approaches. The sooner you book your reservation the better your rates and terms will be. (The current cancellation policy is 48 hours but that is subject to change as the check-in date gets closer.) If you have any questions contact Hyatt reservations at 1-800-492-8804.

Keep in mind that you can stay anywhere and still purchase game and/or dinner tickets separately by filling out the appropriate sections of the Family Package.

But I recommend that you begin to think about making arrangements NOW in order to get the best rates. By the time September comes around people are planning for the December holidays and both hotels and airfares tend to go up!

If you decide to stay at the Hyatt Bonaventure in Weston with the band, consider flying into Fort Lauderdale - that airport is 15 miles from the hotel. The Miami airport is 32 miles from the hotel.

As I mentioned previously, if you stay at the Hyatt you will need a car to get you to the parade and game venues. I would do any car rental reservations as soon as possible as well. Also realize the Orange Bowl is a Monday night game which means that you will need to make arrangements to stay over the night of January 3rd. The band will leave immediately after the game on the buses and begin heading north (expected arrival Tuesday night.)

Of course if you cannot commit to the trip this early, the Bowl Event planner's "Parent Package" is available up until the beginning of November for those "last minute" travelers.

I will continue to post items about the Orange Bowl, band camp and our upcoming season so be sure to check my blog several times a week.

New Orange Bowl and Camp Posts Coming

2010-08-02T21:06:00.000-04:00

I am back from vacation and will be posting almost daily with all kinds of information about our Band Camp and the Orange Bowl Trip! Keep checking this site daily!

Open Letter to Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble about this week's NYSSMA Majors

2010-05-15T07:16:00.002-04:00

Dear Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble Members,

This is an incredible week for our band program! For the first time ever we have both our bands at Roslyn High School going to the NYSSMA Majors State Rating Festival. The Wind Ensemble is doing professional level music at the Grade 6 level. Only a handful of bands anywhere even attempt to perform at this level. The Symphonic Band, being one of the top bands on the island in its own right, is performing at Grade level 4, the High School Band level.

Both bands sound incredible. It is incredible how hard you have all worked! These are clearly the strongest groups we have ever had here at Roslyn. They Symphonic Band is performing at the level that the Wind Ensemble performed only a few years ago. The Wind Ensemble is now one of the top bands on Long Island and in New York State. As a director I am totally proud of what you have accomplished these past months. Both groups have grown immeasurably! I am totally Psyched to conduct both groups next week at this prestigious festival! I am also very proud to be your band director!

As we go to the NYSSMA Majors realize what you are, an incredible band program. Be ready for anything. Realize that the judging is subjective. We can get a gold with distinction, we can get a bronze. Have fun playing! You sound amazing! We will be recording both groups during and after NYSSMA to make a CD this year of all our band nyssma pieces! No matter what we get, the proof of our excellence will be there, on our ipods forever! Get psyched, be proud, and perform at your highest level this coming week!

Here are the detailed directions for both groups
Come to school dressed in your concert attire on your performance day, Wind Ensemble on Monday, Symphonic Band on Tuesday. Bring your casual clothes in a separate bag, you will be able to change when we get back to the auditorium after our performance, and then go to lunch. On the busses you will bring your instrument, no case, and your music folder. That's it. We go to a warm up room for 30 minutes, and then the judging room. There will be two judges that will listen to us, make comments for about 3 to 5 minutes between each tune, and then assign us Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Festival Rating. We will know the score we received just before we depart Hofstra to come home. The Wind Ensemble will be leaving Roslyn at 8:45 am on Monday. The Symphonic Band will be leaving Roslyn at 9:45 on Tuesday.

Remember, you only get one shot at a first impression, this is like an interview!
Stay in rest position at all times you are not playing. Do not talk at all. We must go in very organized, in our rows, and look totally professional. Band must be the most important thing in your world for that 45 minutes! This is like an interview, we are being judged on everything! No sneakers, black sweats, only dress clothes. Boys in dark suits with a tie, girls with all black, elegant and dressy, not casual. No sneakers, you won't peform. We will tune in the room. Look at me very carefully when we start playing, I will have to make adjustments on the spot to get the right levels for our playing in the room. This can only be done while we are performing our first piece. Don't be nervous, we are performers here at Roslyn. We know how to "get it done".

Get psyched and let's have a great performance at NYSSMA Majors!!!!! Please send me an e-mail that you read this! pattersax@gmail.com

Today I Drove Home

2010-05-06T21:12:00.001-04:00

Just about every day in my seven plus years at Roslyn, I fly home in my car, on a wave of euphoria, being so proud to work here and run this incredible band program. Today I simply drove my car home on the LIE. Today it was a doldrum, boring ride through suburbia. I couldn't even turn the radio or Ipod on. My brain was drained. I did not know how to process what happened today in Wind Ensemble. In a desperate search of answers, I asked some colleagues if I was off base, unrealistic, or simply nuts as I exited the building. From all accounts, I was correct, something went awry. I will go on.

I had to wait hours before I would even attempt to write this. What happened in Wind Ensemble.

So here we are, seven rehearsals to go before the Wind Ensemble is performing in the NYSSMA Majors Rating Festival. Things have been going great. Everybody is working, the band is starting to sound amazing, yet today, Something very unusual happened. I was totally shocked that 18 people missed the rehearsal due to AP exams that they took this morning. Finishing their exams around 11:15 to 11:30, many band members decided to go home and not return to the school for the rehearsal at 1:30, even after I stressed a few days ago that I expected them to come back for these crucial rehearsals. I totally trusted that everyone would be there, especially since students return for sports and study sessions. From everything I saw up to that point I had a very serious band. People were practicing, working hard, learning things that we were going over and being very focused. How could I ever imagine that people would skip any important rehearsal.

I will put it in its purest form. One third of the band decided that they would go home and miss the rehearsal, while the rest of the band was rehearsing. Wow, I still cannot believe it. I am no band geek, never was, but it is unimaginable to me to be in my living room or somewhere else, studying, eating, watching tv, napping, whatever, while the rest of the band has a scheduled rehearsal. And right before NYSSMA Majors! I couldn't do it, it is just not part of my DNA.

I am known for being totally flexible and understanding with the academic demands that everyone at Roslyn puts on themselves. In fact, I am proud of it. I, however, do not see how coming to a 40 minute rehearsal could possibly hurt an AP grade or drain ones brain in any way or impact the AP exam grades this week. In fact, a 40 minute musical rehearsal would supply a positive reprieve from the grinding study schedule, providing a respite and relaxing soothing of the senses, a break from the intense study schedule. A recharge.

In addition, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth for some amazing people who have been nothing but spectacular for just about 4 years. I would never want to go out like this, never. It numbs my emotions that anyone could NOT be here if they were not actually in an AP exam, especially the great band members who are a part of this group.

I do realize that the culture here is to go home after the AP, that everyone who takes one is technically excused here at Roslyn. I am not inferring that I will take off of your grade or hurt you in any way. The thing that really bothers me is the responsibility issue, being part of a team and "being there". We are going to this great event and have a chance to do something great here. For the short amount of time I need you please come. If you have an AP at the time of the rehearsal, which some of you do, of course miss band. But if you are not in an AP exam, I fully expect you to be at these last 6 rehearsals. I have talked to the HS administration about it and they totally agree, everyone not taking an AP should be at these last 6 rehearsals.

Honestly, if we have another rehearsal with people at home or elsewhere, we will probably not go to the NYSSMA Majors on May 17th. It is not fair to the Wind Ensemble to put them in front of those two judges unprepared 11 days from now.

Let's regroup, focus, and be there. Just come to the rehearsals, I will take care of the rest! Let us all sincerely try to act like today's rehearsal never happened. Water under the bridge.

And thank you to the 36 people who were there, ready to rock. And a really big thank you to the one person who took the morning AP and came to the rehearsal.

Orange Bowl Numbers, My Deadline to Make the Call is Approaching!

2010-04-21T09:11:00.001-04:00

As of this posting we have 51 band members planning on going on the Orange Bowl Trip. We cannot do this trip without many more of our members participating. By setting this trip up very early I was hoping we could generate enough excitement to get the entire group to go on this trip. Spreading out the payment schedule along with letting everyone know early also makes it easier for people to plan around this trip.

Participating in this parade is a tremendous opportunity for our school and will change the level and notoriety of our group forever. This past week I received one of the coveted "invitations to apply to the Tournament of Roses Parade." You cannot simply apply to this parade, you need an invitation to apply, which came to us due to our probable participation in the Orange Bowl.

The trip and performance of a lifetime is no exaggeration when you do one of these top events. It is something that every one of us will remember our entire lives. Please, talk it up with other band members, see who is on the list and who isn't. Let's get everyone psyched up so that we can pull this off. My deadline is May 1st to commit. I am going to talk to the Orange Bowl people today to see if they can extend this deadline another week so that we can do it. In addition, if you know anyone who would like to get involved with the marching band we have openings and will train people on the instruments we need and colorguard. We are all very passionate about our marching band! Please spread that excitement and let's get more people into this amazing activity!

No Interviews

2010-03-26T12:47:00.001-04:00

A very good friend of mine was interested in moving from his elementary band director position to the high school band director in his district. A known entity, this man was an incredible educator, super successful with the program he built, as well as a famous and well respected musician in the entire area. His district put him through the ringer, making him interview multiple times, bringing in different instruments to perform on to show he could play, and multiple teaching demonstrations. It infuriated me. I felt that the district should fully “know” what he was capable of and the fact that they had to run him through this gauntlet was a waste of time. They knew this teacher, what he was about, how he interacted, his musicianship and everything about him. Making him go through this process created tension and I felt it was unecessary.

Last year we did interviews for the leadership positions in the marching band. We never did this before and wanted to give it a try. Many kids were very stressed out going through this process, students who already are stressed out being in an academic high school. After the season was complete we re-visited the idea of doing interviews. I felt that the interviews really accomplished nothing. We knew everyone, what they were capable of, and knew their potential. We are a family and live together during band camp and really know each other. I don’t even think any positions were different due to the interviews. So this year we are simply going with the short online application. We will be using all our information, attendance, attitude, musicianship, service, leadership, and putting that criteria together to make our decisions. We will be posting the positions when they are finalized, which will probably be sometime after the school year is over and before camp. Remember, we will be watching you in school, at the rehearsals in the Spring, and adding that to our impressions when making these decisions as well.

Orange Bowl!

2010-03-23T20:30:00.001-04:00

As a band director, I know how totally unrealistic it is to expect to break into what is considered the top 5 events in the nation. For bands, it is the equivalent of getting into Harvard – something you might dream about, but the reality of achieving such an honor, even with tremendous hard work and dedication, is extraordinarily difficult. Bands have to be "Nationally Acclaimed." They usually have to be over 100 members, around 150 members, super precise, as well as famous and musically captivating to get into one of these events. These events are the; Rose Parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Orange Bowl Parade and Game, Sugar Bowl Parade and Game, and Fiesta Bowl Parade. Although there are many other events, these are the "Big Boys." In addition, once a band has one of these on its resume, it is considered as having “made it” and can be accepted to any of them, thus becoming one of the top bands in the Nation!

So how shocked and excited I was to receive this invitation on March 16^th. An invitation to one of the oldest and most prestigious Bowl games and parades in the world, the Orange Bowl! I couldn't believe it! Wow, we've made it. Someone at "Bowl Games of America" saw us at Disneyworld, did some research through our website, blog, and youtube sites, and decided that with our growth over the past 8 years, that we are going to be one of these "Nationally Acclaimed Bands." By sending us this invitation, they have put us into another category, a whole different echelon, we have now "made it."

I immediately called the "Bowl Games of America" Group to find out the date of the game and learned it was on January 3rd, a Monday night. Of course, Monday night football, a huge viewing audience night. But it was definitely a problem for us since it would mean we would miss the first two days of school in January 2011. After talking to administration, we all felt that this was such a huge honor that it would justify the two days of missing school. I know our kids, and to be honest with you, a lot of studying takes place on the busses – I have seen it firsthand. I am sure everyone will keep up with their work. In addition, our band members will have the opportunity to earn a fine arts credit from taking part in this event, (see the last page of the packet which is on the main website.) The administration and myself felt that the notoriety of this big event being a part of our band members' high school accomplishments would distinguish them and be another feather in their cap, thus justifying the missed school days.

The other thing was the price. Things are more expensive in Miami that week, for obvious reasons. I was able to get the price down to $1300 total, a feat that took the past week to achieve. We cut a day off, modified the itinerary to fit into a price range that I thought we could work with. I am very mindful of the economic pressures we are all under. This trip was running around $1600 with the first few drafts, but after a lot of work researching and negotiating, we got it down to this final price.

Marching Band is an incredible activity. It is similar to athletics in that to colleges, it demonstrates our kids’ commitment to an activity. It sets our students apart from other north shore schools that do not have competitive marching bands and are not participating in these high profile venues.

So here we are, the packet was handed out tonight, and we will wait to see if we can get enough interest to go on this prestigious event. As always, we have to go through the process. First, we will see if we have enough band members going on the trip. Second, if we hit that number we will present it to the Board of Education for approval. Then we will be on our way to a whole new level! Hopefully we can do this. I really want to give it our all. If it doesn't work out, at least we tried our best. Getting invited is an incredible feat in itself! Let's see if we can generate enough excitement and enthusiasm to bring us to this milestone, an event that everyone will remember forever!

Welcome New Parents!

2010-03-16T16:18:00.003-04:00

Well here is the blog. This is the place where I explain everything. It is a page to let you know the inner workings and things which influence our decisions with the band program at Roslyn High School. Here is where we explain everything from what the judges scores are, to what to pack on a trip. Here is where we let you know what our goals are, how we are going to make changes as the year progresses, and what we feel is working or not working so great. When something unusual happens, like an unusually low judges score, or a weather problem in the forecast, I will talk about it here and let you know when we are making a schedule change.

I also use twitter. You can sign on to the twitter.com/roslynband site and sign up for tweets. I send out tweets throughout our trips to let you know where we are every step of the way. You can set up your twitter so that you get all our tweets sent directly to your cell phone as a text message. I do not send out tweets or e-mails regularly. I do update the two main websites two or three times a week and daily during the season, roslynband.com and this website patterblog.com.

I feel that e-mails get lost, and with so many people changing their e-mails, it is hard to get to everyone.

The "Band Fans" our amazing parents group sends out e-mails whenever they have announcements to make. We work very closely together so contacting either of us is absolutely fine. We have links to the Band Fans on their page of the roslynband.com website. The presidents are Susan Passaro and Claudia Wolfson.

It is very easy to get any of us when you need us. Simply send me an e-mail and I will get back to you pretty quickly, usually the same day. I get all my e-mail on my iphone.

Check out the various posts on this blog and you will get a full picture of what we do here with this incredible band program here at Roslyn! Any questions, e-mail either myself or the presidents of the Band Fans.

In general, the first page of the roslynband.com website will have the most important, newest posts at the top of the page. Check it regularly so that you know what is going on. I will also post the full multi-page band camp letter on the roslynband.com website in the next few days. It explains everything. And check out the Band Camp page of the website as well.

Welcome to our family!!!!!

Great Trip! Great Week!

2010-02-21T11:35:00.004-05:00

This was one amazing trip. These were the most well behaved kids ever! They showed the chaperones and each other the utmost of respect. The band members got closer and mingled nicely, becoming an even closer knit family. The trip really could not have gone any smoother.

On top of everything going right, nobody got sick, nobody was late except for a few minutes here and there, and there were no mishaps at all. The traffic, weather, and all travel was smooth sailing. We literally didn’t touch the break on either leg of the trip, the ground was dry and there was not one drop of precipitation throughout the week. The only thing which was a little rough was the cold weather the first few nights, it was frigid for Florida on Monday through Wednesday, mostly at night. Thursday was warmer during the day and although the dinner was still chilly ithere was no wind and the fireworks show was incredible. Thanks to the band members for going to bed on time and not keeping us up past curfew. We all had so much fun and doing the two parades was emotional and incredible. In addition, there seems to be no traffic at all. I deliberately set the trip to leave on Sunday instead of Friday to avoid the vacation rush and the Daytona 500 traffic going down the coast on Friday night. It all seemed to work out. Travelling to and from Florida without any traffic is very rare and now, as we pass Newark, it seems we are going to get into Roslyn around 1pm, three hours ahead of time!

Thank you to Kathy Miller for helping me so much with the planning of the trip. A big thank you to Susan Passaro and Claudia Wolfson, our Band Fans Presidents as well as Sherri Marx, the band fans treasurer, for their hours of helping me with the trip. This was a week we will all remember forever!

New Link for all pictures from Disneyworld

2010-02-18T18:06:00.002-05:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/pattersax/MagicKingdomParades?feat=directlink

Today's Parade at the Magic Kingdom

2010-02-18T17:54:00.003-05:00

Roslyn Marching Band at the Magic Kingdom Parade on

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Friday's Itinerary Changes

2010-02-18T10:39:00.002-05:00

Due to the Disney Studios closing early tommorrow we will be modifying
the itinerary. Thanks to th Bergers for catching the closing time at
the Studios (formerly called Disney's MGM Studios).

7 am - Wake Up
8 am - Depart Resort
8:30 am - Arrive at Disney Studios
4 pm - Depart Studios
4:30 pm - Arrive and relax at All Star Sports
6 pm - Depart All Star Resort
6:30 - Arrive at Downtown Disney (we will drop off at Marketplace)
9:00 - Depart Downtown Disney
9:30pm - Back at All Star Sports
12 midnight - Curfew

Pat

Sent from my Iphone

Our Pictures from Yesterday's Parade

2010-02-17T16:28:00.003-05:00

Link to our web album

http://picasaweb.google.com/pattersax/MagicKingdomParade?feat=directlink

Parents, send me pictures and I will upload them!

Today's Parade at the Magic Kingdom

2010-02-16T23:55:00.001-05:00

Our performance at the Magic Kingdom today! We are having a great trip! The kids are doing great, we are having an incredible time even with the cold Florida weather.

It's as Clear as the Road Ahead - Why We Do This

2010-02-15T03:43:00.003-05:00

Yes, we are on the road, somewhere in Virginia at 3:02 am. I am, as usual, pulling an all nighter, drinking diet coke, and making my hourly pilgrimage to the back of the bus bathroom, accross the legs of sleepers and back to the front to look at the road and now blog. I’ve done a ton of these trips with various bands in different school districts and have become a pro at maneuvering the obstacle course to the back of the bus.

And now I ponder. With all the countless hours of planning and setting up this trip, like the launching of a space ship, we are on our way! As we trek to Disneyworld it is totally obvious to me “why” we all do this, as obvious as the stars in the sky. Why we compete. Why we do these trips. Why we do this incredible “marching band” activity. Let me explain.

Many band directors ask me why I do these trips and why we compete, why I run a band that does this much, definitely in a suspect tone. I get angry, grumble, and usually walk away. These people just don’t “get it.” They are missing out on one of the most amazing things by not having a marching band like ours. This band purely and simply changes lives. It is like a secret that once you take part in it, you get glued to it emotionally. This band transforms, bonds, teaches, and creates experiences which the band members and anyone connected with it will remember their whole lives.

This is an incredible week for all of us. We will be marching in one of the most prestigious parades in the vacation capital of the world! We have a huge contingent of parents and family members going as well! The band members have learned how to work together, how to conquer a goal together, and how to have fun together. We have learned alot about life by being in this band, every single one of us! That is why we do this! Now it is 3:40am (I am taking my time writing this) I feel so lucky to be directing this amazing band of beautiful kids. Thank you to the parents, the kids, the community of Roslyn, as well as the administration and Board of Education for supporting us. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this band become what it is! We will make Roslyn proud of us this week.

This Year's Show Unveiling!

2010-02-08T11:05:00.003-05:00

Here it is! The official announcement of next year's 2010 Roslyn Marching Band Show! I have leaked out various aspects of the show and this past week I have finished all the uploading of the audio and music parts so that we can get going.

First of all I have conceptualized many shows and always like to do something fun and interesting. This year's show is a show the staff and I picked earlier in the year, but I was searching for some way to give this a cool twist. Then one day, it came to me and here in the following paragraphs is what our show for next year will be!

Here we go! I have a whole dramatic plan for it in my head along with the drill, staging, and visual design. Like the shows that I have written in the past, it is pretty simple to play, easy to understand and we can absolutely master all aspects of the show, allowing for us to achieve some very high scores as well as a tremendous amount of audience appeal. There are two main actors, a young couple, that will be present throughout the show. There will be no talking by them, just poses, acting, and a little dancing. It will be very obvious what is going on throughout the show. The opener and closers are arranged by Jay Dawson, the same arranger of our "Piano Lesson" show. The middle work is the original piece by Holst, which is a part of the famous "Second Suite for Military Band" which can be played indoors or outdoors. The audio and all music is now up on the downloads page of the roslynband.com website. Here we go!

Opener: Emperata Overture by Claude T. Smith - Bride and Groom getting married, Ballerina Dance group (6 to 15, as many as make the team) will do abstract and modern choreography around two actors getting married and throughout the show. The colorugard is a separate entity that provides additional visual support, so we have two "visual" teams working throughout the show. This is a staple of almost every show that I have conceptualized and implemented. By having two visual things going on we can keep the attention off the fact that we are only doing 35 sets. Dancers in very light off white lace, guard in a very light color, pastel orangeish or light light blue. The guard will use huge streamers and flags throughout, providing tons of visual "fireworks." The dancers will dance around and between the couple at all times throughout the show.

Ballad: Song Without Words, Gustav Holst. This is our "class winner" piece. One of the most beautiful ballads ever written for the Wind Band, Holst composed this for the military band and is meant to be played indoors or out. It is mysterious, beautiful, and fitting to what we are going to do visually. Between tunes the bride changes into yellow dress, groom changes to army fatigues, they are separated by war, he goes to a bunker and she stays at home, they write letters to each other, all staged, while the dancers react with abstract and fitting dance moves, letters going back and forth, etc. The colorguard provides the intensity of the war with big streamers as an additional visual. Picture this playing out as you listen to this piece. Drums do not play on this tune. We will have the drummers doing fitting poses throughout this work, showing how a war can impact our lives, something "out of the box" and modern.

Closer: Chorale and Shaker Dance, by John Zdechlik - Pretty simple, they are reunited at the end. Once again, I have it all storyboarded in my mind integrating the guard, dancers, and drill. This song is built around the famous melody "Simple Gifts" which is fitting in that the young couple is reunited to spend their lives together at the end. There will also be some surprises in the closer which will give everyone goosebumps, patriotic stuff!

The actors will change clothes behind two movable backdrops on wheels, not that big, that will also provide a place for the guard and dancer props and flags to be hidden.

The show will be called "Show Without Words" based on the second piece. These three tunes are all very famous works from Wind Ensemble literature, are well known by all judges and will be received very warmly by everyone, especially in this context.

Trust me on this one! I have a ton of incredible ideas that will really work. It's a winner! A bonus is that this show is totally appropriate in terms of us being at war. This is something that we are dealing with as a country. It also has struggle and a happy ending.

Along with today's unveiling, all the music is downloadable on the "Downloads" page of the roslynband.com website, along with the audio of the show. This is a simple show that we can master, have fun with, and get into! Download your music and start learning this immediately! We can win with this show!

Show Unveiling Coming Any Day This Week!

2010-02-06T06:18:00.004-05:00

I will be posting the entire plan for this coming year's show, including my drill plan, dramatic aspects as well as attaching audio recordings and the music downloads to the website! Keep checking for the unveiling!

The Band Sounded Great Last Night!

2010-02-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

We had a rehearsal for Florida last night, marched around the gym about 40 times, and looked great. We will not need to have an additional rehearsal next week. We will have about an hour backstage at Disney before each parade to rehearse a bit. Great job!

The New Schedule for 2010 is Posted!

2010-02-03T05:44:00.000-05:00

The new schedule is now up on the roslynband.com website. I spent alot of time developing this schedule. We are using the 2006 and 2007 marching band years as the models for this schedule. Let me explain. In my now 28 years of running marching bands, those two years stand out as the most incredible programs I have ever run as a band director. In my opinion, those two years were the perfect balance of all the aspects of running a great marching program. Those two years were efficient, fun, and we were at a super high level in terms of teamwork and morale while we fit the program perfectly into our school's high academic culture. We are going from 121 rehearsal hours in 2009 to the old 80 rehearsal hours of 2006 and 2007. I am excited and feel this will totally boom our program in every way. This, coupled with bringing back the "team building" activities to band camp, will bond us better as a team as well. We will still be adding the three home games including the homecoming parade and game and the "Friday Night Lights" soccer game night. All of those will be added in March, as soon as the dates are set. In addition, I am planning on participating in the "Chick Fil-A" bowl game sometime between Christmas and New Year's Day. The bowl game schedule is also out in March. This was an incredible trip we did 3 years ago and included a great parade, bowl game performances before the game and during half time, along with a huge pep rally, tour of CNN studios and a trip to the amazing Atlanta Aquarium. I will be proposing this trip to the Board of Education in the Spring for their approval. I wanted to let you know what our goals are early so that you can plan accordingly. As far as the Fall season, you really need to be here every weekend with the exception of the Columbus Day weekend, which we traditionally have left open for college visitations. We will need all the marching band members to be here all other weekends between Labor Day and the Carrier Dome State Championship weekend on Halloween.

2010 Band Camp Plans Under Way

2010-01-30T14:21:00.009-05:00

We have always had great band camps here at Roslyn and are looking forward to continuing the tradition. Although Band Camp is not until August the planning stage is now upon us. In the past months I have searched to find parents to lead our incredible band camp. I have contacted past parents who have experience with running our yearly successful camp. I am very pleased to announce that, after a brief hiatus, Susan and Jed Schlacter and Bruce Goldman are coming back to be the directors of Band Camp. With their previous four years of experience, we should hit the ground running, and have a smooth transition this summer. Any parents who are interested in being chaperones for all or part of the week or in any other capacity should contact Jed at his e-mail at jed10123@aol.com. We are fortunate to have this dynamic team of parents return to assist us.

A Great Turnout at the Board Meeting!

2010-01-29T06:13:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all the parents, students, and family members who attended the Roslyn Board of Education meeting for our presentation last night. It was absolutely incredible seeing all the support! Thanks to Susan Passaro and Claudia Wolfson, our Band Fans Presidents for getting us on the Board Agenda. It was their idea to do this presentation and it certainly was a great way to show our thanks to the administration and Board of Ed for their continued support of the Marching Band!

Board Of Education Meeting Tonight!

2010-01-28T10:58:00.002-05:00

Please show your continued support for the Roslyn Marching Bulldogs by wearing Bulldog blue to the Board of Education meeting tonight at the Roslyn Middle School at 8:30pm.

We are on the agenda to show a short 2 minute clip that will give a snapshot into what the Marching Band program is all about. We are also presenting the 2009 season DVD to each Board member as well as to Administration and students will be presenting the 4th Place New York State Plaque.

We want to thank the School Board and Administration for their continued support. Showing up proudly wearing our Marching Band apparel or Bulldog Blue is a reminder to the School Board and Administration that we support their efforts on behalf of our children. When we show our support for this program we are sending a powerful message to the entire community.

Thank you for your support. Hope to see you at the Middle School tonight!

Bake Sales!

2010-01-26T10:34:00.000-05:00

Run or help with a Bake Sale and get service points!

Check on Roslynband.com and go to the Bake Sale Page!

A Great Marching Band Story!

2010-01-07T07:06:00.001-05:00

We are all guilty of it. Being in our bubble. Trying to tweak the itinerary, to make the trip perfect is an obsession with me. I get upset over things which are just not that important sometimes and excited over little things as well. With next year’s show, the same thing. Going back to my roots, I am trying to think “out of the box” with the design of the show, finding something which is fun, touching, emotionally captivating and educational. I think we have a winner, and I will be posting it up here on the blog in the next few days! Keep checking back.

But now back to the real reason I am writing tonight’s blog. Today my wife Jen came across this story, she sent it to me in an e-mail and kept on bugging me to watch it. Waking up with the baby, I checked it out just a few minutes ago....... and........it is an incredible life story.

Once in a while we come across a story which changes us, a story which makes us a better person after we see it. I’ve put the link on the sidebar of this website for this incredible youtube story. Watch it. It’s about a marching band too!

Roslyn Receives 4th Place in New York!

2009-11-01T12:45:00.000-05:00

All I can say is WOW!!! The band definitely did their best performance of the year. The music was incredible, drill fantastic, and the guard was amazing! We totally peaked! Everyone in the band, the staff, and parents are thrilled with the incredible year we had. Bravo!

Outside the dome many parents have asked me why we were 4th place, that they thought we should have placed higher with the scoring. Now that our website is password protected I can be a bit more forthcoming in addressing this now. So here it is, I am going to go for it. Many parents said we should have probably scored in 2nd or 3rd place. Everyone has their own opinion and even when we look at our show a few months from now, many of us will still be scratching our heads. What is going on here?

Obviously we should have scored higher. The big spread over us is, to say the least, way out of line. The judges had us in a row, coming in 4th or 5th across the board. Traditional or let’s say “classic” judging is definitely taking place. I must be honest with you, none of us are surprised. The ironic thing, all the judges have the same exact opinion, which really shouldn’t happen if you think about it. Judges should have different opinions and different views. And bands should be strong in some areas and weaker in others. This did not happen. We were lined up on the sheets like ducks in a row. Well we know this is subjective, and yes, perhaps I should have waited to find a more cryptic way of writing it, but I do get upset when our kids get slighted. I felt today, especially with that spread, that we were slighted. We all know what we deserve, hey, we all knew we were having issues at the Bethel show, and we all know we are amazing now. Remember, each band we are competing against has been in existence for many years. They have all been competing for 30 plus years, even if they only say a few years in this conference. We are in our 7th year and what we have done the past 7 years is nothing short of incredible. We are a force to be reckoned with! Today, we showed that.

I am so proud of all the kids. We got the highest score we ever received, did a fantastic job, and are now at the mall, being with each other. We had an amazing year!

Thanks to everyone and check us out on youtube!

Syracuse Trip Update - Dome Today, We Are Ready!

2009-11-01T07:17:00.001-05:00

So here are some thoughts going into today’s State Championship Competition. We are totally ready, everything has worked to our favor. The weather has been super cooperative. We got two full run throughs in on each of the past two weekends while other bands barely got outside. Yesterday, the other bands had to do an indoor show and we luckily had a weather break and got a full rehearsal and run throughs outside at a great facility. We practice on an artificial turf field so we are used to that texture to march on. We are peaking, the most important part of trying to aim the band to a perfect perfomance at the dome.

We have been dealing with timing problems all year, the actual keeping the band together, due to the complexities of the drill, drum placement, field spreads, etc. and have solved all of those problems. The dome ceiling reaks havoc on every band, the echo coming off the roof is almost as loud as the actual band and can cause any band’s dome perfomance to fall apart. We have it down, we are used to looking at the drum majors, we have been practicing it all season so the dome should have minimum impact on our performance. Bands that have never had a timing issue frequently have a hard time adjusting. We have been adjusting all year. So we are as ready as we can be. We are marching great, looking great and sounding great. The entire band is in a prime position to be incredible at the dome. Now we have to perform.

Now here is the most important paragraph. Be ready for anything. This medium is subjective and judges simply “liking” or “not liking” the show impacts the scores incredibly. There is also a huge let’s say................ “tradition” thing going here. Bands have to pay their dues to move through the ranks and getting high scores takes time (read between the lines). But, we cannot criticize the judging environment. Some day they will crown us champions and we will be the beneficiaries of the “tradition” thing. Also, our neighbor, Mineola, is having an incredible year. Their guard is probably the best guard in the state and that alone could push them to 1st in our class. Brentwood and Sachem are also seeded to possibly get 1st place in their classes. They are all having great years. We should be ready and supportive of our neighbors. Whenever a Long Island band does well at the dome it helps us all.

So after we perform, and this goes with ANY judges performance, prepare yourself for any place. We could get 5th place, we could get 1st. There is simply no way of knowing what the judges will do. We have a fresh read, most of the judges haven’t seen us yet, which makes it VERY unpredictable. No matter what, we will go home at least 5th in the state. We will beat a ton of bands in the lower two classes, LS3 and SS3.

I’ve said this a million times and I will say it again. We cannot let 10 judges define what we are and how we feel about ourselves. We have accomplished great, amazing things this year. Look and listen to us, we are great! No matter how this day turns out we are “Champions.” No band in New York has made the strides that our band has in the past 7 years. Have fun! Be proud!

Syracuse Trip Update - Saturday Night

2009-10-31T23:05:00.000-04:00

Tonight’s update, Saturday, October 31st, 2009. We had a great day. First we woke up at 8:30, had a great breakfast and talk, and then went to the Phoenix Show. We got a full warm up in before it started raining, then performed an incredible show in the gym. We then went to eat at the Phoenix cafeteria and got those famous salt potatoes! Then on to Central Square Stadium at 3:45. We let the kids do homework or nap on the bus from 4:15, our arrival time, to 5:10. Then, with the rain totally stopped, we got a great rehearsal in. We worked on sections of the show for about an hour and then did two full run throughs. The band is totally peaking and we are ready for tomorrow. Gotta go, I have to put my costume on and make my entrance with some of the senior boys! Go Yankees! And thanks to the parents who set up the banquet room for us!

Syracuse Trip Early Saturday Morning Update

2009-10-31T06:28:00.001-04:00

Last night we had a great Buffet, the dinner included just about everything you could imagine. Then we went to the pool and hung out in the lounge areas until bed time. Many students were studying and doing homework while about 20 were in the workout room at any given time throughout the evening. We will be having a late wake up, at 8:30am, eating at 9:30 and on to Phoenix today, looks like rain.

It is supposed to stop raining at the time we are to go to Central Square to rehearse. We will probably go there, wear the raincoats over our coats and do a drill only rehearsal with no pit and no instruments, and then when it clears up, perform the show and get outside for a while. This will give us an edge with no other bands getting out the past few weeks due to rain.

We have these incredible box moves that we want to perfect before tomorrow. We are currently seeded 5th place out of 5 in our class, but hey, with judging, you never know what will happen. The way the band looked and sounded this past week, anything is possible.

Syracuse Trip Update - Friday at 4:45

2009-10-30T16:45:00.000-04:00

Here is the beginning of the Syracuse Trip update. We left the school about 15 minutes late. One of our busses had a flat tire so we had to send for another bus. Once on the road it was clear sailing until we hit about a mile south of Yankee Stadium. We were on Route 87. After a 15 minute slowdown, the roads opened right up and we have been without traffic. We are now about 50 miles south of Binghampton. We should get to our hotel around 7pm.

The Dome - The Big Burrito!

2009-10-24T07:25:00.000-04:00

Wow, waking up this morning, I realize that we are once again having a rain show, probably indoors at Mineola High School tonight. What does this mean? Well, the last time we performed for judges on the field was October 4th, at the Huntington show. So we are going into the dome a new band, not being judged for 3 weeks, an eternity in a competitive marching band season. In addition, the judges who saw us at that show could very well be judging us at the dome, which is good, and bad. The bad...........they burried us. The good...............they said that if we got this show down, we could take it all. At Arlington the next week, the judges popped Mineola to an 82, pretty much guaranteeing them a win at the dome, which is great for them, our neighbors. I personally think that the slate at the Arlington show will be judging the “large school slate” since most of the bands at that show were large schools. All except Mohonassen and Mineola. We will know who the judges are going to be on Monday morning and I will post it on this blog.

Knowing Mineola was going to have a phenomenal year, we heard it from camp our goal was to stay right under them this year and possibly get 2nd at the dome. That didn’t quite work out, they beat us by alot. However, with the weather, Mother Nature has given us another lease on life! The early October scores really mean nothing now. There will be 12 judges deciding our fate and we have quite a bit of control over that.

What do we need to do? Watch the youtube video of the Pep Rally. That pretty much tells it all. I don’t know why there are still wrong notes, people sticking out musically, and the opener sounds like only 20 people are playing. We have to get over the drill anxiety and play out while we march. Yes, the drill is hard, but we are nailing it. Let’s play musically and get those parts down cold this week! It is better but not championship caliber.

What is the worst that can happen? We can go in with what we got and get 5th place in our class. We will still beat half the bands at the dome in classes LS3 and SS3, and come home winners. Right now, with the wrong notes, unmusicality, people sticking out and people not playing, that’s what we would get.

What is the best that can happen? We put it all together, get confident, play musically, all of us get our music down, and nail this thing, coming in 1st place. An upset for the ages, one which will be talked about forever. It is totally possible and in our court. We have to make a decision and do it! These last rehearsals have to be incredible. We still have this morning’s music rehearsal, this morning’s sectionals, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s rehearsals, a big rehearsal on Halloween at Central Square Stadium, and the big warm up rehearsal at skytop before the dome. That is alot of rehearsing and cleaning. Big music rehearsals and some huge visual rehearsals to tighten up those box moves.

Major upset, an upset of huge proportions. One for the ages. Let’s do it!

All It Takes is All You've Got

2009-10-05T07:15:00.000-04:00

So we perform at the competition and we’re feeling great, when suddenly the scores are read out and the judges put us six points under Mineola. What do we do now? Well, first, we have to be realistic. There is so much that needs to be improved on in our show. This isn’t something to get upset about, it’s motivation! It means we have somewhere to go and a definite way to raise our scores. If we can get focused, rehearse effectively, and really perform, then we can give the judges every reason to boost our scores way up. Just because the judges are keeping us under now, doesn’t mean that’s where we’ll stay. We can all recall the competition just before the dome when Division Avenue beat us by three points. THE WEEK BEFORE THE DOME! And so everyone assumed that meant that’s where we would place when Syracuse finally came around. Well we all know that was not the case and it doesn’t have to be the case this year either. A sloppy performance of a difficult show doesn’t get us any extra points. On the other hand, mastering a difficult show is how we will defeat every other band out there. We know our show is the hardest it’s ever been, but our band is the best it’s ever been and we all know we can handle it. We have to keep the momentum on this train running and we can’t let some scores slow us down. The score is simply a fly on the windshield, nothing a little windex won’t take care of. We will have to work hard and clean up our performance and get the judges to acknowledge our efforts. If everyone knows their parts, and marches in step, and plays in tune, we will give the judges no choice but to put us over all the competition.

How can we do this?
Well falling apart isn’t an option anymore. We are having fewer and fewer tears in the show, but we have to get rid of them completely and start to groove. There are three drum majors on the podiums at one time, and they will lead you in the right direction. Watch them and don’t listen to the pit! Another thing is being able to play your part correctly, march your sets in step, AND watch the drum major all at the same time. It is no easy task, but getting your part down cold means one less thing to worry about. So get to it! We are well into the season and there’s no excuse for not knowing your parts. Practice your runs every day, memorize where the major hits are, and DON’T PLAY WRONG NOTES! Every single person, by joining the band, accepted the responsibility to do his or her part to help the band. Knowing your music and your spots in the drill is your individual responsibility. No one can do that for you. The music isn’t easy but it’s not beyond our ability. I believe we can really have a great performance at the dome if everyone does their part.

The Final Ingredient - Performing as “Champions”
before we get the Championship!
We are putting on a show; it’s not just another rehearsal and for some of you, that psyches you out. Don’t let the competition, the judges, the audience, or the scores get to you. Prepare yourself because every time you should expect nothing less than the best performance of your life. Yes, it only really counts at the dome, but that doesn’t mean you can relax till we get there. From your first step on the field to the last step off you are all musicians, performers, and most importantly winners. All it takes is all you’ve got. Simply put, you’ve got what it takes! Giving 100% is all we need to win. Every single person needs to take this idea and completely internalize it. If the band as a whole begins thinking like champions, we can perform like champions, and overall win like champions. It’s a proactive way of thinking. We can’t sit and wait for the win to come to us, we have to get it for ourselves, in our heads! To do this, we must become the champions we aim to be. We must rehearse like champions, we must walk like champions, eat like champions, and breathe like champions. Most of all we must think like champions. This obstacle isn’t out of our reach; we may have to stretch, but..............

Last Night...............Wow

2009-09-30T22:26:00.000-04:00

After last night’s rehearsal it was clear, we totally learned this show. The band rose to the challenge and is now nailing this very difficult, incredible show. The guard was incredible, the drum line amazing, the pit great and the winds came out of nowhere this week and are powerful, musical and amazing. We could win this thing, if we perform, and the judges do the right thing. Mineola and Roslyn should be at the top of the class in any order. In my opinion, that’s what should happen. Grant it, I haven’t seen Mohonasson or Leroy or even Phoenix, the other 3 bands in our class, but from all I am hearing through the marching band “grapevine” they are having a similar year to last.

Prepare yourself for any placement! You cannot let the judges opinions dictate how we feel about what we have accomplished this year. You cannot challenge or complain about the judging because someday they will crown us championships. This is a subjective environment and it is part of the territory. Anything is possible. We can win, or we can get 5th out of 5. No matter what happens, I am totally excited about how much we have accomplished this year. We will still beat about half of the bands at the dome, a world away from our novice performance in 2002, a short 7 years ago. We are the fastest and most improved band in the state from our start in 2002. We are famous, incredible, and a powerhouse band!

After watching last year’s dome performance on youtube, it is clear we should have won the show. Yes I will admit it. Nobody did those incredible drill moves. It looked and sounded like a national class band. This year we have done it once again. Will we get credit for it? Maybe yes, maybe no. No matter what the result, we have left an incredible legacy here. Our band is simply amazing!

Be ready for anything. The only thing that is guaranteed is the fact that anything can happen with the scores.

Get psyched, and let’s have an incredible weekend!

Competition Update!

2009-09-27T06:58:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a much better performance than at Bethel! We closed the gap from 8 points to 4 points. Our train is back on the tracks and here we come! We are coming back and are once again a contender.

The Judges
The judges love our show. This is rare. They usually are very critical of the show, in fact, all shows. Our show they love, the drill, the music, the programming........everything. We just have to perform it, which we clearly are not yet doing. If we perform this show cleanly, without any musical tears, and with style both musically and visually, we can win this class. This is a huge undertaking however, considering the fact that the show is very hard, we have limited rehearsal time, and that we only have a month left. The staff and myself are confident that we can do it. The judges acknowledged that we are doing a difficult show and had some ideas about how we can get the show cleaner and more proficient.

Our Performance
I am going to be totally honest. After watching the performance again as I uploaded it on you tube I realized that there were still some major problems in the first and second tunes. We still have huge timing problems, keeping the band together. People are pulling fast and slow, entrances are off, and the band does not lock up the tempo. We cannot achieve any kind of excellence from the judges when we have these kinds of problems. This affects every caption at least 1/2 a point and can account for 6 points down from these tears. The fact that we are 4 points away, with multiple tears in each of the first two tunes is very promising in terms of where we can go with this show. In addition, the warm up area was very far away, which caused us a very short and weak warm up at the show. This is why we played very out of tune and poorly from a musical standpoint. Just listen to the youtube video. There are many wrong notes, out of tune notes, overblowing, and poor tone quality which we usually never display. Once again, I blame this on the poor warm up due to logistics at the Sachem facility so we shouldn’t have this problem in the future.

What we need to do
We need to practice and watch the drum majors. These are 4 of the best drum majors on the planet! They absolutely nailed this show with their superior conducting. If you follow them they will lead you to the championship. Marching around, listening foward, and taking your eyes off the drum majors even for a split second can lead to catastrophe in terms of the band not locking up. Once again, the drum majors follow the drummers, visually watching their feet and sticking, the band follows the drum majors visually, and the band locks up. Just like the demonstration I did yesterday with the three snare drummers. The visual count off was flawless while the audio count off was off. Yes, we have been taught to listen to music all around us our whole lives, to balance, tune up, and blend together, but when we are spread out on a football field we need to do the opposite and watch the drum majors. Once again, they are rock solid and will hold us together. We must never take our eyes off them.

The Pit and Colorguard
The pit was amazing! No problems, watch the youtube show. They listened back and were just about perfect! The guard was the best they have been in years, still a little off in some sections but everyone is right now.

This week we will be working on locking up the band on the first and second tunes and readjusting the colorguard spots on some of the impacts along with some general tweaking. We are rehearsing two nights this week, be there and be ready to work! Great job this weekend!

A Few Thoughts Going into Today

2009-09-26T06:17:00.000-04:00

Remember, this is subjective environment. Anything can happen today. We can be points up, we can be points down. In a subjective medium like marching band, we literally go with a clean slate every single week since the judges are different at each and every competition. Do not let the judges scores define how we feel about ourselves. We are the “most powerful and fastest growing band” in the field band conference. Our band has gotten significantly better year after year, just look at our youtube site. Everyone in the activity knows this. I told the band that we are the “train” an unstoppable, momentum gaining entity that nobody can stop. Never forget what we are doing and how great we are getting year to year. That 8 point spread two weeks ago was huge, I will not lie. The other bands think they have stopped our momentum, stopped our resolve. They haven’t. We just hit a speed bump, that’s all. We fell apart, pure and simple. A bad day. No matter what the judges think, never forget that. Do not let scores define us. Yes it is hard, we are in a society that is defined by the wins and losses. But in this activity anything can happen at any time. Like baseball, any team can win that 5 game series in the first round of the playoffs. In Marching Band, we are even in a better position since the weekly scores really mean nothing until the dome, the final competition in the “Big Room.” Look at the year we got 2nd at the dome. One week before we were 3 points under Division Avenue and slated to be the bottom 3 in the class according to the scores across the state. We should have come in 9th out of 12. Instead we received 2nd place! That 3 point lead that Division had was for all practical purposes unbeatable. We defied the odds and beat 8 bands that we shouldn’t have beaten! Act, think, and perform like champions. Be patient, the scores will come.

Reach Show - It's a Horse Race

2009-09-12T10:22:00.000-04:00

Being a part of the Roslyn family has changed my life for the better in many ways. For instance, at Roslyn I learned how to apply to colleges. First you have 3 target schools, colleges you can realistically get into. Then you apply to 3 safety schools, colleges that you know you can get into. Then you apply to 3 reach schools, colleges that are possible to get into and/or your dream schools. I never knew any of this, and with my daughter only in 8th grade, did not realize the significance of it all as I embarked on my own children’s college quests. Stephanie is now in her 2nd year of college and I am going through the same college search with Joey, my son who is a senior (quad player) at Mineola. Yes, here at Roslyn we “Reach.” We go for it, we push the envelope, we shoot for the stars. No matter how you word it, we always strive to be better, greater, more advanced. It is something I have grown to respect, love, and have made it a part of my own life in so many ways. Thank you Roslyn!

Now to our show. A “Reach”, that is what this year’s show is. We are reaching for the stars, trying to do a show which is a “great one.” This show is very difficult musically and visually. We are going for it. This show is designed to “Win.” It is the the “Harvard” of marching band shows. Even the judges yesterday loved it, they said it has so much potential. They consistantly noticed the difficulty, the power of the entire show and said if we execute it, wow, anything is possible!

There is no question, for whatever reasons, this week we fumbled in the opening two tunes. We fell apart, had some major problems, and didn’t recover quickly. Things went wrong that never went wrong. There are so many variables, who knows why. Maybe we were nervous, maybe tired, maybe this is just human nature. We are in a performance medium. Sometimes you excel and sometimes you falter. Just remember, you can never get better at anything unless you hit some speed bumps once in a while. The third and fourth tunes were much better but the damage had already been done. You just cannot score well when you fall apart like we did. Let’s regroup, practice, focus, bring our best game to the table and be great.

I am so proud of the resiliency of this band. Everyone is in high spirits, knows what we need to do and will do it. The 8 point spread between Mineola and ourselves is mostly due to the band’s problems in the first two tunes. We are very close, let’s just get it done.

As Mr. Carman so perfectly put it, it’s better to have these problems in Connecticut at the first show of the season, than on Long Island at the end of the season. Yes, we started our season off and are now underway, big time. Not exactly the opening we wanted, that’s for sure, but we will learn from our mistakes and achieve greatness. The other Long Island bands will be starting at the end of the month while we are into the season and rocking! We have worked hard and will continue on our quest to build a dynasty.

Practice, have sectionals, and learn the music so that you can have a better personal best each and every week. Come to rehearsals ready to rock!

Remember, this is a horse race. The season ends at the dome and that is where we need to peak. That is where it really counts. Our show is a Championship Show, we just have to execute it!

What can you do? Practice, practice, practice. Come to lessons this week, the lesson rotations start, download it from the Symphonic Band or Wind Ensemble pages. All band members are in the rotations. Have sectionals. Practice on your own and learn your music so well that you can play it marching. Being able to play the show sitting down will just not do it, you have to know it cold, inside out. Colorguard, practice your routine so you can nail it and do it together. The routine is down but not together. Watch the youtube site to fix your mistakes. We have alot of work to do if we are going to master this show this year. Let’s do it!

We will be working on the opener on Wednesday night, breaking it down musically and visually. We have a home football game on Thursday at 4:30. Let’s be amazing at that and prove to ourselves that we can nail this show!

We're Already Ahead of Schedule

2009-09-07T05:51:00.000-04:00

Here is the long term goal chart we set up in 2004. We set a long term goal for the band to be in the National Class by 2017. Long term and short term goals are important in life and by doing this we could get a good idea of what we have already accomplished and where we are going. This year, 2009, we are supposed to score in the middle of SS2 (small school 2). We already did that last year so our short term goal is to win the class or place 2nd this year, then we could petition to move up to SS1 next year or the year after. The obvious disadvantage to moving up a class is that the bands are stronger and harder to compete against. The advantage is that we are on later in each Long Island show (the only class that goes after SS1 is the National Class) and that we are on in the evening at the dome, with a huge crowd, higher scores, and a more prestigious environment. There is no pressure, just work hard and we will be going ahead, moving through these steps in the building of our dynasty!

Subjective Judging - Please Read

2009-09-05T07:07:00.000-04:00

And now a little blog which I have posted before about the judging system and the marching activity. You have to go into this activity knowing what to expect. If we win great, if we don’t then maybe next year. People who live in a sports world may have a hard time with this system. In the “Cutting Edge,” a movie about a professional hockey player who loses his peripheral vision and joins forces with a famous ice skater, joining the ranks of the olympics, it is very obvious the differences when the judges make “all the calls.” The prior hockey player has trouble comprehending his new medium. The following paragraphs are to let you know what we as the marching staff deal with, live with, and try to conquer the best we can in our “quest to be the best.” I will update you after each show on our inner workings, what we are doing, and what our goals are through this blog.

Marching band judges each have a caption, which I listed in the prior blog post on September 3rd. The judges are supposed to judge their caption without going "out of caption." They don't do this which is obvious by the fact that they almost always rank all the bands in the same exact order across all captions. This defies reason, each band is strong in different areas and realistically, each judged caption should have the bands in a different order. Now check out this scenario, hope I don’t lose you. Sometimes the visual judges only judge the guard without even looking at the band marching style, forms, posture, etc. This puts a band that marches a difficult show well at a disadvantage because they get no credit for their work. Sometimes the music judges also decide to judge the visual, which diminishes a band's music score since it isn't being judged. When a music judge does this and is not impressed with the visual aspect, a band in essence is "penalized" twice for the visual portion of the show. Actually, the band is penalized a third time since there is no credit given from that judge for the music they are doing. As staff members we try to be subjective, but still are scratching our heads as we leave some of the contests because the numbers don't even seem to line up with the taped critiques. Oh yes, each judge makes a tape critiquing the band. We get these tapes immediately after we perform and go to the staff room to listen to the tapes and prepare for the post contest judges meeting, where we get 5 minutes with each judging group (visual and music) to get an in person evaluation from the judges.

You need to know, when you get involved in this activity, that it is a "subjective judging" environment. I probably should repeat that last sentence a hundred times! These scores are entirely determined by the judges' evaluations using the judges sheets. The judges decide absolutely everything. It is very much like figure skating or judged olympic events. They make the call for everything. One or two judges can bury you, giving you a score so low that it moves you out of contention for winning a contest. This has happened to us at all the contests last year. We may not agree with the judges, but complaining will not solve anything since we realize that this is a "subjective" environment. It comes with the territory. Those same judges could have had us up by points, giving us a large lead over all the other bands.

Sometimes the judges don’t give you credit for something amazing. For instance, at the dome last year not one of the 12 judges (double slate at the dome) said one word during our drum feature, they were silent. It was probably one of the high points in the entire dome, the drum conveyor belt and the band doing the walk through box. National Class Bands did not even attempt what we mastered. Just look at our youtube site. But the judges, not one word!!!! Can’t complain, nowhere to complain to, we’ll just get them mad. We work the judges as best we can and chip away at them, selling our program in those post contest meetings and wherever else we can. Remember, patience, patience, patience. The wins will come, I went through this with Mineola (I taught there for 11 years) in our climb from last to 1st on the island. Mineola had the high long island scores in 1997 and 1998, over everyone. It took quite a bit of patience, wow! Many rough show scores in that climb, the same thing we are going through right now.

Then you have a situation like last year at the dome, when 6 of the 7 bands in our class were constantly moving, one band sat down on park benches for one third of their show. They tied for 1st place! Every student who plays an instrument sits down their whole first 5 or 6 years, the easiest way to play an instrument. The judges chose them and put them in 1st despite the fact that they sat playing. Some bands cut the band down to their top players, having auditions and being more selective. They win with 40 or 50 total in their band. Here at Roslyn we want as many kids involved as possible so we don’t cut it down to the best, most experienced players. Touching lives is why we are here! This is why some conferences give you higher scores if you are a larger band, and put the bands in size order, total number of band members or musicians.

What the audience usually responds to is "general effect". It only accounts for about 40% of the score and that is why people don't always agree with the judges' results.

Many marching band people say that the only way you can tell who is the best is to wait until the dome. That is where all the bands in the class perform at the same time, for the same judges, in the same environment. At the dome the judging slates are doubled, so the scores are derived from 12 judges. Anything can happen at championships.

How We Get Judged

2009-09-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

A Brief History of Long Island Competitive Marching Bands. I put this up each year for the new parents and to refresh everyone on our judging system.
There are approximately fifteen bands that compete on Long Island. Roslyn is the most recent addition to this group (it's our 7th season). The others have been in this competition circuit for 30 to 40 years. Competitive bands can perform 30 to 60 forms (this year we have 67, up from 32 two years ago), are constantly moving, with memorized music (no lyres), and march in synchronized perfection (or as close as is possible). The other 50 plus Long Island non-competition bands perform their shows during halftime at home football games and at the Newsday Festival. They tend to perform between 3 and 15 pictures (abstract forms) and do a much less complex show.

There are several competitive circuits in our area. There is the MAC circuit, in Conncecticut and northern New England, the TOB (Tournament of Bands) circuit in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the YEA circuit, which encompasses the entire East Coast, and the NYSFBC (New York State Field Band Conference) which we compete in. The Long Island bands always seem to compete together. In the 80s and early 90s the Long Island bands competed in the Tournament of Bands. The Championships were usually in Scranton, PA. Then in the mid 90's the bands switched to a new circuit, the CMBC (Cadets Marching Band Circuit) which was run by the Bergen County Cadets, one of the top Drum Corps in the world. The draw of this circuit was it's Championships at Giant's Stadium. When the Giant's put in real turf the CMBC was no longer able to use the stadium, they changed their name to YEA, and moved the championships to venues in Atlantic City, Hersheypark, and Scranton. It was about this time that the Long Island Bands started to transfer to the NYSFBC, the draw to this conference mainly being the Carrier Dome championships, which is obviously indoors, and an incredible venue. The NYSFBC is also a band director driven group, which I feel is the best of the circuits in terms of it's positive outlook and emphasis on education. By the end of the 90's almost all of the Long Island Competitive bands competed in the Carrier Dome/NYSFBC.

Each circuit has a totally different way of judging, different criteria, different judges, and different philosophies. I will now go over the NYSFBC judging system as best I can in a few paragraphs.

NYSFBC Band Classes
There are two main criteria for determining classes in the NYSFBC. There are Small School Classes (SS3, SS2, and SS1) which are determined by school size and the quality level of the program. There are the Large School Classes (LS3, LS2). Class 3 are the less advanced bands, Class 2 the more advanced bands, and Class 1 the most advanced. The top class, reserved for the best in the country is the National Class which consists of incredible bands of any school size. Since they are determined by school size, there can be tiny bands and huge bands in the same class in the NYSFBC. For instance, Northwestern, who won SS2 for several years, marched around 40 members. Some bands have only the really serious musicians and guard people in their bands, which makes them smaller and easier to make perfect. My goal as a band director has been to get as many people involved in the program as possible. In our conference, you get a bump in General Effect from being big but that's about all. In the YEA conference, the larger the bands, the bigger the class, and the higher the scores; they reward you for being bigger and feel that the General Effect of a larger group gives you a higher score.

NYSFBC Judging / How We Get Judged
In the NYSFBC there are two large areas that we are judged on, Visual and Music. Each of these two areas are broken down into three segments, Field, Ensemble, and General Effect. So here are the six judges that judge us: Field Visual, Ensemble Visual, GE Visual, Field Music, Ensemble Music, and GE Music.

Field Visual: This judge is on the field, walking around, through, and in front of the band. This judge's job is to evaluate the individuals on the field and how they march, do their guard work, and how they look as individuals.

Ensemble Visual: This judge is up in the stands and evaluates the drill, the band and the guard doing their designs and work as an ensemble, the artistic value of the show.

GE Visual: This judge sits up in the stands and judges the "General Effect" of the visual portion of the band and guard. This is usually what the audience responds to, the GE.

Field Music: This judge is on the field, walking around, through, and in front of the band. This judge's job is to evaluate the individuals musicians on how they are playing their parts.

Ensemble Music: This judge is up in the stands and evaluates how the band performs their music as an ensemble. This judge evaluates the difficulty of the show, how clean the band is playing musically, and how they sound.

GE Music: This judge sits up in the stands and judges the "General Effect" of the music. This is usually what the audience responds to, the GE.

Balancing It All on the Head of a Pin

2009-09-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

That’s what I call it, making a rehearsal schedule for a competitive marching band. How much to rehearse, how many shows to do, how we rehearse, and how to handle attendance are key parts of running this marching band which I deal with every day. Balancing the schedule of a competition marching band is a delicate endeavor. Meeting the needs of the students is the priority however we do "compete" so we need to maximize our rehearsal time, and get as much done as is possible. We need to utilize every minute without hurting the quality of our group. The balance is as tricky as balancing something on the head of a pin. I have been asked many questions from parents and students about how I schedule rehearsals and competitions so in the spirit of communication I have posted my philosophy of rehearsals, competitions, and how we have built our schedule.

How Many Hours to Rehearse
I have had some parents ask me why we rehearse so much. I have had even more parents ask me why we don’t rehearse more. Well, when starting the competitive marching band here at Roslyn, they rehearsed 2 nights a week, Saturdays, and did a show every weekend. They even added some rehearsals if the band needed it. Coming here in 2003, I decided that we would go with a 1 night rehearsal format, no Saturday rehearsals, and try to add an hour or two of rehearsing on show days, before we leave the high school. This is the least that I felt we could practice and still be competitive. By having great communication among the staff, proper planning, and efficient rehearsals, I felt we could build a dynasty with this structure. Hicksville HS in the 90’s had the highest scores on Long Island and had this exact schedule. I observed them frequently and they were efficient, there wasn’t a minute of wasted time in their rehearsals. It amazed me that they could have the highest of scores and rehearse so much less than the bands they were scoring above. I used them as a model when I came here to Roslyn.

Why No Shows on Columbus Day Weekend?
I always schedule a break weekend in the middle of the season to recharge our collective batteries. I copied this from some of the upstate bands. Playing the same music over and over can be daunting and create a malaise among band members. By taking a weekend off to visit colleges, or just spend time with our families, we can create another peak for our band, hopefully at the dome. I feel that this avoids us getting into a plateau where we stagnate.

Back to Backs
Why not do two shows in a weekend like all the other bands in our area?
We don’t do “back to backs,” a Saturday and Sunday show weekend, and here is my reason. I have always, throughout my 26 years of doing marching band, avoided doing two shows on a weekend. Many bands do this and feel that it helps them keep the momentum going. I feel it becomes too taxing. In my formative years, I had a famous band director upstate tell me “never do back to backs.” I asked why, he said “look at your kids on Sunday night after doing a back to back and that will answer your question.” Two years ago, not sticking with that advice, we did a “back to back” for the first time, the New York Championship at Griffin Field the day after the Denton Avenue Show. I looked at our kids after the Sunday performance and now I totally agree; I feel one show a weekend is definitely enough. As a side note on this issue, the upstate bands do Saturday night shows, and nothing else on Sunday and those bands are amazing. Rarely do you see one of the top upstate National Bands double up shows on a weekend.

Formulating the Schedule
I build the schedule in April, put it up online, finalize it in mid August, tweak it and add times in September and stick to it. I do not schedule anything on the “off weekend." I will not add anything after school starts because I feel it is unfair to the band members to require them to be at everything and then add something. We get many requests to perform at various events on and off our campus with only a few weeks notice. My policy is clear, we will perform if given the dates prior to band camp. Requiring perfect attendance, which we must do since we have a drill where every person is of the utmost importance, creates this policy where we don’t add performances after the schedule is finalized.

Rehearse Less? Rehearse More?
For the parents that say we need to rehearse less, I submit that it would greatly hinder us to even take a few hours out of this schedule. We are at a bare minimum in terms of being a competing band. Any less would mean going to a “home game and Newsday band” format, where we only perform at the home games and Newsday Festival, which is what most bands on Long Island do. Any more rehearsing, and we would burn out, not be fresh with the show, and it would hinder our academics and not leave time for jobs, other activities, etc. Personally, I feel that a competition band teaches so much more about music and life. I feel that the schedule we have is perfect for our school, students, parents, and community.

Is Our Schedule Working?
I feel that our schedule is clearly working. We are very successful, being one of the most talked about bands, getting exponentially better each year. Our competitors, virtually every one of them, rehearse twice as much as us. We are certainly among the top 3 or 4 bands on Long Island, regardless of the scores, so this schedule works for us.

Constantly Learning and Tweaking
As a band director I am constantly learning about maximizing rehearsal time, meeting with the staff regularly, and tweaking our schedule year to year. I welcome parental and student input and have used it regularly. Right now, I feel we are on the right track with our schedule. Our kids are excited, fresh, and love the marching band, which is the top priority!

Contacting Me

2009-05-01T13:13:00.002-04:00

I think it is extremely important to have access to me as a teacher and band director. I get very upset as a parent when I contact a teacher and it takes them days to get back to me, so I understand how important communication between a teacher and parents is. I feel that I am very accessible and take great pride in that. Getting back to someone quickly shows respect and caring towards them. I even give my cell phone out on trips, so most parents in the band have access to my cell phone number, which I don't have a problem with. I would like to go over some ways in which you can contact me quickly and efficiently.

E-mail
I have an iphone and check the e-mail pattersax.com about 10 to 20 times a day. This is quite simply the most efficient and quick way to contact me. I will usually get back to you within a few hours, it may be longer on the weekend but will be within 24 hours, even if I am away on vacation. If you want me to call you on the phone, e-mail me the phone number. If the issue needs personal attention I will call you back. Talking is a much more personal way of communicating if it is an issue of a sensitive nature. If it is simply informational, or a question, an e-mail is the best way to ask.

Texting
Having a daughter in college and two sons in 11th grade and 7th grade, I text all the time. Texting to my cell phone is another way of getting to me if you don’t have e-mail access and want a quick answer or a call to your phone. Band officers, drum majors, and captains text me if they are late or need some quick info. Make sure you tell me who you are when you text me if you don’t have a signature included with the text.

School Phone
The school phone number is a new number this year, a direct line to Mr. Coffey and myself. If you leave me a message on the school phone, it will go directly to my e-mail as an audio file, I will have it within minutes, so this is another way to get in touch with me. The number is 516-801-5152. Once again, let me know how you want me to get back to you.

Cell Phone
Please only call my cell phone if it is an absolute emergency. I have all the parent numbers and student numbers in my cell phone so your name will probably come up if you call me on my cell. Assuming it is an emergency, I will answer, even if I am changing a diaper or reading my little ones a bedtime story at home. Please only reserve this mode of communication if it is an emergency and you need to talk to me immediately.

Snail Mail
Forget it, if there isn’t a check in it, I throw it out! :)

My Own Personal Communication Rules
These are a few of my own rules that I try to use with communication. Once again, the medium is constantly in flux, so we all have to be aware of the new ways of communicating and work within it.

I never write an e-mail when I am angry or upset.
I have to be ready for anything I write to be put up on a wall or handed out. E-mail is permanent.
I make an attempt to be aware of who has direct e-mail to their phone and don’t e-mail them at times I know are “personal times.” I know they will get the e-mail immediately, it will disturb them and that it will take them away from their family. I usually make a point to e-mail people like that during a work day or before dinner time, unless it is very important.
I always try to write “how’s it going” or open with something personal if it is an initiating first e-mail to someone. Some people send very business like e-mails which can be misconstrued as cold and harsh.
If it is a sensitive issue, I make a phone call. Nothing is more personal than hearing the tone of a voice. With e-mails, sometimes the real compassion and caring gets lost.
Be aware of what server you are going through with any e-mail or voicemail. The company you are going through owns and stores any communication you make.

Assistant Drum Major Positions

2009-04-22T21:30:00.001-04:00

After much thought, Ms. Miller and I have decided to add two assistant drum majors to the student leadership team. The fact that we are now faced with 4 drum majors, all seniors, graduating after next year brought us to this conclusion. Looking at the shows we are considering after the 2009-2010 season, we will be going forward with two drum majors and two assistant drum majors each year. The assistant drum majors will be chosen from students in grades 9-11 during the 2009-2010 school year. The assistant drum majors will remain in the band and play on their instruments during their assistant drum major season. They will be in training to be drum majors and will move up into the drum major position the following year if all goes well in their learning season. An audition process will start immediately and will culminate at band camp, with the final auditions and decision made during camp. If the chosen people hold captain or leadership positions within the band they will relinquish them when they become assistant drum major. We will fill those vacated positions with the people who were next on the list after the interview process which was completed this year, as long as those people have been attending the Wednesday night rehearsals, a prerequisite for getting and/or keeping any student leadership position.

Letters of intent need to be sent to Mr. Patterson asap and must be recieved by June 1st if you are interested in trying out. A 300 word essay describing why you want to audition for assistant drum major and what you have to offer as the band’s drum major the following year must be part of the letter of intent.

In addition, there is a possibility that one of our student leaders positions may be vacated in the next few weeks. Once again, we will fill that vacated position with the person who was next on the list after the interview process last November, as long as that person has been attending the Wednesday night rehearsals.

CGX final performance at Roselle Park, NJ!

2009-04-05T15:26:00.002-04:00

The Roslyn CGX Colorguard performed an amazing show in New Jersey today at the TOB Competition at Roselle Park HS. Performing an incredible performance from the beginning to the end, the Colorguard had energy, aura, and was the best colorguard we ever had here at Roslyn. This competes a great debut season for the winterguard, performing among the best colorguards in the region. Congratulations to all the girls and Ms. McMahon, who directs the colorguard. Special thanks to Mr. Bennett, who wrote and taught the drill, and Mr. Downey, who helped teach the guard this Winter.

CGX Ranks 25th out of 36 in their class!!!!

2009-03-17T09:53:00.003-04:00

Check this out! Our CGX Winterguard is now ranked 25 out of 36 in the huge TOB conference! Check out their ranking! Hit the link on the roslynband.com website to see the ranking in our region! Also check out the Roslyn Marching Band You Tube site to see their performance! Both links are also available to the left of this post.

Winterguard Rocks in First Competition!!!

2009-03-16T13:16:00.002-04:00

I couldn’t believe it! There I was, sitting in the bleachers at Copiague HS, waiting for our CGX colorguard to make their first appearance ever in Winterguard Competition. The audience was all set to go. We had already seen some indoor percussion groups and a few independent and middle school winterguards perform. Then the girls entered, with the most confident look I have ever seen! They set down their flags, got into position and they began their show. Is this a first year Winterguard? No way! They are amazing! Moving through the non-stop drill with precision, the guard did a series of arm moves to the music, and then went to the flags, picking them up as they continued an amazing performance from beginning to end. We were amazed and many in the audience were surprised that this was the first time out in Winter competition for this group. There were a few hiccups, a flag misplaced due to the girls never performing the show in the big gym. No problem, Lauren, having no flag to use, modified her moves to look like a dance routine to the two other flags as they performed their trio in the opening tune. Genius! And when another flag was in the wrong place, Alana saved the day by picking up another flag, since that sequence needed everyone with a flag for the routine to work correctly! Her quick thinking amazed us, and made a more positive situation for the judges to see!

Yes, believe it or not, this was the CGX’s first performance in competition......ever! Unbelievable! They have in one season turned themselves into champions, surpassing any expectation that could ever be placed on a first time guard.

Congratulations to the captains, Jessica Margulis, Lauren Passaro, and Faye Sun. Their hard work and dedication are definitely paying off! Their leadership is incredible.

Congratulations to Ms. McMahon who has, in one season, made an incredible impression on the Colorguard Activity, surely becoming one of the top coloruard directors in the country! Her rapport with the girls, while leading them is unparalleled. Her love for her students is clear to anyone who has worked with her. Ms. McMahon’s style and guidance has totally forged the way for us to have one of the best guards anywhere! Thanks to Mr. Bennett for his incredible drill, instructing the girls, and helping with all those little things which make us incredible. And thanks to Mr. Downey, whose tireless dedication, encouragement, and teaching has helped to bring this guard to this level.

Lauren and Jessica at Macy's Parade

2008-11-30T01:00:00.007-05:00

Jessica Margulis and Lauren Passaro, members of the Marching Bulldogs' Colorguard, marched down Broadway twirling Macy's Flags as part of Macy's All-American Marching Band in the 82nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Macy's All-American Marching Band is comprised of 230 high school students from every state in the nation. Jessica and Lauren smiled to the crowds, estimated to be approximately 3.5 million, as the Marching Band escorted the guest of honor, Santa Claus to the parade's finale; Macy's Herald Square. NBC broadcasted the parade in its entirety reaching over 50 million viewers. Viewers who tuned in to the NBC broadcast were able to catch a glimpse of Jessica and Lauren and the All-American Marching Band as the parade came to a close with the arrival of Santa Claus.

You can see more pictures of them at the roslynband.com website.

Video of National Telecast

Look at our youtube site and hit the first video in the favorites box, you can see Lauren and Jessica at time markers 4:42 and 4:59. The parade was watched by over 50 million people on television.

What Happened Friday Night?

2008-11-23T20:22:00.002-05:00

I received a few questions about the roslynband site being down on Friday night. Here's the update.

On Friday night I decided to post the leadership positions after the Roslyn "Noises Off" show so it wouldn't distract from the show.
At 8:15 I posted on the roslynband.com website that I was going to post the leadership positions at 10:30pm.
At 10:25, I went to schoolnotes, the Roslynband.com website and couldn't get on, they were doing site maintainance and the entire schoolnotes website was down. This is the first time I have ever seen this happen with the schoolnotes site.
I then, at 10:27, posted the leadership positions on patterblog.com, my other website, and sent an e-mail to the 70 students in the band that I have e-mails for.
There were about 300 hits on that website in the hour between 10:30 and 11:30pm. I figured at that point that most people figured out I posted it on the other website.
Just wanted to give everyone an update of the events leading to the posting last night.