Notes from Mr. Marra

June 15, 2010

Dear LGHS Music Family,

I am very excited to announce the 2010 Marching Band Show "Metropolis." This show is an original composition by John Meehan. Mr. Meehan is the Brass Caption Head for Blue Devils and composer for Homestead, Amador Valley, and Ayala High Schools among others. He first composed this show for the Yamato Drum and Bugle Corps in 2005. Our version will be different from theirs as it will be customized for our timing needs and our staff's creative ideas

If you are interested in getting a "Sneak Peak" at this show, you can visit John Meehan's website and listen to the MP3s. Here is the link: http://www.jksmusic.com/music/mb-comp/index.php?musicID=21

More information about the show concept and details will come soon. Once the Mr. Meehan has finished the editing process, we will be able to distribute the parts via the LGHS Music Website. I expect this to happen in the next few weeks (releasing parts in early July). It is my hope that students will at least look over the music and begin working on the challenging parts. Percussion music will be distributed a few weeks after the winds because this music is being composed separately.

I had a great time meeting many of you yesterday! As you probably know by now, I will be leaving tomorrow to finish my Master's in Music Education degree at Northwestern University. I will be back in Los Gatos during the first week of August. In the meantime, I can be reached via email (which I will be checking just about every day). However, please be patient with my reply time as I will be preparing for my final University Faculty Panel Evaluation to determine my graduation. Sounds fun right?!

I hope that you have a very restful summer break!

Sincerely,
Chris Marra

Music Director
Los Gatos High School
20 High School Court
Los Gatos, CA 95032
cmarra@lgsuhsd.org

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Monday, June 7

Dear Los Gatos Music Families,

I hope that your school year is finishing up smoothly!

Even though we are all winding down the school year, I have been working hard to prepare for next year and I wanted to let you know I will be setting up some opportunities to be able to meet with you next week. On Monday, June 14th, I will have some open office hours and I would love the chance to get to know many of you if you are still in town. To make things somewhat organized, I would like to ask all student leaders to meet with me from 3:30pm - 4:30pm and all other students to drop by anytime between 4:30pm - 5:30pm. Parents, if you would like to stop by, I would be happy to be available from 6:00pm-7:00pm. At 7:00pm, Dave Flores (our new Percussion caption head) and I would like to meet with all percussionists to arrange summer rehearsals. All meetings will be casual and will take place in the rehearsal hall. Students and parents can drop by anytime during the hours provided, with the exception of the Student Leadership and Percussion meetings where I would like students to arrive at the specific times.

I am very excited to meet everyone and to get started at LGHS! Have a great final week of school and a restful summer vacation!

Sincerely,
Chris Marra

Monday, June 14th Meeting Times:
3:30 - 4:30 - 2010-2011 Student Leadership (Please arrive at 3:30)
4:30 - 5:30 - Open office time - Students (please stop by at any time)
6:00 - 7:00 - Open office time - Parents (please stop by at any time)
7:00 - 7:30 - Percussion Meeting (Please arrive at 7:00)

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May 20, 2010

Dear Students and Families,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Los Gatos High School music department! My name is Mr. Marra and I will be the new Music Director at LGHS. I am energized and ready to join the LGHS team this year and to work alongside such an enthusiastic group of students, parents, and administrators. I am eager to meet all band, orchestra, and choir students and hear about your aspirations for the future of the music department. Though I am just getting started at LGHS, I would like to share some of my initial plans for next year.

For the marching band, I am currently working with John Meehan (Music arranger for the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corp and several top performing marching bands) and other excellent arrangers to develop a first-rate field show for 2010. I am excited to announce that Todd Ryan will be leading the visual program again next year. In addition to Mr. Ryan, I have already been working to assemble an outstanding instructional staff to help us achieve our musical and visual goals for this season.

Developing the orchestra program will be one of my top priorities as well. Guest clinicians, exchange concerts with other schools, and festival performances are just some of the ways I hope to expand our music making experiences. Similarly, I plan to provide the wind ensembles and the jazz band with these types of opportunities in addition to our typical annual concerts.
Thank you for being a part of the Los Gatos High School music program. I can hardly wait to get started with this year of outstanding music making!

Sincerely,

Christopher M. Marra
Los Gatos High School
Music Director