The 2009-2010 Rock Ensemble will be traveling to Las Vegas April 15-18 to compete in the Heritage 2010 Las Vegas Music Festival. The trip will cost $30,000 and the group is still short $5,000 short in order to pay the remaining balance to Heritage Music Festivals. If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation to the group’s upcoming trip, please send your check made out to MECA to Miami Beach Senior High School, 2231 Prairie Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33139, Attn: Mr. Doug Burris.
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- SOUZA BENEFIT MEETS MBHS ROCK ENSEMBLE ON MAY 2, 2008
PDF Version – Straus News Link - “A Dream Career Continues” – The Times Herald-Record Article
- February 2008 Newsletter
Mr. Doug Burris was awarded the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s 2003 National Achievement Award during its National Leadership Conference on November 13, 2003 at the Fontainebleau Hilton Hotel on Miami Beach. Rock Ensemble performed at this great honor. Mr Burris’ fellow teachers and former students are very proud of this incredible achievement. Photos from the event can be seen here.
On April 1, 2004, the Miami Beach High School Rock Ensemble and Classical Guitar Quartet competed at the 2004 Musicfest Orlando Festival. Music students from the entire nation traveled and practiced many hours to compete in the festival. This marked the first time in three years that the groups competed in Orlando. This year, the ensemble won a 1st-place trophy with a superior rating in its category. Photos from the trip can be seen in the 2003-2004 section of the timeline.
IN MEMORY OF FORMER ROCK ENSEMBLE MEMBER JOSE FELICIANO
On March 26, 2002, Jose Feliciano, C/O ‘98, passed away after a long battle with heart disease. He was the Rock Ensemble bassist from September 1995 through June 1998. He was an outstanding musician who played enthusiastically with the group in many concerts at Miami Beach High School and throughout the community. He traveled to Atlanta with the Rock Ensemble where his talented bass playing contributed to the superior rating and 1st-place trophy the group was awarded at that festival. I remember Jose learning the bass parts precisely, and in the style of McCartney, from the score of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Without Jose’s talent, enthusiasm, consistent practice and reading ability, the production would not have been anywhere near as good as it was. He had a way of ‘sizing up’ situations that everyone else was unsettled about and putting it in the proper perspective very quickly. It is understandable that Jose had many friends, most of whom were musicians who admired, respected and loved him very much. His presence will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
- Mr. Doug Burris, Director