After an amazing Winter concert, we had a pretty busy January. This is the time of year when we showcase out program to the incoming 6th graders. The Orchestra played in an assembly as well as at our open house. It was wonderful!! They performed very well, and were amazing representatives for the Orchestra program at Hillside.
Keep playing! If you are going to high school, keep playing! Amazing things are ahead of you. If you are a 7th grader, keep playing! You are the reason we have such a wonderful program at Hillside. Keep up the amazing work!
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We are so excited to put on our first concert fo the year. The groups have been working so hard, and have come so far!
Concert date- December 12th 7:00pm students need to report to Hillside by 6:20 pm to get tuned and ready. Concert black or black and white dress clothing only. This will be a wonderful concert! Thank you for all of your support! The orchestra classes are making great progress this year. We have been reinforcing good habits, like posture, bow hold and holding poisition. These directly impact the sound a player can get from their instrument. Students should be practicing at home 4 days each week to work on individual skills and their scales, warm ups and concert music.
Our first concert is December 12th at 7:00 pm at Hillside. We are looking forward to a great performance! Here we are off to another great start! I am very excited to see all of you. We have some great concerts planned and I am sending a disclosure home the first week with grading and concert information. You may also click the link below to download a copy. Make sure to mark concerts right away so you can plan on them. You can find information on this page, as well as concert videos. See you all soon!
2022-23_orchestra_ii_disclosure_updated.docx Our Spring Orchestra concert is coming up on May 16th! It will be a wonderful concert with many fun songs. I am so excited for the students to show off all of their hard work.
The concert is at Hillside and begins at 7:00 pm Orchestra I needs to be at Hillside at 6:30 pm Orchestra II needs to be at Hillside at 6:40 pm All students needs to wear concert black or black and white dress clothing. Please see syllabus or newsletter or the letters that have been sent home for dress code. All orchestra students are expected to attend, as this is a very important occasion and a large part fo their grade. I am looking forward to it! What a wonderful Winter concert! All of the students did an amazing job and I was so happy with their performance. It was great to see so many family members and friends come out to support us. Thanks to Highland for hosting this concert! It was such a fun opportunity to play together. Here is some video to enjoy! Our Winter Concert is approaching quickly! Both classes have been working hard to perform. There has been a letter and several email sent home with information, so please look for that. The basic details are:
Concert Date: December 15th- Thursday Concert at HIGHLAND HIGH SCHOOL - students must report to Highland by 6:25 pm (NOT Hillside) The concert begins at 7:00 pm, so please be seated in the auditorium before 7:00 pm to watch the performance. Please remind your student to dress in concert black or black and white dress clothing. Be prepared with instrument and music folder, we will not have extras for them! This will be wonderful performance by Orchestra I and II, Chamber and Highland. We will all play a combined number at the end!! I am very excited for this concert, and I hope can come and enjoy the performance. All Orchestra students must attend, as a large part of their grade. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your support! The Fall Concert was a great success! We had an amazing turn out with families and friends, and it was such a fun concert. We were all so happy to have this opportunity to perform for the community. Here is a video of the Orchestra portions of the concert. Thanks so much for your support! You can look forward to hearing the Orchestra I and II classes, along with Highland orchestras on December 15th at Highland High! The Orchestra II will perform their first concert on October 25th at 7:00 pm at Hillside. We will be performing some pieces to showcase our hard work, as well as band and choir! Please plan on this date, as all of our players are important to the success of the group. More information will be sent home by email and in the newsletter soon!
Both classes will perform in the Winter Orchestra Concert at Highland High School on December 15th. We will hear each group perform, as well as some combined pieces with Highland. This will be a wonderful opportunity for all of our players! Make sure to plan on ths date. Students need to arrive by 6:20 pm. I am so excited for a great school year! I hope you had a wonderful summer, and that you are ready to work hard and have fun. We will have some exciting opportunities this year. You will not need your instrument on the first 2 days. We will take care of school rentals and neccessary paper work as well as getting to know each other.
Things to know! You will need to know how to use Canvas. We will use it for periodic assignments, and I will have concert information and the disclosure on Canvas for you. Most of your classes will use Canvas. You will need to check your school email weekly. I distibute very important information by email about concerts. Most teachers will use email, so get in the habit of checking it at least twice a week. You need to plan on our concerts and not plan other activities. They are a large part of your grade, and you are all very important. Make sure to make a practice schedule during first week of school. You must practice at home to keep up in class, and if you want to be great, you need to practice more! Strive for at least 4 days every week. I am looking forward to an amazing year! I am so proud of the concert we just had! You all did a great job, and I am so happy with the performance. Nice work! Here are some videos for you to enjoy and share. Orchestra II performed at the District Orchestra Festival on March 16th. All of the middle school orchestras performed for each other, as well as two professional judges. They were all gibven feedback and had the chance to work with one of the judges. It was a very helpful and exciting experience! Hillside received two Superior ratings! Great Job!! There are some concerts and performances coming up, and I am so excited that we get to show off the talents in our orchestras! Some of these are only for Orchestra II, and the Spring concert involves both groups.
March 16th- Orchestra II, District Orchestra festival at Hillside. Orchestra II only. 9:30 am -11:45 am. We will wear concert black or black and white FORMAL dress. We will perform for judges and for the other middle schools. Very important event. The judges will work with us and give us great feedback that we use to get even better. May 17th (date changed! Email sent Feb. 23rd) SPRING ORCHESTRA CONCERT at Hillside ALL ORCHESTRA STUDENTS!!!! FORMAL black or black and white dress. report at 6:30 pm and perform at 7:00 pm. The most important concert of the year! Both orchestras show their progress and talent to our parents, families and friends. Make sure you have this date on your calendar! Lagoon and Music in the Parks competition- May 21st -all day! 8:15 am until 7:30 pm. Orchestra II only and by registration and fee. I was so proud of your concert! The hard work paid off, and I hope you enjoyed it! Here are links to your concert videos to watch and share: Our Winter Concert is coming up on December 14th at 7:00pm at Hillside.
Orchestra I needs to arrive at 6:30pm and Orchestra II needs to arrive at 6:40pm to tune and warm up at Hillside. All Orchestra students need to attend, and all family members are invited to watch. Make sure to practice at home so you are prepared for the concert! Everyone should be practicing at home at least 3-4 times every week. A note and several email have been sent home with details about concert dress and times. Please make sure to check your email and look for the note sent home November 19th. Other performances coming up: Orchestra II only - Hillside Open House January 60th at 6:00pm. Highland Combined at HIGHLAND -February 3rd at 7:00pm -be there 6:30pm. Please email Mrs. Misco with any questions. I hope to see you all there! We are very excited for our first performance this year! I Can't Wait!!!
I am so excited for this school year! We have all been through a lot, and I am glad to get together and make music again. I sent home an email with some important information that I hope you will find helpful. We will be performing and we will also have some field trips! I hope you are excited to work hard and have fun! We will still use Canvas for some bi-weekly assignments. We will not use it daily or in the classroom, but it is a valuable way to turn in playing assignments. These really help me to help you! In the classroom, you will need a pencil everyday and your instrument and sheet music. We will spend most of our time playing, with shorter periods of time on music reading skills. I will post resources for you to use in canvas and here. Here are some if you need them. Note-reading practice: https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/note if you play viola, cello or bass, go to the setting wheel in the upper right hand corner and change to your clef FIRST A Good Lesson on Note counting: https://www.musictheory.net/lessons/11 Another lesson on how to use dots and ties: https://www.musictheory.net/lessons/14 HERE is a Project for our CLASSROOM you can share and get support! Orchestra DONORS CHOOSE ORCHESTRA PROJECT Most importantly, practice! Dust off that instrument and get playing. See you soon!! Mrs. Misco It has been so exciting to be back with my orchestras! Hearing our groups play together has been the highlight of my year. They are making great progress, and we are so glad to perform again this Spring. Spring concert- Mark your calendars! May 20th at Hillside. Orchestra I performs at 7:00pm and should arrive at 6:40pm to tune and warm up. Orchestra II arrives at 7:15 and performs at 7:35pm. Wear Orchestra t-shirt! Details were emailed out in April to all parents and students. Each students may invite 2 family members. We need to keep the auditorium to 25% capacity or less. We will also set up a video for a live feed and a recording you can share with family and friends. We worked very hard learning how to use the Upbeat Music App and how to record from home. It has been incredibly challenging, and I am so proud of you all for trying this! Here is our very first online recording. Everyone was recording from home, and a few people even played 2 different parts! Wonderful job! Hi everyone! I am excited to see you all! Our classes are all on Canvas, but there are still great resources and videos here for you. Please check your email often for messages from me. See you all in our Zoom classes Sept. 8th or 10th!
Orchestra II Talent Show 2020 This week keep working on, or choose a new solo piece for the next 2 weeks. See Canvas for assignments. If you will be in Orchestra II next year, print Red Pepper from the music to print for fall tab above and begin this piece at home. If you are going to high school to play, Mr. Black will be sending me music for you soon. Keep working on Waltz of the Wicked and Bluegrass for the combined concert. Make sure everyone attends our Zoom meetings this week! Orchestra 2 on Wednesday and Orchestra 1 on Thursday, both at 10:00am. Miss you all! See you there!!! Nice to see many of you when you picked up your things at Hillside! Please keep working on your music, and try to get something ready for our Talent Show for Orchestra II. If you are in Orchestra I and want to participate, send me an email.
I added a few songs from the Suzuki book 1 to Music to Print (More tab) for those of you who want to work on those. Orchestra I, these are perfect for you!) I recorded videos to go with May Song and added them to the Videos tab. If you are in Orchestra II next year, I will post music we will start with in the fall to work on over the summer. It will be posted by the end of May for you. Ok, now go practice and get your Talent Show video done by May 13th!!!! Miss you! Choose a solo piece to work on! Keep working on it and record 12-20 measure sections each week.4/17/2020 It was great to see some of you in our class meetings this week. I hope you are all doing well, and playing those instruments! Starting Monday, I want you to be working on a solo piece for your instrument. You can pick anything you enjoy from a Suzuki or other book you have OR you can got to 8notes.com and choose a piece that you like. (LOGIN - email [email protected] and password- orchestra) Here is what I want you to accomplish with your chosen piece: 1. I want you to ENJOY your piece! Choose something you like! 2. I want you to keep working on your technical and musical skills. This includes good tone, maybe vibrato, playing in tune, shifting, bowings, dynamics and style. 3. Each week you will play a section on your piece for me on Canvas (or email) that is 12-20 measures long. 4. Play for your family! This is a great way to perform and to make your family happy! Here is a video I made on how to use 8notes.com features to find music: CLICK HERE Practice charts will be due Wednesdays, as usual. Playing tests will be on Fridays. Late work is accepted!!! I would like to have a virtual recital in May for those who are interested. Orchestra II meetings will be Wednesdays at 10:00am and Orchestra I will be Thursdays at 10:00amon ZOOM. Show me the piece you have chosen, and ask questions you have. See you then! It has been fun to see many of you in our online meetings! If you haven't been to one, make sure you check the Monday email from me for times and dates and login information. Your playing assignment for the week is always on Canvas, so check there every Monday for the week's assignment. Practice whenever you can! THERE ARE SOME NEW VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT ON THE VIDEOS TAB. Make sure you get outside every day and stay safe and healthy. Email me any questions, or ask in our online meetings. Miss you all very much!!
Looks like we will be learning at home for a while! I am really going to miss the incredible progress we have been making in class. The most important thing is to keep practicing at home. Without that, we will lose our awesome progress. A few things to know:
Here is a video I made about tuning you might need! CLICK HERE 1. If you forgot your instrument, contact me and we will see what we can arrange with the Principal. You may need to wait and sing through your parts. 2. I have put recordings of all of our pieces in this page under recordings. Listen to at least one of our pieces each day. 3. Please play for at least 30-40 minutes every school day. We need to replace our class time with practice on your own. You can also see if friends in class want to Zoom a practice session! Be creative. Turn in a practice chart every Wednesday. 30-40 min for 5 days a week is plenty. 4. I will scan all music and you can download and print it as needed. Just let me know if you need anything. 5. Practice should include 5-10 minutes of scale work with long bows and you can include staccato, slur, accents or rhythm patterns. 6. I will post videos you should watch and comment on, starting after Spring Break, if needed. I will send you some that can help you at home via email. Google Play- Music Tutor app If you need to reinforce note reading, the app above is a pretty fun one to practice with! PLEASE make sure to play every school day! This is vital to our success as a group when we return. I can not stress that enough!! If you forgot your instrument, come and get it on Wednesday!! If you need help getting it contact me via email. Comment below with any questions, or email me. I will be checking email every day. Check this web page daily for updates. I am going to miss you all! I hope to see you very soon! Mrs. Misco |
Michelle Misco
I have been teaching music in Utah for 25 years, and at Hillside Middle school for 11 years. I am from Upstate NY, but I have been in Utah for 26 years. I love to ski, hike, and camp with my family. My husband and I have 2 children and a dog. Archives
January 2024
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