AK Bands are Superior! (added 3/26)
On March 21st and 23rd, the Ardrey Kell HS Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble participated in the North Carolina State Music Performance Assessment, held at North Lincoln HS.
Our Symphonic Band (the 2nd band) went on Wednesday and received a "Superior" rating from the judges, which is the highest score given at the assessment. On Friday, our Wind Ensemble (the top band) also received a "Superior" rating, scoring straight A's from every adjudicator except one.
With these results, our top 2 bands are now a perfect 11 for 11 at MPA since the school opened 6 years ago. In addition, Ardrey Kell was the only school from CMS to have multiple bands receive "Superior" ratings and one of only 5 high schools from this entire region of the state to accomplish this feat!
Congratulations to Mr. Shane, Mr. McGinty, and to all Band members on their great performances at MPA!
AK Band Students selected for honors groups (added 1/16)
SCDBA All-District Band
Western Regional Honors Orchestra
Anahata Batchu - Flute Seth Brown - String Bass
Ryan Chandler - Trombone Iris Chong - Flute
Iris Chong - Flute Amelia Fujikawa - Clarinet
Lindsay Delmas - Flute Matt Hendler - Percussion
Amelia Fujikawa - Clarinet Justin Hong - Clarinet
Emily Hodes - Clarinet Jessica Kenny - French Horn
Justin Hong - Clarinet YeBon Lee - Percussion
Alex Jenkins - Trombone Grant Smith - Trombone
Brooke Kinsey - Trumpet
Sarah Pannenberg - Flute Western Regional Honors Jazz Band
Leslie Ro - Flute Justin Mauney - Piano
Virali Shah - Flute Ryan O'Malley - Trumpet
Michelle Zhao - Flute Grant Smith - Trombone
Congratulations to all - Way to go Knights!!!
Band Calendar has been updated (added 12/29)
The AK Band calendar has been updated through the end of April with all rehearsals and performances for each of our 3 concert bands, jazz band, winter guard, and winter percussion. Click here to see the caelndar!
Also, have you seen our Facebook page? Just click here!
AKHS Wind Ensemble performs at NCMEA (updated 12/28)
Our very own AK Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the NCMEA State Music Convention this past November! This is an enormous honor and AK was one of two high school bands selected from the entire state of NC!
For those who were unable to make it, you can see videos of our performance by clicking the following links:
You can see the story about our performance on the CMS website by clicking here.
You can see a copy of our selection / invitation letter by clicking here.
Marching Band finishes successful season with performance at BandBeat (added 11/7)
Congrats to the AK Marching Band for bringing home the 3rd place trophy at BandBeat finals! This marks the highest the AK Band has ever finished at the Regional Championships (9th in 2008, 6th in 2009, and 4th in 2010).
You can see a recap of our entire marching season by clicking here.
AKHS Band 2011-12 Information (added 6/23)
The start of the 2011-12 school year is just around the corner! We will be starting band camp on August 1st bright and early at 8am. For a complete listing of August dates (and all rehearsals / performances thru November), please click on the Band Calendar link to see all of these dates in calendar form!
Parents, here are some other helpful documents that will give you information about the upcoming year:
Phyllis Nussman will be acting as our Freshman Coordinator parent this year. She is a great resource and can help answer any questions that you may have. Just click on her name to email her.
AK Jazz Band is Superior! (added 5/16)
On Friday, May 13th, the Ardrey Kell HS Jazz Band participated in the North Carolina Western Region Jazz Assessment held at Nothview MS in Hickory , NC. With a great performance, the Jazz Band received a “Straight Superior” rating, which is the highest rating possible from the judges. Ardrey Kell was one of only three high school in CMS to receive this very prestigious rating!
Congratulations to Mr. Shane and to all the members of the Jazz Band on their great performance!
Weekly AK Band Blast / Charms Office (updated 8/25)
Attention all parents and friends of the AK Band Program: Did you know that we send out a weekly e-mail blast that has all of the latest, up-to-date information about our entire Band program? If you are not getting this email blast, please make sure you have logged into Charms Office and have put in your correct email addresses.
To login into Charms Office, your username is "AK Band" and your password is your student's CMS ID number. If you have any questions about signing up / logging into Charms Office, please email Mary Lynn Rawls (just click on her name to email her).
Parent Chapperone / Volunteer Information
(added 8/25)
All parents who wish to volunteer and/or chapperone any Band functions this year must register as a volunteer with CMS. Please register by going to http://www.cmsvolunteers.com. If you have registered in the past with a different school, please go online and change your school designation to Ardrey Kell.
This must be completed before you can chapperone an event!
AKHS is a GRAMMY Signature School National Finalist for 2008-09 (updated 1/8)
Congratulations to the Music Department at Ardrey Kell HS! They have been announced as a National Finalist for the GRAMMY Signature Schools award. They are one out of 150 public high schools across the country and the only high school in North Carolina that is being considered for this prestigious award. As the GRAMMY award signifies excellence in recording, the GRAMMY Signature Schools award recognizes outstanding U.S. public high school music programs in the area of program excellence. Up to 40 high schools nationwide are awarded each year.
For more information, please visit the GRAMMY Signature School website by clicking here.
