Marching Band Success

This has been a “banner” year for our high school marching bands! I truly believe that all of our high school bands are performing to higher musical and visual standards than ever before. The artistic concepts of drill design, use of auxiliaries, body visuals, and the sophistication of the music arrangements are at the highest levels. And all five of our groups have received outstanding audience response at both football games and competition performances.

Cedar Ridge Raider Band:
This is our newest high school, with freshmen and sophomores only. The show “The Game Within” is visually and musically complex, and the students have exceeded all expectations in terms of quality of execution. Cedar Ridge entered UIL Marching Contest in AAAA Non-Varsity, and received first division ratings from all judges. Band directors are Mark Calima, Ryan Brittain, and Rick Rodriguez

Stony Point Tiger Band and Tiger Dancers:
The Tiger Band’s show was called “Wonderland,” and used classical and jazz music to visually and musically depict the story line from “Alice in Wonderland.” Music themes were from works by Beethoven, Prokofiev, Cole Porter, Elgar, and Mussorgsky. The Tiger Dancers added a special touch in playing roles and enhancing the entire presentation. This group won Outstanding Band, Outstanding Percussion, and Outstanding Auxiliary at the Central Texas Marching Showcase, and earned first division awards from all judges at the UIL Region 26 contest. This qualified them for the Area D UIL Contest at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio. The performance at this event was outstanding. The directors are Brian Sedatole, Matt Greene, and Cathy Benford. The director of the Tiger Dancer unit is Abbe Goertz.

McNeil Maverick Band:
The Maverick Band’s show is “If I Only Had,” with visual and musical pageantry depicting the story line of “The Wizard of Oz.” McNeil was a finalist at the Capital City Marching Festival and at the Bands of America Contest in Houston. At the Region 26 UIL Contest, the band earned all first division ratings from the judges, qualifying then for the Area Contest in San Antonio. At the Area Contest, the Mav Band was a finalist, coming very close to qualifying for the State Marching Contest. The directors are Travis Ancelet, Jason Dimiceli, and Ian Smith.

Westwood Warrior Band:
Westwood’s show is entitled, “The Force of Destiny.” The show explores the age old question of Fate vs. Destiny, through the powerful music of Verdi, Orff, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich. The Warrior Band scored high at the Capital City Marching Festival and also placed in the Finals at the Westlake Marching Festival. By earning all first divisions at the UIL Region Marching Contest, the Westwood Band earned the right to compete at the Area UIL Contest in San Antonio. At Area, the band qualified to compete in Finals, and came very close to qualifying for the State Marching Contest. Directors are Jack Green, David Jennison, Thomas Turpin, and Sarah Santa Cruz.


Round Rock Dragon Band:
The Dragon Band’s show is called “The Dragon.” The music includes “The Future of Fire” by Zhou Long and “The Way of Life” by Hans Zimmer. This show earned the band first place awards at both the Capital City Music Festival and the Westlake Marching Festival. The color guard and drumline also earned first place at these events. At the Region 26 UIL Contest, the band received first division awards from all judges, qualifying then for Area. At the Area D contest in San Antonio, the Dragon Band earned the right to compete in Finals. Round Rock was one of the top six bands in Finals, qualifying to advance to the State Marching Contest at the Alamodome on November 2.

2010 TAEA Middle School Art Educator of the Year

It is my pleasure to announce to our district that Cecelia Pichini, Visual Art Faculty at Walsh Middle School has been selected the Texas Art Education Association Outstanding Middle School Division Art Educator for 2010. 

Cecelia was chosen from a statewide slate of nominees that the TAEA awards committee found powerful and thus presented an enduring challenge to the committee for their final determinations. 

Ms. Pichini is a model art educator who throughout her career has challenged and inspired students to achieve, create, think and produce to their fullest potential.  Cecelia continually shares resources and ideas with her visual art colleagues, presents professional development both on the local and state levels, has published in art education journals and hosts student teachers / observers extending her model practices beyond her art room and into the larger, visual community.  In addition, Cecelia continues to produce art of her own --- you can see her latest work in our current RRISD Faculty Show (www.rrisdfacultyshow.wordpress.com).

Please join me in congratulating Cecelia Pichini on being honored for her role and dedication to promoting quality visual arts education not only in Round Rock ISD, but in the State of Texas!

Texas Art Education Association will celebrate our 2010 Award Recipients at the Opening First General Session of the 49th Annual TAEA Fall Conference entitled Nurturing the Creative Spirit; Keep Art Weird at the Austin Convention Center, Friday, November 12, 2010, 2-4pm.

The RRISD Visual Art Faculty is EXTREMELY proud of Cecelia and this accomplishment in her career! 

For additional information on the Conference or TAEA, visit www.taea.org

Grisham Band Named National Winner by National Wind Band Honors

Congratulations to the Grisham Middle School Honors Band for once again being named a national winner in the National Wind Band Honors project! This organization seeks to recognize and award outstanding achievement in performance by high school and middle school bands. The project gathers entries from throughout the United States and provides valuable feedback for all entrants. A unique competitive environment is created that allows ensembles to compare their quality to that of other outstanding groups from across the country.

Grisham has been a National Wind Band Honors Winner for the past three years.

Chisholm Trail Band to Appear at International Conference in Seattle

Congratulations to Tracey Redus and the Chisholm Trail Honor Band! This group has been invited to perform at the Western International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Seattle, Washington in November! Only a handful of middle school bands across the country are invited to this prestigious event, and RRISD is honored to have the CTMS band represent us.

Theatre Liaison Named!

Our Fine Arts Administrative Team has expanded! Charles Hobby, one of the theatre directors at Round Rock High School, has been named RRISD Theatre Liaison. In this capacity, Charles will still be a full time teacher, but will now also provide leadership to the theatre faculty across the district in the areas of curriculum alignment, professional development, and facilitating district theatre initiatives.

Congratulations to Charles!

Faculty Art Show

Join us for the First Round Rock ISD Visual Art Faculty Show!  The opening reception is this Thursday, September, 16th from 4-6pm.  Our community, faculty staff and students are invited for food and viewing!

Summer, a time of freedom and relaxation.  For many of the Round Rock ISD visual art faculty, summer becomes a time to restore their creativity through producing personal artwork and exploration of ideas, themes and media that is not possible during the school year concentrating on student experiences and teaching.  Summer Work; The 2010 Round Rock ISD Visual Art Faculty Show is designed to highlight work by our talented faculty, educate, motivate, and inspire our students, nurture creative families by exhibiting professional work in a community setting.  The show also will serve as a forum for the exchange of art ideas and techniques within the visual art faculty.
Summer Work; The 2010 Round Rock ISD Visual Art Faculty Show is a partnership between:

• J.B. & Hallie Jester Williamson County Annex Gallery – Round Rock 
• Round Rock Area Arts Council 
• Round Rock ISD – Office of Fine Arts 
• The Round Rock ISD Visual Art Faculty

First Three Weeks of School

The first three weeks of school have gone VERY smoothly! Our students seem to enjoy themselves! At Stony Point were are certainly clearing the A.I.R. The students are buying into our new attitude and seem very happy. The choir students and music theory kids are enjoying themselves. Our first sing of the Star Spangled Banner was a success! We are going to have an awesome first concert at the PAC! Mrs. Payton and myself expect a tremendous year of growth and success.

At Round Rock, the choir is growing and sounds amazing! There is growth in numbers and Dr. Fish and I are convinced of a more than successful year. Our first concert is Oct. 7th.