Apr 8, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
On NPR this week, I heard about a world-wide tour that Yo-Yo Ma is undertaking. In each city he is playing a concert of all six Bach Solo Cello Suites. Recently, he played in Mexico. In between the fourth and fifth suite, he spoke to the audience and dedicated the performance of the fifth suite to the “disappeared” people in Mexico.
An audience member, who was a musician, spoke about how meaningful this was to him and everyone. He said that, as a musician, he tries to play his best, but Yo-Yo Ma’s dedication brought the performance to another very deep level.
As musicians, we strive to become better and better at our instrument. We all have the ability to do well, we also have the ability to make meaningful connections through our music. Have a wonderful week.
Mar 25, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
Congratulations, Orchestra, on a wonderful weekend in San Diego! At every juncture of the weekend you performed and behaved like ladies and gentlemen, and I am incredibly proud of you!
A million trillion thanks to Yvonne Lim, chaperone extraordinaire!
All I can say is thank you to students, parents, and my colleagues. You all are the best!
Mar 18, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
Friday was a great day! I am super proud of all of the instrumental music students; from playing great to being poised hosts and hostesses for the guest schools, they were amazing! Thank you to the parents who donated food and manned the snack bar!
This week the orchestra will be working as two groups. The students going to the festival in San Diego will continue to play the festival pieces and the others will start working on Concerto Concert music. Next week we will be all together again.
Summer music camps are a great way to continue learning music, getting better on your instrument, and have fun and make life-long memories! Please email me if you have any questions.
I hope everyone has a terrific week!
Mar 4, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
I find that one of the most fascinating things about being a music teacher is to watch the progression from, “What the heck is this? It makes no sense, I’ll never be able to play this!” to “Yeah, I really like this piece a lot! Let’s do it again!”
Come and hear our Festival Concert, Wednesday, March 13th at 7pm in the school auditorium and experience your students performing great music with excellence and joy. You will have a wonderful evening, and your children will be so proud that you came to listen to them!
Feb 25, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
This is the time of year that we get down to “brass tacks,” as the saying goes. Coming off amazing performances at the Dinner Show, we are “wood shedding” our music to be performed at the Festival Concert on March 13th and at our all-day Festival on March 15th. I warned the students that I was going to be “picky,” and they are being wonderfully cooperative. This bodes very well for more great performances at these upcoming concerts.
For those orchestra students going to San Diego, we will be performing the same festival pieces that we will have played the prior week. Our schedule has yet to be finalized, but I can tell you that we will leave, by charter bus, after school on Thursday, March 21st. We will stop on the way at the Irvine Spectrum where the students can get dinner, then continue on to San Diego, arriving at approximately 9pm. Friday, there will be two performances and we will cap off the day with a dinner cruise around San Diego. Saturday is a day for fun at Sea World with a dinner and awards celebration in the evening, returning home the next day, Sunday. If you have specific questions, please email me.
I hope all of you have a great week, full of accomplishments!
Feb 19, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
Some members of our orchestra got some exciting news this weekend. Lisa T., Alexis S., Trinity C., and Jared C. have qualified for the semi-finals of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music Chamber Music Competition! This is a national competition for high school students. They sound fabulous and we wish them all the best!
Feb 12, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
What a great night of music at the Dinner Show!
Thank you to each person involved with the show… So much love and care going into this special evening to benefit our students. And weren’t they something else! These kids are inspiring and I am so happy to get to work with them.
Feb 4, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
The Dinner Show on Saturday is going to be an amazing event! The musical groups sound great and there are lots of great items and events to bid on. You won’t want to miss this super fun and worthwhile evening!
Jan 28, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
What a great Winter Retreat! It was the perfect mixture of fun, music learning, and nature!
Thank you to our wonderful chaperones Julia Dixon, Yvonne Lim, Rose Malmberg, and Julie Pao. Thank you to Robert and Brandon Torres for driving the truck with all our stuff. And thanks to all the students for coming and enjoying life!
Our annual Concerto Competition was held last Wednesday and there are four students who will be performing solos at the Concerto Concert in May. Congratulations go to:
- Stephanie H., flute
- Michael S., piano
- Lisa T., violin
- Anna Y., violin
Thank you to all the students who auditioned. You were all wonderful and I’m proud of each of you!
Jan 21, 2019 | Ms. Munday's News
Well, it really does rain in Southern California… Sadly, last Thursday, the Orchestra was “rained out” of our Disneyland performance. Getting to spend the whole day at the park was a treat, though! A big thank you to our intrepid chaperones, Julia Dixon, Julia Jiao, and Yvonne Lim! Thank you to Robert and Brandon Torres for helping with the truck and the gear! And of course, thank you to Jason Stone who does all the paperwork and planning for this trip!
This week is a very big week! On Wednesday, after school, we will listen to students audition for our annual Concerto Concert in May. Good luck to each one of you! Then Friday, after school, up the mountain we go to our Winter Retreat! Please sign up to bring snacks for the students. They get so hungry and your snack donations really keep them going!
There is lots of great music to learn for the Dinner Show and Festival performances. Add to that our Chamber Music program and the STEP ensemble, “Camerata La Canada,” and we are full steam ahead! I hope everyone has a terrific week!
