Important OMG Updates
- Jennifer Stroh
- Aug 15
- 9 min read
This message has important information for ALL of our Oiler Music Guild families!
Keep up to date with Blog Posts and Emails by registering here!
We're making a few changes this year in hopes that we can make it easier for you to get all the info you need!
Blog Posts will be how weekly updates will get out
Monthly Emails will let you know of important OMG happenings
Weekly Emails directly from instructors will share specific schedules and updates
Sign Ups for Events will be linked in the Event Description on the Google Calendar
First Oiler Music Guild Meeting of the school year
to follow
APA Back to School Parent Night
Monday, August 25th @ 7:30pm
in M1 (Music Room)
Please Attend! We can't wait to see/meet you all!
Here's what we need from you!!
Our Guild cannot function without LOTS of help from our fabulous community!
We have a busy schedule across our three programs and most of the activities and events which our students participate in also require help from our parents/guardians and community. Filling our Board and Chair Positions will make an enormous difference in how smoothly things run (or not, if we don't).
Below is a link for a Google Form with all of the OMG Board and Chair Positions described. I challenge you to fill it out. Put your name one one or more positions which you feel you could help with (even if the position is already taken!) Any new Board or Chair Nominations will be voted on or appointed at our September OMG Meeting.
How else can you help?
After you've subscribed to our Calendars, you'll find that all of our events (the ones we need help with) have a Sign Up linked in the description. For example, if you click on CSBC Champs on November 22nd, you'll see a short description with a link to Sign Up, click through and grab a shift! Super easy and convenient!
Add the OMG, Band, Orchestra, or Color Guard Calendars to your calendar!
Not sure how you can help?
Hopefully you've already filled out your registration paperwork where you answered some questions about your availability. We'll be hitting you up soon about signing up for things that will fit into your schedule.
We need every family to fill out the following forms as soon as possible.
Registration Form - Click to fill out online!
Parent/Booster Commitment Form - Click to fill out online!
Student Commitment Form - Click to fill out online!
Student Clearance Card (download and print)
Privately Arranged Travel Form (download and print)
Marching Band Info & Updates
Band Camp begins in just one week!
Here's how YOU can help now!
Band Camp Provisions- (<-- Click to Sign Up) Drinks and snacks to keep kids going during their long practice days.
Uniform Fittings- (<-- Click to Sign Up) We are starting the season with brand new uniforms, so there is a lot to do! We need all the help we can get, no experience necessary.
Notes from Austin-
We are so excited for another great year of the Oiler Marching Band and Colorguard! As we approach Band Camp 2025, here is some important info below so you and your students can be prepared.
Please check our band camp page for more info and follow our new Band Notes Page on the website for updates and schedules!
Parent To-Do Summer Checklist
Review the 2025-2026 Oiler Marching Band Handbook.
Complete the Registration Forms at the end of the handbook. These need to be emailed to Mr. Floyd by the start of band camp, or brought with the student on the first day. See Checklist below.
If your student was not in band last year, please make sure you have communicated with Mr. Floyd that your student will be participating in band camp at: afloyd@hbuhsd.edu
*Remember that every student needs to have a physical completed. Please do not wait to get this done. The earlier the better!
Registration Forms
The following forms must be completed by the first day of Band Camp in order for your child to participate.
Please fill out and bring the following forms to the first day of Band Camp.
Forms Checklist
⬜ Registration Form - Click to fill out online!
⬜ Parent/Booster Commitment Form - Click to fill out online!
⬜ Student Commitment Form - Click to fill out online!
⬜ Family Contribution Form - Click to fill out online!
⬜ Uniform Contract - Click to fill out online!
⬜ Physical Form (download and print)
⬜ Complete Athletic Clearance through Home Campus (currently unavailable)
⬜ Student Clearance Card (download and print)
⬜ Privately Arranged Travel Release Form (download and print)
Some Reminders
-Things students will need to bring with them: Gallon or half-gallon water jug, athletic shoes and clothing, sun protection, and their instrument (if they need to rent an instrument, we can get them an instrument the first day).
-During lunch breaks, students often go over to Seacliff as a section and eat lunch there. Please send your student with money to buy food, or pack them a lunch.
-Please plan on attending our parent info meeting on Monday, Aug 18th at 5pm after our first day of band camp.
Parent Info Meeting
We will be hosting a parent info meeting after our first day of rehearsal on Aug 18th at 5pm. This is mandatory for band parents to get all of the necessary info for the upcoming season.
Band Camp Schedule
Mon, August 18th
9am - Leadership Only
10:30am-12pm - Rookies + Leadership
12pm Lunch Provided!
1-5pm All members
5pm Mandatory Parent Info Meeting
Tue, August 19th
9am-12pm Rehearsal
12-1pm Lunch Break
1-5pm Rehearsal
5-6pm Dinner Break
6-9pm Stadium Rehearsal
Wed, August 20th
9am-12pm Rehearsal
12-1pm Lunch Break
1-5pm Rehearsal
Thu, August 21st
9am-12pm Rehearsal
12-1pm Lunch Break
1-5pm Rehearsal
Fri, August 22nd
9am-12pm Rehearsal
12-1pm Lunch Break
1-5pm Rehearsal
Mon, August 25th
9am-12pm Rehearsal
12-1pm Lunch Break
1-5pm Rehearsal
Tue, August 26th
9am-12pm Rehearsal
12-1pm Lunch Break
1-5pm Rehearsal
5-6pm Dinner Break
6-9pm Stadium Rehearsal
Austin Floyd
Director of Bands
Huntington Beach High School
Orchestra Info & Updates
Hello, orchestra students and families!
We’re looking forward to welcoming you back in August, and we can’t wait to get started and see everyone!
From everyone at HBHS and APA, we hope your summer has been a relaxing break! With school just a month away, we wanted to send out an update for the beginning of the school year with information, important calendar dates, and an outline of what to expect in the school year ahead. This is a little information-dense, but we wanted to try and get it all together in one place.
Student Opportunities:
As we roll into the new year, we’re planning to appoint students to several different leadership and service opportunities for the orchestra program! These are open to any interested students, and we’ll complete an interview and selection process during the back-to-school camp and first week of classes.
Strings Quartermaster: This position is tasked with organizing string equipment rentals and maintenance, and helping keep stock of the school string instruments for upkeep.
Orchestra Social Chair/Board: This group of students will help organize and plan social events for the orchestra students and program across the school year!
Orchestra Social Media Manager: This student is tasked with managing the Instagram, Youtube, and any other social media accounts for the Orchestra program, helping with outreach and community impact.
Additional opportunities (based on placement auditions):
Section Principals (First chair section leaders)
Concertmaster (violins)
Summer Equipment Refreshes:
As we finished the last financial year, we’ve been able to refresh and invest in some new equipment to open new opportunities and tools for the year ahead.
Piano Studio: We were able to purchase two brand new Yamaha P-143 weighted digital pianos, along with a Yamaha Class Piano system, which will provide more classical-feeling keyboards for our musicals and any digital piano needs. The class piano system will be used for a new Music Fundamentals course that will be for 9th- and 10th-grade students to develop musicianship and music theory skills to supplement their ensemble work. It will allow for up to 8 students to work collaboratively in a modular classroom environment, and is the same equipment used at many colleges and universities around the country!
New Folders: We ordered new embossed leather folders this summer, which will be assigned out to students at the beginning of the school year. We worked with an excellent company to help emboss the orchestra logo into the front, and should be a huge boost to our professional appearance (and useful for organization!) in the years to come.
String supplies: We updated and refreshed our shoulder rests, string instrument tape, and string tuners. We will carry pedagogical and technical tools for every string musician beginning next year, and all students will be provided with all necessary equipment if they do not already have it!
Recording Equipment: We were lucky to pick up a selection of professional recording equipment, which will be used for composer collaborations, provide much higher fidelity recordings of concerts and rehearsals, and be available to help students prepare honor band and college auditions, free of charge! This recording equipment is absolutely top-of-the-line, and should make a big impact on the materials we can prepare and share.
Of course, none of this would happen without our incredible booster board and family support throughout the school year! Thank you for supporting the orchestra, and making it an important priority for APA and HBHS.
Class Updates:
Three significant new offerings for the year ahead that have been in the works for quite a while: A program-wide lessons opportunity, a new percussion studio/ensemble, and the afore-mentioned Music Fundamentals course.
Lessons: All students, across the program, will have access to Proposition 28-funded private lessons each semester. Registered teachers will schedule bi-weekly lessons, utilizing our practice rooms and classrooms, and students will be provided up to 6 lessons per semester. At the standard rate for the teachers with the experience and educational backgrounds that we are hiring, that is a $400 value alone!
Percussion Studio/Ensemble: We will have a dedicated concert percussion teacher this upcoming year, who is an absolutely fantastic musician and educator! They will be directing the percussion techniques class and coordinating the percussion ensemble, bringing some additional expertise into the classroom that will be invaluable.
Calendar:
The Fall semester calendar is largely set in stone, with dates across the school year already added to the google calendar. The Orchestra and Band calendars can be subscribed to for Google Calendar and iCal at https://www.oilermusicguild.org/ (along with lots of other information about the program!), and will be regularly updated through the course of the school year. Please subscribe to keep ahead of things as we move into the Fall!
School begins Wednesday, August 27th, with APA classes formally beginning the Tuesday after (September 2nd).
APA Orchestra will hold our first annual Back-to-School camp on Friday, August 29th (5:00-9:00pm) and Saturday, August 30th (9:00am-5:30pm, with lunch provided) on campus at HBHS. This will be a day-and-a-half camp with our lesson instructors and staff getting instruction moving, building community with our new and returning students, and hitting the ground running for the year ahead! More information will come soon with details! This is a required camp for all students, and any absences need to be communicated to the directors as soon as possible! Auditions for the Fall Musical will take place during this camp weekend.
A note about sports conflicts: If your student is planning on participating in a seasonal HBHS or HBUHSD sport that will involve a conflict with class times, please communicate that to Mr. Bement and Mr. Myers as soon as possible. We are happy accommodating, but as this is a graded course, alternative assignments will be planned for any approved absences from performances or projects.
Dates to have in your calendar going into the school year for the fall semester:
August 28th-29th, 2025: APA Orchestra Back-to-school camp
October 3rd, 2025: APA Walk for the Arts Fundraiser
October 6th-9th: Pit Orchestra Tech Week
Pit Orchestra students only
October 10th-12th, 17th-19th: Shrek the Musical performances
Pit Orchestra students only
October 30th, 2025: APA Orchestra Fall Concert @ Rose Center Theater
Strings and Winds only
November 6th: Disneyland Recording Workshop
Strings only
November 19th: Chamber Recital @ Huntington Beach Public Library
All Pianos, small ensembles, solo players
December 8th-11th: Sounds of the Season Tech Rehearsals
ALL STUDENTS
December 12th-13th: Sounds of the Season Performances
ALL STUDENTS
First week of March: Likely scheduling of two festival performances. If at all possible, please do not schedule travel or conflicts during this week.
Strings and Winds
Additional dates are listed on the calendar, but this is the majority of important dates to have set aside between now and the beginning of March. A full print calendar will be available with the student information packet at the beginning of the year.
All dates can be accessed via the Google Calendar, which can be subscribed to for your personal calendar, iCal, or other services.
That’s all our updates for now! We’re looking forward to working with you all soon, and feel free to send any questions to Mr. Myers (kmyers@hbuhsd.edu) and Mr. Bement (pbement@hbuhsd.edu).
See you soon!
Mr. Bement and Mr. Myers
--
Peter Bement
APA Orchestra Director- hbapa.org
Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Color Guard Info & Updates
Coming Soon...
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