Welcome Back

Wow... it's here!  That magically wonderful first week of classes is upon us and I am thrilled to welcome you back to another stupendous year of music making.  Classes begin on Thursday and I look forward to hearing about your amazing summer adventures.

As always, if you have any questions, come on by the band room and say hi!

Band Flash Drives Delayed until September

Due to circumstances beyond our control the band flash drive project has been delayed until September.  We ask for your patience and understanding as we work through this.

Link to our Band Concert

As always we will be webcasting tonight's band concert live from Westwood Collegiate.  Just follow , or share, the link below and tune in at 7:00PM Central.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRvoL6lw1fK8RlNha8slHjg

NEW and EXCITING the BAND "FLASH DRIVE" Fundraiser

We have never wanted to inundate parents with loads of fundraisers for our program and as a result the BAND CD was born.  We started this adventure being as cutting edge as possible and began with recording a CD of the bands.  Then we moved to a DVD to include videos and photos.  Who ever thought that we would fill a DVD (4.7G) with our music? It's hard to believe that some people didn't even own DVD players when we began and now we have out-grown that format and have moved on to a new and exiting platform... the FLASH DRIVE!  So instead of selling our world renowned band DVD at the upcoming concert on Tuesday May 29th, we will be switching over to a complete reusable guitar shaped FLASH DRIVE which you can easily download into your computer.

As mentioned at the Winter Concert, we hire professional photographers and videographers to capture our concerts so you as parents (and students) do not have to watch the wonderful music making going on through a 4 inch screen as you try to save that moment into your device.

Never fear, it will continue to feature lots of movies and tons of photos from each performing ensemble in the Band Program and including every concert (yep even the final Jazz Concert on the 30th).  The main difference, is that this new format will allow us to move to a better resolution of movie and we are all really pleased with that.

By purchasing one of our FLASH DRIVES, you do not have to stare at your loved one through a 4 inch screen and can enjoy the concert.  We have been compiling this information over the past year, and we cannot tell you how excited we are about this dynamic project.  This exciting keepsake can act as a supplement to your son’s or daughter’s yearbook or act as a stand alone souvenir of the “too numerous to mention” accomplishments of the band program.  All orders must be pre-paid and no orders will be accepted after June 1st. A parent committee will be at the concert on the 29th to take your order.  The flash drives will be available for pick-up some time during the week of the report card pick up.    

Pick up a FLASH DRIVE and enjoy a glimpse inside: “band@westwood”  and support our program in a very fun way.        

If you wish, you can print the lower portion as an order form and bring it to the concert with your cheque or cash, but don't worry the parent committee will have lots of order forms for you at the door.

__________________________________________________________________________

ORDER FORM

Each FLASH DRIVE sells for $20.00

Please submit this order form with your payment

DVD Title:  “band@westwood 2018”                       

                                                                                    

            Student’s name ____________________________

          Student’s grade ____________________________

TOTAL NUMBER OF FLASH DRIVES ORDERD _____ X $20.00 = TOTAL COST  - $ 

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE WAY THAT OUR BANKING IS SET UP, CHEQUES MUST BE MADE PAYABLE TO WESTWOOD BAND CD.  THANK YOU.

WESTWOOD BANDS in the Spring edition of the St. James-Assiniboia school Division CONTACT

Westwood bands bring home the Don Green Award

Three perfect scores from judges, a clean sweep for all Jazz Bands and the prestigious Don Green Award gave Westwood Collegiate many reasons to celebrate after the Optimist Festival this year.
At the 2018 Optimist Band Festival, all seven ensembles from Westwood Collegiate were invit-
ed to represent Manitoba at Nationals 2018. The Symphonic Grade 11 and 12 Concert Band received Superior, as well as a perfect score from one of three adjudicators. The four Westwood Collegiate Jazz Bands experienced a clean sweep, all earning Superior. The Senior Jazz earned two perfect scores from both of the adjudicators honouring the 25 students in this advanced category. Lastly, the school was selected to receive the Don Green Award.

The Don Green Award recognizes the top pro- gram out of more than 170 participating ensembles. It re ects a combination of exemplary performance, mature on-and-off stage presence, responsiveness to clinics, commitment to the festival through lon- gevity and the overall development of an outstand- ing band program.

Chair of the Optimist Festival Robert Clark men- tioned how Don Green was an active member of the St. James-Assiniboia community. He was part of the Assiniboine Optimist Club, the St. James Chapter, founded the Crestview men’s fastball league and Crestview Community Centre, and helped launch the festival 43 years ago in 1975 when only a hand- ful of schools were involved. Westwood Collegiate being one of them.

Westwood Band director Mr. Edwards re ected on the history of the band program at Westwood and attributed the groups recent successes to all those who helped build it.

“It’s a circle of inspiration,” said Mr. Edwards. “This particular year has clicked something erce, these guys are self-motivating, self-actualizing, its numer- acy and literacy and just everything you could ever want a student to be involved in.”

The talent and commitment of the students attribut- ed to the Don Green Award, as did the fact that for 12 years Westwood has been volunteering to clean up after the festival. This involves all hands on deck and approximately six hours of teamwork. “That’s participation and being part of that community,” said Clarke. “That went into the decision making as well.” 

Hey Look!.... We are on the front page of the Metro

Westwood bands sweep at

international festival

Group returns home with six awards for 

outstanding performance

By: Alana Trachenko
Posted: 03/12/2018 6:31 PM | Comments: 1

ALANA TRACHENKO

Greg Edwards refused to accept the Don Green award on behalf of his band program at Westwood Collegiate,

 instead insisting that all the students get onstage with him.

A local band program has hit a high note in its most recent competition.

Westwood Collegiate’s various bands recently returned from the Optimist Clubs of Winnipeg International Band Festival with an unheard-of six awards, including the notable Don Green award, which a school can only receive once. Band director Greg Edwards insists that it would have been impossible to get to this level without the students leading the effort.

"This particular year, things just clicked," Edwards said. "All the bands seemed to just go after it, and it wasn’t through some stick and carrot method. It was a group of people from Grade 9… up to Grade 12, that were ultimately intrinsically motivated by the music, by each other, to just see how good can we get?"

On March 7, Edwards invited the division’s arts co-ordinator, Jackie Gagne, John Balsillie, executive director of the Manitoba Band Association and Optimist Festival chair Robert Clark to speak to and congratulate the students for their accomplishments.

"You’ve heard me say how amazing I think you are for too many times," Edwards explained to the theatre of students. "I don’t think you believe me anymore."

Gagne commended the group on putting in the time to takes to become proficient in music.
"It takes so much to practice and become good at what you’re doing," she said. "It’s not instant gratification to play an instrument. It takes hours and hours of practice. You have to have a passion for it."

ALANA TRACHENKO

Westwood’s band director Greg Edwards says the students were self-motivated to do their absolute best this year.

Balsillie spent some time telling the students about the Don Green award, and who Don Green was. A very active and engaged member of the Winnipeg community, Green recently passed away at the age of 84.

"He was a building block guy of community," Balsillie said. "He was a member of the Assiniboine Optimist Club, he founded the Crestview men’s fastball league and the Crestview Community Centre. He was a naval officer and a volunteer with the Assiniboine school board.

"The things he loved about band were not the three-minute or six-minute piece that you guys just love. He loved the fact that you had been practising since Grade 7 at Lincoln. He loved the fact that you had to learn scales. He loved the fact that you had to learn all the theory and the music gave you this window into history to the pieces and how they were written.

"He was convinced music brought people together to help build a better community."

Balsillie added that the award is given not just on performance, but also a mature presence on and offstage, receptivity to clinics and commitment to the festival over a number of years.

In addition to the Don Green award, the senior jazz band received a perfect score, which Edwards says is very rare. The other groups ranked as superior, and were only a few points shy of perfect scores themselves.

"They’re flying on could nine," Edwards said.

Read more by Alana Trachenko.

Brandon Jazz Update

New information in the Brandon Jazz drop-down menu above