Sunday, August 30, 2026
Help the Bands Get to Carnegie Hall!
An important Tuesday meeting, the beginning of our Carnegie Hall campaign, and a strong first week for Ashley Bands.
Ashley Concert Band and Wind Ensemble have officially been accepted to perform at the 2027 National Band & Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall!
This is an incredible opportunity for our students and a major undertaking for the Ashley Bands community. This week, we are beginning our Help the Bands Get to Carnegie Hall! campaign.
Help the Bands Get to Carnegie Hall!
Taking two bands to Carnegie Hall will require students, families, boosters, alumni, sponsors, and our community working together.
The goal is simple: give every eligible student a realistic opportunity to participate while reducing the amount families must pay.
Ashley Bands families will meet Tuesday night in the Ashley band room to learn about the opportunity, projected costs, participation expectations, fundraising plans, and what happens next. This is an information meeting. Families will not be asked to register, pay, or commit to the trip that evening.
Two ways to help now
Share the popcorn fundraiser. Perry's Gourmet Popcorn is open through midnight Wednesday, September 9. Shop the popcorn fundraiser, choose Ashley HS Band as the group, and put the student's full name in the optional seller note at checkout. As of Sunday, August 30, we have raised $386 from $965 in popcorn sales.
Find one family for the mattress fundraiser. Our mattress fundraiser is Saturday, September 26, from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. in the Ashley full-size gym. Think of one friend, relative, coworker, or neighbor who may need a mattress and invite that person personally.
Local businesses and community members can also support Ashley Bands through a sponsorship.
These fundraisers are not only about completing a sale. They are opportunities to tell people what our students are doing and invite the community to become part of it.
That was a GOOD first week!
The first week is always about establishing routines, reviewing fundamentals, learning how each group works together, and beginning the transition from individual musicians into an ensemble. Our students did all of those things while also making meaningful progress on real music.
Concert Band
Concert Band began working on Let Freedom Ring! and Legends and Heroes. The students progressed through the opening sections of both pieces while connecting music-reading and ensemble fundamentals to the music in front of them.
The group is working to establish a strong ensemble sound while improving rhythmic accuracy and confidence. There is plenty of work ahead, but the students have already shown that they can make meaningful progress when everyone listens, participates, and contributes.
Percussion Ensemble
Percussion Ensemble covered a tremendous amount of material during the first week.
Students learned and reviewed the four main percussion stroke types and began working through their warmup packet. On mallet instruments, they learned several tetrachords while developing their ability to recognize notes and find them on the keyboard. That work included successfully playing a complete F-major scale.
Students also read rhythms while experiencing the batterie music from this year's marching band show, connecting their technical work in class to music performed by the larger band program.
Wind Ensemble
Wind Ensemble made Bernstein Tribute playable, began finding the correct ragtime style in The Entertainer, and successfully sight-read Cenotaph.
Each selection presented a different musical challenge, and the students responded well. Now the ensemble begins moving beyond the correct notes and rhythms and toward performing each piece with the style, balance, and musical purpose it requires.
Building a weekly practice routine
Students are beginning a standing weekly performance assignment from 50 Progressive Exercises. The first performance will help each student determine where to begin. From there, students will prepare and demonstrate progress each week.
Consistent preparation at home is an important part of that process. A designated practice space and a regular time can make an enormous difference in a student's ability to prepare, improve, and perform confidently.
Marching Band
Friday night was OUTSTANDING. Staff agreed that it was by far the best first performance from the Screaming Eagle Regiment in years, possibly ever.
The students represented Ashley well and gave the program a strong starting point for the season. Rain cut Thursday's field time short, but the group still made real progress on sets 33-39. Now the goal is to take what worked and make it the standard for the rest of the show.