Nine Weeks Update

Dear Hawks,


It’s hard to believe we’re already rounding out the first nine weeks of school! We’ve made some adjustments and I’m sure there will many more, but no matter what form orchestra takes it is a joy to discover and learn new music every day.

Please take a moment to read through the following updates and clarifications as they pertain to your student. If you have any questions feel free to contact me with the contact information below.


Parent Survey

Please take a moment to fill out the Parent Survey.  We gather feedback from our students regularly and we’d love to hear from you too.
https://forms.gle/ASxyKdP2PuQN2WVy7


Virtual Class Expectations

The virtual students meet every day from 10:55am-11:25am.  The Webex meeting room opens at 10:50am.  Two rounds of attendance are taken, first at 10:50am and again at 10:55am.  Every virtual student is required to fill out the attendance form every day, which includes attendance records, daily curricular questions, and general feedback questions.  Missing both rounds of attendance and/or the attendance form may result in an unexcused absence and/or lower daily assignment grades.  Please let me know if your student is unable to attend class, or they may contact me as soon as possible on Webex if they are experiencing technical difficulties.

Our students are facing an unprecedented challenge of individual and self-guided learning.  Beyond this they may be facing additional challenges that we may not be fully aware of.  As always I ask and expect them to do their best, and whatever that is for wherever they are, we can find a path for them to be successful.  We are continuing to explore different musical possibilities and this may include individual discovery as well as ensemble music more connected to the in-person orchestras.  The general practice expectations are for your student to practice for thirty minutes a day, five days a week.  For context our in-person orchestras are rehearsing for 450 minutes a week, with the same individual practice expectations outside of class.  Individual practice can be daunting, so much of our virtual lessons are on how to use practice time to focus and improve on individual ability.  Maestro Itzhak Perlman has noted that he practiced for three hours a day growing up, but recommends not practicing more than five hours a day đŸ˜‰  Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in helping set up a successful practice routine at home.


In-Person Expectations

Class rehearsals are proceeding with some major and minor adjustments in accordance with the district guidelines.  This is a friendly reminder that every student must bring their own set of orchestra accessories to class every day.  This includes rosin, a cleaning cloth, Tonal Energy installed on their device, shoulder rest (violins/violas) and (recommended) accessory pouch for cellos/basses.  In the past some sharing between players has been accepted, however sharing school supplies is currently strictly prohibited.


All-Region

All-Region will look a little bit different this year and our All-Region candidates will receive training in the Webex group.  The audition window will open on Saturday, October 10 at 10:00am and close on Wednesday October 14 at 11:59pm.  On-campus recording with high quality microphones is available for Virtual and In-Person students after school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Let me know if you would like to reserve a recording time. Please wish our auditioners the best as they represent Hebron at (Virtual) All-Region!


Archive

We have a new tab on http://www.hebronorchestra.org!  Visit https://hebronorchestra.org/archive/ to listen to a selection of past Hebron Orchestra performances.  More performances will be added as they become available, but some past recordings may be omitted due to copyright considerations.