VH1 Returns to New Haven Community School District

The VH1 Save the Music Foundation paid Endeavour Middle School another visit.

VH1 returned Thursday to Endeavour Middle School to check on instruments it donated last year to the band program. “This is amazing,” Chiho Okuizumi of the VH1 Save the Music Foundation stated in a New Haven Community news release. “Normally, the beginning band is the largest and bands get smaller as the years go on. In New Haven, the bands get bigger!” The first-year band at Endeavour has about 40 students and the second-year band has over 60, the district says. Don Hibbert, band and choir director for both Endeavour Middle School and New Haven High School added, “The only students we’ve lost from band are those who moved. We do some fun things and kids really seem to enjoy being in music." The district says the the band and choir …

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Music-Loving Trio to Open Rock & Roll Prep School on Hall Road

The new music school is currently enrolling students for its semester starting Nov. 12. An open house will be held Nov. 10 to give prospective students and parents a chance to meet the teachers and learn about various programs.

Hall Road is about to get a little more rock and roll. With the soundproofing in place and the last coat of paint on its way, classes will soon be in session for the area’s newest music school. The brainchild of Krista Droege, Meaghan DeGrave and Joe Leone, Rock & Roll Prep School is the magnum opus of three lifelong music lovers who are looking to put a rock and roll twist on traditional music education. “I would love for this to be the place that 10 to 20 years from now, when kids are talking about where they (learned music), they all went here. It’s a reference point of their childhood,” said DeGrave, a Ferndale resident. Located in Macomb Township at 17917 Hall Rd., in the plaza between McDonald’s and Brann’s, the school is the first …

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VIDEO: Seneca Sextet Serenades Chippewa Valley School Board

Seventh and eighth grade band students from Seneca Middle School dropped into the Dec. 19 school board meeting for an impromptu holiday concert.

Six Seneca Middle School band students visited the Chippewa Valley school board meeting Dec. 19 to perform a short selection of holiday tunes. The seventh and eighth grade students who participated in the brass sextet volunteered for the special performance, which featured a program of Joy to the World, Silent Night and Jingle Bells. The group performed under the direction of Seneca band director Kathy Schneider.

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The Halls Are Alive with the Sound of Music at Immanuel Lutheran

From traditional choirs to praise and worship, handbells and band, music is always in the air at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School.

The faces may change but the sounds of praise and worship remain a constant when choirs perform on Sundays at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Nearly a dozen different choirs that include everyone from students in grades K-8 to the church’s adult Sacred Choir take turns performing each week. “Music is just a huge part of our program here at the school and the church,” said Principal Robert Christian. Christian's wife, Lynn, codirects the 35-member adult Sacred Choir along with her husband and works with the church pastors to plan the music presented at Sunday services. Though not an instructor at the school, she also plays the piano for the choir and serves as the organist and keyboardist at church.  Two praise bands for adults add to the church'…

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PHOTOS: Dakota Shines at Andover Early Bird Marching Band Invitational

Marching bands from five area high schools performed at Andover High School on Saturday night.

It was a night of brass and flare at Andover High School on Saturday, where five area high schools came ready to impress for the Andover High School Early Bird Marching Band Invitational. The schools represented were, in order of appearance, Lahser High School, Stoney Creek High School, Dakota High School, Troy High School and host Andover High School. Each team created a unique compilation of themed musical numbers, creating massive formations and flashy flag routines to accompany them. Spectators appeared impressed with the show, even giving Troy's marching band a standing ovation.

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Happening This Week: Gratiot Cruise, Margaritaville Concerts and Rock Climbing

Cruise Gratiot, enjoy some outdoor jams, a movie under the stars and more this week.

ROCK-CLIMBING FUN Where/When: Stony Creek Metropark, daily. Why Go: Get a grip and take this fun challenge at Stony Creek, with the rock climbing wall set up through Aug. 11. Pricing: $2 per climb. A daily car pass to the park is $5, if you don't already have an annual pass ($25 or $15 for seniors). SUMMER NIGHTS IN THE PARK Where/When: Town Center Park 7-8:30 p.m. Aug. 4. Why Go: It's the final "Sizzlin' Summer Nights" for the season, rescheduled from last week. Bring blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy live music outdoors. Tonight's act is Jimmy Buffett tribute act Air Margaritaville. There will also be a dance floor set up so anyone inclined can cut a rug. Kids can enjoy fun in the KiDzOnE inflatables, games and more. Stop by the bubble …

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Patch Parents

This Christmas Just Listen

Charge the camera battery, snag an aisle seat and take a few hours from the holiday hustle and bustle to listen to your kids perform in their Christmas concerts.

This holiday make sure to listen and enjoy. It's December, the month we must dress up our children in their Sunday best and sit among other parents and grandparents while listening to our children sing in the school holiday program—or play their trumpet, in my case, in the school Christmas Concert. For me this is a great time of year. I loved the Christmas Concert at Immanuel Lutheran School and the Chippewa Valley High School Band Holiday Concert that followed. Of course, part of the reason I love it is because I'm a big band geek, as my daughter will tell you. But mostly, I love it because it allows me a chance to sit quietly with my fellow parents, who are my dear friends, and enjoy our kids being kids at Christmastime. There are only …

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