Andover Music Department

That first week flew right by and brought us pep assemblies, football games the start of the competitive Marching Band Season and even the start of Chamber Choir! With that being said, a new year can always bring some big questions - especially if you’re a parent of a 9th grader so read on for more information!

High School is a time of discovery and growth - the Music Program at Andover is no exception. We'll take the foundational knowledge that was laid down by our exceptional colleagues in the middle school and we'll challenge the students to grow. Sometimes this growth can be difficult as we start to think critically about what we're doing in the moment (like identifying note names and counting rhythms). It can be hard to figure out where your weaknesses are (let alone admit them). You know as well as we do that real growth happens when we push through the difficulties and analyze not only why things are hard but also figure out what we need to do to make things better. You can see that we are really looking to build some very important life skills, we just do it through music. We ask you to stand by your students side and support them as we figure this all out together - as a team of musicians. Our end goal is to embrace student creativity with critical thinking while having a growth mindset.

Now, the first few rehearsals can be honestly quite messy and it can take a while to finally “fall into a groove”, BUT it's a great feeling to once again start playing music together. These first few weeks are really about figuring out how to interact with each other musically again and setting expectations in order to be a successful team. We also discussed some “business” items like the SYLLABUS and a GOOGLE CLASSROOM GUIDE (both can be found in your students Google Classroom and will be located on our website when it goes live on 9/16).

Speaking of business items...Instrument Rental Information. If your student uses a school-owned instrument (including but not limited to: Euphonium, Tuba, Bari Sax, Percussion, Cello, Bass) and hasn't turned in their paperwork/payment, INSTRUMENT RENTAL FORM. For details on the amount owed, please check out the second page of the document. Checks should be made out to Anoka Hennepin Schools.

And on to MORE business...

With our fall concert slightly over a month away you may be thinking “What should my student wear for such an amazing event?” Griffin & Peterson have you covered with this wonderful document that has details on our requirements for performance attire. To put everything quite simply - all black dress clothes. Check out the handy-dandy Instrumental Music CONCERT ATTIRE GUIDELINES for even more information.

Choir Folk do wear robes for their concerts, however, they should also be wearing all black dress clothes (including shoes) worn underneath their robes for each concert.

The Music Department at Andover strives to build relationships across music disciplines for a more inclusive/cohesive Music Department - we're all here to make music anyways! This year we're delighted to continue our spooky tradition by throwing our second annual "Music Monster Mash". The event will be from 2:10PM-4:30PM on Tuesday, 10/14. Just like the flyer says, there’ll be games, coloring, snacks and a movie. Students can come for 10 minutes or stay for the entire two and a half hours - whatever is most convenient for them!

Students need to be registered in a curricular ensemble to attend!

New parents to the Andover High School Music Community? Want to know more about what your child is involved with OR want to know how to get more involved yourself? The Andover Music Department will be holding a meeting on Tuesday, 9/16 at 6PM. The Andover Music Boosters will also be present to let you know how you can support your student/the music program as a whole. Please come to this meeting and learn about what your musician will be up to this year!

Click this link to get to the meeting!

Looking to rep some cool new attire this year or are you looking for an easy gift for your high school musician? Last year the Andover Music Department started their first online apparel store. This year we're proud to partnering with local company Rise Above Apparel to maintain that online shop. The store will go live soon so keep an eye out for future notifications!

Are you looking for a sweet treat this Holiday Season or maybe you're just looking to save yourself some time from all the food prep/cooking this November & December OR you're just interested in less time prepping/cooking and more time for family. Well fear not the Andover Music Department has you covered! We're in our fourth year running a fundraiser through Betty's Pies and couldn't be more excited to be bringing this back again for this school year. Betty's Pies are handmade from scratch with only the freshest ingredients. The pies are prepared in their restaurant in Two Harbors, then frozen and packaged to insure freshness when delivered to their destination.

We earn about $10 per pie sold. When we get closer to this fundraiser, students will receive order forms, and they will collect either cash or check to turn in to their respective teacher (Ms. Griffin for Orchestra, Mr. Peterson for Band and Mr. Telschow for Choir students). When we ran this fundraiser in the fall of 2024 we sold over 900 pies! It’s our most popular fundraiser - don’t miss it!

Sale Dates for this fundraiser will run from 9/29 through 10/13. All order forms and payments are due on Tuesday, 10/14 - no exceptions. Our tentative delivery date is set for Thursday, 11/20 (right before thanksgiving). Students must be available to pick up their orders on 11/20 between 4PM and 5PM. More details will be sent out in the coming weeks.

Chamber Orchestra and Jazz One are audition-based groups that play challenging music, while Jazz Too will be more of a laid back setting for people wanting to just have some fun playing some jazz tunes. An audition is required for students interested in Chamber Orchestra and Jazz One (the more challenging Jazz Band). There is no audition requirement for Jazz Too. Audition materials for Jazz One and Chamber Orchestra will go into the student's Google Classroom by the end of the month.

Members of any chamber ensemble at Andover must be a registered member of a music ensemble at Andover High School (Band/Choir/Orchestra).

To help embrace our sense of community to the Music Department, Andover Music Students get into all school concerts for free (when they show their sticker). We hope you have time to check out the dates below and come support the all the Musicians at Andover High School this trimester!

9/16, Music Department New Parent Welcome Meeting at 6:00PM online via google meet!

10/23, Fall Band Concert at 7:00PM in the Auditorium

10/27, Fall Orchestra Concert at 7:00PM in the Auditorium

10/28, Fall Choir Concert at 7:00PM in the Auditorium

11/11, Concert Band/Choir/Orchestra perform at the Veteran's Day Assembly in the Gym

12/5, Cafe on Stage (all chamber ensembles) at 7:30PM in the Auditorium

Whether you're coming to a conference on 10/9 or you'll be in the audience for our Fall Concert Series, we hope to see you all very soon. Thank you for your continued support of music in the schools!

Regards,

Stacy Griffin - Orchestras

Josiah Telschow - Choirs

Blake Peterson - Bands