Please check out this new video about the Colorado Honor Band. Watch interviews with alumni, see photos from Summer Camp, rehearsals and trips. Many thanks to alumna Sheridan Monroe for putting it together! We hope you enjoy it.
Archive for the 'Alumni' Category
12
May
09
CHBA’s 2008 Night at the Arts
On October 17, 2008 Colorado Honor Band Association held its inaugural fundraising event, CHBA Night At the Arts. Hosted at Habitat Gallery in Denver, this evening of hors d’oeuvres and silent auction items featured a wide assortment of student performances and drew a crowd of over one hundred CHBA supporters.
Twenty-eight students ranging in level from Intermediate Band to Symphony Winds performed, some as soloists and many in small groups. Periodically throughout the evening a new set of musicians would thread its way through the mingling attendees to the performance spot. The audience learned to expect the unexpected; they enjoyed an eclectic mix of performances which ran the gamut from harmonious brass chorales to a pseudo Japanese Taiko-style piece performed with four bass drums set on their sides, drumheads facing the ceiling.
The event was designed to be a community celebration of the arts—sharing art to support art. All donations went directly to the organization and will be used to repair and replace instruments and equipment, to purchase sheet music, and to support our ability to maintain the dedicated staff of over twenty music educators who work as a team to form the backbone of CHBA.
After expenses, the total amount raised exceeded $10,000, surpassing the expectations of CHBA Board President Courtney Walsh.
Walsh was thrilled with the result: “We weren’t sure what to expect with the first ‘CHBA Night at the Arts’ but once we put the wheels in motion for the event we realized how much CHBA means to our members, parents, staff, and alumni. The great success of the evening gives me confidence that the superior quality of our program will continue to fuel the support of the Denver community we serve. This event was a small, but very important, initial step towards ensuring the perpetuity of the Colorado Honor Band so we can continue to offer high-quality, affordable music education both now and in the future.”
This fundraiser will be hosted annually as the foremost effort in a collection of projects aimed at strengthening CHBA’s presence in the community and fortifying its future sustainability.
Several of these projects are student-involved ventures. Under the new CHBA Ambassadors Program, CHBA will send a staff member with a small group of students into various local schools to give music demonstrations for the purpose of kindling interest in instrumental music and, more specifically, in the CHBA program.
The CHBA Small Ensembles Program is another new venture designed as a joint educational tool for students and promotional tool for the organization. Student participants will benefit from an introduction to the challenges unique to small ensemble performance, and CHBA will benefit from heightened community exposure.
Finally, in early 2008 the CHBA Board of Directors made a decision to invite student members to participate on the Board for year-long terms. This policy was adopted to ensure that student voices are heard as the organization moves forward. Each year the Board will solicit applications and select two students who demonstrate strong leadership skills and a passion for supporting the CHBA mission.
The upshot of these new endeavors? A Colorado Honor Band Association equipped to thrive for many generations to come.
12
May
09
The Wisdom of Youth
They’re intelligent. They’re fun. They love to play music. And they know how to think like a teenager.
Because they are teenagers.
Elliot Mamet and Tonya Santaus currently serve on the CHBA Board of Directors. Slated to graduate in 2011 and 2009, respectively, these Symphony Winds players bring to the Board an expertise unparalleled by any other board member: the perspective of a current student.
When the idea was proposed in 2007 to include students on the Board, nearly half of the faces at the table were CHBA alumni. A few were staff members. Some had witnessed the growth and graduation of several generations of CHBA students. In other words, people with experience.
But all agreed that giving current students a voice in the discussion would enrich the Board meetings. After all, weren’t students ultimately the reason to meet in the first place?
The first student representatives, Liz Kohnen (2008) and Adam Bush (2008), were specifically invited to serve as the first student participants on the CHBA Board of Directors.
They would each serve at least one year-long term, and their basic responsibility was simply to show up at four quarterly meetings with open minds and a willingness to engage in discussion about anything CHBA-related. They would offer input on the concerts, the curriculum, the audition policies, community exposure, and more, with a particular emphasis on honoring student interests.
No one was sure exactly how the students’ roles on the Board would evolve, or how their presence would affect the meetings.
The experiment turned out to be a great success. Adam and Liz carved out a place for themselves as spokespeople to the student members, and they helped organize some of the Board-driven student appreciation and community awareness initiatives such as the 2008 “Bring a Friend to Band Night” event and the 2008 CHBA T-Shirt Design Competition.
In the summer of 2008 the CHBA Board solicited applications for the next year’s representatives. A panel of Board members interviewed each candidate and selected Elliot and Tonya, each of whom demonstrated both strong leadership skills and a passion for supporting the CHBA mission.
Since August 2008, Elliot and Tonya’s presence at meetings has proven to be invaluable. Among other things, they have offered savvy commentary at meetings, designed a survey for the CHBA student members, and helped the Board members better understand the ins and outs of newer forums of communication such as Facebook and blog writing.
The experience has been equally valuable for them. Tonya commented, “By being on the Board, I have learned what it takes and how much it takes to keep an organization running like this one. It was and still is a group effort to keep the organization fun, exciting, and influential.”
Along a similar vein, Elliot wrote, “I was surprised how much others valued the organization, and how much work others put in. For example, Mrs. Smith, the executive director, logs hour after hour of time spent organizing, and she has done so year after year. This kind of dedication is what really makes Honor Band so special.” He continued, “I realize how much work it takes, but also how much good [CHBA] does in the community. For everyone from beginners to budding professionals, Colorado Honor Band improves musicianship and instills responsibility in its many students.”
The CHBA Board wishes Tonya well in her endeavors at college and looks forward to another year working with Elliot! (That is, if he’ll have us.)
Hello CHBA Friends and Family!
The organization is moving into the 21st Century with this Blog, a Twitter account (follow us!) and a Facebook Group! By using these social technologies, we are hoping to make it easier for you to learn more about our organization and our members! We have some very fun stories each year from camp and weekend workshops. We also want to open this blog up for guest posts by current members, alumni and even faculty! So, join us in this adventure!
-Courtney Walsh, President of CHBA Board of Directors
