Congrats @dgnchoirs & @dgnbands - Homecoming Variety Show 2016

Homecoming Variety Show Tonight! Ticket Details and Live Stream Link #WeAreDGN #99Learns @Dist_99

Don't miss the 2016 DGN Homecoming Variety Show (Beach Party!), tonight at 7 PM in the Clarence Johnson Auditorium.

Students, with ID, are admitted FREE (without ID must pay).
All other guests are $10.  (No activity passes.)

Family and friends who are out-of-town may tune-in to our Live Stream.  Click here to access The Cube broadcast. Video replay will be accessible for 30 days.

@DGNFineArts Stealing Like Artists #WeAreDGN #99Learns @Dist_99

Today the DGN Fine Arts Department faculty worked collaboratively in all curricular Music and Visual Art courses to make connections to Austin Kleon's "Steal Like An Artist," which is DGN's One-Book-One-School selection for the 2016-17 academic year.

In Band and Orchestra courses, students learned about the use of "temp music" as movies are created, and studied specific examples of film soundtracks where composers were deliberately influenced by the temp music that a film's director used early in the creative process. Mr. Miller, Ms. Mullen and Mr. Teague concluded the class by sharing a YouTube video highlighting the prevalence of "Music Plagiarism" in popular music.




In Drawing and Painting 1 classes, students explored the idea of an artistic genealogy. Mr. Voelker shared his artwork from earliest youth up to the present, along with examples of the artists who have influenced him, hoping to create connections between inspiration, appropriation and transformation in the artist process.

DGN Choirs

In Choir courses, Mrs. O'Riordan and Dr. Piekarz had students use the North High Alma Mater as the "newspaper" and applied it to Austin Kleon's idea of a "newspaper blackout" piece. Students started with a printed copy of the score and had the freedom to reinvent the piece into a new/unique adaptation.  Students then performed their small-group compositions for one another in class.

Michael Markowski, Composer of "City Trees"

DGN Wind Ensemble students met composer Michael Markowski in a video "Google Hangout." Mr. Teague, serving as moderator, engaged the composer and the students in a collaborative conversation about musical influences and the experiences that were formative for Mr. Markowski as he wrote the piece "City Trees," which the band is preparing for a November 1, 2016 concert. Students, who had submitted questions for the composer in advance of today's lesson, used their Chromebooks during class and contributed to a "live" list of follow-up questions as the interview unfolded.

In Painting 2, Drawing 2 and 3, AP Studio Art and Drawing and Painting Studio, students had the opportunity to brainstorm ideas that are a related to "Black Out Poetry". First, students looked through newspapers, searching for a title to a work that has yet to be created. They had the choice to visually adapt a headline in its entirety, truncate it, or combine multiple headlines into a new "title". The title then directed the students as they planned what subject matter and composition would be included in the visual. Next, students looked through newspapers for a minimum of three different photos that could be combined as reference for a new visual composition. A simple example would be to find three faces, and combine them, perhaps taking the eyes of one, the nose and mouth of another, and the hair of a third, to create a new "portrait."

In AP Music Theory, Dr. Piekarz shared a video showing chord progressions are often recycled by composers working in a wide range of musical styles.  This particular video started out with the chord progression to an early Baroque composition, Pachelbel's "Canon in D," and showed how the same chord progression has been used in dozens (and implies hundreds) of familiar songs over the years.  Students then had the chance to use that same chord progression to build their own melody over the top of it.

Mrs. Miller's Jewelry students have been working through the text in small groups for the past two weeks, connecting their work to the ideas presented in Kleon's text.  This week's topics included "Plan and be Productive," "Limitations = Freedon," and "Inspiration: Tape inspiration to desk tops."  

Earlier this year Mrs. Bernard's Ceramics classes created a piece of art after looking through magazines, creating a collage, and blacking out certain areas with a sharpie marker.  Students then lay the paper on a piece of clay, and transferred the design to their ceramic piece. Today in class students revisited that earlier lesson, looking at the fired pieces and doing a reflective writing assignment to connect the work to a broader artistic process.

Mr. Miller's Digital Music class watched a video about the history of Copyright, the origin of the law, the changes in the law over the years, and and engaged in a dialogue about the impact the law has on artists.  The class debated the impact the law has on encouraging or stifling artistic creativity.  

D99/D58 String Festival #WeAreDGN #99Learns @Dist_99

Over 250+ student string musicians gathered at South High School yesterday for the 2016 D99/D58 String Festival Workshop.  Student musicians worked in student led-small groups, focusing on improving performance repertoire.  After small group work, the students gathered in the cafeteria for a pizza dinner co-sponsored by DGS Friends of Fine Arts and DGN Fine Arts Boosters.  The festival concluded with a combined rehearsal in the auditorium with Ayodele, an African Drum and Dance ensemble.

This festival is in preparation for the combined concert featuring student string musicians from Herrick MS, O'Neill MS, and the D99 Orchestra which will take place on Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the auditorium at South High School.  The concert theme is “Music is a Passport to the World,” and will feature a variety of music from various world cultures, including Native American, Chinese, Hungarian, African, Mariachi, Indian and much, much more!

Special thanks to D99 Orchestra director Jennifer Mullen for coordinating this event, and to Herrick MS director Madelyn Fiene and O'Neill MS director Julie Spring for supporting their student participation in this event.  

Barrage 8 Tickets On Sale!

Barrage 8 is coming to District 99!  The concert - which is expected to sell-out - will be on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Clarence Johnson Auditorium of Downers Grove North High School.

Tickets are $15 per person.  Seating is general admission.  You may purchase tickets from the Barrage 8 website, or by following this link: https://barrage8.ticketspice.com/downers-grove-oct-5.

Barrage 8 is the latest project from John Crozman, Dean Marshall and Tony Moore, the original creators of the hit show Barrage. Utilizing the same energy, panache and innovative stage performance that Barrage was known for, Barrage 8 features all the instruments in the modern string family. The "8" in the name represents a re-imagining of the string octet: 5 violins, viola, cello and double bass. This instrumentation drives a rich and powerful sonic palette that further explores the musical diversity in the Barrage 8 compositions and arrangements. Barrage 8 presents what the Barrage name has come to represent worldwide: 

"a memorable presentation of music, from many genres and cascading generations, delivered in a way not seen or heard before."

To get a sampling of the type of music that will be performed, please check out this video:https://youtu.be/WBHlY75W70w

@dgnfinearts Celebrates National Arts in Education Week #BecauseOfArtsEd #WeAreDGN #99Learns

The United States Congress has designated this week National Arts in Education Week to promote and showcase the immense role arts education has in producing engaged, successful, and college and career-ready students.

The DGN Fine Arts Department and the DGN Theatre Program are sponsoring a series of arts-related contests as a way to recognize and celebrate the impact of the arts on our lives. Listen each day to the morning announcements for your chance to win our GRAND PRIZE …

… 2 tickets to see a professional theatre production at the Paramount Theatre.  The winner can pick either Mama Mia, or Sweeney Todd … it’s your choice! 

You can get entered into our contest right away … TODAY … by Tweeting a photo of you or your friends involved in any Fine Arts activity with the dual hash tags:

#BecauseOfArtsEd and #WeAreDGN

@D99orchestra @dgnfinearts Musicians Perform for @DowntownDG Fine Arts Festival #99Learns #WeAreDGN

District 99 Orchestra / DGN Fine Arts student musicians performed this weekend at the 2016 Downtown Downers Grove Fine Arts Festival.

Thank you Katie Lyda, Bryan Monk, Catherine Ramsey, Shea Tillotson and Jessie Wei for sharing your musicianship with the regional artistic community and representing @Dist_99 with such professionalism.

Welcome Ms. Denecke and Ms. West! #WeAreDGN #99Learns

The DGN Fine Arts Department is pleased to welcome Rachelle Denecke and Rachel West to our team!

Rachelle Denecke – Fine Arts Department Secretary

College attended/Major?

University of Illinois at Chicago – English

Favorite Styles of Music and/or favorite music artists/composers?

If I’m listening, I like a little bit of everything. If I’m playing saxophone, then my favorite style would be jazz, and for piano it would be ragtime.

Favorite Visual Artist?

My dad! He wrote and illustrated a children’s book, which was published in 2014. (I did not inherit any of his drawing skills, unfortunately!)

What was your first exposure to the Arts as a child? How did your involvement shape who you are today?

My family received a free electric keyboard when I was about 10 years old. I taught myself to play piano on it and loved it. When I got to high school, one of my friends was in jazz band and she told me that they needed a keyboardist, so I happily joined. I quickly realized that I loved playing with the group and wanted to join the other school bands, so I taught myself to play alto sax. I then joined concert band, marching band, and pep band, and eventually became the band secretary (such foreshadowing!) I also played piano for one of the school plays, learned that I really enjoyed theater, and went on to perform onstage in several musicals through our school and park district. These experiences showed me how much I loved being involved in the arts and that has continued into my adult life. I now play alto sax in my community band, and this summer I starred in our park district’s community theater production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” And best of all, my love of the arts led me to work here at DGN! I now get to be surrounded by wonderful musicians, artists, and lovers of art every day!

Favorite foods?

If I could survive on pizza alone, I would.

Favorite book or series of books?

The Last Lecture, Flowers for Algernon, the Harry Potter series

Favorite movie of all time?

I like fun movies with happy endings. One favorite is “The Emperor’s New Groove.”

If you could travel to one place in the world you have never been, where would you go?

Spain. After studying Spanish all my life, I have still never been to a Spanish-speaking country and would love to go!

If you could get in a time machine and travel back in time to witness any historical event, to which event would you journey?

It would be pretty amazing to go back and see living dinosaurs; I think that’s what I would choose.

What are you most looking forward to this year at DGN?

I can’t wait to see each of our music groups perform! Since I was in band myself, I am particularly looking forward to seeing the marching band perform at football games, but I also can’t wait to hear each of the orchestra and choir ensembles perform as well.

Rachel West – Collaborative Pianist 

College attended/Major?

BM in Piano Performance - Illinois Wesleyan University

Favorite Styles of Music and/or favorite music artists/composers?

Rachmaninoff and Ben Folds

Favorite Visual Artist?

Visual Artist - Edgar Degas

What was your first exposure to the Arts as a child? How did your involvement shape who you are today?

When I was growing up, my parents were always playing a variety of music - symphonies, musicals, classic rock, and Frank Sinatra. I clearly remember running around with my sister and playing little percussion instruments along to Aaron Copland music. We both started piano lessons shortly after.

Favorite foods?

Mashed potatoes and Mexican food (separately, not together!)

Favorite book or series of books?

Any mystery or thriller.

Favorite movie of all time?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

If you could travel to one place in the world you have never been, where would you go?

If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would go to Croatia or Iceland.

If you could get in a time machine and travel back in time to witness any historical event, to which event would you journey?

If I could go back in time, I would travel to the roaring 20's.

What are you most looking forward to this year at DGN?

This year I'm really looking forward to working with people that are passionate about the arts and about truly collaborating together as a team.

@dgnbands Joins @MarchingIllini for Parade & Halftime Performances #WeAreDGN #99Learns

Congratulations to the members of the Trojan Marching Band on their terrific performances today at the University of Illinois. Performing to a capacity crowd at Memorial Stadium, the nationally televised game contributed to an electric college-football atmosphere.

@dgnbands In Rehearsal With @MarchingIllini #WeAreDGN #99Learns

The DGN Trojan Marching Band is proud to share the field with the University of Illinois Marching Illini at tonight's Illinois vs. North Carolina.

@dgnbands @Dist_99 Welcomes 250 Junior High / Middle School Musicians from @DGDistrict58 @Woodridge68 @Maercker60 #WeAreDGN #99Learns