Tri-M Composition Contest Concert - May 5th

Join us for a virtual concert featuring the finalists of the 2021 Tri-M Music Honor Society Composition Contest! 

This year’s finalists and their compositions are:

Justin Berghorst (12th grade), Ambrosial Anthem

Carissa Blumka (12th grade), The Joust

Sophia Cole (9th grade), Keep It In

Janoah Johnson (12th grade), I Don’t Know What the Future Holds

...and the CONTEST WINNER...Sophie Hamelka (9th grade), Unspoken Love

The concert will premiere on the DGN Fine Arts YouTube Channel on

Wednesday, May 5th at 5:30 p.m.

Here is a link to the concert broadcast:

bit.ly/2021TriMCompositionContest

Congratulations to these student composers for their achievement!

2021 District 99/Woodridge Public Library Virtual Art Exhibition

Congratulations to the District 99 students selected to participate in the 2021 WPL/D99 Art Show.  Presented in a virtual format in 2021, this show demonstrates the collaboration between the D99 campuses and the Woodridge Public Library.

Student work is selected by visual art faculty.  Work is then adjudicated by the D99 faculty - DGN faculty judge the DGS student work, DGS faculty judge the DGN student work.

We are grateful for our community partners at the Woodridge Public Library for continuing to support this show this year.  Special shout out to the D99 Visual Art faculty for continuing to collaborate and support student learning regardless of circumstances.

View the show in the slide deck above and on the Woodridge Public Library web site until Friday, May 7, 2021.

DGN Color Guard Audition Clinics!

 

DGN's "Freaky Friday" Runs Wednesday - Saturday!

A woman and her rebellious 16-year-old daughter swap bodies through the magical power of a treasured hourglass. When it accidentally shatters, they must search for a matching hourglass so they can return to their own bodies.

The DGN Fine Arts Department presents "Freaky Friday" on Wednesday, April 21, Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, April 24 at 5 p.m. Due to COVID-19, limited tickets are free to members of the company as well as DGN faculty and staff. Very limited tickets remain for community members to attend select performances. CLICK HERE if you would like to inquire about ticket availability. 

Congratulations to the entire Company of Freaky Friday!

Kirsten Anderson, Crew

Morgen Baird, Crew

Olivia Balicki, Cast

Vee Barlin, Crew

Harley Blanchard, Cast

Renee Boone, Cast

Robby Boucher, Crew

Audrey Burcham, Crew

Lauren Burzynski, Crew

Bridget Callaghan, Cast

Maxwell Churma, Crew

Grace Cleary, Crew

Henry Conkright, Crew

Cole Cook, Cast

Leah Costello, Cast

Kate Crisp, Cast

Maggie Cummins, Crew

Owen Curran, Cast

Connor Daemicke, Crew

Ceci DeArcangelis, Cast

Molly Doherty, Crew

Fiona Doyle, Crew

Jaclyn Duellma, Cast

Delaney Durbin, Cast

Marnie Enright, Crew

Lily Enright, Crew

Nathan Farrero, Crew

Anna Figliomeni, Crew

Natasha Fugate, Crew

Ainsley Glenn, Cast

Christina Godar, Cast

Sophie Harris, Crew

Rebecca Helsdon, Crew

Zachery Heppner, Pit Orchestra

Nora Holmes, Crew

Jonathan Isoniemi, Cast

Patrick Jackson, Cast

Rebecca Kanarski, Crew

Katie Kelly, Crew

Olivia Kelly, Crew

Evelyn Kloubec, Crew

Ella Knickerbocker, Crew

Marin Koch, Crew

Amelia Kolatek, Crew

Mary Kosowski, Cast

Brooke Kowalski, Crew

Angelica Kowara, Pit Orchestra

Emily Kyroudis, Crew

Sarah Lampsa, Crew

Isabel Landman, Crew

Finn Larkin, Crew

Hana Lewis, Crew

Cora Lingenfelter, Cast

Kyra McComb, Pit Orchestra

Gavin McCool, Crew

Mandy McGinn, Pit Orchestra

Finn McTigue, Crew

Madeline Meggos, Crew

Olivia Meggos, Crew

Alyssa Miller, Cast

Sydney Miller, Cast

Evan Miller, Crew

Cailyn Myers, Crew

Ema Nicklaus, Crew

Owen Nystrom, Cast

Phoenix Nystrom, Crew

Katelynn Ohk, Pit Orchestra

Finn Ormond, Cast

Helen Parker, Crew

Melissa Parkinson, Pit Orchestra

Edie Pawlak, Cast

Zoe Petro, Crew

Lauren Pierret, Crew

Anne Pleune, Cast

Caroline Pleune, Cast

Tana Purcell, Cast

Jacob Rambke, Cast

Heather Ramsey, Cast

Tressa Rapach, Pit Orchestra

Madeleine Riske, Cast

Joshua Ronquillo, Cast

Logan Rudd, Cast

Paige Sadler, Pit Orchestra

Imogen Schmitz, Crew

Livy Shuster, Crew

Matthew Sirota, Cast

Matthew Spencer, Crew

Sarah Stangley, Crew

Eric Sullivan, Crew

Andrew Swenson, Pit Orchestra

Julia Szostak, Pit Orchestra

Molly Tappmeyer, Crew

Emery Teague, Cast

Lex Truby, Cast

Joshua Ublies, Cast

Giustina Zindle, Crew

Raymond Zaloudek, Crew

Miles Boone Photography, LLC

 www.milesboonephotography.com

             

DGN Marching Band "Friday Night Lights"

Thank you to the members of the DGN Trojan Marching Band, and staff, for providing music, energy and spirit for the DGN Football Team and community at this weekend's Spring Football game. Approximately half of the DGN Band students were able to add this performance to their schedule this week, and it was wonderful to see and hear members of Trojan Marching Band! 

DGN Visual Artists Earn National Scholastic Art Awards

Mary Lerch - "Willow By The Pier"

Congratulations to DGN Visual Artists Mary Lerch and Eliot Michaels, who have been honored with National Medals by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, placing their artwork in the Top 1% of all adjudicated works nationally. 

Senior Mary Lerch earned a National Gold Medal for her piece "Willow By The Pier." Senior Eliot Michael's Art Portfolio received a National Silver Medal, with six pieces that were awarded Silver Medals with Distinction. 

"We are thrilled for Mary and Eliot, and this amazing national accomplishment," said DGN Fine Arts Department Chairperson Brayer Teague. "Their hard work and determination, coupled with the exceptional mentoring of their teachers, has propelled them to be recognized at this level. We could not be happier for them." 

Fine Arts faculty member Robyn Bican shared, "I have had Mary as a student for four years as both a Drawing and Jewelry and Metalwork student. She is committed to creating meaningful artwork as she takes her time to develop ideas, sketches and looks for feedback for improvement. I am delighted to watch her challenge herself in Metalwork. There takes a sense of patience to accomplish successful Jewelry pieces that have good structure, craftsmanship, and design innovation. Mary has done this with ease. I am very proud that in Mary's final year as my student, her hard work and dedication to Jewelry and Metalwork has earned her this great accomplishment."

Eliot Michael - "Cat Machine"

"I have worked with Eliot for several years," shared Fine Arts  faculty member Marty Voelker. "He has always been skilled in his craft and thoughtful in his concepts. This year, he took that to another level, taking all he had previously learned and applying it to a very personal voice and vision. The portfolio category is a very challenging context to demonstrate success, because it must be displayed across a series of six interconnected works. This takes a sustained commitment to excellence over a long period of time. The Silver Medal with Distinction is a high honor and places Eliot's portfolio in the top 50 in the nation."

Each year, the Alliance of Young Artists and Writers partners with more than 100 visual arts and literary arts organizations across the country to bring the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards to local communities. Teens in grades 7–12 (ages 13 and up) apply in 29 categories of art and writing. Starting in 1923, the competition has made an enduring impact on the art and education. In 2020-21, students submitted over 300,000 works of art and writing to the Scholastic Awards.

Submissions are juried by luminaries in the visual and literary arts, some of whom are past award recipients. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.

Students receiving Regional Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, or American Voices and Visions Nominations are celebrated within their communities through local exhibitions and ceremonies. Gold Key works are then judged nationally by an impressive panel of creative–industry experts to receive National Medals, including Gold Medals, Silver Medals, American Voices and Visions Medals, Gold Medal and Silver with Distinction Portfolio Medals, and Special Achievement Awards. 

DGN Bands - Solo Day 2021

DGN Band musicians participated on Saturday in a special "2021 Solo Day" event, designed to give students an opportunity to perform on campus for professional music adjudicators. We celebrate their efforts to improve their musicianship and advance their skills forward!

Carissa Blumka (flute) and Kyra McComb (percussion) both earned "High Score" in their respective performance rooms. Owen Nystrom (bassoon) and Aarush Palli (flute) each earned the Outstanding Musicianship Citation from the adjudicators. 

Congratulations to the following students who earned a Division I - Superior rating from the adjudicators. 

Alan Bellie, Clarinet

Carissa Blumka, Flute

Anika Canamedi, Oboe

Gwen Casten, Trumpet

Mikayla Cichy, Flute

Emily Ennis, Flute

John Fioti, Bass Trombone

Cameron Hejny, Clarinet

Zachery Heppner, Clarinet

Hannah Janka, Horn

Sadie Kearney, Flute

Anya Konieczka, Trumpet

Francesca Korbitz, Flute

Alex Krejca, Mallet Percussion

Blake Lietz, Bass Trombone

Lucas Marra, Horn

Kyra McComb, Snare Drum

Eric Morton, Trumpet

Raegan Novak, Flute

Owen Nystrom, Bassoon

Katelynn Ohk, Flute

Aarush Palli, Flute

Tressa Rapach, Trumpet

Andrew Swenson, Trumpet

Erin Tamasi, Flute

Alayla Tingzon, Flute

Julia Toth, Horn

Allison Waden, Oboe

Ethan Weingust, Bassoon

OMEGA feature - "Leaving a legacy: A reflection on Jennifer Mullen’s 14 years at DGN"

District 99 and DGN Orchestra Director, Ms. Jennifer Mullen, is featured in THIS LINKED ARTICLE, written by the OMEA In-Depth Editor, Emma Cho. [Originally published March 1, 2021.] Congratulations to Ms. Mullen on this deserved recognition, and thank you to Emma Cho for her informative and thoughtful article. 

District 99 Hosts the Chicago Region Scholastic Art Show Exhibition

Community High School District 99 annually serves as host of the Chicago Regional Scholastic Art Show. This year's exhibition is hosted online, due to COVID-19 mitigations.

Please visit the 2021 Scholastic Art Show Chicago Region Exhibition HERE, or at:

tinyurl.com/ScholasticArtShow

695 students, and109 educators at 46 schools participated in this year's competition. 1,739 entries were adjudicated across twelve media categories. 475 works were honored with awards.

Thank you to all District 99 Visual Art faculty who supported this year's Scholastic Arts Show as logistics coordinators, or as mentors to student participants. A special thanks is extended to Mr. Marty Voelker, who continues to serve the region as the manager and coordinator for the Chicagoland exhibition, and coordinated the collection of visual art for this year's virtual exhibition. 

 

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

The Rotary Club of Downers Grove is now accepting applications for their annual Charles Dickerman Music Scholarships. Each year the Rotary Club of Downers Grove presents $2,000 scholarship checks to deserving high school seniors who reside in Downers Grove or the District 99 attendance area. 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!

Download the 2021 Charles Dickerman Scholarship Application:

tinyurl.com/DGRotaryDickermanScholarship21

Applicants must have their forms emailed by Wednesday, March 31, 2021. If selected as a finalist, candidates will then submit a video audition by Friday, April 23, 2021, and must be available for a virtual interview on the evening of Tuesday, April 27, 2021. The scholarship winners will be announced in May.

 

The qualifications to apply for this scholarship are:

• Be a graduating senior attending a public, private, parochial, or home school, and reside in Downers Grove or the High School District 99 attendance area.  
• Plan to pursue a post-secondary education program.
• Have participated in high school curricular music activities 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.

 

Information:

Dave Humphreys

630-968-5526

musicscholarship@rotarygrovefest.com 

DGN Winter Guard Premieres "FREEDOM" - Friday @ 5 PM

The DGN Winter Guard has been working on something BIG, and we are excited to share it with you! This will be a guard video like you've never seen before, so mark your calendars for the premiere broadcast THIS FRIDAY at 5:00 PM. 

Bookmark THIS LINK and tune in to be one of the first to check out the DGN Winter Guard's production, "Freedom!"

http://tinyurl.com/DGNWinterGuardFREEDOM

National Black History Month Spotlight: Amy Sherald (1973 - )

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

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

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

Arizona State University named its new film school after him. The Sidney Poitier New American Film School was unveiled at a virtual ceremony on Monday, January 22, 2021. The decision to name the school after Poitier, 93, is about much more than his achievements and legacy, but because he “embodies in his very person that which we strive to be — the matching of excellence and drive and passion with social purpose and social outcomes, all things that his career has really stood for,” said Michael M. Crow, president of the university.

National Black History Month Spotlight: William Grant Still (1895-1978)

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

William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly 200 works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, plus art songs, chamber music and works for solo instruments.

Often referred to as the "Dean of Afro-American Composers", Still was the first American

composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera. Still is known primarily for his first symphony, Afro-American Symphony (1930), which was, until 1950, the most widely performed symphony composed by an American.

Born in Mississippi, he grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and was a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and later Edgard Varèse.

Of note, Still was the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony (his 1st Symphony) performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television.

Due to his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, Still is considered to be part of the Harlem Renaissance movement.

Visual Artist Featured in DGN Omega

Sophomore Visual Artist Maddy Dvorak was recently featured in DGN's OMEGA. The Arts and Entertainment feature, written by Editor Gretchen Lucina, may be enjoyed HERE. 

Congratulations to Maddy, Gretchen, and Fine Arts faculty member Ms. Robyn Bican. 

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.