As of Thursday, May 8th, ticket sales for the 2008 Evening of Percussion Concert Series are as follows: (350 is capacity)

THURSDAY, MAY 29TH, 7:30 p.m.: 229

FRIDAY, MAY 30TH, 7:30 p.m.: 203

SATURDAY, MAY 31ST, 7:30 p.m.: 256

There are currently 362 tickets remaining for the series.

Please contact our ticket sales line at 412-343-9264 to order tickets.

All students who wish to be considered for any of the Marching Percussion leadership positions MUST attend and play for the Drum Major Auditions on Wednesday, May 14th, at 3:30 p.m. You will be a part of a small group of students (made up of all students who are applying for section leader positions) who play while the drum major candidates demonstrate their conducting ability.

Originally posted 05/03/08

The parts for Sabre Dance, the traditional closer for our Concert Series, were placed in everyone's music slot two weeks ago. If you have not yet found your part, please find it. If, for some reason you can't find it, call Mr. Minnotte ASAP.

All players will be expected to know their part TO PERFECTION by the sectional rehearsal scheduled for Wednesday, May 14th, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Special caution is given to those students who have been assigned bell, vibes, chimes or crotale parts. These parts are harder than they look and have usually been the "weak link" in rehearsals throughout the years. Be careful on vibes and chimes to get the proper pedaling. As it told you on the cover letter that accompanied the music, take your part to your private teacher for help if you have any questions.

Any questions, or concerns, regarding Sabre Dance parts or rehearsals should be directed to Mr. Minnotte.

Saturday, May 17th, is the final day for students that DID NOT attend our PMEA trip to be fitted for a tuxedo. Everyone was mailed a letter several weeks ago providing the details for these fittings and for the process and cost of payment. If you did not receive the letter, or have mis-placed it, please contact Mr. Minnotte ASAP.

For those students that were already fitted for a tux in preparation for our trip to Hershey: You DO NOT need to be re-fitted unless you were not satisified with the fit of the tux you were given. However, you still must take care of the payment for the upcoming rental. The cost is the traditional $45.00 (with FMLP covering the other $45.00). This is payable via phone (412-520-0004) with a credit card, or with a credit card or cash in person at the store. This must be accomplished by Saturday, May 17th.

Congratulations to the members of MTL Percussion who performed this past Saturday evening for the annual Percussion Recital Concert. This special evening of music features solos & duets performed on a variety of percussion instruments and allows the audience to see and hear the wonderful talents of our individual students.

The following students participated this year:

SENIORS:

Mike Caruso - John Goodrick - Tucker Vento (accompanied on flute by Rebecca Macoskey) - Ed Witt

Thank you to each of these students for taking the time to share their talents with our audience and for representing our program in such an outstanding manner!

Pictures are now posted on the MULTIMEDIA PAGE of the website from both the Nathan Daughtrey masterclass and the 2008 Percussion Recital Concert. Please enjoy!

The rehearsal schedule for this coming week, May 5th - May 10th, contains several MAJOR changes from our "normal" schedule. This is primarily due to the school musical.

(Originally posted 04/24/08)

The following leadership positions are available for the 2008/2009 Marching Percussion Section:

Drum Captain/s
Percussion Front Section Leader/s
Snare Section Leader
Tenor Section Leader
Bass Drum Section Leader
Cymbal Section Leader

Application letters should be addressed to Miss Marino & Mr. Minnotte. The letter should discuss:

1. Which position/s you are interested in.
2. What your qualifications are for the position/s
3. What you see as being the role of a leader within the total Marching Band
4. Ideas you have for making the Band and Marching Percussion better.

The letter should be composed as a word document and then attached to an email. The email should then be sent to Mr. Minnotte at richminn@aol.com.

THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY, MAY 9TH, AT 10:00 P.M. EDT. YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL RESPONSE TO CONFIRM THAT YOUR APPLLICATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED. APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Congratulations to all students that performed a Departmental Audition on Saturday. The staff was very pleased with the student performances and enjoyed hearing each of you play. Most importantly, most of you left with big smiles on your faces indicating that you thought you performed well.

Scores will be mailed to your homes as soon as possible. The envelope will contain a cover sheet indicating your final score in both Mallet Performance and Drum Performance. In addition, there will be a copy of all the judges score sheets so that you may see what the individual judges thought about your performance.

Thanks to Mr. Kris Macoskey, Mrs. Alicia Hamlin, Mrs. Patty McKnight, Mrs. Marcy Bernson and Mrs. Maria Withum, for volunteering to serve as hall monitors during the audition.

Thanks to Mrs. Lori Galley, Mrs. Joanne Dempe and Mrs. Patti McKnight, for providing snacks and a delicious lunch for the percussion staff. It was greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks to Mr. Jim Jamieson for the administrative work in developing the final score sheets that will be mailed to students later this eek.

And finally, thanks to Mr. Earley, Mr. Miller, Mr. Laus and Mr. Meunier, for judging the auditions.

Mr. Minnotte

Pictures from our recent trip to Hershey, Pa, and our performance at the 75th Annual Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Conference are available on the Multi-Media Page of the website.

On Thursday afternoon, April 17th, 30 of our students performed in Hershey, PA, for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association 75th Annual Conference. The concert drew a large, and VERY enthusiastic, audience. The music educators in attendance were very complimentary to our students on their excellent performance!

Thanks to the members of the African Ensemble who got the concert of to a rousing start with both their singing
(yes, singing!) and their playing. The Concert Ensemble then performed our 2001 Commisioning Series Composition, Selections from West Side Story, in a superb fashion. An excellent performance of Leyenda followed featuring senior Neal Emery as marimba soloist with the accompaniment of our Concert Ensemble. The Keyboard Ensemble, with members Cassie Koval, Dan Dempe, Neal Emery, Anne McGinty and Kim Minnotte, then wowed the audience with their keyboard skills on an arrangement of Mozart's Rondo from Quartet in B flat. The concert was brought to a close with a great performance of Nathan Daughtrey's Limerick Daydreams.

Thanks to all of the students for their excellent preparation of the music and for the outstanding manner in which they represented MTL Percussion and the Mt. Lebanon School District!

Thanks to Mr. Frank Clements and Mrs. Linda Minnotte for chaperoning. Special thanks to Mr. Subha Das and
Mr. Dan Meunier for the excellent preparation of their portions of the concert.