Best of Rachelle | Wheel of Fortune Highlights Video

CLICK HERE to view 3 minutes of Ms. Moran dominating Wheel of Fortune. Congrats Ms. Moran!

Congratulations Ms. Moran!!!

Congratulations to our very own Ms. Moran, on her dominating Wheel of Fortune win! Trips to Hawaii ... Italy ... and a NEW CAR! We hope you'll come back to work in the Fine Arts Office next week!

She'd Like To Solve The Puzzle!

Don't miss Wheel of Fortune - TONIGHT (February 27) - and watch DGN Fine Arts Department Assistant Ms. Rachelle Moran solve puzzles! The program airs at 6:30 PM (CST) on ABC-7.

We extend best wishes and 'good luck' to our amazing Ms. Moran! 

Poi Dog Pondering - with DGN Violinist Eva Bednard

Congratulations to senior violinist Eva Bednard on her performance with Poi Dog Pondering at their recent Tivoli Theatre show in Downers Grove!

DGN Winter Guard - 2nd Place at DGS Winter Guard Contest

Congrats to the DGN Winter Guard on another stellar 2nd place performance this past weekend at Downers Grove South High School Winter Guard Contest! The team earned another sizable score improvement, with a score of 61.50. Thank you to everyone who came out to support the team this weekend! The encouragement and cheering from the stands was motivating! 

National Black History Month Spotlight: Sidney Poitier (1927- )

February is Black History Month, and @DGNFineArts is pleased to spotlight the pioneering work of African American artists.

Sir Sidney Poitier, (1927 - ) is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, author, and diplomat. In 1964 Poitier became the first black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field. The significance of these achievements was bolstered in 1967, when he starred in three successful films, all of which dealt with issues involving race and race relations: To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, making him the top box-office star of that year. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Poitier among the Greatest Male Stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Poitier was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. From 1997 to 2007, he served as the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan. On August 12, 2009, Poitier was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama. In 2016, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for outstanding lifetime achievement in film.

https://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Poitier-Sidney.html

Pep Band Season Finale

Thank you to the volunteer musicians of the DGN Pep Band for providing energetic music and lots of school spirit during six home basketball games this season. Well done!

Congratulations Emma Krause - Midwest Young Artists National Chamber Music Competition

Congratulations to senior Emma Krause, and the members of the Purple Hippopotami Flute Quartet, for winning the Open Winds Division of the Midwest Young Artists National Chamber Music Competition!

Legendary Drummer - Dennis Mackrel - Masterclass at DGN

The DGN Bands were honored to host world renown jazz drumming great, Mr. Dennis Mackrel, to campus today for a masterclass with members of the Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band. Joining Mr. Mackrel was the Elmhurst College Jazz Combo, directed by Mr. Mark Colby.

Mackrel (born April 3, 1962, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and arranger. He is also known for his work as a bandleader and music educator. He is most notable for his associations with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra.

The son of two jazz enthusiasts, Mackrel started playing drums at age two and began his professional career playing at a community theater at age ten. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, studying jazz under Frank Gagliardi, during which time he performed in venues such as the Imperial Palace and the Tropicana. In 1981, Mackrel moved to New York City and became a drummer with a Broadway theatre orchestra. Two years later on the personal recommendation of singer Joe Williams, Mackrel joined the Count Basie Orchestra where he would remain until December 1987. He was the last drummer of that orchestra to be personally hired by Count Basie himself.

After leaving the Basie Orchestra, Mackrel frequently performed as a substitute drummer in the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Shortly before Lewis died in February 1990, he announced that he wanted Mackrel to take his place as the regular drummer for the band, which soon changed its name to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
Mackrel later became the drummer for many other big bands and small groups including the Hank Jones Trio, the American Jazz Orchestra, the Carla Bley Big Band, Buck Clayton's Swing Band, the George Shearing Quintet and the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band. In September 2010, he returned to the Count Basie Orchestra after the retirement of trombonist Bill Hughes and served as the orchestra's leader and chief conductor until 2013 and on November 7, 2015, he was named chief conductor of the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw which is based in Amsterdam, Holland.

As a composer and arranger, Mackrel has received a Grant for Composition from the National Endowment for the Arts (1983). He has written pieces for McCoy Tyner (on the Grammy-winning The Turning Point and Journey), the WDR Radio Big Band of Cologne, the Klüvers Big Band of Denmark, the RIAS Big Band of Berlin.[2] the United States Military Academy at West Point's Jazz Knights Big Band, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra and the Temple University Jazz Ensemble.

As an experienced jazz educator who conducts master classes, seminars and workshops throughout Europe, Asia, Canada and the United States, Mackrel has performed with the jazz ensembles of numerous colleges and high schools including the Eastman School of Music, Slippery Rock University, the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Northern Illinois University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the University of Minnesota, Morris, New Trier High School, Sun Prairie High School, Western Illinois University, Southern Utah University, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Aarhus, Denmark, the University of Florida, Miami, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Elmhurst College, Michigan State University and many others. He is currently a professor at Queens College in Flushing, New York.

DGN Choir Returns From Successful West Coast Tour

Congratulations to the members of the DGN Choirs, and the faculty/staff associated with the recent tour, for a successful set of performances/clinics in California! Welcome home!

Check out the official L.A. TOUR BLOG for a full photo recap from each day.

DGN Choir Embarks on California Tour

The members of the DGN Choirs have departed North High and are now en route to a much warmer Los Angeles, CA, where the choirs will tour and perform. Travel mercies to all, and best wishes for a smooth trip!

National Black History Month Spotlight: Amy Sherald (born August 30, 1973)

February is Black History Month, and @DGNFineArts is pleased to spotlight the pioneering work of African American artists.

Amy Sherald (http://www.amysherald.com/) is an American painter based in Baltimore, Maryland. She is best known for her portrait paintings. Her choices of subjects look to enlarge the genre of American art historical realism by telling African-American stories within their own tradition.

She first came to prominence in 2016 when her painting, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), won the National Portrait Gallery's Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The competition noted that "Sherald creates innovative, dynamic portraits that, through color and form, confront the psychological effects of stereotypical imagery on African-American subjects". She was the first woman to win the competition. Sherald's first solo exhibition, titled "the heart of the matter..." took place in fall 2019 at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in New York City.

The year after Sherald won the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, she was chosen by First Lady Michelle Obama to paint her official portrait. On February 12, 2018 the National Portrait Gallery unveiled the portrait, making Sherald the first African-American woman to paint an official First Lady portrait. The double portrait unveiling ceremony was attended by Barack and Michelle Obama. It was noted that Sherald and Kehinde Wiley, the painter of Barack Obama's portrait, were the first African-American artists to make official presidential portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, and also as artists who each early on prioritized African-American portraiture. Holland Cotter noted in a review that they both blend fact and fiction in their portraiture.

Sherald's portrait of Obama drew high numbers of visitors to the National Portrait Gallery.

Gema Perez, Wins Best of Show in Photography at the High School Art Competition & Exhibition at the University of St. Francis

Congratulations to Gema Perez, who won Best of Show in Photography at the University of St. Francis! Her work was displayed at the University of St. Francis Art Gallery in Joliet, Illinois from January 14th through Jan 30th of 2020. Along with winning best of show, Gema was awarded a 4-year scholarship to the University of St. Francis after a portfolio review with professors in the Photography Department.

DGN Honors Scholastic Art & Writing Award Winners

Congratulations to our DGN student Visual Artists and Writers who have recently received regional honors from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards! Students were recognized this morning at a special breakfast/awards presentation. 

DGN Musicians Shine at Winter Choir Concert

Combined DGN Choirs

Congratulations to the members of the DGN Choirs for an outstanding performance at the 2020 Winter Choir Concert!

Combined Bass Choir

Concert Choir

Freshman Ensemble

All Access

Concert Singers

Freshman Choir

Treble Ensemble

Chamber Choir

Treble Choir

A Cappella Choir

Combined Treble Choir

DGN Visual Artists Top 1 Million In Scholarship Offers Through IHSAE

BRIDGEPORT, CHICAGO, Sunday, March 8th, 2020 — The best student artists from approximately 100+ Illinois high schools will converge to showcase their art and vie for more than $88,000,000 in college scholarships offered at the 8th  Annual Illinois High School Art Exhibition (IHSAE). DGN students Belle Blanchard, Amanda Courtney, Audrey Dwyer, Suzanna Erickson, Danielle Garguilo, Meghan McConaghy, Gema Perez, Sophie Peters, and Andy Thompson  have collectively received over $1,140,000 in scholarship offers with more scholarships still being processed as of press time! 

Belle Blanchard, Audrey Dwyer, Danielle Garguilo, Meghan McConaghy, and Gema Perez will have their artwork displayed at the Senior Show and Gavin Crowson, Eric Bican, Gracie Gwozdz, Lillian Cawthorne, and Jack Oakes will have their artwork displayed at the General Show as part of the Illinois High School Art Exhibition.  These art shows run from Tuesday, March 3rd through Friday, April 3rd at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.

A public opening for both shows will be hosted on Sunday, March 8th from 11am-6pm at the Bridgeport Art Center (1200 W 35th St, Chicago, IL 60609).

IHSAE has partnered with more than 40 art schools, colleges and universities from across the nation; most of which, will be on hand to meet with students and parents at the College Recruitment Fair, running from 10am-2pm.

“Quinn” by Gavin Crowson

”The Executive Decision” by Jack Oakes

“Inside Out” by Eric Bican

“Glamorous” by Lillian Cawthorne

“Hail Satan” by Gracie Gwozdz