Gina Wych Named New DGN Fine Arts Department Chair

February 28, 2023 -- Downers Grove, Ill. -- The District 99 Board of Education has approved the hiring of Gina Wych to serve as the next fine arts department chair at North High School in Downers Grove, effective July 1. Wych will succeed Brayer Teague, who has served in the role since 1993 and is retiring at the end of this school year.

Wych currently serves as a music teacher at Minooka Community High School District 111, where she teaches four concert bands as well as the marching band and jazz band. She has worked at District 111 since 2008, and has guided the band to more than double in size during her tenure. Under her direction, the school’s wind ensemble was selected as the grand champion at the Midwest Music Festival in 2020. In addition to directing, Wych teaches a variety of general music classes, including guitar, music technology, piano, music production and dual-credit American music history. 

“Gina has the perfect mix of experience, education and enthusiasm to become the next outstanding leader of our fine arts department,” said North High Principal Dr. Courtney DeMent. “We’re confident that she will continue to ensure a high level of excellence within our fine arts program.”

Wych holds both a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a master’s degree in teacher leadership from Concordia University Chicago. She was a student teacher at North High in the fall of 2007.

"I have enjoyed working directly with Gina on the Illinois Music Education Association Board of Directors, and have the utmost respect for her leadership and approach to education,” said Fine Arts Department Chair Brayer Teague. “I am thrilled that she will be joining the Fine Arts team at North High, and know she will be an incredible advocate for the important role the arts play in the fabric of our community." 

Wych serves on the Illinois Music Education Association executive board as Junior/Senior General Music Division President, which allows her to support students and teachers throughout the state in engaging with, initiating and improving general music access and programming. Wych also coordinates the Illinois All State Music Composition Contest, a nationally admired program that aims to foster and recognize outstanding student music composition.

“My student teaching here 15 years ago was an experience that introduced me firsthand to the high quality, collaborative learning community that exists throughout the school and district,” said Wych. “District 99 is known for its commitment to the arts, and I look forward to amplifying that commitment in a way that truly serves DGN students, staff, and community.”

Congratulations to the DGN Winter Guard on a job well done and for their great performance this weekend at the Winter Guard International regional! The team competed against groups across six different states, and landed a stellar score of 64.97. Way to go, Winter Guard!

Thank You DGN-FOFA! 2023 Dessert Showcase Gala

The faculty, staff and students of the DGN Fine Arts Department wish to extend gratitude and thanks to the DGN Friends of Fine Arts for their ongoing support of arts programming at North High. Specifically, appreciation is offered for the time, talent, and volunteer/financial resources that went into planning, coordinating and executing the 2023 "Sweets & Treats" Dessert Showcase Gala. 

Special thanks is offered to DGN-FOFA President Ziba Irvin, as well as DGN-FOFA Fundraising Chair Jennifer VanHoutan, for the many hours dedicated to the gala.

DGN Winter Guard Takes 2nd Place at Schaumburg Contest

Congratulations to the DGN Winter Guard for their 2nd place finish in the SAA class at this weekend's contest in Schaumburg!  The team's score increased by 6 points from contest to contest, and they're excited to continue adding to and improving their show.  Best of luck to the team as they head to the Winter Guard International (WGI) Regional this coming Saturday!

National Black History Month Spotlight: Kadir Nelson (1974 - )

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

Kadir Nelson (kadirnelson.com/about) is an award-winning American author and artist based in Los Angeles, California. His paintings are in the permanent collections of several notable institutions including the United States House of Representatives, the Muskegon Museum of Art, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, United States Postal Museum, the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, and most recently, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the World Trade Center, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Nelson received a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and upon graduating with highest honors, he was summoned by DreamWorks Pictures to create conceptual artwork for Steven Spielberg’s Oscar® nominated feature, “Amistad” and the animated feature, “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”. He is the recipient of multiple awards from the Society of Illustrators in New York, including the prestigious Hamilton King Award as well the 2020 recipient of the Caldecott Medal and Coretta Scott King Award for illustration. He adds this to multiple Caldecott Honors, Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, New York Times Best Illustrated Book Awards, several NAACP Image Awards and an Olympic Art Bronze medal, among others. Mr. Nelson has also created artwork for a host of distinguished clients, including but not limited to National Geographic, HBO, Nike, Disney, Hennessy, and Sony Music, for whom he painted the cover artwork for Michael Jackson’s posthumously released album, “Michael,” which was listed in the Guinness Book of Records® for the largest poster in the world. Nelson’s artwork was also featured on the cover of recording artist Drake’s multi-platinum selling album, “Nothing Was the Same”; over a dozen commemorative US postage stamps honoring American legends, such as Major League All-Stars Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, and most recently Motown’s Prince of Soul Marvin Gaye, which altogether have sold several million stamps.

Nelson’s masterful artwork also frequently graces the cover of The New Yorker magazine, paying tribute to historical and contemporary American figures in New York City and abroad, including the magazine’s dandy, Eustace Tilley. Additionally, Nelson has also authored and illustrated several award- winning New York Times Best Selling picture books including, “WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro League Baseball”, which was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, and “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans”. Currently, he has over 30 children’s book titles in print with a global circulation in the millions, and in multiple languages. Nelson’s list of illustrated children’s books include titles by Debbie Allen, Will Smith, Spike and Tonya Lee, and Delores Jordan, mother of NBA great Michael Jordan.

Nelson’s primarily figurative paintings and sculptures focus on historical narratives and heroic subjects in American culture and are often informed by the Old Masters like Ingres, Michelangelo, Hopper, and Tanner. His sumptuous settings and characters, rich palette, and realistic, yet painterly technique speaks to both modern urban realism and masterly works of turn-of-the century American painters.

National Black History Month Spotlight: Omar Thomas (1984 - )

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

Omar Thomas (https://www.omarthomas.com/)

composer // arranger // educator

Described as "elegant, beautiful, sophisticated, intense, and crystal clear in emotional intent," the music of Omar Thomas continues to move listeners everywhere it is performed. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York in 1984, Omar moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a Master of Music in Jazz Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music after studying Music Education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He is the protégé of lauded composers and educators Ken Schaphorst and Frank Carlberg, and has studied under multiple Grammy-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider.

Hailed by Herbie Hancock as showing "great promise as a new voice in the further development of jazz in the future," educator, arranger, and award-winning composer Omar Thomas has created music extensively in the contemporary jazz ensemble idiom. It was while completing his Master of Music Degree that he was appointed the position of Assistant Professor of Harmony at Berklee College of Music at the surprisingly young age of 23. He was awarded the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award in 2008, and invited by the ASCAP Association to perform his music in their highly exclusive JaZzCap Showcase, held in New York City. In 2012, Omar was named the Boston Music Award's "Jazz Artist of the Year." Following his Berklee tenure, he served on faculty of the Music Theory department at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Now a Yamaha Master Educator, he is currently an Assistant Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.

Omar's music has been performed in concert halls the world over. He has been commissioned to create works in both jazz and classical styles. His work has been performed by such diverse groups as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Mens' Choruses, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, in addition to a number of the country's top collegiate music ensembles. Omar has had a number of celebrated singers perform over his arrangements, including Stephanie Mills, Yolanda Adams, Nona Hendryx, BeBe Winans, Kenny Lattimore, Marsha Ambrosius, Sheila E., Raul Midon, Leela James, Dionne Warwick, and Chaka Khan. His work is featured on Dianne Reeves's Grammy Award-winning album, "Beautiful Life."

Omar's first album, "I AM," debuted at #1 on iTunes Jazz Charts and peaked at #13 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums Chart. His second release, " We Will Know: An LGBT Civil Rigths Piece in Four Movements," has been hailed by Grammy Award-wining drummer, composer, and producer Terri Lyne Carrington as being a "thought provoking, multi-layered masterpiece" which has "put him in the esteemed category of great artists." "We Will Know" was awarded two OUTMusic Awards, including "Album of the Year." For this work, Omar was named the 2014 Lavender Rhino Award recipient by The History Project, acknowledging his work as an up-and-coming activist in the Boston LGBTQ community. Says Terri Lyne: "Omar Thomas will prove to be one of the more important composer/arrangers of his time."

Scholarship Alert (Seniors): Rotary Club of DG - Charles Dickerman Music Scholarship

Rotary Music Scholarship applications now being accepted!

The Rotary Club of Downers Grove is now accepting applications for their annual Charles Dickerman Music Scholarships. Each year since 2009 the Rotary Club presents scholarship checks to deserving high school seniors who reside in Downers Grove or the District 99 attendance area. Again this year we are increasing both the number and value of the awards. We will award up to six scholarships:  a Grand Award of $5,000, plus up to five additional cash awards of at least $2,000!!

Charles Dickerman was a founding member of the Rotary Club of Downers Grove. He was a nuclear physicist at Argonne National Laboratory who had undergraduate degrees in both physics and music. Charles stayed involved in music throughout his life and was an avid bagpiper!

To access and complete the Google Form application,
follow this web link or the QR code: 

bit.ly/Dickerman2023

For questions about the application, email:
musicscholarship@rotarygrovefest.com

or phone Dave Humphreys at (630) 968-5526.

Applicants must submit their forms by Monday, March 20, 2023. If selected as a finalist, candidates will then submit a short video audition by Tuesday, April 11, 2023, and must be available for a virtual interview on the evening of Sunday, April 16, 2023. The scholarship winners will be announced in May.

The qualifications to apply for this scholarship are:

• Candidates are graduating seniors attending a public, private, parochial, or home school, and reside in Downers Grove or the High School District 99 attendance area.      
• Candidates plan to pursue a post-secondary education.
• Candidates are required to have participated in curricular music activities in high school and/or extracurricular music activities. 
• Composers and/or arrangers qualify for this scholarship. 
• Pursuit of an undergraduate music major or minor is not required.
• Financial need is not a criterion for selection.

These Charles Dickerman Music Scholarships are funded by proceeds from the annual Downers Grove Rotary GroveFest held each June in downtown Downers Grove, and the annual Thanksgiving Day Grove Express 5K.

Information:

Dave Humphreys   (he/him)
Rotary Club of Downers Grove
630-968-5526
musicscholarship@rotarygrovefest.com

DGN Jazz Ensemble @ DuPage Symphony Orchestra

Congratulations to the members of the DGN Jazz Ensemble on their performance at Wentz Hall in Naperville, IL as a part of the DuPage Symphony Orchestra's February 11th concert "American Spirituals & American Jazz." 

Congratulations DGN Bands: Winter Band Concert

Congratulations to the members of the DGN Wind Ensemble, DGN Symphonic Band, and DGN Concert Band for a wonderful performance at the 2023 Winter Band Concert! A special "bravo" is extended to Hannah Janka for her solo performance of Wingspan, by Gary Kuo.

Congratulations DGN Choirs: Winter Choir Concert

Congratulations to the members of the Freshman Choir, Concert Choir, Treble Choir, All Access Choir, and A Cappella Choir for a wonderful performance at the 2023 Winter Choir Concert! 

Winter Choir & Band Concerts: February 7 and February 9

Please join the members of the DGN Choirs & DGN Bands on both Tuesday, February 7 and Thursday, February 9, for the 2023 Winter Choir & Band Concerts. 

On February 7, the Freshman Choir, Concert Choir, Treble Choir, A Cappella Choir, and All Access Choir will perform in the Winter Choir Concert. 

On February 9, the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble will perform in the Winter Band Concert. This concert will  feature Senior Concerto soloist, Hannah Janka (Horn).

Both concerts begin at 7 PM in the Clarence Johnson Auditorium of North High School. The concerts are free to attend, and doors open for general seating at 6:30 PM.

Concerts are live-streamed on the DGN Fine Arts Department YouTube Channel, and may be accessed directly using the links below.

Winter Choir Concert

Tuesday, February 7, 7:00 PM CST

https://youtube.com/live/mP6irCsrZgY

Winter Band Concert

Thursday, February 9, 7:00 PM CST

https://youtube.com/live/c87aQZA47o4

DGN Winter Guard - 4th Place at Naperville Central Winter Guard Contest

The DGN Winter Guard debuted their 2023 program, “Echoes of Hope” this weekend at its first contest of the year hosted at Naperville Central. Congrats to the team for placing 4th out of 9 teams, with a score of 53.87. They are excited that the season is now officially underway, and are looking forward to their first full season in their new SAA class after last year’s class promotion!