Tri-State Band Symposium!!!

After much antici...pation and planning, followed by a little chaos, the USU Band department successfully made it through another Tri-State weekend!

The Tri-State Band Symposium brought in 90+ high school kids to participate in an honor band experience. The guest clinician this year was Mr. Randol Bass. You can learn about him and his music here.

There was a lot of work that went into this weekend, by faculty (obviously) the band office staff,and volunteers like TBS and KKY members - and other band members. Every bit of help was needed and certainly appreciated, as there's always a lot of running around with events like these.

Wind Orchestra performed a concert for the students on Friday night (they had arrived and auditioned that morning). It was the annual Collage concert, which features some chamber groups that exist in our program. This year, we featured the Horn Quartet, The Caine Brass Quintet, The Caine Woodwind Quintet, Trombone Ensemble, The Marching Tubadours, the Caine Percussion Ensemble, The USU Jazz Orchestra and the Clarinet Choir.

Wind Orchestra opened the concert with "Gloria" by Randol Bass, originally for orchestra and choir, but - in this case - written out for band. Mr. Bass conducted the piece. The second selection was "Oodles of Noodles" and featured a guest saxophone artist.

The concert closed by showing the audience the looney tunes cartoon "One Froggy Evening." Then the band played "One Froggy Evening", by Mr. Bass. He performed the part of the Frog, proving to be a more-than-talented singer. :)


The itinerary for the weekend didn't leave much time for sitting around, but it was - as it always is - a very rewarding experience (for us AND for the high school students).

THANK YOU to everyone who helped out over the weekend.

Now we can start looking forward to NEXT YEAR'S Tri-State Symposium!

USU Wind Orchestra Fall Concert

One For All and All For Fall - Featuring the Works of Percy Aldridge Grainger



50 years after Grainger's death, the USU Wind Orchestra performed a concert of his works on Friday, November 4 at 7:30pm, under the direction of Dr. Thomas P. Rohrer.

The USU Wind Orchestra has approximately 45 members and is made up of the finest wind and percussion students in the school.

The program on Friday's concert was as follows:

Mock Morris
Ye Banks and Braes O'Bonnie Doon (Our very own Keri on flugelhorn, making the piece!)
Country Gardens
Lincolnshire Posy (Some amazing piccolo-ing from our very own Megan)
Scotch Strathspey and Reel (Reel as in UN-"reel"istic euphonium runs at the end)

The concert was FANTASTIC. Audience members were invited to sit on stage with the musicians in order to give them an idea of the interaction that happens between the performers (you just don't get that from regular audience seating).

And OF COURSE, thanks to Tau Beta Sigma girls, there was a reception set up in the band hall for after the concert. Cookies and "colored water" (Root beer and Apple Juice).

A BIG thanks to Tori for ordering the cookies and making sure other materials were purchased. Also, thanks to all the TBS girls not in Wind Orchestra who set up during the concert and to everyone who helped clean up afterwards. :)

Sisters who played at the concert (great job to ALL):

Elena, Megan, Sarrong, Sarah, Tori, Keri, Sherrie Lynn, Kellie, Betsy, Janet, Emily "giggles", and pageant-winner Emily S.(who played Piano for the concert AMAZINGLY. Thanks to her, the band didn't go flat when singing).

Hopefully I didn't forget anyone. If I did, someone will edit this post and it'll appear as if I never did. :)

- Sarah Ruby Keene

September 16, 2011 – Hillcrest Fall Festival!!!

On Friday, the 16th of September, TBS joined forces with the Hillcrest PTA and worked the Fall Festival, sporting our band caps and shirts. (And GOSH DARN, we looked good!)

Each volunteer (20 total) had a specific assignment for the evening. Some assignments included: the bounce house, cotton candy, cake walk, and various games and rides. I got to run the basketball shoot, which was a HUGE success, by the way. :)

We had a ton of fun there AND got free Chick-fil-A! We even made the paper! Basically, it was the best Friday night possible.

A HUGE thanks to everyone who volunteered – especially band members not in TBS or KKY. We helped the school out a lot and we definitely made our organization and band department look good (especially because our shirts and hats are attractive).

Oh – and thank you, Sharon, for being our connection to Hillcrest Elementary School. :D NEVER hesitate to request our services for future events.

We LOVE volunteering at Hillcrest!!!

- SRK

 

Workin' At the Car Wash!!

October 17, 2011 Our chapter decided to take up the epic task of washing cars for donations at Sonic! First of all, I want to thank everyone who helped with this task, especially Sharon Rohrer for bringing hoses for us to use!

Emily Stephensen, and Sheridan Hunt, as well as all the other sign wavers persuaded quite a few cars to come get a wash with their awesome dance moves and sign waving, and they even got quite a few honks. ;)

Kellie Richardson and Marie Smith took on the giant task of putting flyers on car windshields, and judging by the results they did a fantastic job at choosing the right windshields! Jessica Scott made beautiful signs for the sign wavers to advertise in front of Sonic, and Natalie Behl made sure that everyone was accounted for and clocked in! We had quite a few interesting customers that ranged from a woman that played clarinet in high school to a man who paid us $27 to clean his own motorcycle!

It was my (Kamari Hale's) birthday, so all the girls had the grand idea of trying to light a dum-dum on fire in the middle of a doughnut. It was kind of windy so lighting it on fire didn't really work. After trying to light it quite a few times we decided to put all the burnt matches in the doughnut and pretend that I had just blew them out. It was loads of fun, and I love my sisters so much!! Thanks girls!

We had loads of fun with all the soapy sponges and the sprayer and had epic water fights! The weather decided to be nice to us and stay mostly sunny until right when we got done, then it started pouring! At the end of all the fun we were all soaking wet, and excited for the $233 we had made! Again, a big thanks to everyone who came:

Sharon Rohrer

Sarah Ruby Keene

Jessica Scott

Natalie Behl

Kamari Hale

Kellie Richardson

Jasmine Pena-Johnson

Tori Hunter

Keri Hunter

Ana Hidalgo

Emily Ashcroft

Betsy Nelson

Marie Smith

Sheridan Hunt

Tasha Lyon

Sherrie Lynn Clarke

Megan Stephensen

Emily Stephensen

MLITB!

We've Got Some New Ones!!

The time has come. We, Theta Eta, have some new (almost) members. You all ready for this?!

               
Megan T

Birthday: February 25
Favorites:
Color - Green
Food - Lasagna
Kool-Aid - The blue kind
Candy - Reeses or Kit kat
Movie Quote - "He's different." "I believe the correct term today is challenged."

Megan is an avid trumpet player with gorgeous hair.  The craziest thing she's ever done is mkae a music video. (Pst I wanna see this video. We can have a "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" party.) She likes waffles because they hold more syrup and "just taste better." Megan is a freshman this year and isn't sure about her major, maybe music and/or teaching. Star Trek or Star Wars? "Star Wars!"

Rachel 
Birthday: May 19
Favorites:
Color - Lime green
Food - Cafe Rio Salad
Kool-Aid - Lemonade or blue
Candy - Tropical Starburst
Movie Quote(s) - "It's better to be a silly girl with a flower than to be a silly boy with a horse and a stick." (I know this one! A Knight's Tale. Woot!) "Do or do not; there is no try." - Yoda

Rachel plays the horn and has an adorable laugh. She's a freshman majoring in music education. Between waffles and pancakes she would pick waffles because they hold syrup better.  When asked. "Star Trek or Star Wars," she says, "STAR TREK!" (We're having a Star Trek party sometime. No battle. Shield. =^=)  The craziest thing that's happened to Rachel is she broke her femur. And she's still out there marching on it! Way to be girl!

Tosha
Birthday: April 22
Favorites:
Color - Blue
Food - Fried rice and crock pot chicken
Kool-Aid - All
Candy - Reeses
Movie Quote(s) - "Thank you for nothing you useless reptile." "So what are you gonna do?" " I don't know, probably something stupid." "Good but you've already done that." "Then something crazy."

Tosha plays the saxophone in marching band and freshman studying history.  Waffles vs. Pancakes: "Both, they're both great." Star Trek vs. Star Wars: Both, it depends on her mood. So I'm just gonna say she likes Star Trek better. And just so we're all clear that makes it ST: 2 SW: 1. And Tosha is ALWAYS crazy. =)

 Emily S
Birthday: August 7
Favorites:
Color - Yellow
Food - Sushi
Candy - Reeses pieces
Kool-Aid - Purple
Movie Quote - "You're my girl." - Forrest Gump

Emily is a freshman and is also majoring in music education.  She likes waffles more than pancakes because "waffles" is more fun to say and Waffle House is slightly less scary than IHOP. Star Trek or Star Wars? "DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE. Star trek wars trek wars. When asked about the craziest thing she's ever done, Emily says, "sometimes me and my buddies put on capes and walk around in dust storms...and...I guess that's crazy? ish?" For those of you who don't know these dust storms are also known as haboobs and I witnessed my first one last summer. So yes, Emily, I think walking around in one of those, with or without a cape, is crazy.

Annika
Pronounced A-knee-ka for those of you who were wondering.
Birthday: September 24 (HaPpY bIrFdAY 4 days ago! Insert Emperor's New Groove happy birthday song here)
Favorites:
Color - Tie between black, red, and silver
Food - Doesn't have one
Kool-Aid - Raspberry
Candy - Milky Way. Hands down.
Movie Quote - She says she doesn't have one. Hmm. I think it's this: "Girls, come on! Leave the saving the world to the men? I don't think so. Heh, heh. I don't think so..." Quick! Name that movie! GO!

Annika is majoring in nursing. Waffles win in the battle between pancakes and waffles, because waffles are more buttery. Star Trek also wins. (Yeah!!)  And she's done a lot of crazy stuff.



Janet
Birthday: December 5 a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Favorites:
Color - #1 red, #2 green
Food - Ice and Alfredo
Candy - Twix and ice
Kool-Aid - Not the hot kind (yeah, Jullian Smith! "I made this for you!!")
Movie Quote -  "It's a sad day when people be throwin away a perfectly good white boy like that."

Janet plays the ah-mazing clarinet and is majoring in music education. Waffles/pancakes: "They're mine. I got them from the freezer and put them on my plate!" Wars/Trek: WARS (Yes, Janet I know we've been over this, but it so happens that I have a point to prove. Trek is just better. ;-) ) Janet is not allowed to disclose what the craziest thing she's ever done is. Hmm. CIA? 


Harsha
Birthday:
Favorites:
Color - Red
Food - All food, especially her mommy's
Kool-Aid - Lemon Lime
Candy - Hershey's or rolos
Movie Quote - "We're on a mission from God."  - the Blues Brothers

Harsha is a freshman majoring in music therapy. Pancakes or waffles? Pancakes! They soft and delicious. Trek/Wars: BOTH! They're ALL sexy!

Ocea
Birthday: November 9
Favorites:
Color - Pink
Kool-Aid - You forgot to answer this question, so we'll say the orange kind
Food - Lasagna
Candy - Redvines and Symphony bars
Movie Quote - Another person who says she can't quote movies. Psh. Ocea your favorite quote is now: "Be a man. Rub some dirt in it." And it's your job to figure out what movie it's from. You may use your life lines if need be.
Ocea is majoring in elementary and special education. Props to you, girl. She's eaten so many pancakes that she just loves them. And we have another Trekkie! The craziest thing Ocea has ever done is played "sex" (you know, the headlight game in the car) and lost.

Dang it. Your eyes are closed. My bad.

Elena
Birthday: October 1
Favorites:
Color - Red
Food: Sushi
Kool-Aid - purple?
Candy - watermelon gummies
Movie Quote - "It's called a LANCE. Helloooo." (And we have another for a Knight's Tale)

Elena is a music ed major with a band emphasis and she's sophomore. Waffles hold more syrup so they're better than pancakes. She likes Star Wars more because she never followed trek. (Well, we're just gonna have to fix that now won't we. You are hereby invited to Rachel's and my Star Trek party.) The craziest thing she's ever done is gone cliff jumping at Porcupine. She jumped off once and then talked to me for the rest of the time because I was too chicken to jump off at all.

Marie
Birthday: October 4
Favorites:
Color - Red
Food - Potatoes
Kool-Aid - Grape
Candy - Twix
Movie Quote - "Get that out of my face!"            - Watson "It's not in your face, it's in my hand."
 - Holmes "Well, get what's in your hand out of my face!" - Watson


Marie is a sophomore majoring in human movement science (pre-physical therapy) She likes waffles because they hold more syrup. She likes Star Wars. And she has jumped off the highest platform at lava hot springs. Yeah! You go, girl! I'll just be down here watching from the bottom.

And the remaining three never got their pictures taken. Fail on my part.

Megan S
Birthday: January 7
Favorites:
Food - Sushi and Jiffs Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
Candy - Good quality chocolate, must be calorie worthy
Kool-Aid - The clear strawberry watermelon
Favorite movie quote - Kid History, "I know it's green, but what else is about it."

Megan is a junior in the music education program. She likes wffles best becaues if she ever got a platypus that's what she would name. Star Trek/Star Wars: "Star Trek...DUH." The craziest thing she's ever done is that she had the biggest prom dress at her high school and she also bought a marching uniform complete with hat and ple and wore it around town just for funsies.

Sheridan
Birthday: That's classified
Favorites:
Color - Red
Food - Costa Vida
Kool-Aid - Grape
Movie Quote(s) - "Say you love me." "You know I do." "I'm tickling you with my toesies." "I'm just kidding."


Sheridan is a freshman majoring in music. She likes waffles because they have the best taste. Star Trek wins with Sheridan and the craziest thing she's done is dazzling boys when she kisses them.

Sherrie Lynn
Birthday: June 16
Favorites:
Color - Blue, Aggie blue
Food - Anything with sugar
Candy - It changes. Sometimes it's smarites, heath, dark chocolate, reesescup, or starbursts
Kool-Aid - Strawberry
Movie Quote - the entirety of Oscar

Sherrie Lynn is a senior majoring in English creative writing. To her waffles and pancakes taste the same, but there has to be strawberries and whipped cream on them. StarTrek/Star Wars: Star Wars, Lego Star Wars. The craziest thing she has done is move into and close her house the same weekend as Homecoming last year.

--------------------------------------------=^=---------------------------------------------

And to sum everything up:

Red is the most common favorite color. Sushi and lasagna are the most liked food. Reeses and Twix are the favorite candy. Star Trek wins with a score of 8 to 7. And a Knight's Tale is the most quoted movie.  =) 

Welcome everybody!! I'm so very excited for this up coming year and to get to know all of you! 

MLITB

Cleaning the Sink at ANGIE'S!

The girls of Theta Eta (and Tyler) enjoyed their first official sisterhood activity "cleaning the sink" at Angie's restaurant on Tuesday, September 20th.

Thanks to our new sisterhood committee head, the fantastic Emily "Giggles" (who planned the yummy event), we had a ton of fun eating ice cream as a group last night.

Although we couldn't get a table to fit all of us, we DID manage to get two adjacent booths. We ordered two sinks (one for each table): One with Reeses and one with Oreos. Then we got a stack of bowls because some of us aren't okay with sharing each other's germs (and also, Tori couldn't live without Reeses and she was sitting at the Oreo table).

Did we succeed? Abso-freakin'-lutely. Two sinks = CLEANED! :)

  
Thorn of the evening:

- Missing our percussionists who were diligently practicing in the FAC. (They showed up at the end, though!)

Also... we missed everyone else who wasn't there. :'(

Rose of the evening (besides the obvious deliciousness of ice cream and warmness of sisterhood):

Getting to hang out with a few soon-to-be members of our chapter!

PROPS TO EMILY FOR PUTTING THIS TOGETHER!!!