3 BHS Students Accepted into URI Southern New England Honors Band

Three BHS Wind Ensemble students have been accepted into the 2012 URI Southern New England Honors Band.  Students throughout Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts vie for placement in an ensemble that will be gathering at URI on January 20^th and 21^st with a culminating concert on January 21^st with the American Band.  This year’s guest conductor will be Dr. Richard Mayne, Professor of Music at the University of Northern Colorado. Accepted BHS students are Rebecca Hudon, clarinet, Julie Latendresse, oboe, and Bryan Round, percussion.   Congratulations to these talented BHS musicians!

BHS Select Choir Performs at the State House

he Select Choir and several other members of the band performed at the State House on Thursday, December 15^th at 11:00 AM.  Performances of this kind are scheduled throughout the month of December by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.  After getting set up for the performance, the BHS students were surprised by a chance encounter with Governor Chaffee. He paused just long enough to snap a photo with the group near the “Holiday” Tree.  Although the performance had a minimal audience, it was truly thrilling to be able to perform in such a magnificent venue.  Oh the sound!

International Flavor to Annual Holiday Concert

On December 13^th, the Select Choir, Chorus, Wind Ensemble and Concert Band all joined forces to present the annual Holiday Concert.  The program for the evening was full of Christmas favorites as well as carols from other countries.  The music began in the lobby where the group Back to Brass played for the audience members as they were entering the auditorium.  Back to Brass is a brass quintet lead by BHS alum Paul Chadbourne who also plays tuba in the group.  Other members of the group include Nick Wattendorf on trumpet, Jeremie Harnois on trumpet, Eric Hornig on tuba and Ryan Voyer on French Horn.

Photo by Sue Harnois

At 6:30 sharp, the senior MCs Kerri Rainville and Tiffany Rabideau welcomed the audience and introduced the Select Choir joined by the Chorus class in a medley of America Christmas hits. 



Photo by Mark McKay



The Select Choir continued with a piece accompanied by Kelsey Kerrigan on guitar, Tiffany Rabideau on recorder and Nicole Harnois on flute.  The Select Choir, with some help on percussion instruments, brought great rhythmic excitement with “African Noel” and closed with a piece accompanied by Bryan Round on piano and 9 members of the band forming a bell choir.



Photo by Mark McKay



While the stage was being reset, the members of the Concert Band performed selected carols for the audience.  The Wind Ensemble continued by bringing the sounds from Poland and France to the program and closed with themes from the “Grinch.”  All instrumentalists and vocalists joined forces in a stirring piece celebrating the seventh day of Kwanzaa named “Imani.”  The evening concluded with the traditional sing-a-long with the audience—those in attendance reported that the most enthusiastic singers had to be Dr. Whaley, Mrs. McKeon, and Mr. Izzi.

Photo by Mrs. St. Pierre

Thanks to Mrs. Barbara Hudon and the entire Wattendorf family for putting together a beautiful program and all the Music Boosters who helped make the evening run smoothly.  Thanks to all BHS community members who made the time to attend and support the music program. Thanks to all the students who worked to present another inspiring performance.

Record Number of Band & Choral Students Accepted to All-State Ensembles

On Saturday, November 19^th, 2011, 16 BHS music students made their way to audition for selection to All-State Ensembles.  Students auditioned on a predetermined piece which they played for an adjudicator who ranked them in relation to all other students in the state on their instrument or vocal part.  Of the 16 students who auditioned, 10 students were successful in gaining a placement in an All-State Ensemble.  Beginning in February they will be participating with their fellow All-State members at various times and on Sunday, March 25^th, 2012 all students will be performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in one of three concerts.  Placement in these ensembles is highly selective so make sure to congratulate them for their excelsior musicianship.

BHS students accepted to Junior Division (Grades 7-9) All-State groups are:

Shannon Smith Junior Division Treble Choir, Anna Pacheco and Dan Rochefort Junior Division Symphonic Band and Rebecca Clark Junior Division Concert Band.

BHS students accepted to Senior Division (Grades 10-12) All-State groups are:

Nicole Harnois, Andrew Pariseau and Tiffany Rabideau Senior Division Chorus; Rebecca Hudon and Evan Mislick Senior Division Band; Bryan Round Senior Division Orchestra.

BHS All-State Vocalists (from left to right) Shannon Smith, Nicole Harnois, Tiffany Rabideau and Andrew Pariseau.

BHS All-State Instrumentalists (from left to right) Dan Rochefort, Anna Pacheco,
Rebecca Clark, Rebecca Hudon, Bryan Round and Evan Mislick.



Truly an Exciting Burrillville Night at the the Providence Bruins

Forty-four students from the Select Choir and Band classes performed at the the Providence Bruins game on Friday, November 11, 2011. The singers performed "America The Beautiful" on the ice prior to the game and the bandies played pep songs from football season during both of the intermissions. It was a night full of excitement and surprises and the Bruins staff who helped us that night said that it was the largest crowd in attendance this season.

Broncos at the Bruins...another memorable event!

Burrillville Students Land Spots in All New England Honor Bands

Four members of the BHS Wind Ensemble will soon be traveling north to participate in the All New England Band Festival.  This event will take place on Monday, November 20, 2011 at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire.  Students will be participating in rehearsals from 9:00 AM to 4:15 PM.  The culminating concert will begin at 7:00 PM.  Burrillville High School students participating (from left to right) are Bryan Round on percussion, Rebecca Hudon on clarinet, Julie Latendresse on oboe, and Evan Mislick on trumpet.  Here's hoping for safe travels and a successful performance!

Homecoming: A Tribute to the Movies

Saturday, October 22, 2011 marked the culmination of the week of Homecoming activities that started with a parade from Callahan School to Alumni Field.  The band was at the front of a long line of school spirit displays that included floats by all the classes as well as groups representing just about all activities in the school.

Once at the field, the Select Choir & Band warmed up the crowd with light and spirited selections followed by a performance of “The Star Spangled Banner.”  The BHS Band displayed their usual support of the team during time-outs and following their many touchdowns.  There sure is nothing like a good “Fight Cheer” to show the enthusiastic support that the band has for the football team.

At halftime, the band marched onto the field and formed a large “B” from which they played the “20^th Century Fox Fanfare” to start their tribute to the movies.  Senior Band Member Elizabeth Diohep mustered up her best pirate impersonation to introduce the next tune, “Pirates of the Caribbean.”  The band formed a “hook” which morphed to a “heart” symbolizing the varied personalities of pirates in movies from Peter Pan’s Captain Hook to the lovable Captain Jack Sparrow.

The finale, in keeping with the movie theme, was taken from the cult classic film, “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”  The song began with the formation of a clock face and time ticking backwards.  The hand of time was provided by Seniors Tiffany Rabideau, Ryan Wilkinson, Rachel Tokuhira, Xiomara Figueroa, and Nicole Harnois. The song continued with the band dancing “The Time Warp” then moving to form an hour glass.  Then came the culmination with tap dancing by Seniors Lindsey Rogers and Nicole Harnois.  This was truly an amazing display of skill and nerve on the band’s part.

Special thanks goes to our Drum Majors Rebecca Hudon and Julie Latendresse for all their extra work.  It was truly a massive undertaking but it paid off in the end.

Finally, a heartfelt thanks goes to the massive group of parents who made the day go smoothly right down to every detail: Parade marchers Diane Rogers, Julie Sonier, Barbara & Roland Hudon; Apple Crisp Sellers Lynn Clark, Denise Wattendorf, Diane Rogers, Julie Sonier, Wendy Pacheco, Barbara Hudon, Roland Hudon; Lunch providers William Latendresse and Macie's Grandmother.  We could never do it without you!