News

Placement Audition Materials for 2017-2018

Students,

Please download the following documents for next year’s placement audition.  Each packet includes detailed directions and the required etude and scales.

The deadline for submission is Friday, March 31, 2017 at 11:59 PM.

Check out our YouTube Playlist with professionals playing the excerpts.

I would like to clarify that the audition is only a part of the determining factors for next year’s orchestra placement. What you do everyday makes the biggest impact. Daily behavior, attitude, work ethic, home practice, performance progress and potential are all considered. For incoming freshmen, your middle school teacher’s recommendation will be taken into consideration.

Finally, each orchestra must have an appropriate balance of the different instruments and open seats will be filled to maintain this balance. Current AHSO students who were accepted into All-State Orchestra are exempt from auditioning (incoming freshmen are not excluded and must audition).

If you choose not to audition, you will be placed into the AHS Philharmonia.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Dr. Laux

AHSO Newsletter, 02-09-17

LGPE is here!

All four orchestras will be performing at GMEA District 5 Large Group Performance Evaluation next week at Chattahoochee High School!  The student have been working extremely hard to prepare their programs for the judges.

Performances are open to the public, so if you are able to make it, we would love the support.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Philharmonia Orchestra

  • 11:30 Excused from class
  • 12:00 Leave for Chattahoochee
  • 1:00 Warm-Up
  • 1:30 Performance
  • 2:00 Sight Reading
  • 2:30 Return to AHS

Chamber Orchestra

  • 1:35 Excused from class
  • 2:00 Leave for Chattahoochee
  • 3:00 Warm-Up
  • 3:30 Performance
  • 4:00 Sight Reading
  • 4:45 Return to AHS

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Sinfonia Orchestra

  • 2:45 Excused from class
  • 3:15 Leave for Chattahoochee
  • 3:45 Warm-Up
  • 4:15 Performance
  • 4:45 Sight Reading
  • 5:30 Return to AHS

Symphony Orchestra

  • 5:00 Leave for Chattahoochee
  • 6:00 Warm-Up
  • 6:30 Performance
  • 7:00 Sight Reading
  • 7:45 Return to AHS

LGPE Reminders

  • Students should bring their uniforms to class on their assigned day.
  • Parents wishing to take home their child directly from Chattahoochee HS must provide Dr. Laux with an email message or written note.
  • Philharmonia students should plan on bring their lunch on Tuesday

Chaperones Needed for LGPE!

Dr. Laux needs chaperones to ride the charter bus and manage students while at LGPE. Fulton County requires 1 chaperone per 12 students. If you sign up, please be at Alpharetta High school on time, charter buses will leave promptly at the designated times.
Please click this link to sign up!

Congratulations

Again, many congratulations to Richard Cho, who won the Georgia Philharmonic‘s concerto competition! He will perform the Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto number 5 this Saturday at 7PM in the Lassiter Concert Hall  in Marietta.  We are so proud of you!!

After LGPE…

  • Students will receive audition etudes for the 2017-2018 school year orchestra placements.
  • We will complete a short solo & ensemble unit, where each student will perform either a solo and/or small ensemble for the class.
  • We will begin making preparations for the Spring Concert and graduation ceremony

AHSO Newsletter, 01-20-17

Sectionals

Professional coaches will be coming in over the next week to run sectionals. Please welcome our sectional coaches! You can read more about them here.

  • Dr. Emily Laminack, violin & viola
  • Mr. Joshua Chari, cello
  • Mr. Gabriel Monticello, double bass

Sectionals will take place during class on the following days:

  • Friday, January 20 – viola
  • Monday, January 23 – cello
  • Wednesday, January 25 – bass
  • Thursday, January 26 – violin II
  • Friday, January 27 – violin I

Welcome Dr. Barket!

Dr. Barket, orchestra director at Webb Bridge Middle School, will be teaching orchestra classes at AHS on Tuesday, January 24 and Dr. Laux will teach the day’s classes at Webb Bridge!  It should be a fun day for all and a great way to have “another set of ears” in the AHS Orchestra rehearsals.

Goal-Based Practice  Assignment

For Chamber, Sinfonia, and Symphony students only! 

  1. Choose an 8-12 measure section in your LGPE music that is challenging you. 
  2. Set some specific goals for your practice. 
  3. Then, while capturing a video, explain what measures in what piece you are about to work on and why.  
  4. Next, video yourself practicing this part for about 3-4 minutes.  This  assignment is about the PROCESS, not the product. 
  5. Submit your video to your OneDrive folder.  Specific instructions are here.

Due date is Saturday, January 21 at 11:59 PM

GMEA Conference Absence

Reminder: Dr. Laux will be out next Thursday and Friday, January 26/27 for the GMEA conference.  Students should make good use of that class time to practice their LGPE music!!  We only have about 15 rehearsals left!

LGPE Preview/Formative Performance

Our unofficial preview concert will be on Tuesday, January 31 during each class period.  We will use comments and a recording of this performance to help direct the next few weeks of rehearsals, leading into LGPE.

2017 All-State Results

Congratulations to the following 14 students for being accepted into the 2017 GMEA All-State Orchestras! We are excited that you will be representing AHS in such an exemplary way. We are also very proud of every student who put in the effort and courage to play audition.

The orchestra and conductor along with instrument and chair placement is below.

11/12 Full Orchestra- Steven Amundson, Conductor

  • Daniel Barket, Principal Bass
  • Alan Ko, Viola, 2
  • Sitara Mysore, 1st violin, 22

11/12 String Orchestra- Bill Bitter, Conductor

  • Alexis Forrest, 2nd Violin, 12

9/10 Full Orchestra- Allen Tinkham, Conductor

  • Adam Wang, Cello, 7
  • Olivia Barker, Harp
  • Richard Cho – Concert Master
  • Eileen Liu, 1st violin, 12
  • Vivia Lung, 2nd violin, 9
  • Michelle Cho, 2nd violin, 18
  • Sarang Pujari, 2nd violin, 19

9/10 String Orchestra- Dr. Christopher R. Selby, Conductor

  • Kaci Xie, Viola, 1
  • Jenny Heo, 1st violin, 6
  • Derek Wang, 2nd violin, 7

GO RAIDERS!!!

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

Greetings and Happy New Year!

I hope you all have had a great break!  It was nice to relax and catch up with family and friends. I want to thank you all for your generous gifts — I was so moved by your thoughtful cards and notes.  I’m extremely grateful to be your director and an AHS Raider!

Please see the important items below…

All-State Auditions, Round Two

GMEA just announced this morning, because of the impending snow, accompanied by below freezing temperatures on Friday evening and Saturday morning, that All-State auditions have been POSTPONED until NEXT SATURDAY, January 14, 2017.  

All audition times will remain the same. Please note that there will be no make up auditions for students that can’t attend next Saturday because it would compromise the integrity of the auditions.

See the list of audition times! (pdf)

LGPE – Large Group Performance Evaluation

The next 6 weeks will be intense with LGPE, so I hope you are ready for the ride. We all need to buckle down and set aside some serious time for home practice.  I understand how busy you are, but we must prioritize. We will be discussing how to set realistic practice goals and strategies to maximize your time. You may not think that you matter, but the group is only as strong as its weakest link.  Everyone matters and contributes to the orchestra as whole!  You all have a big responsibility.

LGPE will be hosted at Chattahoochee High School this year.  Please double check and clear your calendars for the following dates.  

Tuesday, February 14: Philharmonia@ 1:30 PM; Chamber @ 3:30 PM

Thursday, February 16: Sinfonia @ 4:15 PM; Symphony @ 6:30 PM

 

Here’s to an amazing 2017, everyone!!

-Dr. Laux

Wow!

Dear AHSO  parents and students,

The title of this post says it all – Wow!! What an outstanding winter concert! I am so proud of each of the orchestras and the work of each of the students.  It is always incredible to me how well they focus, concentrate, and bring their “A” game.  The orchestras have made so much progress since the fall concert and this growth is what makes my job not really a “job” at all. I am so thankful to be at AHS!

Many special thank you to our INCREDIBLY TALENTED AHSOA board for their countless hours of work that helped make the concert night extra special. The students and I appreciate all that went into setting up a great dinner (for 250+ hungry students) and having the most amazing concert cafe. I am forever grateful for your dedication to the orchestra. Such a special evening would not happen without you, so on behalf of myself and all of the students – thank you!!

Also, thank you to the parent volunteers who helped serve dinner and made donations to the concert cafe.

Finally, to the students – what can I say?  I’ll just say this:  YOU ARE AWESOME!! 🙂

Photos & Videos

Parents if you have any videos or photos that you would like to share, you can share them with me via email, Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox.  My email is [email protected].

Congratulations

Congratulations to the AHS Symphony and the one and only Mr. Sheldon Fisher for receiving the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award.  Mr. Fisher graciously provided the plaque for permanent display in the orchestra room.

AHSO Newsletter, 12-02-16

Dear Orchestra Families,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the upcoming Winter Break!  Our Winter Concert is coming up soon and I couldn’t be more excited.  I am sure you will be impressed with each of the orchestra’s performances.  Details are below…

Winter Concert

The Winter Concert is this Thursday, December 8 at 7:00 PM in the AHS Auditorium.  This performance will feature each of the AHS Orchestras as well as the combined orchestras from Webb Bridge and Hopewell MS.

Students should plan on arriving to school a little before 5:00 PM for dinner and camaraderie.

4:50-5:20 PM – Pizza dinner in AHS Cafeteria
5:30 PM – 8th grade combined rehearsal (AHS students change)
6:00 PM – AHS & 8th Grade Combined Rehearsal

Concert Cafe

Once again the AHS Orchestra Association (AHSOA) will be sponsoring the concert cafe and will be selling all sorts of goodies, with proceeds directly benefiting the AHS Orchestras!

We are asking for volunteers to assist, and are also looking for donations of food, drinks, and goods.  Please sign up here:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f48aaad22a7f85-winter

Drake House Charity

In the spirit of the holiday season, the Alpharetta High School Orchestra has decided to collect donations for The Drake House during the winter concert. The Drake House is a charity that provides homes and aid to homeless women and children in North Fulton County, and they help about 40-50 families a year. Monetary donations will be accepted before and after the concert.

AHSO Newsletter, 11-11-2016

Note: Sorry this email comes to you a few days later than when it was posted online. I am integrating the AHS Orchestra Email List into a management system called Mailchimp. This system will allow you to update your email subscription preferences or unsubscribe easily.  In addition, when a news item is posted to the orchestra website, it will automatically be sent to your inbox.

Happy Veterans Day!  Thank you to all who have served our country.

Veteran’s Day Performance

Special thanks to our string quartet of Michelle C., Richard C., Alan K., and Andrew M. for performing tonight at the City of Alpharetta’s Veteran’s Day Ceremony. Your hard work will be appreciated by many.

Quote of the week

“Your performance tomorrow depends on your learning today” -Fred Shoemaker

Solo & Ensemble Performance Evaluation

Solo & Ensemble is tomorrow Saturday, November 11 at Inman Middle School.  The AHS student’s times are in the PDF below.

ahs-solo-and-ensemble-schedule-f2016

Students should arrive 20 minutes prior to their performance time and can leave when they are done.  Students should be “dressed up” as to represent AHS in a positive way.

Place: Samuel M. Inman Middle School.  For directions to the event, please use the address 774 Virginia Avenue NE; Atlanta; 30306. Google Map Link

Self-Assessment Listening Assignment #1

Students will complete an online listening assignment and self-assess. See the links below to your individual assignments.

Due Wednesday, November 16 at 11:59 PM.  Late submissions will have a reduced grade.

Full Orchestra

Symphony Members:  Full Orchestra rehearsal will begin on Monday, November 14. Please be prepared with both the Schubert and Anderson.

Fulton County Honor Orchestra

The following orchestra students auditioned into the Fulton County Schools Honor Orchestra.  They will perform their concert next Wednesday at Centennial High School at 7:00 PM under the guest direction of Dr. Nathaniel Parker from Kennesaw State University.

Congratulations to:

  • Jenny H., violin
  • Eileen L., violin
  • Nicole H., violin
  • Ida V., violin
  • Philip M., viola
  • Emma S., viola
  • Daniel B., double bass

We are proud of you and thankful you will be representing the AHS Orchestra!

Winter Concert

Our preparations for the Winter Concert are well underway!  The concert will be on Thursday, December 8 at 7:00 PM.

We will be joined by the 8th grade orchestra students from Webb Bridge and Hopewell Middle Schools and are excited to meet them and hear their performance.

Students should plan on staying after school on concert day and will need to bring their uniform with them in the morning. We will have a rehearsal with the middle school students and for our combined finale piece.  Students will be served a pizza dinner.  More details will follow.

All-State 9/10 Excerpts – CORRECTION

The piece titles and tempi were missing from round two all-state audition excerpts.  Please visit the GMEA website to download new PDF’s of the excerpts.

Fall Concert 2016 Photos

Special thanks to Mr. Prince for taking some incredible photos of our Fall Concert!  View them here!

Orchestra T-Shirts

The new orchestra t-shirts have been ordered and should be here soon!  Who is excited?  AHS Orchestra Spirit!!

 

AHSO Newsletter, 10-20-2016

All-State Orchestra Update

Congratulations to the 32 AHS students who passed or were exempt from the first round of all-state auditions!  A list has been posted in the orchestra room. These musicians will be auditioning in round 2 on January 7th at Westminster School.

David Coucheron & Friends Recital

This coming Monday, 10/24, at 8:00 pm David Coucheron, Concertmaster for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, will be presenting a recital in Morgan Hall at Kennesaw State University’s Bailey Center; he will be joined by fellow ASO musicians and KSU faculty including pianist Julie Coucheron, violinists Helen Kim and Kenn Wagner, violist Catherine Lynn, and cellist Charae Krueger.

Dr. Parker, the orchestra director at KSU has offered AHS students and their families complimentary tickets to this performance. If you and your family would like to attend email Dr. Parker directly at [email protected] with the name you would like the tickets held under and the number of tickets needed.

He asks that requests be submitted no later than noon on Monday. Tickets will be held at the Bailey Center box office under the given name and can be picked up beginning at 7 pm before the concert.

I just received notice about this recital today, but I must say that it is an incredible opportunity to see some of Atlanta’s VERY BEST string players!

GMEA Solo & Ensemble 

Times for Solo & Ensemble are in!  Please see the schedule.

Event Date: Saturday, November 12, 2016

Place: Samuel M. Inman Middle School.  For directions to the event, please usethe address 774 Virginia Avenue NE; Atlanta; 30306.

Fulton County Honors Orchestra

Audition Date: Monday, November 7, 2016, Time: 4:30pm – 7:00pm

Complete audition materials can be found here.

To be pre-registered for an audition, please complete this form.

Event Date: November 15-16, 2016.  Students will be excused for the entire school day on Nov. 16.

Event Site: Centennial High School

Special Thanks

Special Thanks to Vivia L., Anna Z., Kaci X., and Jason J. for performing at the Creekview Elementary School’s special recognition breakfast.

Additionally Vivia, Anna, and Adam W. performed for the AHS Choir concert.

Mark Your Calendars!

Our Winter Concert is Thursday, December 8 at 7:00 PM!

Final photo fundraiser reminder

Dear students, parents, and friends, 
I just wanted to send a reminder about our Tanner photography fundraiser this weekend. If you have not signed up for a photo shoot, it’s not too late!  

For only $25 you get your own private sitting and an 11 x 14 portrait. All proceeds go to the AHSOA. 

Sign up here…

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/4090f48aaad22a7f85-tanner

Alpharetta High School Orchestra