page background

Westwood HS Orchestra Update

July 5, 2017

Westwood HSOrchestra UpdateJuly 5, 2017

Welcome to the 2017-2018 Westwood Orchestra!

Parents and students,


I'd like to welcome all of you to the 2017-2018 version of the Westwood Orchestra! As the summer orchestra rehearsals for the Symphony Orchestra are drawing near, I wanted to reach out to everyone to say hello, give you some information about that event, and tell you a little about myself! I'm extremely excited to get started at Westwood and look forward to working with all of you!

Orchestra Calendar

The orchestra calendar that Mrs. Williams was kind enough to finalize for us prior to her retirement, is currently in the Handouts section of Charms. It will eventually be posted on our orchestra website as well as shared via a Google Calendar as well, but I wanted to insure that everyone had the important dates for the year. This year's summer orchestra dates for the Symphony Orchestra are listed below in the next section.


If you have trouble logging into Charms, or have forgotten your password, please email me at Joshua_thompson@roundrockisd.org and I'll help you through the process and/or reset your password.

Summer Orchestra - Symphony Orchestra Only

Summer orchestra takes place July 31-August 3, from 10:00 AM-1:00 PM. I've chosen some really challenging music to start the year, so I've posted it on Charms so you can get started. Please read through (don't skim) this section to make sure you get all the pertinent information listed below.


We'll be performing the first movement of Martinu's Double Concerto for Two String Orchestra, Piano and Timpani, the Andantino from Chadwick's Serenade and the last two movements of Beethoven's String Quartet in c# minor, op. 131. I've posted parts for everything but the sixth movement of the Beethoven in the handouts section on Charms. (Basses, note that your Beethoven files are separate files that I did on Finale, not in the .pdf file with the violin/viola/cello parts).


As there are multiple parts (two orchestras worth) for the Martinu, I'd rather not waste any rehearsal time in doing auditions for separate orchestras or parts in the fall. So I've prepared a quick questionnaire - the link is below - for me to help balance the sections ahead of time, and this will allow you to focus on the specific part that you'll be performing. Until I do so, feel free to look at any of the parts of the Martinu and work on some of the more technical passages, as many of them are doubled in various combinations.


Here's the link:


https://goo.gl/forms/WI3JhNai2xFeqwRG2


Please complete this as soon as possible - it's very quick and will save us time in the future. Once I get enough responses, I'll go through those and also consult Mr. Anderson and Mrs. Williams' audition results to place you appropriately and make sure both orchestra's parts are balanced.


Here are some Youtube links to performances of these pieces:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BLJxJG1kQo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgIIOw916K4

https://youtu.be/wYGTurA-5bA?t=37m41s (mvt. VI at 37:41, mvt. VII at 40:50)

About me....

I'm never good about talking about myself, but I'll try my best! This fall I'll start my 19th year teaching orchestra, most of it at the high school level. I've taught the last fifteen years in Plano ISD, thirteen of those at Shepton High School, which is one of the 9th/10th grade campuses that feeds into Plano West Senior High School, who was named TMEA Honor Orchestra six times while I was at Shepton. Although I'm very proud of the work I've done at Shepton, one of the things I did not like about it was saying goodbye to my students after having taught them for only 2 years, so I'm very excited to once again work at a traditional high school where I can teach my students for their entire high school career.


I'm originally from Ohio, and did my undergraduate degree at the Dana School of Music in Youngstown, Ohio. I proceeded to get a Master of Music Performance degree in Instrumental Conducting at the University of Kentucky, prior to embarking upon a teaching career that started in Georgia before moving to Plano in 2002. As I consider myself a lifelong learner, I continue to attend conventions, conferences and workshops all around the world. Last summer, I was accepted into the International Conducting Workshop and Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, where I got to work with Larry Rachleff from Rice University and Donald Schleicher from the University of Illinois while conducting music of Mozart, Brahms and Mahler with a professional symphony orchestra.


In my spare time, I'm a competitive distance runner, racing distances from 5K to 50 miles, although I prefer the shorter distances. In 2015, I was selected by the City of Dallas to be a citizen ambassador and "running delegate" to Japan in the Sendai Half Marathon. I consider this the pinnacle of my running career.


But above all of this, the thing you should know most about me is that my absolute favorite thing about me, my job and what I enjoy about it, is building relationships with my students through music. It brings me tremendous joy to see them grow into adults and then keep in touch with them in college and beyond. I enjoy so much when I travel and am able to have coffee or lunch with a former student and see all the great things they are doing. I hope forge these bonds with all of you over time and look forward to working with all of you.


I am really looking forward to continuing the long tradition of musical excellence at Westwood High School. I will be at the school the July 24-27 during normal school hours if anyone wants to stop in and say hello! I look forward to meeting all of you and hope you enjoy the rest of your summer!


Sincerely,

Joshua Thompson