February Camp Wrap Up

The February camp was held over President's Day weekend, with the best weather we've had to date. Several sessions over the weekend were held outside amidst sunny skies and pleasant temperatures.

Work continued on the 2010 program as the percussion and brass sections concluded camp with ensemble work on this year's opener Meetings Along the Edge, by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass. The brass line also learned music for the next production, The Mountain of Fruit and Flowers by David Buckley and Samudra Manthan by Shivkumar Sharma.

While there were some absences due to winter percussion, jazz band and honor band performances, personnel wise things are looking good. At this point, we do have a couple of tuba spots. If you are interested, please use our on line registration form and we will be in contact with you: http://bit.ly/afOwul

While the Mandarins summer guard will not be in attendance until the April camp, the Mandarins Guard Academy spent the weekend working on this year's show, set to a medley of Michael Jackson tunes: http://bit.ly/9btTzC

Our next camp will be held March 13 and 14 Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove. We will continue to audition brass players, especially new tuba players! For more information, check out our audition pages at mandarins.org

Mandarins Update, Saturday February 6 Performances

Saturday, February 6 was a busy day for the Mandarins organization, as both the Brass Academy and Guard Academy had local performances.

After 12 years away from the floor, the Mandarins winter guard returned with an exhibition performance by the Mandarins Guard Academy at the Enochs High School in Modesto. They thrilled the crowd with a show set to an acapella Michael Jackson medley; their next performance will be at McClatchy High School in Sacramento on March 12; the full performance schedule can be seen here: http://mandarins.org/auditions/guard.html

Later that evening the Mandarins Brass Academy held their final performance in a concert that was intended as a way to give back to the community. The Brass Academy entertained an audience of over 50 seniors at the Pioneer House nursing home in Sacramento. One of the 90+ year old residents, who is a former member of the Oakland Symphony, commented that she appreciated the great tonal quality displayed by the brass section. After the concert the Mandarins Brass Academy members presented hand-made Valentine's cards to the residence. In all, it was a great way to finish the second year of the Mandarins Brass Academy.