Welcome to the YHS Bands!

A character education program within itself, the YHS Band experience is centered around three key components: musicianship, citizenship, and friendship. Through these, and the magic of music making, we strive to build community and musical excellence!

MUSICIANSHIP

We take great pride in our tradition of musical excellence and service! Daily classes include Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and weekly pull-out lessons. Jazz Band rehearses one evening a week, with a weekly sectional. Pep Band fires up the crowd at Varsity Football games, and Chamber ensembles rehearse after school. Major ensembles compete in regional festivals, and students shine at the NYSSMA Solo Festival. Highlights include our Winter and Spring Concerts; the Swing Dance Concert (students explore Jazz, improvisation, musical icons, and the pop culture of the Swing Era, learn to dance, and present a full community Swing Dance!); “Bandapalooza” (our district-wide band festival); and musical enrichment with local clinicians.

CITIZENSHIP

A pillar of the YHS Band program is character education; finding ways to make our community better through musical outreach, peer-leadership, and expressing gratitude are all lessons learned in the YHS Band Room. Highlights include: musically honoring our Veterans and First Responders, visiting with local nursing homes and children with special needs, hosting our community at our Swing Dance Concert, hosting 500+ students at our annual district-wide band festival, supporting our music programs through community fundraisers, using part of our fundraising to sponsor a needy child at holiday time, fostering a strong peer-tutoring program and a very active student executive board.

FRIENDSHIP

We strive to create a welcoming and supportive community for all students! Through team-building activities, social events, and the shared joy of making music together, we cultivate a true sense of Family within the Band and across our Music Department. Students form friendships, build leadership skills, and learn teamwork, dedication, and school spirit. Highlights include annual apple picking and ice skating outings, pep rallies, and celebrations. We also strengthen connections through mentoring and shared traditions that keep our community close-knit. Above all, we celebrate the countless “bandtastic” memories that make our program a place where everyone belongs and feels proud to share their talents!

BAND UPDATE #11

Nov 17, 2025

Dear YHS Band Parents and Students,

Welcome to Concert & Holiday Season! As we turn our attention to Thanksgiving, I’d like to express my gratitude for the awesome support of our YHS Band Family and our collective work making Musicianship, Citizenship, and Friendship come alive in our program! So much of what our students do each day is beyond learning notes and rhythms – it’s building community and character.

YHS BUGLERS PERFORM “TAPS” FOR VETERANS DAY

Senior Ichiro Iizuka was honored to perform taps at the Yorktown Veterans Day ceremony. Thank you, Ichiro, for lending your musical talents, citizenship, and time. Thank you to our community for the opportunity, and most importantly, thank you to our Veterans for their service!

EVENTS THIS WEEK:

TRI-TOWNS SYMPHONY REHEARSAL ~ TUES. 11/18 p.9

For those involved in this honors ensemble, please attend this rehearsal with Ms. Ryan.

TRI-TOWNS SYMPHONY CONCERT IS THIS WEEKEND!

Friday, November 21st

4:00 PM – 7:30 PM – Rehearsal at Yorktown High School

(please bring your own dinner)

Saturday, November 22nd

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM – Rehearsal at Yorktown High School

1:00 PM – Lunch Break (please bring your own lunch)

2:00 PM – Concert at Yorktown High School

GUIDED PRACTICE / JAZZ BAND SECTIONALS

Offered weekly and hosted by our YHS Band elders (thank you!). Students who lead or attend a session receive 1 point of extra credit. Sessions are held period 9, unless noted otherwise. I am also always available for help by appointment.

Monday 11/16

JB Rhythm p.10

Tuesday 11/17

JB Sax

Wednesday 11/18

JB Trumpet

Thursday 11/19

JB Trombone

Friday 11/20

Mozart ensemble p.10

PERIOD “0” JAZZ JAM!

Please join me before school (from 7:10…or whenever you get off the bus… until the first bell) to practice improvising. Help yourself develop your skills and a plan for success!

JAZZ BAND IS THURSDAY 11/20

Amazingly, we only have 3 rehearsals left until our Winter Concert! Please arrive by 6:50 so we can be warmed up and tuned to start promptly at 7:00. Make time to practice – music, recordings, and this week’s HW are all posted on Dashboard.

CITRUS SALE – You can still place USPS orders delivered in time for Christmas

Sunday, December 13th is the order deadline for USPS mail-order delivery to your home/customers’ homes (shipping fees apply)

Thursday, December 11th 2:30-6:30PM is FRUIT DELIVERY DAY. In-person pre-orders will be delivered by truck to YHS. Students are responsible for picking up their entire order and delivering to their customers.

Parent and student volunteers will be needed all day (7am-7pm) to help unload and sort our orders.

NOVEMBER LESSON SCHEDULE

Is attached, FYI.

WINTER CONCERT REMINDERS

Our YHS Band Winter Concert will take place Tuesday, December 9th at 7pm in the YHS auditorium. Students will be asked to arrive by 6:30pm (Jazz Band at 5:45pm) for sound check.

As outlined in our Band Handbook from September, Students are asked to wear “Concert Black,” which is all black professional, dressy attire.

o Ladies: Black dressy shirt. No sleeveless shirts or spaghetti straps. Appropriate necklines, please. Black dressy pants or skirt (below the knee when you sit down, please) and black dress shoes.

o Gentlemen: Black dressy button-down long-sleeved shirt with a collar. Black dress pants. Black dress shoes. Black socks.

“BANDSGIVING” ~ TUES. 11/25

To embrace this season of gratitude and highlight our program goal of friendship, the Band Officers will host a Bandsgiving event during each class. Officers have selected recipes from our YHS Band Cookbook to make and share. (Yes, we have a cookbook! Started years ago, by an enthusiastic student leader, it has been passed down from officer to officer and become a compilation of favorite band event recipes from the past 2 decades).

If students would like to contribute additional supplies (or new recipes!) to our event, a sign-up list is available in the Band Room. Period 1 is breakfast themed. Period 8 is lunch themed.

OPERATION SANTA

As part of our program goal of citizenship, again this year we are sponsoring a needy child for the holidays. Her name is Luna and she is 6 years old. Using part of the funds we have raised through our Tag Sale and Citrus Sale, the Band Officers will purchase items from her list to Santa.

If you are interested in donating additional items, please contact me. Luna wears size 13 youth shoes, and size 6/7 youth shirt/pants. We are interested in all clothing items (pj’s, winter outfits, school uniforms (light blue top and navy pants), shoes, and a few toys/treats. She loves plush unicorns, the color pink, LOL surprise, and Barbie dolls. Please send in items (unwrapped) by Wednesday 12/3.

MUSICAL OPPORTUNITIES

West Point Band Holiday Show – Saturday 12/6 and Sunday 12/7 @ 2pm: Tickets are free! It is a fantastic concert – my family and I will be attending – hope to see you there!

Thank you for your support!

Musically Yours,

Ms. Kluga

Our Next Event:

YHS BAND: WINTER CONCERT

WINTER CONCERT REMINDERS Our YHS Band Winter Concert will take place Tuesday, December 9th at 7pm in the YHS auditorium. Students will be asked to...

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YHS Band Lesson Schedule - OCTOBER 25