Western Michigan University Jazz

The Great Frame Up Creative Self-Expression Show

Congratulations to the North High visual art students who were featured in the 2008 Creative Self-Expression Show sponsored by The Great Frame Up (1999 W. 75th St., Woodridge, IL 60517).

Drawing: Kathryn Butler, Therese Byrne, Grant Hansen, Stephanie Koblich, Ellen McCammon

Jewelry: Megan Degen, Lexis Monfort, Meredith Vavra, Paulius Vertelka

Photography: Emma Andersen, Emma Bolam, Kelsey DeMarco, Sydney Hampton, Colleen Hoppestad

Digital Images: Robert Holly, Allison Novak, Michelle Pine, Joseph Rouse, Meredith Vavra

Ceramics: Erin Agnoli, Evan Bauer, Rinnu Joseph, Sydney Leja, Denise Vigilia

CSO Percussionist - James Ross

Chicago Symphony Orchestra percussionist Mr. James Ross presented a master-class on orchestral percussion techniques at North High School today, helping students prepare for their band placement auditions this spring and the IMEA District/State auditions next fall.

Born in Cincinnati and educated in the Chicago area, James Ross graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1971. His teachers have included Roy C. Knapp, G. Allan O'Connor, and Vic Firth.

Jim has been a percussionist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1979. He made his solo debut with the Orchestra in 1986 in Milhaud's Concerto for Percussion and Chamber Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf. A member of the Grant Park Symphony from 1973 to 1978, he
returned to that orchestra in the summer of 1993 as a soloist in Toru Takemitsu's From me flows what you call Time.

Active as a chamber musician, Jim has performed and recorded with such ensembles as Chicago Pro Musica, Chamber Music Chicago, the Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players, Summit Brass, and the Vermeer Quartet. He frequently participates in the Chicago Symphony's chamber music series as well as its contemporary music programs.

Barrage Plays to SOLD OUT House

The members of the District 99 Orchestra - and the international cast of Barrage - performed to a sold-out Clarence Johnson Auditorium on Monday, April 14th. The high-energy music performance had the audience on their feet often, and the appreciative reception brought a rare second encore. (Organizers shared after the show that the perform their second encore piece approximately one in every ten shows.)

Since its creation in Calgary, Canada, Barrage has been featured many times at events worldwide having played for many Presidents, Prime Ministers and Princes. Barrage has also had their television productions aired on several international TV networks including the PBS network in the USA, the BBC in the UK and CBC in Canada and has performed live shows in New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Norway, Monaco, the USA and the UK.

Congratulations to and thanks to Ms. Mullen for her vision and energy to bring Barrage to the District 99 community. It was an evening of music we will not soon forget!

Barrage tonight!

District 99 orchestra students in rehearsal for this evening's
"Barrage" Concert.

Dana Hall - Artist In Residence

Born in Brooklyn, New York, drummer Dana Hall has been an important musician on the international music scene since 1992. After completing his education in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University, he received his Bachelor of Music degree from William Paterson College in Wayne, New Jersey and, in 1999, his Masters degree in Composition and Arranging from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He is presently a distinguished Special Trustees Fellow pursuing his Doctorate in Ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago.

Concurrent with his national and international recording and touring projects, Mr. Hall can also be regularly seen and heard in Chicago performing and recording with his own groups and as an in demand artist with the groups of others. Mr. Hall uses and endorses Yamaha Drums, Bosphorus Cymbals, and Pro-Mark Drumsticks.

North High School's Fine Arts Department is pleased to welcome Mr. Hall to District 99 as the 2008 Jazz Artist in Residence. Mr. Hall began his residency with an evening rehearsal of the Jazz Ensemble on Monday night, April 7.

Mr. Hall will be featured at the annual "Sharing Is Caring" concert on April 8 at 7 PM in the Clarence Johnson Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public.