LaSalle-Peru Township High School Bands
La Salle, Illinois

Mr. Alex Guerrero, Director of Bands
 

LPBANDS.COM - ARCHIVE (FALL 2007):

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE L-P BANDS!

(12.11.07) We hope everyone is staying warm & dry! Let's think good thoughts for Thursday!
The LP Band Department will present our 38th Annual Christmas Concert on Thursday, December 13th at 7:30pm in the Matthiessen Memorial Auditorium at LPHS. Musical selections at this concert will include new seasonal music as well as classic holiday favorites. Featured at this concert will be the Symphonic Band, Jazz Band and the LP Percussion Ensemble. Admission is free and a reception will follow the program.
Students & Parents: we will be taking photos for the yearbook at 7:00pm. All students should arrive in time to be fully dressed in concert attire and in the auditorium by 7:00pm. Parents are welcome to also take a group photo of the ensembles at this time.

(11.30.07) This Saturday is the LPHS Student Council Santa's Workshop at the High School and the Peru Christmas Parade! Details can be found on the marching band page of this website. Reminder: the parade begins on 4th & Calhoun Street in Peru and goes to the Peru Firehouse where Santa will meet & greet all the young (and young at heart!)
In the case of weather concerns, tune in to WLPO/WAJK for announcements. If the parade a "go", so will we! Dress accordingly!
[Note: there will be no events for the LP Band this Sunday, December 2nd.]

(11.19.07) The seasons are upon us! I hope that everyone is preparing to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with all their families and friends. After Thanksgiving our band program will quickly move into the Holiday season beginning with the Oglesby Christmas Parade on Sunday, September 25th at 1:00pm! All band students will re-assemble as a marching band for all our annual winter parades. On the marching band website parents & students can find the handout for the parades.
The Peru Christmas Parade will be on Saturday, December 1st. This will be in conjunction with the Santa's Workshop put on by the LPHS Student Council at LP High School. Information & details for this day will be available next week.
At this time, the LaSalle Christmas Walk is 'on hold' - we will notify everyone when we have more information on this event.
...don't forget: LP BAND CHRISTMAS CONCERT - Thursday, December 13th!

(11.9.07) The past few weeks have been filled with transitions and preparations for our upcoming events and activities! The symphonic band, indoor percussion ensemble, jazz band and basketball bands have all begun their organizational and rehearsal routines to be ready for the upcoming months! We've also added more information on the website, so this memo should help you navigate through our updates & important upcoming events (click on the links for more details):
The IMEA DISTRICT FESTIVAL rehearsal and performance is just around the corner [Saturday, November 17th] for those students selected to participate! Complete details are now online on the IMEA website!
We are on the last week of our CHEESE+SAUSAGE+FRUIT FUNDRAISER. Orders can be taken by any band student or by calling 223-3049 or 220-0331. Order forms are due in the band office on Friday, November 16th - Order pickup for band students is Thursday, December 6th.
The Symphonic Band & Percussion Ensemble have begun their rehearsals for the upcoming CHRISTMAS CONCERT on Thursday, December 13th at 7:30pm in our Matthiessen Memorial Auditorium. This concert will feature these ensembles individually AND combined, as well as our Jazz Band which has also begun their rehearsals for this concert.
The LPHS Basketball Bands will be playing at all home boys and girls basketball games this season! Members: get your game selection forms into the band office by Monday, November 12th.
We had a great time this past Halloween helping at the Haunted House and hosting a Halloween party of our own in band. Pictures of these activities are now posted! (There are a lot of pictures, so loading this page may take some extra time.)
Finally, there has been an increasing need to have a community calendar available for one to find out all the wonderful opportunities to enjoy the fine arts of the Illinois Valley area. This button will be regularly located along the index bar to the left of our website. I will try to keep this calendar as updated as possible. If you know of a community event that you would like to see listed on our new community calendar, simply email me the details and we'll get it posted!

(10.29.07) The LP Bands wish to congratulate our Cavalier Football team on an excellent year, and congratulations & thank you to Coach Sassano and his staff for their talents, hard work and Cavalier pride!
Go L-P Football!!
Notice a new button to the left on your browser? BUY OUR STUFF will feature our LP Band Fundraisers and will soon be your gateway to LP Band merchandise! Check it out!!

(10.26.07) Want to see something spooky??? Come to the Nights of Horror Haunted Hotel" sponsored by the LaSalle Businessmen's Association in operated by members and parents of our very own band program! It is on the first floor of the Vendome Hotel - formerly the Elks building at 540 First Street. The Haunted House will operate from Friday, October 26th through Wednesday, October 31st. Operating times are from 7:00pm to 9:00pm each day. Come and be spooked!!

(10.19.07) CHRISTMAS CONCERT UPDATE: due to conflicts and programming concerns, the LPHS Band Christmas Concert will be moved to THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13th from the original December 6th date. The LPHS choral department will still hold their Christmas Concert on December 6th. Both concerts will still begin at 7:30pm.

(10.15.07) It has been a fantastic return to competitive marching band this year. The L-P Marching Cavaliers topped all performances with this past Saturday's parade & field shows at Metamora High School. The competition was tough but L-P held their ground & proved that our band was every bit as good as any other band! Along with the season's best scores, the Marching Cavaliers' performance brought home the award for Best Drumline in Parade Competition in Class AAA. Great job, band!!
Thank you to everyone who helped and supported the program throughout this season. You are all a part of our successes and we look forward to next year's competitive season to do it again! But don't think that this is the last you'll see and hear of the Marching Cavaliers! Along with our upcoming winter parades, we hope the L-P football team gives us reason to play and perform in their football playoffs!! Go Football!
To all our fans & friends, check here often for updates on our Concert, Jazz & Basketball seasons, as well as upcoming fundraisers and feature events! Again, from myself and the L-P Band: thank you all for your support!!

(10.9.07) We are into our final week of competitive marching band. It has been an exciting season and experience. It was said best when we were described as a "freshman" team against varsity squads from all around. So, for a freshman team, and the competitive marching band world new to our "freshman" band, our L-P Marching Cavaliers have done a great job this season! We have continued to improve each week, giving the judges more and more of what they are looking for while still giving our audiences what they want!
Last Saturday our Marching Cavaliers placed 4th in their class and 6th (out of 9) in their division at the Washington Parade & Field Invitational. The band also received their highest scores yet this season in all areas! The competition gets harder and harder, but we're keeping up with the challenge! GO BAND!!
This Saturday will big our big final contest at Metamora. We will aim to put everything into this performance to make it our biggest and our best performance this season! It has been an exciting year - and with the hopes of rebuilding the Color Guard program for 2008, next year will be an even bigger year!
The itinerary is posted for this Saturday's contest. Also, don't forget about the BPA General Meeting on Thursday, October 11th at 7:30pm. We hope to see you all there for lots of news and updates on the program. Last, if you are not receiving our regular "Band Mail" emails, send your email to me and we'll add you to the list!

(10.7.07) IMEA AUDITION RESULTS

(10.1.07) I was in high school when I first really experienced the whole competitive marching band world (much like our high school musicians are now), and it was in high school that I also first learned about Drum Corps International (like many of our high school musicians are also experiencing). There was a drum corps out of Anaheim, California (anyone who followed DCI before the mid 90's I'm sure knows the group) called the Velvet Knights. These guys were amazing - they marched in Hawaiian shirts and straw hats, or full out tuxedos topped with baseball caps and Converse All-Stars!! They competed with all the other fast & fancy marching band drum corps ... and they never placed higher than 7th place.
But they were FUN! And everyone loved to watch them! And they still were able to march well and play good music - they just kept their spirit and marching band ideal in tact: they remained true to their purpose of entertaining the audience.
Last Saturday, our LP Marching Cavaliers competed in the Olympia Spartans Marching Band Competition. We received the 3rd place award in Parade Competition for Class AA & the 3rd place award in Field Competition for Class AA. More importantly, out of all 11 bands that performed that afternoon, the LP Marching Cavaliers were awarded with the CROWD PLEASER award for the day. What does that mean? That means that out of all the bands that marched that day, no matter how big or loud, fast or fancy they marched, if the audience could hear one more band one more time, it would have been L-P.
The Marching Cavaliers played well and marched well. AND they ENTERTAINED!
GREAT JOB BAND!!!
Like the Velvet Knights, the Marching Cavaliers continue to work hard at their musicianship and their 'marchmanship' - but they also remember that marching band is to be fun and entertaining to the audiences as well as the marching band members! There are a lot more audience than there are judges - and we went to satisfy the majority.
          "WINNING IS AN ATTITUDE, NOT A SCORE ON A JUDGES' SHEET"
This is the competitive philosophy of the Velvet Knights ... and the LP Marching Cavaliers. 90% of the season is spent out of the marching band uniform on the practice field - so where does the real winning happen? Out of uniform in the practice field! We want a great show - one that we enjoy performing and that everyone else enjoys watching. And when the entertaining show turns out great competitively also, then that'll be great too. Till then, we'll keep doing what we do and we'll keep doing what we do better & better each week.
We have another busy weekend ahead of us. This weekend is IMEA Auditions, as well as our Washington Panther Invitational, as well as the Utica Burgoo Festival. (Good thing we have Monday off!). The marching band itinerary has schedule details for all these events. Get your rest this week, band - another big weekend is just around the corner!
http://vkyao.org/vk

(9.25.07) We had a great marching band experience this past Saturday as the LPHS Marching Cavaliers attended their first marching band competition in 13 years! For being out of the competition world for so long, the band did a great job! The crowds really enjoyed our show! We took 3rd place in Class AA - had we been classed by band size, we would have taken 2nd place - good to know! It's a challenge to march against bands that have been competing for 20-30-40 years - but we're up for the challenge!
Our next competition is this Saturday at Olympia. Check out the marching band page for details! Wish us luck!

(9.21.07) Naturally, our first big news item is that our new website is up and running! (A special thanks to Mr. Clydesdale from the band for helping to make this happen! Because of this, he made me a cub fan for one day.) As we continue to grow online, keep checking our site for regular updates throughout the pages of  lpbands.com.
This Friday will be our last home game (although the way the team is winning, be ready for a playoff season!) On Saturday, we begin our COMPETITIVE SEASON with our first contest in Pontiac! Check the "Marching Cavaliers" link for information and details.