Our spring rock concert and school glow concerts were a huge success! You can see video clips from both events posted on our social media sites. The full length video to our spring concert is here for your viewing enjoyment.
Our end of year orchestra carnival is going to be on Wednesday, May 24 from 4:30-6:30 pm in the FMS cafeteria and courtyard. All current and future orchestra students are invited to attend. There will be bounce houses, slides, obstacles courses, sno-cones, carnival games with prizes, and musical performances (this is a great way for orchestra students to earn extra credit too!). We are in need of several parent volunteers to help with the games. Please sign up here.
Summer is right around the corner and private lessons are a great way for students to keep up their playing skills, stay motivated and prevent backsliding and regressing. We know that many families go on vacation or are out of town periodically over the summer, but don't let that deter you from getting into lessons--just communicate your vacation plans with the teacher in advance and you can still have lessons when you are in town. Many lesson teachers teach out of their home studios or in area string stores--those are fantastic opportunities to explore if you wish! We also like to give our students and parents the convenience of having private lessons at Faubion once a week (when in town) on Wednesdays even though it means we voluntarily work during the summer to open the room for our students and lesson teachers.
If you are interested in signing up for summer lessons click here and a private teacher will contact you to schedule a specific time. Each teacher will charge their studio rate for the summer so some fluctuations may occur in price from teacher to teacher and depending on the length of the lesson. Lessons are usually around $20-30 for a 25-30 minute lesson depending on teacher and their degrees/experience availability, etc. Some of you currently in lessons may already be discussing lesson options with your current teacher, but you can fill out this form here regardless. Students not currently in lessons are encouraged to sign up over the summer months.
We strongly believe that in addition to teaching our students how to be great musicians, that we should also cultivate and grow strong character. Part of this includes helping those around us in our community. We have scheduled a service project on Saturday, May 20 from 10-12 at the McKinney Food Pantry. Students will be cleaning, stocking, and organizing shelves. Students should sign up here. There is only room for 20 students.
Although private lessons are the best way to help keep students engaged for the whole summer, orchestra summer camps are another fun way for students to engage with their instruments and have fun making new friends! There are area day camps as well as sleep-away camps. All of the details and websites for these camps can be found on a flyer we put together for your convenience here. Mr. Berens is going to be one of the conductors at the UT Arlington camp, Mrs. Crabtree at McKinney HS teaches at the Austin College camp, and Mrs. Zamora has previously taught at the UNT Day Camp.
Our Beginning, Sinfonia, and Concertino Orchestras all traveled to Hurst to compete at the Pride of Texas Music Festival. All three orchestras received straight ones from all of the judges. In addition, the Beginning Orchestra received a "One Plus" because the judges thought they were extra, extra awesome. Judges commented, "Everyone knows about your orchestra!" to our students. Our Camerata and Honors students traveled to Irving to compete at the PEAK music festival. Both orchestra received straight ones from every judge. In addition, the following students and sections were given additional awards based on their performance: Camerata 2nd violins, Honors 1st violins, Honors Cellos, Honors Basses, Olivia A., Kaitlin L., and James W. Congratulations to all! Way to represent Faubion Orchestra!
Our orchestra website, faubionorchestra.com has many links with helpful information for parents and students. Also, Faubion Orchestra has a Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok account for fans/parents of the orchestra to follow. We encourage parents to follow us on these sites and "like" and repost all of the great things about orchestra. Having social media is NOT required for any students as we realize many students do not have social media accounts--and that is okay! You can also contact us at kzamora@mckinneyisd.net bberens@mckinneyisd.net or 469-302-6699. Please note that our phone number rings directly to voicemail, so leave a message and we will call you back after school hours.
Credits:
Created with images by ungvar - "Jumps on a big inflatable trampoline." • psousa5 - "Cello Lessons" • zinkevych - "Good for environment. Low angle of merry four volunteers communicating and wearing gloves" • LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS - "bottom view of smiling multicultural children looking at camera" • joyfotoliakid - "Woman Using smart phone emitting holographic image of social media"