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DGN Fine Arts: The Magazine

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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. 

Children's Outreach Concert Video

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

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 90^th 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."

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!

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."

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.

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!

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 11^th) 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.

http://bit.ly/hCMrju

or

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHRiVTM4SUd6NVdlOVhaVlMyODFicHc6MQ

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.

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