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Friday night the corps assembled at its Sacramento base camp, Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove. We've set up for the week and had a good weekend of rehearsal to start things off.
We are fortunate to have the support of the administration as we have use of 2 gyms, cafeteria and 3 fields (including the stadium). We've also been set up AV wise to allow the members to see a video of each day's concluding runthrough.
The weekend was spent finishing the the percussion feature, which includes as its source material "Ever So Lonely" by Monsoon. There was also a good amount of sectional time as each caption staff is working to refine specific techniques, and apply them in performance to portions of the show.
We do have a number of high school students who are still in school, so we will be adding people in as the next couple of weeks go by.
If you want to drop by, please do, we'll be here all week. And don't forget Family Day, Saturday night, June 19 at 7 p.m.
We are also looking for a couple of tubas and a couple of guard people, so if you're still thinking about marching this summer, it's not too late!
Everyone was eagerly awaiting the April camp as it was to be the first time the entire corps was together since the December camp. Many of the members had been very busy through the winter months as participants in winter guard and percussion. In addition, this was the camp that we were to start teaching drill.
After Friday evening sectionals, Saturday and Sunday saw a lot of field time. We are fortunate to call Cosumnes Oaks High School home, as we have use of not only the stadium and its artificial turf field, but also use of the natural grass soccer fields.
Considerable work was done on the music book, and the full corps has almost a minute of the show on the field. The staff was very impressed with the members’ ability to perform this portion of the opener, as it was the first time putting music to drill.
Our outstanding volunteers were also kept busy during the weekend, cooking all the meals (including 2 bbq’s!), taking care of administrative forms, and fitting uniforms.
The corps was also preparing for our first public appearance of the year, at the Pacific Rim Festival to be held in Old Sacramento on Sunday May 23. Keep checking the corps web page for details: http://mandarins.org/
There were a number of new members at this camp to help round out the roster. At this time, the corps has a couple of guard spots, a couple of tuba spots and one mallet/aux. perc. spot in the pit. If you are interested, please fill out an interest form on line here: http://bit.ly/afOwul or you can contact the individual caption heads through the email links on our staff page here: http://mandarins.org/about/info.html
The corps’ next camp will be Memorial Day weekend, May 28 – 31 at Cosumnes Oaks High School. The staff and members are looking forward to another great camp as we get ready for the 2010 season!
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
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.
The January camp was definitely a big step forward towards the 2010 season. For one of the few times ever, attendance showed a substantial increase from the December camp. The January camp allowed for consolidation of Northern California and Southern California audition sessions. We also had attendees from our Hawaii workshop, and a number of returning and new members from Japan.
The weekend started with a conditioning session with Chris DaPrato. Chris is a former marching member and staff member; he is currently working with NCAA Div. 1 athletes at Cal Berkeley in their Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy departments. You can read Chris’ bio, as well as bios of the rest of the Mandarins staff through links provided on the info page here:
http://tinyurl.com/yf4azmo
The brass line continued technique work and learned this year's opener, Meetings Along the Edge, a collaborative work between Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass.
The percussion line also worked on refining technique and continued with the audition process. There were many difficult decisions to make, and the Mandarins would like to thank everyone who took the time and effort to audition with the corps, as there was an abundance of talented, highly motivated individuals.
In addition to the brass and percussion sections, the Mandarins Guard Academy was also in attendance. A good deal of work was completed on the 2010 exhibition show, which will be performed at local color guard circuits in the Northern California area. The Mandarins summer guard will be off until the April camp to allow staff and members to participate in winter guard activities.
The weekend included auditions and interviews for the 2010 drum major positions. Leadership and conducting sessions were included as part of the process. Saturday evening had all the candidates conducting the brass line during ensemble rehearsal; Sunday morning consisted of interviews with the caption heads, Mr. Mar and Jim Tabuchi. There was an excellent pool of candidates; the two drum majors for the 2010 season are Chris Honda, third year member and senior at Ponderosa High School and Boyce Jefferies, first year member who is completing his first year as a Music Education major at Sacramento State University.
The Mandarins next camp will be February 13/14. Auditions for pit and brass will continue at that time. Further information can be found on the audition page at mandarins.org
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