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Tri-City Band Corps: Summer 2023 In-Person & Online Elementary Band Program

Tri-City Band Corps is excited to announce the fifth year of its elementary band summer music program. We had over 600 students participate last summer, and we hope to see that number grow. Space is limited so register soon!

Note: This program is open to children entering grades 4+ in the 23-24 school year. Please do not register your child if they are younger than that.

Both East and South Bay programs register here. Please select your location at check out.

Program Dates:

Starting: Monday, June 5th, 2023
Ending: Thursday, July 27th, 2023
No class on July 4th

East Bay (In-person):

Beginning Band: Wednesdays 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Intermediate Band: Mondays 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Advanced Band: Mondays 6:30 - 8:30 PM
*Bagpipes will be operating on the following schedule instead:
- Beginning: Mondays 6:30-7:30 PM
- Returning (Intermediate/Advanced): Mondays 7:30-8:30 PM

South Bay (In-person):

Beginning Band: Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Intermediate Band: Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Note: The South Bay schedule was previously advertised as Monday/Wednesday but has now been changed to Tuesday/Thursday

Online:

Intermediate Band: Tuesdays 6:00 - 7:00 PM
Advanced Band: Tuesdays 7:00 - 8:00 PM
There will be no online beginning offered this summer.
Week of July 4th: Class will be held on Thursday (7/6) instead of Tuesday (7/4)

Note: While we offer both in-person and online options, we highly recommend students who are able to opt for the in-person programs. This is because these students have the added benefit of learning to play with each other as an ensemble, which we are unfortunately unable to replicate online. In addition, in-person students will be able to perform in a concert at the end of the summer.

In-Person Location Addresses:

East Bay: Stratford, 43077 Osgood Rd, Fremont, CA 94539

South Bay: Stratford, 3800 Blackford Ave, San Jose, CA 95117

Our Process: We've designed an extremely comprehensive music program to ensure that students are receiving quality band instruction. Students in our program progress extremely quickly, consistently outperforming similar programs by covering more than twice as much content in the same amount of time.

Weekly video lessons for your specific instrument
Weekly sectionals for your specific instrument
MakeMusic (formerly SmartMusic): The latest in music education technology. MakeMusic will track student practice time, provide instant assessments of student recording, and allows students to submit recordings to the teachers.
We will have a concert at the end of the Summer to show off everything that our students have achieved.

Groups: We will be offering 3 levels for the 2023 summer program:

Beginning - No previous experience (Must go through instrument selection night, first choice not guaranteed)
Intermediate - Must be able to comfortably play Declaration and Dance by Larry Clark (Recommended for current Beginning students)
- Current Beginning band students should sign up for Intermediate
Advanced - Must be able to comfortably play Turkish March in the Standard of Excellence Book 2 (Recommended for current Intermediate students)
- Current Intermediate band students should sign up for Advanced
We highly encourage students who are comfortable with all the Standard of Excellence Book 2 exercises to move on to our Cadet Regiment instead (Recommend for current Advanced students)

Students who are new to the program and wish to audition for a higher-level ensemble (Intermediate or Advanced) will need to submit an audition which is due by June 1st. Please email us at tbc@tricitybandcorps.org for more info if you are interested.

Instruments Offered: Bagpipes, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium/Baritone, French Horn, Percussion (Snare + Bells)

Costs: Our program is completely free to all students, though we do highly encourage donations to help us support our program. We're asking for a $250 donation, which helps cover MakeMusic, sheet music, sectionals, and lessons.

Grading: To evaluate our students' progress throughout the program, we use Google Classroom to keep track of student performance in our program. The grades will not affect whether or not students can remain in the program; we use them so both parents and volunteers can make sure students are keeping up in class! Students will be graded for the following:

Weekly Class Attendance
MakeMusic Homework Assignments
Playing Tests

Elementary Band Introduction Meeting: We will be having a Zoom meeting on Saturday, May 20th, 2023 from 6-7 PM where students and parents will be introduced to our program's directors, and will get all of the needed information and clarification on how our program will run. We highly encourage all parents to come! More information regarding this meeting will be sent a few weeks prior. Meeting details are available in your confirmation email.

Instrument Selection Form (Required for Beginners): On the day of our introduction meeting, May 20th, we will be sending out a mandatory Google Form for beginning students to pick their instruments. All beginning students will be required to fill out the form and rank their top 3 instrument choices. Instruments will then be assigned to balance out the class. All students will receive their instrument assignment by June 3rd.

To aid in the instrument selection process, we are planning to host in-person instrument demo sessions at the Stratford sites sometime in May so that students will have a better sense of how each instrument sounds and works, and learn about the pros and cons associated with each instrument; more information will be emailed out closer to the parent meeting date. Instrument demo videos will also be available with the instrument selection form, but we highly encourage students to attend an in-person session if possible.

Note: Although we try to match everyone with an instrument they are interested in, we cannot guarantee any instrument placement for beginners.

Instrument Rentals: TBC offers a limited number of free rental Trombone, Bagpipes, and Baritones to students, with priority given to students from low income families. Unfortunately, TBC is unable to provide any other instruments. We strongly encourage students to rent instruments from local music stores (Fremont Music Stores/Cupertino Music Stores). Please do not buy instruments on eBay or Amazon.

Materials Needed:

Instrument
Music stand

Beginning Band - Standard of Excellence Book 1 (Red)
Intermediate and Advanced Band - Standard of Excellence Book 2 (Blue)

Instrument Bell Cover (optional)
Instrument Mask (optional)

Tuner (optional)
Metronome (optional)

Performances:

This year our intermediate and advanced level students (both in-person and online welcome!) will be performing at the Fremont July 4th parade. Students will need to memorize 1 short song for this performance. This performance is optional and will take place the morning of Tuesday, July 4th, 2023 starting 8 am, and the route will be near the Fremont Main Library. All students who participate will be getting a free TBC t-shirt!

There will be two required rehearsals for the parade:

Saturday, June 24th, 5-7 pm
Saturday, July 1st, 5-7 pm
Location is currently planned to be at the East Bay Stratford site (subject to change)

If you sign up for the parade and need to drop out, the absolute last day to change your attendance status is June 23rd

Students participating in the in-person programs will also be performing in a concert at the end of the summer on Saturday, July 29th, 2023! Online students will have the opportunity to produce a concert video instead.

Attendance Policy: We ask that all absences be reported at least 1 week in advance, and will only be marked as excused we are notified at least 24 hours prior to the sectional class. Students with multiple unexcused absences may be dropped from the class.

Questions? Email us at tbc@tricitybandcorps.org

Disclaimer: By signing up for this program, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions:

I have reviewed the information entered above, and my child has my permission to participate in the 2023 Summer Tri-City Elementary Band program beginning on Monday, June 5th, 2023 and ending on Wednesday, July 26th, 2023. I will adhere to all rules and instructions associated with the programs. I understand that my child’s photographs taken during the programs may be used by Tri-City Band Corps for publication in literature, newspaper articles, and website. I will assume all risks associated with my child's participation in the programs. I will also hold harmless and indemnify Tri-City Band Corps and all their associated personnel against any liabilities that may result during the programs.

Elementary Band Summer 2023

By Tri City Band Corps

Elementary Band Summer 2023

Team Members