Welcome to Nieman Elementary Bands

Intro and Show Release

Hi there!

I am so honored to be a part of your band! I cannot wait to meet each and every one of the students, parents, and supporters of the Shawnee Mission North Band Program! We are so fortunate to have on staff this year:

  • Michaela Middleton and Ellery Bailey – Dance Coaches
  • Casey Miller – Percussion
  • Lyle Simpson – Hocker Grove
  • Ed Tovar – Associate SMN

As you are able, please join Remind. As I understand this has been used in the past and for continuity I have created a class (hopefully) in the same format as previous years. The link for the Remind “Class” is below!

SMNBand

We have been busy working on the upcoming show, and I believe we have found just the one! The show is entitled “The Rise of the Phoenix” and features “Legacy” by Michael Markowski, “Ashes” by Celine Dion, and “The Firebird Finale” by Igor Stravinsky. The sheet music and an mp3 are linked below! I’m excited to hear what you all think!

Our work continues in creating exciting theatrical elements to the musical performance! I cannot tell you how excited I am to meet the students, parents, and community in the very near future. With that being said, should you have the ability to do so please follow the link below and begin practicing! (Please reach out if you have any technical difficulty, I am happy to help)

2024 SMN Marching Show “The Rise of the Phoenix”

Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] should you have any questions, concerns, or comments! Thank you so much for your time and effort in making our band better!

Best,

Galen

band announcements May 17-21

May 17th (Fri) itinerary-
5:45PM- section leaders/seniors report
6:00- current 8th grade band students report and eat pizza with section leaders/seniors.
6:30- ALL North band students report to band room, then will dismiss to sectionals.  Parents of 8th graders and booster members will meet in the choir room.
6:50- parent meeting continues until concluded, but all all band members back to band room to meet new band director for a “meet-and-greet”.  Summer/fall instrument rentals will take in in the back of band room with Ms. Beasley.
7:30ish- dismiss
May 21st graduation itinerary-
All current 9th-11th graders report to seminar for attendance, then immediately report to band room to run through graduation music.  This should be 15-20 minutes, then you can pass to see other teachers.  If a student cannot make this rehearsal, please tell Mr. Reed.
6:00PM- report to band room for attendance/warmup.  Will stage for graduation, either stadium or fieldhouse.  Sunday best, look nice, you will be on TV!
7:00- graduation begins.  Should end around 8:30 or so.
Angie H, Lydia C, Gavin J, Jack E, Jared A, Aleana R, Sawyer M, Sam R, please submit a check for $25 (made out to Shaw-Mi-No) for the June 7th/8th (9am-4pm) Blue Valley North Leadership Camp.  Shaw-Mi-No will cover the additional $25 registration fee.  FYI all current 10th/11th grade band students, we have two additional spots for this leadership camp…first come/first serve availability.
We do not have a final Varsity Marching Camp rehearsal in May or June.  I know there were originally rehearsals May 22-24, but those are no longer on the calendar.  Graduation will be the last evening event for band.

band announcements April 22-May 6

-If you are participating this Saturday (April 27th) at the State Solo/Ensemble festival at Washburn Rural HS, see attached schedule.
-Although we have postponed the online fundraising opportunity, please click this link if you would like to donate to the Shaw-Mi-No booster general fund.  Thank you! https://checkout.square.site/merchant/MLDRJPT2J1VNF/checkout/7K5ZYLH6YHBP4K33AK4JTVUT
-Parents, we are in need of a few more volunteers for the May 3rd Pizza Jazz event.  Please click this link if you can help for a little bit, and thanks in advance!  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EA4A92DA5FEC52-49217482-2024#/
Due to a scheduling conflict, the May 4th Drumline auditions have been rescheduled for after school Monday, May 6th, from 3-5PM.
Reserve the date…band carwash on Saturday, May 4th, 10AM-3PM.  More information to follow!
Thanks everyone!
Mr. Reed

Band announcements April 4-13

April 4- Shawnee Mission Concert Band Festival at SM Northwest. 6:30 report time in the Northwest cafeteria.  Wear all black dress clothes. Concert begins at 7:00PM and is free to the public. We perform second, but kids are expected to stay for the duration, it should be over around 8:30PM.

 

April 8- Symphonic and Concert band Contest Concert, to be held in the North auditorium. 6:30PM report time in the band room.  The concert begins at 7:00PM.  Concert band should wear all-black dress clothes, symphonic band should wear their symphonic band uniform.  This should be a short evening, as those are the only two groups performing.  We are also kicking off a huge fundraiser, but everything should wrap up before 7:45 PM.

 

April 13, Solo/Ensemble festival at Olathe South high school. Specific times and rooms can be found on the attached document.  The large percussion ensemble is still not on there, I’m working on that.

 

Finally, could everyone please review the schoolfundr document? This is a way for our band to make our $20,000 goal.  All students should begin loading family/friends emails using the provided QR code. Parents, most of your kids have already created an account so you need to ask your child what their password is, if you are planning to help them get 20 emails.  Kids, please make sure your parents can help you get 20 emails of family, friends, etc.  I know many of you have questions regarding the nuts and bolt of this fundraiser, and we will go over all of that at the concert next Monday night.  The vital thing right now is for everyone to create an account, and get 20 emails into their account, so we can start our fundraiser on April 9th.

 

This can be such an easy fundraiser to help the band make as much as we make hosting the SM North Marching Invitational!  This is that big of a deal! The North track team very recently made over $10,000 doing this fund raiser!

 

Go North band!

Mr. Reed

 

March 26th- additional band announcements

Band students, please vote for the band nominees for the 2024 Spring Court.  Use this link and please do so by tomorrow, Wednesday, March 27th 3:00PM.  Students, please use your SMSD account when voting.  Here’s the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNRtoXwzoPhvznqCP-7kl2HQ5Bo8Jz0aTyV939bCiWKLn5TQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

Everyone, two date changes to the Spring calendar:

 

Booster meeting Monday, April 1st at 5:45PM (instead of April 2nd)

 

Spring Concert will be Wednesday, May 8th at 7:00PM in the auditorium (instead of May 7th).

 

That’s it for now. Thank you!

Mr. Reed

final March 4th Kauffman details

 

Monday:

 

Students need to arrive to school with their instruments, black shirt/dress uniform, concert black shoes (no sneakers), music and instrument.

 

 

Students are then dismissed from block 7, to change into uniform and prepare for the bus.

 

Our bus situation has challenges because of conflicting school bus routes. The plan is as follows:

Bus 1 will leave at 2:15pm- Bus 1 is ALL BAND students- drop off at Grace and Holy Trinity

Bus 2 will leave at 3:15pm- Bus 2 is ALL ORCHESTRA VIOLINS- drop off at Grace and Holy Trinity. Ms. Beasley is chaperoning this bus.

Bus 3 will leave at 3:45pm- Bus 2 is ALL ORCHESTRA CELLOS/VIOLAS/BASSES- drop off at Kauffman. Cook is on this bus.

 

Please see bus rosters. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A24TlevXu1xo7DrnE8_zJCGVuWp0o4DIetlZR7ZNMhE/edit#gid=0

 

 

The issue we had is that Kauffman won’t allow students to enter before 4:30pm.

Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral downtown has graciously allowed our bus 1 and 2 students to be dropped off there where they will be able to eat, use restrooms and rest before reporting to the Kauffman. Bus 3 will report directly to the Kauffman.

 

These are one-way buses. All students are expected to depart the Kaufman center with a parent or another mode of transportation, we will not have a bus to take students back to North. For safety reasons, construction on Broadway, and liability of instruments, administration has made it clear that ALL students need to ride the bus to the Kaufman center and not provide their own transportation there.  Cellos/basses, please make a plan for transporting your instrument.

 

 

 

Students will be provided a sack meal via SMN cafeteria. Bus 1 and 2 will eat their meal at Grace and Holy Trinity. Bus 3 will need to eat before departure from SMN or on the bus to the Kauffman. The “sack dinner” is being provided by the school (free of charge), which includes PBJ sandwich, carrots, cheese stick and milk. You’re more than welcome to bring something else.

 

At 4:30pm, Bus 1 and 2 will walk down with Mr. Reed and Ms. Beasley (SMN Band directors) to the Kauffman, where we will meet up with Bus 3. We will enter Kauffman all together, as there is a check in process that starts at 5pm sharp.

 

Students will get checked in with their instrument/school group, go to their warmup space and drop off instruments before finding their seat in the Kauffman before the concert begins at 6pm.

 

Tickets:

I have received many emails of people still needing more tickets. After speaking with the organization, they have released the following statement:

 

The ticket links may start showing “sold out.” This is beyond our control as KCPA dictates which sections they make available when the concert is GA. That said, no concert will be truly sold out, as many people reserve more tickets than they need. Please encourage parents of your students and anyone else to show up for the concert even if they don’t have a ticket reserved. KCPA will release any unclaimed seats with plenty of time before the concert starts, so don’t worry – everyone will get a seat.

 

The concert begins with Youth Symphony of Kansas City Repertory Orchestra, followed by Staley High School band. SMN band is expected to take the stage by 7:20pm, and SMN orchestra by 8:10pm.

 

This is a concert festival where students will receive written and audio feedback from clinicians who are in the audience. This is also a huge opportunity for our students to make wonderful memories performing in one of the premiere concert halls in the world. THANK YOU for being so supportive of your student in music. Please let me know if you have any questions!

 

band announcements Feb. 26-March 4

Hello everyone-

 

This Friday (3/1) both jazz bands and Hocker Grove jazz band will host our annual Spring Swing!  We’ll play 2 hours of dance music.  This isn’t so much a concert as it is a party.  We will also have appetizers and other food items.  The event is in the North cafeteria from 6:30-8:30PM.  Adults are $15/ea and students are $8/ea and everyone should pay at the door.  This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the jazz program.  Again, you will have a great time, we hope to see you there!

 

Here’s the link to donate food items for this Friday’s (3/1) Spring Swing: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EA4A92DA5FEC52-48156249-spring#/

 

Here’s the link to help volunteer for this Friday’s (3/1) Spring Swing: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EA4A92DA5FEC52-48163054-spring#/

 

This is a really fun event, thanks in advance for everyone’s help!

 

 

Symphonic bands, our final Monday night rehearsal is today/tomorrow (2/26) on the stage, from 6:30-8:30PM.  Our Kauffman performance is next Monday, March 4th.  Here’s the link. To get your free tickets, we’re performing during the 6PM performance: https://tickets.kauffmancenter.org/22231?queueittoken=e_waitingroom5~q_152695c3-e539-4914-8da2-a732118c5823~ts_1708899682~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_c392395fa9cf88d9d7b26e4f750af833858eead6206eb7d672384e2238c9e72b

 

March 4th Kauffman free tickets link below

Hi everyone-

Although many of us are headed off to Wichita tomorrow for the state music convention, including a Jazz Ensemble performance this Friday, at 4:25PM in in the Wichita Hyatt Regency ballrooms, I wanted to get ticking information out for the March 4th Kauffman performance.

 

The SM North Symphonic Band will perform at the Kauffman on Monday, March 4th at 6:00PM.  Tickets are free!  However, you need to use the link below to receive your tickets.

 

Again, please reserve your tickets and spread the news to EVERYONE you know, this is going to be a very special night!  Here’s the link: https://tickets.kauffmancenter.org/22231

 

We are performing at the 6PM concert.

 

Between Pancake dinner, KMEA convention, Kauffman, spring swing, all within 4 weeks of each other…wow!

 

Mr. Reed

band announcements Feb. 5th-March 4th

Upcoming events:
Monday, Feb. 5th– band booster meeting at 5:45PM in the band room.  Everyone is invited to attend!  We always keep the meetings to one hour.
The next item is a copy/paste from last week, but it’s regarding this Tuesday’s concert:
Tuesday, Feb. 6th Pancake Dinner/Concert itinerary:
5:45PM- everyone meet in the cafeteria to start eating pancakes.  The cost is $8 a person.  I know it’s a little more than in the past, but all of our costs have gone up.  Although it’s optional to eat, PLEASE make plans to eat with us…it’s a really fun night to share dinner together!
6:00- both jazz bands will play in the cafeteria as everyone is eating
6:45ish- everyone walks over to the auditorium for the concert.  All bands will play two songs, in the following order: 6th grade honor band, freshman band, concert band, symphonic band.  The concert will conclude around 7:30PM.  Students, this is a graded event.
Students, concert attire is business/Sunday best.  Slacks, button down shirt or sweater, dress, etc.  No specific color coordination.
The following copy/paste was also from last week’s email, pertaining to this Friday basketball game:
Feb. 9th– pep-band basketball game.  Report time of 6:00PM.  We’re starting a little earlier because it’s band feeder night.  This is an “all hands-on deck” game since we’ve invited all 6th-8th graders.  Please email me if you have a scheduling conflict.
New Items:
Symphonic band, we are good to go for our 3 Monday night rehearsals, Feb. 12th, 19th (Presidents Day) and 26th.  We will start at 6:30PM and go to 8:30PM.
One final note regarding the Feb. 19th rehearsal…the Jazz Ensemble will play their KMEA state concert set in the auditorium from 6:30-6:55PM.  Everyone is invited to attend, parents/students/family members, everyone!  Their KMEA state performance will be Friday, Feb. 23rd at 4:25PM at the Wichita Hyatt Regency Hotel, ballrooms D-G.
Finally, I will have more detailed information regarding symphonic band’s March 4th Kauffman center performance at a later time.  I’m waiting to get the link so you can get your free tickets.  Having said that, the concert is from 6-8PM.  Everyone is invited to attend- stay tuned regarding obtaining free tickets.
Some big events coming up, continue to get some rest!
Mr. Reed

band announcements Jan. 30th-Feb. 9th

Parents-
We are in need of some volunteers for next week’s Pancake dinner/concert (see below).  It’s a fun evening, but we’re needing a few more helping hands.  Please sign up using this link, thanks in advance: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EA4A92DA5FEC52-47072203-pancake#/
A special shout out to the following students who made the KMEA all-state band!  We’ve never had this many kids make it…way to go!  Also, a special congrats to Anahi Silva, as she is the 1at 4 year all-state band student in the history of SM North!  They will rehearse/perform at the state convention in Wichita, Feb. 22nd-24th.
Anahi Silva- 2nd chair flute
Christian Adams- 11th chair trumpet
Eva Taylor- 6th chair trombone
Henry Duff- percussion/mallets
Gregor White- 1st alternate tenor sax
                                                            UPCOMING EVENTS
Feb. 2nd (this Friday)- pep-band basketball game.  Report time of 6:15PM in the band room.  This is the Hall of Fame night, so it’s a bigger deal to have everyone at this game.  Please email me if you have a scheduling conflict.
Monday, Feb. 5th– band booster meeting at 5:45PM in the band room.  Everyone is invited to attend, and we always keep the meetings to under an hour.
Tuesday, Feb. 6th Pancake Dinner/Concert itinerary:
5:45PM- everyone meet in the cafeteria to start eating pancakes.  The cost is $8 a person.  I know it’s a little more than in the past, but all of our costs have gone up.  Although it’s optional to eat, PLEASE make plans to eat with us…it’s a really fun night to share dinner together!
6:00- both jazz bands will play in the cafeteria as everyone is eating
6:45ish- everyone walks over to the auditorium for the concert.  All bands will play two songs, in the following order: 6th grade honor band, freshman band, concert band, symphonic band.  The concert will conclude around 7:30PM.  Students, this is a graded event.
Students, concert attire is business/Sunday best.  Slacks, button down shirt or sweater, dress, etc.  No specific color coordination.
Feb. 9th– pep-band basketball game.  Report time of 6:00PM.  We’re starting a little earlier because it’s band feeder night.  This is an “all hands-on deck” game since we’ve invited all 6th-8th graders.  Please email me if you have a scheduling conflict.
That’s it for now.  Let’s hope the snow days are over!
Mr. Reed