RESMS Orchestra & Guitar Newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of the RESMS Orchestra and Guitar newsletter! Please read on for useful information and important reminders.

FORESMA (Friends Of Robert Eagle Staff Musical Arts) has extended the deadline for this year's music program fee. Please read on below for a message from the FORESMA Board:

Fellow RESMS music families,

Thank you for your support of your music student this past month as the music program gets momentum into the new school year. RESMS has over 370 students this year in music—more than we’ve ever had before!

We are currently showing that about 55% of music program families have paid the $40 annual program fee, short of our budget expectations. If you are able to pay this years fee, we are extending the deadline. If this fee is not an option for your family at this time, your student can STILL fully participate in music at RESMS.

With such a record turnout of musicians, we want to make sure that every student has an instrument to play and that the ensembles are well-balanced for our teachers to ensure the best music experience possible for our musicians. The $40 annual program fee that we ask for from every music family at the start of the year allows for the immediate purchase of necessary new instruments to accommodate our growing program, along with other beginning of the year expenses that have been identified by our teachers.

For those of you who have paid the $40 annual program fee and maybe even sponsored a student with a larger donation, thank you!

If you haven’t yet paid, but are able to, please consider contributing this $40 annual program fee so that you can help us in achieving our mission of making music education possible for every student that wants to learn. Donate at this PayPal hyperlink today (also found via our website at www.foresma.org).

Link to Monday's meeting: https://www.foresma.org/monthly-meeting

We have been hard at work in 4th period guitar! Students have mastered chords in the key of G major, which is perfect for preparation for our Halloween Lunchtime Concert coming up on Oct 31st during school. Students will be performing a Halloween favorite, opening for the Concert Orchestra who will be performing a spooky, zombie-themed tune...!

In addition, students have been working on reading TAB notation, chord boxes, and even improvising using the A Major Pentatonic Scale.

On Wednesday this last week, students even tried their hand at composing some new and improved Avengers movie music. Rock on Ravens!

All 3 orchestras are hard at work playing some challenging but rewarding repertoire. The beginning orchestra, who recently mastered their D string notes and are working on A string mastery, are exploring the spooky side of string playing with a tune called "The Abandoned Funhouse". On a completely different note, they are hard at work learning to play the backing track to hip-hop duo Black Violin's "Stereotypes" (listen here).

Intermediate orchestra is also exploring playing in different styles, with two contrasting pieces: Gaelic Castle, a regal gaelic-style piece with lots of imagery, and Breakbeat, a piece comprised of only stomps, claps, and pizzicato! We have had a lot of fun facing the challenges of both pieces while refining our understanding of group pulse and group intonation.

Concert orchestra is gearing up for a lunchtime concert alongside the guitar class with a student favorite: Rosin Eating Zombies from Outer Space. We are unclear if the zombies are eating the rosin, or if the rosin is eating the zombies... Shoutout to our "scream" soloists who earned their solo during auditions! The group is also taking on a classic piece by Mussorgsky, called Pictures At An Exhibition. With 6/4 time signatures, shifting, and lightning fast tempos, this piece is going to be a reward to finish!

All orchestras took part in their first "Wacky Wednesday W-challenge" this week... ask your student how they did in composing a new score to the Avengers!

Sincerely,

Hannah Gorham

Director of Orchestras and Guitar

hrgorham@seattleschools.org