Meeting Tonight | Welcome All Ballard Performing Arts Families Meeting

Join us at 7 pm tonight, Tuesday, Sept 12, in the BHS Library for a special welcome to all new and returning Ballard Performing Arts family members. Learn about the Ballard Performing Arts Booster Club and get some tips and tricks on how to support your child(ren) and how to stay informed and engaged this school year. 

The directors have agreed to offer extra credit to all students who persuade a parent/guardian to attend (or attend themselves on behalf of their parent/guardian.)

BPA GEAR | Show your BPA Pride!

Want to show your BPA pride around town? Grab a t-shirt or sweatshirt to wear to football games and parades this fall. Or just show up with Beaver pride at gigs throughout the year. Either way, this is the only place to get BPA branded gear this fall. Place your order by Thursday, September 28th!

Click here to order on Zeffy, our new fee-free payment platform.

Be aware that there is a default donation button to Zeffy (the payment provider) of 15% at checkout. To bypass this, select "other" and type in "0" for the donation amount and you won't be charged extra.

Click here for screenshots that show you how to opt-out of Zeffy’s request for a donation.

Stay in the loop with Remind

THE BPAB uses a REMIND app that provides a one-way texting system to keep students and families in the loop for all of our activities and events; for example, concert and event locations, call times and pick up times, field trip deadlines and information, etc. It's easy to sign up for any and all groups you need to track during the school year, and receive important messages via text. Did you sign up last year? The codes change every year, so you'll need to update.

Click here for 2023-2024 Remind codes: https://www.ballardperformingarts.org/remind-info-and-codes

Band

Whirlwind Band Camp Weekend!

This year’s band camp at Camp Seymour was a very productive and inspiring weekend with music, marching, and only slightly more than average SPS bus chaos. Friday night included a competition for “best dance move” for “Bad Guy,” won by the flute section, as well as the traditional rock-paper-scissors event (won by Finn Pasterczyk). Saturday started with basic marching practice which quickly progressed to marching with instruments and a bit later included fancy turn-making that adult chaperones tried, but did not outperform students at! Camp ended Sunday with the infamous drill down competition, where students are drilled by their marching instructor Ryan until a single student is left on the field. This year it was Lydia Blair winning 1st and Oliver Horwitz winning 2nd; 1st all-around went to John O’Neill and 2nd all-around went to Rose Kibelstis. “Last Freshman Standing” went to Julia Derringer, and the Captain Ballard award went to Niko Tingleff.

As a first-time chaperone, I thought it was a great introduction to band at BHS and I left not only with excitement for the year to come, but a great feeling of connection to the impressive students, teachers, and parent chaperones that attended. I urge everyone who is able to sign up to volunteer to chaperone for any of the football games, parades, or even band camp next year (I’m taking names now!). Thanks to Jay for being such an awesome band teacher!

Upcoming Dates

There will be a marching band practice after school for all band students on Tuesday, September 19th from 3:45-5. We will practice on the field at first and then move to neighborhood streets. We need 4-6 chaperones to help us with this; please see the signup genius to sign up!

Our first home football game is September 22nd at 5 pm. Please consider helping us - you can sign up here. We need chaperones for the entire game, as well as help before and after with uniforms. We also need chaperones for the Leavenworth parade on September 23rd. If you would like to volunteer, please make sure to check your SPS volunteer status (or register as a SPS volunteer) ASAP at https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/volunteer/. It takes at least 2 weeks for the application to process and the approval report to get to BHS.

Band Class Fees

Every music class has an annual fee to help pay for buses, trips, uniforms, sheet music, and other supplies that support the students and the program.

Please click here to pay your annual Band class fee.

Choir

We had a great first week singing together!

Upcoming Dates

Concert Choir and Advanced Chorale Camp | Sept 29-Oct 1

Keep turning in the camp packets. Your student can put it in the secure black box in the band room. Wondering if you've turned it in or not? Email Jill at bpabtreasurer@gmail.com.

Have you paid for camp?

Go to Zeffy.com, log in, and check your transactions, or email bpabtreasurer@gmail.com.

Zeffy is our new fee-free payment platform. For details about how to opt out of their request for a donation, click here.

Choir Camp - 2 Chaperones Needed! 

Camp Burton on Vashon Island is beautiful and it’s a great way to meet fellow choir parents and get to know the awesome students that your child will hang out with for the year. It's fairly low key, a great chance to socialize, hike, play some cards, or sit, read a book, and enjoy the sunset. Join us! Email Sally Rampersad (Mom of Izzy - Concert Choir, Vocal Jazz and Chamber Choir) at bpabchoirrep@gmail.com to volunteer. We need at least 2 more volunteers. 

Please make sure to check your SPS volunteer status (or register as a SPS volunteer) ASAP at https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/volunteer/. It takes at least 2 weeks for the application to process and the approval report to get to BHS. You will only need to be an “A” volunteer as this camp is <48 hours.

Small Group Auditions

VOCAL JAZZ: Vocal Jazz auditions will take place Monday, September 18 and Tuesday, September 19 during lunch. For the audition, interested students will prepare to sing a short jazz standard, improvise over the 12-bar blues, and learn a short exceprt of a Vocal Jazz song. This last portion will be learned DURING the audition process on Monday! More detailed audition information and a sign-up sheet are available in the Black Box, or see Ms. Rowley!

TENOR BASS ENSEMBLE: Auditions for Tenor Bass Ensemble will take place later in September. Stay tuned for more info!

Choir Class Fee

Every music class has an annual fee to help pay for buses, trips, uniforms, sheet music, and other supplies that support the students and the program.

Please click here to pay your annual Choir class fee.

Save the Dates

• Saturday October 21st - Tenor/Bass Festival at Roosevelt - details to follow.
• Wednesday October 25th- Fall Choir Concert
• Saturday October 28th - Concert Choir with Apollo Five at St Mark’s - details to follow.

Orchestra

Upcoming Dates

Orchestra Camp | Sept 15-17 

Camp starts Friday! Turn in camp packets ASAP! Your student can put it in the secure black box in the band room. Ask your student for the packet or download Orchestra Camp Paperwork. Wondering if you've turned it in or not? Email Jill at bpabtreasurer@gmail.com.

Have you paid for camp?

Go to Zeffy.com, log in, and check your transactions, or email bpabtreasurer@gmail.com.

Zeffy is our new fee-free payment platform. For details about how to opt out of their request for a donation, click here.

Orchestra Camp | Male Chaperone Needed 

We only need one more male chaperone! Camp Burton on Vashon Island is beautiful. It’s a great way to meet fellow orchestra parents and get to know the great kids your child will hang out with for the year. It's fairly low key, a great chance to socialize, play some cards, or sit and read a book. Join us! Email Orchestra Rep Connie Kelleher at bpaborchestrarep@gmail.com to volunteer.

Please make sure to check your SPS volunteer status (or register as a SPS volunteer) ASAP at https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/volunteer/. It takes at least 2 weeks for the application to process and the approval report to get to BHS.

Orchestra Class Fee

Every music class has an annual fee to help pay for buses, trips, uniforms, sheet music, and other supplies that support the students and the program.

Please click here to pay your annual Orchestra class fee.

Ballard Fiddlers

The Ballard Fiddlers group will meet weekly on Tuesdays starting on September 12 from 6:30 pm-8:00 pm in the main band/orchestra room with coach Kat Bula. The Fiddlers ensemble is composed of students who play the violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, mandolin etc. Fiddlers members work to refine their improvisational skills, learn music in an aural tradition, and perform authentic American roots music by arranging traditional tunes of the American Roots and Jazz repertoire. The Fiddlers ensemble performs at school concerts and special events and is available for private performances throughout the year. All acoustic string instruments are welcome! 

Theatre

Fall Play | Auditions Sept 14

The fall play will run for just one weekend this year - performances are on Oct 19th, 20th, and 21st at 7:30 PM. The show will be a devised piece, written and performed by a student ensemble. We will take inspiration from playwright Jose Rivera, using his text "Sonnets for an Old Century" to uplift and inspire our own voices. This is a unique opportunity to center the students of Ballard High School, to share our stories and values with the community. I hope all interested students will audition!

Auditions for the fall play will be held on Thursday, September 14th from 4 pm - 6:30 pm. Students interested in auditioning should sign up for a five-minute time slot on the sign-up sheet, which will be placed on the wall outside the black box theatre. For the audition, students should come prepared to tell me a two-minute true story about a time in their life that someone listened to them, and it mattered.

The district only pays for teachers’ salaries; everything else we have to raise or donate.

Become a Sponsor for the 2023-2024 School Year!

If you own a business (or know of a business) that would benefit from advertising on our programs, website, and newsletters, click here to learn about all the perks of becoming a corporate sponsor.

Save the Date! Goodwill Truck | Sunday, Oct 15, 9-noon

Fall is a great time to clean out your garage and closets, but save your bags and boxes of items to be donated! Goodwill trucks will be parked in the BHS parking lot on Sunday, Oct 15 from 9 am - 12 noon. For every truck we fill we get $600 for BPA! 

Join the BPA Board | More Info at Sept 12 Meeting! 

Find out how to get involved with the BPAB Board at our "Welcome All BPA Families" Meeting (Tuesday, Sept 12 @ 7 pm in BHS Library).

We have a great team of board members already in place, but we’d love to add some new members (especially freshman and sophomore parents.) Check out the list below and reach out to bpabvolunteers@gmail.com if you're interested! 

Open positions: 

• Fall Direct Drive Planning Committee 
• Fall Brewery Event Planning Committee 
• Fundraising Committee
• Communications Committee
• Social Media Committee
• Newsletter Committee
• Graphic Designer (event posters/graphics)
• Uniforms Committee
• Spring Mattress Sale Coordinator (May)
• Visual Media Lead (archive our photos)
• Poster Distribution Team

Want more information? Read about these volunteer opportunities on our website!

Interested? Email bpabvolunteers@gmail.com with any questions.

Check out past performances any time on our YouTube and Vimeo channels.

Every year, Snowflake Lane hires a group of drummers (think high-energy marching band) who contribute to a spectacular holiday parade that occurs nightly along Bellevue Way. And we would love to count your talented musicians among them!

We audition performers 14 years of age and up (there is no age cap, so instructors and staff are encouraged to audition as well), and hire musicians for snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals. As per usual, Snowflake Lane will run nightly from Black Friday to Christmas Eve (11/24-12/24). Drummer auditions will be held on September 30th, 2023. Drummers will earn a minimum of $40 per night, with plenty of additional opportunities for bonuses throughout the season (meaning they can earn over $1,400 if they commit to every rehearsal and all 31 performances). Use this link to complete the audition form for a chance to become a part of the holiday magic: https://bit.ly/2023SFL_Audition_Form