Dear Roosevelt Students and Families,
The year is off to a terrific start, with our RHS students participating in many exciting events. We are looking forward to a full year of performance opportunities for students in all three of our orchestras. It should be a great year, and I’m really looking forward to all that we have planned.
This fall, 9 students applied for the Washington Music Educators Association All-State Band and Orchestras. I would like to commend these students on the extra time and effort they put into preparing the excerpts required for this audition. These students are: Ariana Nelson (cello), Grant Olson (cello), Lauren Glass (cello), Zoe Funai (flute), Leslie Edwards (clarinet), Dan Remme (French horn), Laura Goben (oboe), Josh Cranston (violin), and Lizzy Presland (bass clarinet). Good luck to you all.
Our first concert for the 2007-2008 Season is the Pumpkinseed Concert on October 30th at 7:30 p.m. in our Roosevelt Theatre. All three performing groups will play in addition to our fabulous RHS Bands. Please remember that all students are required to stay and watch all of our groups. We should all be great supporters of one another and each group should have a full audience.
We have several other great concerts scheduled for this year, so please mark your calendars. Our Hollyberry concert is Dec 20, the Roosevelt/Eckstein concert is on March 6; the Spring Pops Concert is on April 18, and the Spring Fling Concert is on June 5. All of our concerts will be performed in the Roosevelt Theatre at 7:30 p.m. All students will be expected to perform.
We also will be performing at the Northwest Orchestra Festival in Gresham, Oregon on March 15. Our three performing groups (Concert, Chamber, and Symphony) will play, as will several chamber ensembles. This is an all-day festival. We will be leaving very early on Saturday morning and traveling by bus to Gresham. We have groups performing all day, starting at 8 a.m. We will return home in the evening.
This year, 61 students from the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras will be traveling to New York to perform in the National Orchestra cup at Lincoln Center. We will be leaving the evening of Wednesday, February 27, 2008 and returning the evening of Sunday, March 2. This will be a very exciting trip for our Roosevelt students. I look forward to this opportunity for our students to play on the Alice Tully stage at Lincoln Center.
Students will also have the opportunity to play in the Solo and Ensemble Festival at Roosevelt High School on March 8, 2008. This festival is for students from the Seattle area who have worked on a solo or who have worked with an ensemble to be adjudicated by judges. The winners of this festival will go on to the State Level Solo and Ensemble Festival, which will be held in Ellensburg at the end of April.
Again, I look forward to a great year with all of the Roosevelt Orchestra students. It should be a terrific year! Look forward to seeing you all at the Pumpkinseed Concert.
Best Regards,
Anna Edwards, Director
anedwards@seattleschools.org