The Balloon Parade

Our Seniors:  Jessica Zheng, Steven Flores, Joseph Bagan, Jasmine Magloire, Jordan Ordonez, Chris Loffredo, Ben Jachimczyk and Sam Aremu

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The Band Banquet

It’s cold at the Trumbull Regionals!

The Black Knights Winter Percussion Ensemble competed in the WGI Trumbull Regionals on March 4th and made it through to the finals to score 6th place in our Scholastic A class.

Our Disney Press Release

The Stamford High School Band to perform in Walt Disney World

The Stamford High School Band will travel to Orlando, Florida March 16 – 20 to perform in several venues at Walt Disney World.  In addition to marching in the “Parade Down Main Street U.S.A.,” the band will participate in the “You’re Instrumental!” Disney Performing Arts Workshop.  Under the guidance of professional Disney musicians, students will sight read various Disney arrangements.  Their session will culminate in the recording studio where the band will perform the score to a classic Disney film accompanied by footage from the film.

“We are so excited that our students will have the chance to participate in this unique experience.  I am so proud of the hard work they did to make this trip a reality.  Over the past year, the students have performed really well and I think they are ready for this challenging and fun adventure.”  This is the first time the Stamford High School Band has done this trip in ten years.

The trip to Disney World took a year to plan and required extensive fundraising on the part of students and parents.  The Stamford High School Band’s Christmas Tree Lot enabled the organization to raise significant funds for the trip as well as a raffle that was supposed by multiple businesses in Stamford including:  County TV & Appliance, Salon Shahin, Even Hotels, Victoria Secret, Planet TV, Pet Value, Kona Grill, Noir Restaurant, Barcelona Restaurant, and many more local businesses.  The band would also like to acknowledge the generous direct support it has received from our community, particularly The Kiwanis Club of Stamford, The Ivanhoe Lodge #107 A.F. & A.M., The Union Lodge #5 A.F. & A.M., and The Lafayette Consistory, Valley of Bridgeport A.A.S.R.

Media Contact

George Beratis, Band Director

(203) 977-4306 or gberatis@stamfordct.gov

 

The annual Christmas Tree Lot is up and running

It was “all hands on deck” to get 400 snow covered trees off the truck from New Hampshire and set up for sale.

Veteran’s Day Concert and Parade at Stamford High

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The SHS Band performs with the Army Band at West Point

Rehearsing with the Army Band

Rehearsing with the Army Band

West Point Performance Itinerary

Dear Students and Parents,

Our performance at Michie Stadium at the West Point Military Base is this Saturday. We will be performing the half time show Army vs. North Texas football game. The game starts at Noon and we should be performing around 1:15. We performed last year and it was an amazing experience! If you would like to chaperon this trip, please let me know by tomorrow. We need about 3-5 chaperons. Although it is a long day, it is sure to be a great memory for you and the students.

Parents, if you are interested in attending the game, please buy your tickets from this website. It is the October 22nd game vs. North Texas.

http://www.stubhub.com/army-football-tickets/performer/24088/?creative=117793754001&keyword=1493581_c&gcid=C12289x486

We had the parents sit with the band last year, but the seats weren’t that good. You are more than welcome to come and choose your own seats so you can enjoy the show and the game! If you do plan on coming, please get there early! West Point is one way in, one way out so the traffic tends to get pretty bad on game day.

Here is the student and chaperon itinerary for that day:

3:15am- Arrive at SHS, load truck with instruments and load buses.
3:45am- Depart for West Point
6:00am- Rehearsal with Army Band and other high school and college bands.
8:00am- Find our seats, get our tickets, eat, walk around campus.
11:00am- get dressed into band uniforms
12:00pm- Game Starts
1:15pm- half time show
1:45pm- watch the rest of the game
4:00-4:30- pick up at stadium, load truck and buses.
6:30-7:00- arrive at school, unload truck and buses.
7:15pm- pick up

Students must bring:

Band Jacket (I am hoping they are in by that time)
Tall Black Socks
Black Under shirt
20-30 dollars for food after the perfomance
Warm Clothing for the morning.

George Beratis
Band Director
Stamford High School
203-977-4306

Performing the National Anthem at The NY Mets vs. The LA Dodgers Game

Trumbull 2/27/16 Itinerary

Below are the details for our Trumbull show. This event is a regional, which means there is a preliminary round and a final round. Barring we do not make finals, the day schedule will change.

Address:

Trumbull High School
72 Strobel Rd
Trumbull, CT 06611

https://wgi.org/event-details/02272016-Percussion-Trumbull-Regional.html

Prices for spectators:

Prices
Prelims – $15
Finals – $18
Combo – $28
Non-Finalist Backside Seating – $5
Items students need:

Black tall socks
Money for food at Trumbull Mall and at the high school.
$5.00 for finals in case we are not performing.
Winter coat for outdoor rehearsal. It will be cold.
Stamford High Band Jackets- All students must be wearing them when not performing or rehearsing.

Friday

Rehearsal from 5pm-10pm. We will load the truck after rehearsal is over. Pick up will be around 10pm.

Saturday-

6:30am- report to SHS
7:00am- depart from SHS in full uniform
7:45am- arrive to Trumbull, unload and begin warming-up.
10:00- prelims performance.
10:20- return equipment to truck. We will need chaperons to take turns watching equipment until we find out if we make finals.
10:45am- watch drum lines.
12:00- Trip to Trumbull Mall for lunch. We will find out if we made finals during this time.
2:00pm- return to Trumbull High School and either practice for finals, or load truck and wait for finals to begin.

***Students have voted to stay till the end of the night whether we make finals or not.***

Finals Plan

3:00pm- rehearsal
6:00-7:00- our finals performance would be within this hour.
9:22pm- awards
9:45- depart from Trumbull
10:30- arrival at SHS/unload
10:45pm- pick up

Non-finals plan

3:00pm- relax and watch lots (Lots mean watching other groups rehearse)
6:00pm-9:22pm- watch finals.
9:45- depart from Trumbull
10:30- arrival at SHS/unload
10:45pm- pick up

The Stamford High Band will perform the National Anthem on Center Field at The NY Mets vs. The LA Dodgers Game on May 27th!

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Mr. Beratis is delighted to announce that the Stamford High School Band has been invited to play the National Anthem on Center Field at Citifield for the NY Mets vs. The LA Dodgers game on May 27, 2016!  This is a huge honor for us and a major fundraiser for the entire school, so please invite your family, friends, co-workers, and your neighbors to attend.  The ticket order forms are available from Mr. Beratis in the band room and the order forms and payments are due back by March 14th.  This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our school on a national stage so please post this information on all your social media accounts and let’s try to have a huge turnout!

If you have any questions please contact Mr. Beratis or one of the band parents.

The Raffle Winners Are. . . .

1st place:  4 Park Hopper Passes to Walt Disney World  —  Jen Scanlan

2nd Place:  The Sports Memorabilia Package  —  Diego Calderan

3rd Place:  $100 Gift Certificate to the Stamford Town Center  —  Sandra Garcia

4th Place:  DVD Player  —  Dick Swatland

5th Place:  $50 Gift Certificate to Hope Pizza —   Steve Garst

6th Place:  $50 Gift Certificate to Trip’s Restaurant —  Mario Archila

7th Place:  $25 Gift Certificate to Bull’s Head Diner  —  Patrick Baker

8th Place:    $12 Gift Certificate to John’s Pizza —   Robert Seekamp

 

Congratulations to all our winners and thank you all very much for your support!

 

Remembering Jonathan Wills

 

SHS Band Alumni and current students gathered for a memorial service for Jon Wills, a former band member from the Class of 2002.  Our Jazz Combo performed, Mr. Beratis unveiled a plaque for the band room and announced the dedication of a new scholarship for graduating band members in Jon’s name.  The evening ended with a touching performance of Amazing Grace.DSC_0532

Our Annual Raffle has begun

Our Annual Raffle has begun.  The drawing will be at the Christmas Tree Lot on December 20th at 7PM.   Our top prizes are 4 Park Hopper passes to Disney World, a sports fan memorabilia basket with goodies from The Mets, The Giants, and The WWE, and a $100 Gift Certificate redeemable at the Stamford Town Center!

We are kicking our fund raising into high gear to prepare for our trip to Disney so we are asking every band member to sell at least 3 booklets (15 tickets.)

Fantastic Day at West Point!

The Stamford High Band was invited to perform before 38,000 fans with the West Point Band during the Army/Duke football game at Michie Stadium.  Students boarded a 4:30AM Coach Bus to make it onsite for a 6AM rehearsal.  At 7AM the rehearsal was interrupted by Army Paratroopers landing on the 50 yard line!  We had a little downtime between the rehearsal and the start of the game so band members were able to explore the beautiful campus.

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West Point/Duke Football Game October 10th

 

Dear Parents and Students,

The West Point game is about a month away, and next week I need to pay the deposit for our band. I received an email from the band director at West Point and he told me the game is nearly sold out which is very exciting.

I need to know if any of you would like to come to the game. I have reserved 100 tickets for us until I know a final number. If you are interested in driving to the game please let me know by Tuesday morning. The ticket price is $30 per person. I will pay upfront, and you can pay me back.

Once again, the game is in West Point, NY at 12:00pm on Saturday, October 10th.
Thank you,

Mr. Beratis

What do Stamford High musicians do in the summer? They VOLUNTEER!!!

 

SHS Band Members Matt Bagan, Ben Jachimczyk, Joseph Bagan and Beverly Reyes teach at-risk middle school students how to sail at the Young Mariner Foundation's Blue Water Bound Summer Sailing Camp.  6th Grade camper Andrew Bagan is also a member of the Stamford High Marching Band.

SHS Band Members Matt Bagan, Ben Jachimczyk, Joseph Bagan and Beverly Reyes teach middle school students how to sail at the Young Mariner Foundation’s Blue Water Bound Summer Sailing Camp. 7th Grade camper Andrew Bagan is also a member of the Stamford High Marching Band.

 

 

Summer Sessions for the Drumline and Color Guard

Summer sessions for the Drumline and Color Guard will be offered on Wednesday afternoons beginning July 8th from 5:00 – 9:00pm at school.  The instructors will be Diane Zinicola, Stacey Palumbo, Matt Kravitz, and Eric Andrade.

The rehearsal dates are:

July 8, 15, 22, 29

August 5, 12, and 19

The sessions are not mandatory however we would like to see as many people attend as possible.  Please let Diane know if you are not available.

 

Concert Band joins the USBands Festival Tour in Philadelphia

 

In May the SHS Concert Band joined the USBands Festival Tour and performed in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. We also visited the Liberty Bell, ran up the “Rocky Steps” at the Art Museum, went on a ghost tour of the city, and sampled both Pat’s and Geno’s Cheesesteaks.

Save the date for the Band Banquet – May 28th

Our Annual Band Banquet will be held on May 28th at 7pm at Brother Jimmy’s BBQ located at 112 Bedford Street.  All students are invited free of charge as a gift for their hard work at the Christmas Tree Lot.  Parents are welcome to attend at a cost of $30/person.  Flyers were sent home via email so please complete and return them by May 21st so we know how many people to expect.

Band Parent Meeting May 20th at 7pm

Our next Band Parent meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 20th at 7pm in the band room.  Mr Beratis will discuss the final preparations for the overnight Concert Band  trip to Philadelphia and the itinerary and performance schedule at the Kimmel Center will be distributed.  We need at least parent from each family to attend.

 

 

Upcoming Dates to be aware of

  • May 12th      Full Concert Band Rehearsal including Drummers
  • May 14th      Rogers International School Concert — recruiting opportunity
  • May 18th      A MONDAY Concert Band rehearsal
  • May 19th      Dolan Spring Concert — recruiting opportunity
  • May 20th     Color Guard rehearsal after school
  • May 21st      Stamford High Spring Concert
  • May 24th     Memorial Day Parade
  • May 26/27   Concert Band Philadelphia Trip
  • May 28th     Band Banquet
  • June 10th     Scofield Spring Concert — recruiting opportunity

Congratulations to Stamford Percussion for making it all the way to the semi-finals in Dayton!

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The official photos are available from Lifetouch.  Click here to view their gallery and to place an order.

 

 

The Road to the WGI Finals in Dayton, Ohio

The Statistics:

Dartmouth 70.9

Trumbull 83.525

Westhill 83.7

Shelton 86.5

Jonathan Law 88.6

Norwalk 89.2

Westhill Mac Championships 91.75

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Winter Percussion Parent Meeting April 4th 9am

We will have our last Winter Percussion meeting Saturday morning at 9am to distribute the Dayton itinerary and to answer any questions.  Information from WGI for parents on how to watch the competition live on TV will be passed out.  Diane and George have requested that at least one parent from each family attend.

Please bring in your donations of snacks and water for the bus ride at this time.  There will be another meeting for the chaperones and family members who will be attending the trip on Monday, April 6th at 8:30pm to go over last minute instructions on how to get the equipment on and off the floor during the performances.  Then the truck will be loaded for the long ride to Ohio.

 

The All District Concert at Westhill High School

 

Stamford Public Schools presented their Citywide Band Concert that featured bands from AITE, Cloonan, Dolan, Rippowam, Rogers International, Scofield, Stamford High, Turn of River and Westhill High Schools.  The combined 8th grade band opened the show with the Star Spangled Banner followed by Jungle Dance, a piece by Brian Balmages.  The high school bands were joined by students from their respective feeder schools followed by the combined Westhill and Stamford High School Honors Band who played Pictures at an Exhibition by Moussorgsky, In a Gentle Rain by Robert Smith and ended the evening with the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky.

Not only was this a fun and entertaining event, it was important for middle school students to see what it is like playing in a big high school band.  Our hope is for more 8th graders to sign up for band and continue to play in high school.

 

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Winter Percussion: What a PRICELESS Experience

The Stamford High Band as a whole has been up to great things these past few months, but there are a select few in the band that have been working extremely hard since the beginning of the school year to put on an excellent show. These kids are all members of the Stamford High Winter Percussion Ensemble. Each of these kids put in immense amounts of practice in school and even on their own out of school, and their talents are shown through the successes they are having this year. I am a member and captain in this ensemble and I can agree that this is one of the best groups we have had in my 4 years at Stamford High. We have had many successes this year, and each one  has pushed us to work harder and get better. We have been competing in competitions since the beginning of February and each week our score has gone up, which just helps to prove that we are working very hard.  At our first show we traveled all the way up to Dartmouth, MA and we placed first with a score of 70.9. The week after was the Trumbull WGI Regional where we placed 1st in prelims but in finals lost to Cranston East from Rhode Island by a close 1.175 points.  We scored 83.535.  Two weeks later we had both Westhill and Shelton. At Westhill we got 2nd with a score of 83.7, .55 of a point behind Westhill. That night at Shelton we dominated taking home first with a score of 86.5, 2.1 points higher than our up hill rivals. The next competition was at Johnathan Law, where again we took home first with a score of 88.6. The Black Knights are on a roll! If you haven’t seen our show yet do not worry there is still time before we head out to the finals in Dayton in April. This weekend we will be at Norwalk’s show and the week after at Westhill for the MAC championships then DAYTON!!

If you have the chance make sure you congratulate the kids on their success to motivate them to keep working hard on the road to dayton.

GOOD LUCK STAMFORD HIGH SCHOOL PERCUSSION!

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Dartmouth, MA Itinerary, Sunday February 21st

Dartmouth High School, 555 Bakerville Road, Dartmouth, MA

  • Meet at SHS by the gym at 5:30am
  • Depart SHS no later than 6:00am  Google maps says 2 hours 42 minutes to Dartmouth
  • Arrive Dartmouth High School 8:45am  — Clinic is 9:00 – 10:30am
  • 10:30am bring a snack, dress and unload the truck
  • The warm up schedule will be handed out at check-in
  • Performance time 12:00 noon
  • After the performance, load the truck and change on the bus
  • Lunch in the cafeteria
  • Watch the rest of the show with the awards at 4:00pm
  • Depart Dartmouth 4:45pm
  • 6:15pm Dinner stop at the Crystal Mall in Waterford I-95 exit 82
  • 8:15 return to SHS and unload the truck
  • 9:00pm pickup

Winter Percussion Competition Schedule

 

Our Winter Percussion Competition Schedule:

  • Saturday, February 21st — Dartmouth, MA
  • Saturday, February 28th  — Trumbull, CT
  • Saturday, March 7th  — Newtown, CT  (we will also be marching in the St. Patricks Day Parade in the morning)
  • Saturday, March 14th — West Hill and Shelton (double show day)
  • Saturday, March 21st  —  no competitions scheduled
  • Saturday March 28th — Norwalk
  • Saturday, April 4th —  Mac Championships at West Hill
  • Tuesday, April 7th —  leave for Dayton at midnight

We have a very big Winter Percussion show planned for this year with a lot of extra equipment and we need at least 6 chaperones per show in addition to our regular staff.   We need all Winter Percussion parents to volunteer to chaperone several shows, so please check your schedules and visit our Volunteer Spot page to choose your dates.