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Welcome

Welcome to the Poudre Bands website. Poudre High School is located at 201 Impala Dr., Fort Collins, Colorado 80521. The Band Program consists of 12 performing groups. Our "core" ensembles are the concert groups: Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble. Participation in one of these groups is required for participation in any of our peripheral ensembles, such as Jazz Bands and Chamber Ensembles. Our Jazz Program consists of 4 groups: Jazz Band I, Jazz Band II, Jazz Combo and Traditional Jazz Ensemble. The Chamber Program includes Woodwind Quintet, Brass Quintet, Saxophone Quartet and Percussion Ensemble. In addition to these curricular groups, all band students participate in the Pep Band. The Pep Band performs at all home football games, as well as many other athletic events. We've even played for Robotics and Science Olympiad competitions! All the Poudre Band ensembles are committed to learning a wide variety of musical styles and genres and performing at the highest level of artistry and musicianship. Our ultimate goal is promoting a life long love and advocacy of the arts in our students.

Directors

Corry Petersen and Chris Leonard are the 2 directors of the Poudre Bands. Mr. Petersen has been teaching at Poudre since 1996. He leads the Wind Ensemble, Jazz I, Jazz II, Jazz Combo, co-directs Concert Band & co-directs the Pep Band and teaches IB Music HL/SL. Mr. Leonard has been at Poudre since 2005 and leads Symphonic Band, Woodwind Quintet, Brass Quintet, Sax Quartet, Percussion Ensemble, Traditional Jazz Ensemble, co-directs Concert Band & co-directs the Pep Band and teaches Music Theory/Composition. Mr. Petersen has a B.M.A. with a double emphasis in Music Education and Performance from Colorado State University and a M.A. in Trumpet from University of Northern Colorado. He is currently working on a M.M.E. with emphasis in Conducting from Colorado State University. Mr. Leonard has a Bachelors degree in Music Education from the Unversity of Northern Colorado. Both perform as often as they can, Mr. Petersen on the Trumpet and Mr. Leonard on the Tuba.

Wind Ensemble The Wind Ensemble is the top, auditioned wind/percussion group at Poudre. We play various styles of music of a high difficulty level. The group performs in 6 school concerts plus 2 or 3 festivals each year. The group is comprised mostly of juniors and seniors who audition each year to be in the group.The group plays an extremely varied repertoire. We focus on preparing these students for continued involvement in music after their high school careers.

Symphonic Band The Symphonic Band is comprised of 10th –12th grade students. Freshman and sophomores must audition to be in the group. We also perform a wide variety of literature, trying to expose students to types of music they’ve not heard or played before. This group plays 6 school concerts and 1-2 festivals each year. We concentrate on more advanced ensemble concepts such as balance, blend, tone color and style preparing these students for the Wind Ensemble, or college/university band participation.

Concert Band The Concert Band is comprised of 9th –10th grade students and some jr., sr. members learning new instruments. The group performs in 6 school concerts and the CHSAA Large Group Festival. We try and re-enforce fundamental concepts of band performance, such as intonation, technique, rhythm and sight-reading. This group is designed to introduce kids to the Poudre music program and prepare students for participation in the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble.

Jazz Ensembles Jazz Band I, Jazz Band II, Jazz Combo & Traditional Jazz Ensemble make up the Jazz program. Most of the Jazz Ensembles are auditioned groups. They each perform a wide variety of styles including swing, Latin, bop, ballads, funk and blues. The ensembles perform 4-5 concerts each year and 1-2 festivals each year. A strong emphasis is placed on improvisation and Jazz history in these ensembles. Participation in a concert ensemble is mandatory for inclusion in the Jazz program (exception for piano and guitar)

Chamber Ensembles The Brass Quintet, Woodwind Quintet, Sax Quartet and Percussion Ensemble make up the core of our small ensembles program. Other ensembles are formed as the interest dictates. The groups are all by audition only. These groups focus on concepts in chamber music performance, and soloistic playing. They perform 2-3 concerts a year and several community performances. These groups generally meet twice weekly before school, during lunch or after school. Performance in one of the concert ensembles is mandatory for participation in the small ensembles.

Pep Band The Pep Band is comprised of all students in the band program. We play in the stands at all home football games. Occasionally we’re asked to play at other events as well. In the winter, the group is split in half to make the athletic bands, which trade off playing at various home games. Cheerleaders, dance team and varsity athletes with conflicts are not required to play at the conflicting events

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