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Sunday, January 31, 2010

IMEA All-State Concerts

Congratulations to all of the DGN student musicians who performed in
the 2010 IMEA All-State music concerts on Saturday! Bravo!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

All State Jazz


Congratulations to senior Nick Goergen on a terrific performance at the 2010 Illinois All-State Music Conference.  Nick was selected as the drummer for the All-State Honors Jazz Ensemble.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Artistic Success - Scholastic Art Awards

Student artists from Downers Grove North High School received regional visual art recognition through The 2010 Scholastic Art Awards.  In all, North High visual artists garnered 74 awards in the juried exhibition.

Now in its 87th year, the Scholastic Art Awards is a national competition devoted to recognizing outstanding art and writing created by middle school and high school students.

The competition begins with regional adjudications across the country. Our 2009 regional show, sponsored by District 99, received 1251 entries from 18 local high schools, as well as entries from 2 middle schools competing in a separate age category.

The competition begins with regional adjudications across the country. Our 2010 regional show, sponsored by District 99, received 1449 individual entries from 20 local high schools, as well as two middle schools competing in a separate age category.

15 independent judges, consisting of local art educators and art professionals, assigned three levels of recognition to students: Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention Awards.

A showing of over 500 award winning works will be on display at Downers Grove North High School. The Opening Reception will be held Sunday, February 7th from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the Main Street and Auditorium Lobbies. The show will be on display through February 12th. At the close of the show, all individual Gold Key and Gold Key Portfolio winners will have their work forwarded to New York City for the national adjudication, in which thousands of works from across the United States will be vying for a select number of awards.

Downers Grove North High School was honored with another outstanding performance at this year’s regional show.
  • 36 Honorable Mention commendations.
  • 20 Silver Key honors
  • 14 individual Gold Key awards
  • 4 Portfolio Gold Key awards


The following North High students received awards:

Art Portfolio Category
Sabreena Damra          GOLD
Nicole Irwin                GOLD
Padraic O’Connor       GOLD

Ceramics Category
Kristiana Bonomo       GOLD
Rob Lott                     GOLD
Ansley McLeod          GOLD
Crystal Yi                    GOLD
Alexander Wirtas        SILVER
Stephen Banda            SILVER
Gina Gammonley        SILVER
William Hennessy       SILVER
Maureen Eckdahl        SILVER
Jewel Davis                 HM
Emily Dylla                 HM
Andrew Kelliher         HM
Nicole Papp                 HM
Eric Smith                   HM
Rachel Swirsky           HM

Digital Art Category
Padraic O’Connor       GOLD; SILVER (2); HM
Sabreena Damra          HM

Drawing Category
Bernadette Calvino     GOLD (2)
Dan Meinhart              GOLD; HM
Samantha Fry              SILVER
Mahrya Jefferson        SILVER
Hannah Ottley                        SILVER
Elizabeth Havenga      HM (2)
David Martini            HM
Rachel Swirsky           HM

Design Category
Ellen McCammon       GOLD
Nicole Irwin                SILVER
Kevin Pechnick           SILVER
Jordan Craft                HM
Emily Dang                 HM
Colleen Ryan              HM

Jewelry Category
Nicole Irwin                GOLD (2); SILVER
Emily Duka                 HM
Marie Homolkova       HM
Kristina Via-Reque     HM

Mixed Media Category
Jackie Maish                SILVER
Sheila Sczepanik         SILVER
Nicole Irwin                HM
Christina Verdone       HM

Painting Category
Bernadette Calvino     GOLD;  HM

Photography Category
Katie Earl                    GOLD; SILVER; HM (6)
Heather McNeil          GOLD
Elizabeth Raines         SILVER (4); HM (3)
Sabreena Damra          HM
Michelle Twist            HM

Photo Portfolio Category
Katie Earl                    GOLD

Sculpture Category
Matthew Braun           HM
Erin Dees                    HM
Alzbeta Homolkova    HM

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

17 Soloists Honored by Judges at 2010 Purdue Jazz Festival

Members of the Downers Grove North High School Jazz Bands took their show on the road this past weekend, participating in the 20th Annual Purdue University Jazz Festival. The Purdue festival, which draws outstanding high school jazz programs from Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, began on Friday, January 22 with a concert featuring the Dave Holland Quintet and continued all day Saturday, January 23 with hundreds of student musicians performing for panels of internationally recognized jazz musicians.




The DGN Jazz Ensemble performed in the Loeb Playhouse and earned a Division I rating.  Six students garnering Outstanding Soloist awards.  Congratulations to Caroline Hlohowskyj (trumpet/flugel horn),  Zach Schneeweis (trombone), Bryn Sitkiewicz (trombone), Nolan Schillerstrom (guitar), Michael Walser (alto sax), and Josh Williams (tenor sax).

The DGN Jazz Lab Band performed in the North Ballroom and earned a Division II rating.  Congratulations to Jim Blair (tenor sax), John Janke (guitar), Michael Garritano (trumpet), Sam O'Neil (trumpet), and James Tandaric (bass) for earning Outstanding Soloist awards from the adjudiators.

The DGN Jazz Combo performed in the Faculty Lounge, earning a Division II rating.  All six members of the combo were recognized by the judging panel as outstanding musicians and soloists.  Congratulations to Joseph DePeder (tenor sax), Michael Walser (alto sax), Bryn Sitkiewicz (trombone), Nicholas Goergen (drums), Rudy Rendeck (bass) and Nolan Schillerstrom (guitar).

"Our students enjoy the opportunity to attend this great Jazz Festival each year because we have the chance to hear so many wonderful jazz ensembles and soloists.  Having 17 students recognized with Outstanding Soloist awards is a credit to the hard work and dedication of our North High students. " said department chairperson and director Brayer Teague.

Come and hear the award winning DGN and DGS jazz groups on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 7:00 PM in the DGS auditorium as they share the stage with the renowned NIU Jazz Ensemble with guest artist John Fedchock. Tickets are available at the door.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Virtuoso Julian Bliss Visits DGN


World renown clarinet virtuoso, twenty-year old Julian Bliss (www.julianbliss.com) appeared this afternoon at DGN for a Master-Class sponsored by BandSource.  North High instrumentalists, along with many other students from around the Chicago area, turned out to hear Mr. Bliss play his new line of clarinets and hear him speak about his experiences with major orchestras all over the world.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

All-State Musicians Set Sights on Peoria


North High School 'All-State Musicians' are heading to Peoria, IL to participate in the Illinois Music Educators Association All-State Music Festival this week. Congratulations, and good luck!

All-State Band

Nick Goergen – Jazz Drums (Senior)
Marie Kirkegaard – Clarinet (Junior)
Jennifer Poad – Bass Clarinet (Senior)
Emma Sassano – Orchestral Percussion (Senior)
Isaac Stevenson – Orchestral Percussion (Junior)
Mike Walser – Alto Saxophone (Senior)

All-State Choir

Tom Cannan – Tenor (Senior)
Catie Krygeris – Alto (Senior)
Collin Ludlow – Bass (Junior)
Josh Smith – Tenor (Junior)
Caroline Sterr – Soprano (Junior)

All-State Orchestra
Colette Mondragon – Viola (Senior)
Rudy Rendek – Violin (Senior)

All-State Music Composition
Patrick Long – Commercial/Popular – 1st Place & Keyboard Solo – 3rd Place (Senior)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

DGN Middle School Choral Festival


Over 230 high school and middle school students gathered together on Thursday afternoon for the 3rd Annual DGN Choral Festival. The 7 pm concert featured performances by choirs from Jefferson Junior High, Westview Hills Middle School, Herrick Middle School and North High School Ensembles.



Sunday, January 10, 2010

Pep Band begins a new decade

Nearly 100 band members volunteered for the Pep Band's first
performance of the decade.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Fine Arts @ DGN Mission

North High School endeavors to provide an enriching, vibrant, multidisciplinary environment for the study, creation, and presentation of the Fine Arts.