Cleveland HS Band Program PLAY-A-THON 2024

Welcome to the 2024 Fall Cleveland Bands Play-a-thon! This is our annual fundraiser to support the award winning Cleveland Band program.

***Thank you for supporting our band students! If you donate please add your student's name as a comment by following the "Add a Comment" link in your email receipt. We track donations by students to award prizes. To leave a comment/words of encouragement, you will have to register a GoFundMe account if you do not already have one.***

You are invited to see our groups perform live in the Cleveland High School auditorium on Friday, September 27 from 4 - 10 p.m. Or you can watch the live stream of our performances on YouTube. The link will be available on this GoFundMe site and on the Cleveland Bands Website on Friday, September 27th.

Other ways to support the Cleveland Bands program:

1. Donate an amount meaningful to you. Any amount helps! We accept employer match through Benevity (just search for Friends of Cleveland Bands). We also accept employer match manually, just have your employer send their match to the address below. Our EIN is 842037819.

2. Sign up for the Friends of Cleveland Bands Newsletter to stay up to date with the band!

3. Attend a future band concert! Visit our website to check the calendar for upcoming events.

4. You may also donate by check to:

Friends of Cleveland Bands,

Attn: Friends of Cleveland Bands,

Cleveland High School,

3400 SE 26th Ave,

Portland OR 97202.

Check donations will receive a letter from FOCB acknowledging the donation and serve as your tax receipt.

This fundraiser offsets costs for many basic needs of running a program that we list below. Recently, our district has begun to support our program for PIL (local league) events, State Championship events, and our local Rose Festival parades. Every year, we are experiencing more support from the district and central office continues to commit to building this support in the implementation of the PPS Master Arts Education Plan. However, there are still many costs in running a strong program that need to be addressed in our current school year. This fundraiser helps offset these costs while additionally providing financial support for our students which are outlined below. The Play-a-thon is also a great way to build the band community.

Your donations support these basic needs of running a high school band program, including:

Purchasing Sheet Music: it costs nearly $100 for one set of sheet music for a single title, $350 for a set of advanced music

Entrance fees for competitions (outside of PIL events)

Travel Costs (Buses & Subs for events outside of PIL)

Pep Band T-Shirts and Hats for incoming freshman

Our program also is able to provide added support for our students to be sure that financial stresses do not disrupt a student’s ability to excel:

Section Coaches

Visiting Clinicians

Student Registration Fees for All-State & Western International Band Clinic

Students assistance funds for summer camps, spring trips, concert attire, accompanists, etc.

In the past this money has also been used to assist in major purchases:

New uniforms for the marching band

New Drumline equipment

Upgrading and adding instruments

Tubas

Flugelhorns

Marching Baritones

Special Concert Percussion

The typical band fee for a high school band is AT LEAST $100, usually much more. CHS Band Director Mr. Gary Riler and our parent booster group, Friends of Cleveland Bands, feel strongly that we should not charge a mandatory fee to participate in band. Instead we ask our community to support the program. We do not want to limit any students’ ability to participate due to financial hardship!

The Cleveland High School Band Program has begun a tradition of being a quality award-winning Band Program. Some recent accolades include:

(2020) Cleveland HS was honored by the National Federation of High Schools as the Performing Arts School of Excellence

(2020) Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble was invited to perform a Concert Hour at the Oregon Music Educators Association Conference in Eugene, Oregon.

(2022) All-State: Via an audition process 2 students were in the All-State Jazz Ensemble, 1 student was in the All-State Symphony Orchestra, 5 students were in the All-State Wind Ensemble and 5 students were in the All-State Symphonic Band. State Chamber Music Contest: 1st Place - Percussion Duet, 2nd Place - Saxophone Quartet, 3rd Place - Brass Quintet, 4th Place - Percussion Duet, 5th Place - Woodwind Quintet.

(2022) The Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble placed 5th at the 2022 OSAA State Band Championships. This was a historic occasion, as no Portland Public School band program has placed in the top 5 at these championships since their inception in 1984. 12 students auditioned into Oregon All-State Groups.

(2023) The Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble placed 5th at the 2023 OSAA State Band Championships. The Cleveland HS Jazz Ensemble placed 4th at the 2023 OMEA State Jazz Band Championships. 24 students auditioned into Oregon All-State Groups. State Chamber Music Results: 1st Place - Woodwind Quintet, 2nd Place - Percussion Trio

(2024) The Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble placed 3rd at the 2024 OSAA State Band Championships. The Cleveland HS Jazz Ensemble placed 2nd at the 2024 OMEA State Jazz Band Championships. 18 students auditioned into Oregon All-State Groups. State Chamber Music Results: 1st Place - Percussion Duet, 2nd Place - Double Reed Quintet, 3rd Place - Large Percussion Ensemble, 3rd Place - Trumpet Duet, 4th Place - Brass Quintet, 4th Place - Woodwind Duet