MN Band Alumni Newsletter #1

This being the first newsletter to members of the Alumni Association, I would first like to thank each and every one of you for registering and helping to get the ball rolling. I ask that you continue to spread the word and help us to get every former member accounted for. There is a lot that we can do to support the current members and staff, and the more members we have the more we will be able to accomplish.

I am sure many of you are curious about this year’s show. Well I have been given permission to announce the title for this year’s show. It is named Vth (Fifth) and the design for this year’s shirt is attached below.

This show is a play on the fact that The Stars have placed 5^th at state prelims 3 years in a row. The program opens with a 5/4 arrangement built on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The second piece is an arrangement of the first part of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony 4^th Mvmt (ala Phantom Regiment 1996). The third piece is Bernstein’s Simple Song (ala The Cadets 1983). The fourth piece is Brahms Hungarian Dance #5 set to a mambo beat, I know it sounds odd, but this could easily be the highlight of the show. The Fifth and final piece is the Ending of Shostakovich’s Fifth, again in the style of Phantom Regiment. As you can see there is a bit of an obsession with the number 5 this includes a hint of Brubeck’s Take 5 and Holst’s Mars from The Planets (both 5/4 pieces and both appearing very briefly in the opener, listen closely or you may miss them.) All of the wind music was arranged For the Band by Dr. Brant Karrick, Director of Bands at Northern Kentucky University. The percussion parts were arranged by Muhlenberg North’s Percussion Director Rick Gardner.

The obsession with the Number five, including the Roman numeral “V”, Carries over to the visual program which was again designed by drill writer Bob Barfield (Associate Director at Tarpon Springs High School and former visual caption head for the Boston Crusaders) and Choreographer Carrie Short. As of this week the first two pieces are on the field and they are working on cleaning them for the Ice Cream Supper (August 16).

Speaking of the Ice Cream Supper, the Alumni Association will have a table set up where former members will be able to register, also we will be accepting donations to help offset some of the fuel costs that the band will be incurring this year. If you are planning on being at the Ice Cream Supper and would like to volunteer some time at the Alumni Table or any of the other booths, just let me know and I will get you on the list. The Ice Cream Supper is scheduled to start at 5:30 and run to 9:00. The band will be performing at 6:30 and 8:30. If you would like to help set up be at the school at 9:0AM and of course we always need help cleaning up. But if you can’t help, please come and cheer on the Stars in their first public performance this year.

Other dates to remember include August 23 which is the Muhlenberg Marching Classic, and September 9^th which is the Ohio County show. At the Ohio county show we are hoping to organize a large group of Alumni, friends and family to tailgate and support the band in the stands. We would like to expand this in the future to include other shows, but we felt Ohio County was a good place to start. For a complete schedule be sure to check out the calendar section on the main band site (mnhsband.net)

I would really like to take this opportunity to thank a few people. First of all would be Rick Gardner for setting up the web site and setting up the registration process. Secondly I would like to thank Mr Stovall for all the support and access he has given us to the band. I would also really like to thank Misty Maddox (Deason) and Deason Signs. Misty has designed and provided us a banner to use at the Ice Cream Supper and other future events (same as the header of this newsletter) and has provided us with free advertisement on the new digital billboard across from Wal-Mart in Central City. And finally I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to register for the organization and being a part of this from the start. I really can’t wait to see what we can accomplish and how we can help make this as much of a positive experience for the members as possible. So get out there and spread the word and let’s see how many people we can get to sign up.