Holy Name Cadets Drum Corps to Stay at Ridge View

The Holy Name Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps – one of the nation’s most successful drum corps – will be staying at Ridge View High School next week. The nine-time World Champions will be practicing at Ridge View on Wednesday, July 8 and Thursday, July 9. The contest is at Irmo High School the night of July 9. Students are encouraged to come out and watch rehearsal both days.

Contest tickets can be purchased at: http://get.crowntickets.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=530

Click on Buy Tickets and follow the instructions. Remember to look for our own Brad Pouncey playing trumpet, and his brother Ben – a Blazer Band alum – the Drum Major!

The Blazer Band has a new trailer! This trailer (after some interior customizing, minor repair work, and a new paint job) will be put to great use with the marching band each fall — transporting instruments, equipment, and props to football games and band competitions. A special thanks to Mr. Ragsdale for picking up and delivering the truck to us from North Carolina.

Moving to Columbia this summer? Want to be a member of the Blazer Band? Please contact Mr. Clayton ASAP!

2009 Blazer Band Camp and After School Rehearsal Schedule
July 27-31 All Percussion, Color Guard, and Student Leaders; 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
July 30-31 All Rookies; 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
August 3-7 Full Band; 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
August 10-12 Full Band; 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
August 13-14 Full Band; 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Weeks of August 17 and August 24
Full Band on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays; 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Weeks of August 31 through October 19
Full Band on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays; 4:15 pm – 6:45 pm
(no practice on Labor Day – Monday, Sept 7)

Weeks of October 26 through end of Football Season TBA.

The Blazer Band wrapped up their spring camp this week. It was a great success. This year’s marching band show, “The X Factor”, was officially unveiled to the students and some quality time was spent in sectional rehearsal, full band rehearsal, and marching fundamentals outside. With all the returning members and talented rookies joining the program, this year’s edition of the Blazer Band should be better than ever. Thank you for your hard work, students! Have a great summer!

Special congratulations to our band students that performed at the second annual Richland District 2 Jazz Night this past Sunday, May 3rd, at the Blythewood High School auditorium. It was a great night of jazz with the Ridge View Jazz Ensemble, Ridge View Big Band, Blythewood Jazz Ensemble, and Spring Valley Jazz Ensemble — with special guests Drew Loeffler, Lauren Meccia, Brendan Bull, and Jenna McSwain. Great job students and soloists!

The Ridge View Big Band performed last Thursday evening at Artista Vista in downtown Columbia. They shared the stage with the Spring Valley and Blythewood jazz ensembles. Thank you to all those who joined us.

The Ridge View Jazz Ensemble, Big Band, and “Blaze” dance team performed this past Saturday at the Sparkleberry Country Fair in Northeast Columbia, across from the Village at Sandhill. Congratulations to all our members for putting on a great – and HOT – show!

The Ridge View Percussion Ensemble received a huge honor by being asked to perform at this year’s “Day Of Percussion” at Winthrop University. The concert was Saturday morning, April 4th, at 10:00 a.m. They also performed their concert at the Ridge View auditorium Monday, March 30th, at 7:30 p.m. The program included pieces by Bruce Hamilton, Mozart, Minoru Miki, Lynn Glassock, and our very own Christian Jackson – a senior student in the ensemble. Congratulations to Jaye Ingram, Jason Frith, and all the student performers!

The Ridge View Jazz Ensemble, Big Band, and newly-formed dance team “The Blaze” performed this past Friday evening, April 3rd, at the 2009 Kid’s Day event downtown at Finlay Park. The performance started at 6 p.m. and the groups provided pre-show entertainment for the event’s movie night. Special thanks to Drew Loeffler, Matthew Jones, and student teachers Sean Hackett and Caleb Bonecutter for sitting in!

The Ridge View Concert Band and Symphonic Band both received superior ratings at the SCBDA Concert Band Festival this past week. The Concert Band performed on Tuesday afternoon and the Symphonic Band performed on Thursday evening. Both performances were held at the auditorium on the Lexington High School campus. Special thanks to Dr. Jerry Gatch for hosting the event at such a beautiful facility. Congratulations to director Vince Clayton and the students for two amazing performances!

Congratulations to the following band members for auditioning and being selected to the 2009 South Carolina All-State Band. They are Dillon Ashby, Morgan Bostick, Michelle Feggans, and Lindsey LeGrand. Their clinic was held March 13 – 15 at Furman University.

Congratulations to the following band members for auditioning and being selected to the 2009 South Carolina Region 3 Honor Band. They are Kennedy Allen, Timothy Altman, Zoe Angelac, Jacqueline Arvay, Ravan Austin, Jessica Blyden, Aaron Booker, Jordan Crosby, Zach Dance, Chris Davis, Jeremy Davis, John Drinkwater, Corbyn Field, Daniel Froelich, Chelsea Gibbons, Logan Gillespie, Katie Hafner, Cheyenne Hammond, John Jones, Danielle Marino, Patrick McClelland, Carla Mendoza, Tim Nord, Kristian Ortiz, Bobby Plunkett, Brad Pouncey, Rianne Richard, Kiara Roberts, Tracie Robinson, Bria Scales, Kayleigh Sims, Regan Varner, and Shatoya White. Their clinic was held February 27-28 at Fort Mill High School.

Congratulations to Dillon Ashby for being selected to the 2009 All State Jazz Ensemble. The clinic was held at Newberry College March 5-7.

Congratulations to the following band members for being selected to the 2009 USC Band Clinic. They are Timothy Altman, Dillon Ashby, Aaron Booker, Morgan Bostick, John Drinkwater, Michelle Feggans, Corbyn Field, John Jones, Lindsay LeGrand, Tim Nord, Brad Pouncey, Rianne Richard, and Kayleigh Sims. The clinic was held on the USC campus February 19-22.