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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

All Access at Villa St. Benedict

Congratulations to the members of All Access who entertained the residents of Villa St. Benedict (Lisle) on Friday, March 22nd. 


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Children's Outreach Concert Video

Click here for highlights from the 2013 DGN Band's Children's Outreach Concert!


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

DGN Visual Artists Garner Gold & Silver at National Awards!


The North High Fine Arts Department is pleased to extend congratulations to two DGN Visual Art Students who recently earned national honors for their work.  

Now in their 90th year, The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards continue to be the most prestigious competition for creative high school students. This year, 230,000 entries were submitted to the Art and Writing categories at the Regional level.  Approximately 1900 National Awards were assigned in the Art and Writing categories.

Downers Grove North senior Jack McGrath received a Gold Award for his Digital Art piece “Trust Me”. He also received a Silver Award for his 8-piece Art Portfolio. His teacher is Mr. Marty Voelker.



Downers Grove North senior Julia Lukosevicius received a Silver Award for her Photography entry “To Escape”. Her teacher is Mrs. Megan Kelly.



"This type of recognition at the national level is rare, and distinguishes these young artists as some of the most advanced in the country," said Fine Arts Chairperson Brayer Teague.  "We are very happy for these students and the staff mentors who have helped nurture their love for art."



Friday, March 15, 2013

A Tribute to Oscar!

Congratulations and thanks are extended to the members of the DGN Wind Ensemble for a wonderfully engaging and exciting Children's Outreach Concert. Nearly 1,000 students from area elementary schools descended on North High this afternoon for a concert that featured music from Academy Award winning films.

A special thanks is extended to "Oscar the Grouch" for joining us at DGN as a guest narrator!


















Thursday, March 14, 2013

Spring Band Concert

Congratulations to all the members of the DGN Bands for a tremendous Spring Band Concert on Thursday night! The Johnson Auditorium was filled with amazing sounds ... and a little bit of garbage.

Special congratulations to senior soloist Jim Burke for an amazing performance of the Glass Bead Game.






 


 
 


 
 


 
 


 
 
 


 
 

Band Concert Tonight!

Don't miss tonight's DGN Band Concert, featuring 220 North High student musicians! This free concert is open to the public and begins at 7:00 pm in the Johnson Auditorium.

Tonight's concert features soloist is senior French Hornist Jim Burke, performing composer James Beckel's "Glass Bead Game."

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Dr. Erica J. Neidlinger on Campus





North High is pleased to welcome Dr. Erica J. Neidlinger to campus for the first day of a two day residency. Dr. Neidlinger is working with 220 students in the DGN Bands in anticipation of tomorrow night's Band Concert (7 pm).



Dr. Erica J. Neidlinger joined the faculty at DePaul University in the fall of 2007 as conductor of the Wind Symphony. Additional responsibilities include teaching conducting Dr. Erica J. Neidlingerand instrumental music education courses. Before coming to DePaul, Dr. Neidlinger served as Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she conducted university ensembles and directed the Marching Mavericks. She completed her doctorate at the University of Minnesota under the supervision of Professor Craig Kirchhoff.

Prior to her doctoral studies, Neidlinger was a member of the band and music education faculty at The Ohio State University. She has also served as conductor of the Nebraska Wind Symphony. Under her direction the ensemble was selected to perform for the 2005 Association of Concert Bands National Convention and the 2007 Nebraska State Bandmasters Conference. Neidlinger holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She began her teaching career as director of bands in the Piper School District, Kansas City, Kansas.

An active guest conductor and clinician, Dr. Neidlinger has conducted across the United States and in Europe. She has visited Singapore several times as an adjudicator and clinician and has been invited to Canada in 2010. Presentations at national and international conferences include the 2007 World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Conference in Killarney, Ireland and the 2007 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. She is a recipient of the Kappa Kappa Psi Silver Baton Award and has been included in several editions of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. She has served as concert band chair to the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association and is a member of Music Educators National Conference, College Music Society, College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, Phi Beta Mu, and World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.

Monday, March 11, 2013

District 99 Vocal Honors Recital

Congratulations to the following North High School students on their wonderful performances at tonight's District 99 Vocal Honors Recital: Elizabeth Brunell, Anna Burton, Anne Gandolfi, Madelaine Isobal, Jenny Luby, Patrick Murray, Lexi Robinson, Kate Weyers, Julia Wool, Maddie Wrobel, Lydia Zimmerman and the North High School Chamber Choir.  These students were selected by professional vocal clinicians at last week's Vocal Festival to represent North High School at this event. Congratulations to all!













Friday, March 08, 2013

Vocal Festival Results


Thank you and congratulations to all of our choral students for an outstanding day of singing and learning.  Each of our clinicians complimented your work, both in terms of preparation and artistic impact.  You have so much to be proud of!

The following events were given Honorable Mention recognition by our clinicians:

Tori Barrett
Emmy Cook
Abby Husskison
Erik Jensen
Shannon Kennedy
Annie Ketchmark
Joy Pozniak
Louis Scarlati
Annie Vitti
Cora Webster
Stephanie Weidman
Freddy Zimmerman

The following events were selected out of approximately 70 events to perform at Thursday afternoon’s runoff, an honors recital in its own right:

Cameron Box
Elizabeth Brunell
Anna Burton
Rachel Davis
Robbie Gartlan
Madelaine Isobal
Maggie Maloney
Ben McCrimmon
Patrick Murray

Lexi Robinson
Kaitlin Shannon
Julia Wool
Maddie Wrobel
Megan Youngdahl
Lydia Zimmerman
Duet – Anna Burton & Lexi Robinson
Quartet – Anne Gandolfi, Jenny Luby,
Kate Weyers, & Lydia Zimmerman

Finally, the clinicians selected the following events to represent North High School at the 2013 District 99 Vocal Honors Recital, to be held on Monday evening (March 11th) at 7:00 PM at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.  Congratulations to the following performers:

Elizabeth Brunell
Anna Burton
Madelaine Isobal
Patrick Murray
Julia Wool
Maddie Wrobel
Lydia Zimmerman
Duet – Anna Burton & Lexi Robinson
Quartet – Anne Gandolfi, Jenny Luby,
Kate Weyers, & Lydia Zimmerman

Summer Music Camp Scholarships - DGN Music Boosters

The DGN Music Boosters annually provide an opportunity for band, choir and orchestra students to apply for “Summer Music Camp Scholarships.” 

The money to fund these scholarships is collected through our “Contributing Members” campaign.  Scholarship awards are not set at a specific dollar amount.  Rather, we look carefully at all of the applications, as well as the funding available in a particular year, and work to honor each student applicant’s summer music camp experience with an award of some kind.  Preference is given to current freshman, sophomores and juniors who will be returning to DGN next year.  At times, when additional funding has been available, the Music Boosters have honored applications from current seniors with partial scholarships. 

The application process is completed directly online.  No paper applications will be accepted.  Students should follow this link to begin the application process.


or


Students are encouraged to read the application questions online, and then compose their answers off-line in a word processing application.  Students should save their work, and then copy responses into the online form before submitting.  (The application form will not allow a student to begin the application, save their work online, and return to finish it later.  So it is best to work off-line until you are ready to fully submit the form.)

We encourage all band, choir and orchestra students who are planning to attend a summer music camp of some kind this year to apply for financial assistance!

The application deadline is Friday, April 26, 2013.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

DGN Vocal Festival

Congratulations to the students who participated in nearly 70 events at DGN's Vocal Festival today.  Choir students had the opportunity to work with guest clinicians on solo and ensemble repertoire throughout the day.  Ms. Suna Avci, Mr. Howard Eckdahl (DGN alumn) and Dr. Tracey Ford served as our guest clinicians.  Many thanks to our private voice teachers, our accompanists, our guest clinicians and to our talented vocal students for making this a great day of music making! Congratulations to all!







Downers Grove North Musicians Find Solo & Ensemble Success!



Downers Grove North High School student musicians participated in the Illinois High School Association State Solo and Ensemble Contest on March 2, 2013.

Fifty-one students from Downers Grove North High School earned fifty-six Division I ratings of SUPERIOR.  A Division I score is categorized as “A Superior Performance – outstanding in nearly every detail.”  In addition, thirty-seven students from Downers Grove North High School earned forty-three Division II ratings of OUTSTANDING.  A Division II score is categorized as “An excellent performance – only minor defects.”

“Preparing for a Solo and Ensemble contest is a great opportunity for our students to express their individualism as soloists and to develop team-work skills with small ensembles,” said Brayer Teague, Fine Arts Department Chair at North High.  “We’re very proud of all our students who entered the state contest this year.  They did a terrific job representing North High with their musicianship.”

Two North High student musicians received perfect scores at the State Contest.  Alison Elgass (Freshman Bass Clarinet) and Erin Elgass (Senior Alto Saxophone) both received perfect marks from the judges. 

Five North High events received a “Best of Day Award” for garnering the highest achievement score in their event room.  Vocalist Elizabeth Brunell, saxophonist Augustine Calvino, saxophonist Erin Elgass, vocalist Patrick Murray, and a cello quartet of Tim Edwards, Liam Morgan, Rachel Pfeifer, and Amelia Smerz were all recognized by judges to be the most outstanding performers of the day in their performance venues. 


The following North High Music Events received a “Division I—Superior” rating:

Kevin Atwater – Clarinet
Adam Behnke – Flute
Alyse Bondarowicz – Flute
Jenny Book – Violin
Cameron Box – Violin
Elizabeth Brunell – Female Voice
Jim Burke – French Horn
Anna Burton – Female Voice (1) & Treble Ensemble (1)
Louie Buttny – Violin
Matt Butzen – Snare Drum
Emmy Cook – Female Voice
Augustine Calvino – Alto Saxophone
Allie Casey – Flute
Ben Casey – Tuba
Ben Cortez – Trumpet
Jeremy Craven – Trumpet
Evan Culligan – Alto Saxophone
Anthony DePaz – Violin
Tommy Donnelly – Trumpet
Tim Edwards – Cello (1) & String Ensemble (1)
Alison Elgass – Bass Clarinet (Perfect Score)
Erin Elgass – Alto Saxophone (Perfect Score)
Todd Griffin – Tuba
Emily Heppner – Violin
Megan Hung – Clarinet (1) & Piano (1)
Shatien Jordan – Violin
Annie Ketchmark – Female Voice
Allison Kirkegaard – Treble Ensemble
Kathryn Krainc – Violin
Heather Kwityn – Violin
Isabelle Larson – Violin
Brett Latman – Trumpet
Julija Lemenaite – Violin
Marissa Leo – Treble Ensemble
Michelle Libby – Harp
Monica Lim – Violin
Madi Lynch – Violin
Liam Morgan – Cello (1) & String Ensemble (1)
Patrick Murray – Male Voice
Amanda Nagy – Clarinet
Sam O’Neil – Trumpet
Rachel Pfeifer – Cello (1) & String Ensemble (1)
Nate Rapach – Trumpet
Lexi Robinson – Treble Ensemble
Marckus Simmons – Tympani
Andrew Slobidsky – Trombone
Amelia Smerz – Cello (1) & String Ensemble (1)
Evangeline Tuohy – Flute
Jennifer Vetrone – Trumpet
Sarah Williams – Viola 

The following North High Music Events received a “Division II—Excellent” rating:

Andrew Bender – Euphonium Ensemble
Lauren Birkmeier – Euphonium (1) & Euphonium Ensemble (1)
Jenny Book – String Ensemble
Cameron Box – Male Voice (1) & String Ensemble (1)
Emma Burkhardt – Viola
Jessica Chika – Flute
Kevin Chow – Cello
Gwen Cortez – Flute
Tim Edwards – String Ensemble
Sam Fiala – Trumpet
Sam Heppner – Trumpet
Justine Hung – Piano
Madelaine Isobal – Female Voice
Shatien Jordan – String Ensemble
Fiona Kelly – Violin
Annie Ketchmark – String Ensemble
Allison Kirkegaard – Cello (1) & Female Voice (1)
Mantas Kisielius – Violin
Katie Krainc – String Ensemble (2)
Alison LeBeda – Female Voice
Monica Lim – String Ensemble
Madi Lynch – String Ensemble
Ben McCrimmon – Male Voice
J.P. McDermott – Trumpet
John McGarry – Trombone
Adam Mills – Trombone
Matt Monk – Cello
Madeline Murray – Violin
Mike O’Malley – Euphonium (1) & Euphonium Ensemble (1)
Nick Pantazopoulos – Violin
Laurel Post – Piano
Joy Pozniak – Female Voice
Lexi Robinson – Female Voice
Allie Sheetz – Flute
Annie Vitti – Female Voice
Joe Vitti – Euphonium (1) & Euphonium Ensemble (1)
Sarah Williams – String Ensemble

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.