Our PCS music program is here to help our students express themselves through music. We learn the mechanics of making music, including reading and writing music notation, the language of music, and in performing groups and lessons, how to play an instrument and sing. We bring context to music through history and culture. Our work in rehearsals is a team experience, dependent on every band member's preparation and full participation. Performances present bring work to the community, and are the culminating experiences of the course.

 

7th and 8th Grade Band meets every other day and performs a variety of music of easy to intermediate difficulty. Individual practice is needed for best success. Small group lessons are offered as part of the curriculum. Lessons are scheduled on a pull-out basis on a rotating schedule. If a student is unable to come to their assigned lesson time, they may come at an alternate time and they will receive credit for the lesson. However, I may not be able to work with students outside their designated time, so the students would in that case, practice on their own during the "make-up lesson" time. 

 

About Ms. Rubio:

 

Jill Rubio holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in flute performance from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where she was named Outstanding Graduate. A pupil of Roger S. Stevens, she also received instruction from James Walker, Mitchell Lurie, Michel Debost and Toshio Takahashi. 

 

Ms. Rubio was the 2016 recipient of the New York State Band Directors Association Distinguished Service Award. She is an All-State woodwind adjudicator and a contributing editor for the NYSSMA Manual. 

 

At Potsdam Central, Ms. Rubio directs the high school band and 7th and 8th grade band, and gives small group and private instrumental lessons to the students in those bands, and to several students in grades 4-6. Additionally, she teaches Foundations of Music and directs the Potsdam HS Jazz Band and the orchestra pit in PHS musicals. In 2006, her 7th-8th grade band was selected to perform at the New York State Band Directors Association Symposium, and has received gold (and some silver) ratings at many annual NYSSMA major organization festivals between 2001 and 2015. 

 

Ms. Rubio is Adjunct Flute Instructor at The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, principal flutist and personnel manager for the Orchestra of Northern New York (ONNY), and principal flutist in the Northern Symphonic Winds (NSW). Ms. Rubio has performed concertos with ONNY and NSW, and with the St. Lawrence University Orchestra and Bach Marathon. Rubio received the President's Award for Adjunct Teaching in 2016. She serves as co-chair on the board of Community Performance Series.