Friday, November 13, 2009

DGS Bands Concert Week





On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, our Wind Ensemble hosted the outstanding bands from Eisenhower Junior High School and Lakeview Junior High School. Held at Downers Grove North High School, both junior high school ensembles played with poise and precision. The Wind Ensemble played the first movement of Hindemith's Symphony in Bb. On Thursday, November 12, 2009, the Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony performed at Wentz Concert Hall on the campus of North Central College. These outstanding groups sounded wonderful in this world-class performance venue. Well done, Mustang Band musicians!!!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Fall Choir Concert - Take #2!!




Congratulations to the 280 student musicians in the DGS choirs who performed their fall concert on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM in the auditorium. Rescheduled due to a lightning strike, these students performed a wide variety of repertoire with professional musicianship and decorum. Thanks also to the staff, administration and tech theatre personnel whose flexibility led to making the re-scheduling of this event feasible.

2009 ISU State Finals - Marching Mustangs

video

A short video excerpt of the 2009 Marching Mustangs competing at the 2009 State of Illinois Marching Band Championships at Illinois State University on Saturday, October 24, 2009.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Marching Mustangs - Illinois State Finals




Your 2009 Marching Mustangs capped off a historical competition season with a performance of excellence at the State of Illinois Marching Band Finals hosted at Illinois State University. The band earned a score of 74.55, just .05 points away from being 10th place out of the 72 bands that competed over the course of the day. This is DGS highest state finals placing since 1977, and represents more than a 7.0 score improvement from our score earned last year at ISU. Way to go Marching Mustangs - another great show to end your season of signifigance!


Choir Concert - LIGHTS OUT!!!













On Thursday, October 22, 2009, the DGS Choirs started their fall concert. The opening National Anthem and the first two numbers of the Freshmen Girls Choir were truly stunning.
Then, lightning struck.
Outside of our building, lightning struck a transformer, which caused an area-wide power outage. The girls finished the selection they were singing when the lights went out, and, the audience stayed engaged listening. It truly was a remarkable moment. The photos above show how audience members powered up their cell phones (they were, of course, all powered down previously) to provide some illumination in the auditorium.
This concert will be performed, in its' entirety, on MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM in the DGS Auditorium. Thanks to students, parents, and staff for their flexibility to make this event happen.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

CYSO Encore Chamber Orchestra Performance



Saturday evening the CYSO Encore Chamber Orchestra performed their opening concert of the 2009/10 season at the DePaul University Concert Hall.

Five members of the District 99 Orchestras are members of the Encore Chamber Orchestra: Violin: Chan Choi and Michael Rau (Concertmaster); Viola: Emily Levine and Colette Mondragon; Percussion: Isaac Stevenson.

This performance will also be broadcast as part of WFMT's Introductions program on October 31st.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

2009 IMEA District Audition Results

On Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 114 student musicians from Downers Grove South High School auditioned at Hinsdale Central High School to participate in the 2009 Illinois Music Educators’ Association District Festivals. The music faculty, private teachers and sender school music teachers associated with Downers Grove South High School are proud to congratulate the 61 students in band, choir, orchestra, jazz band and vocal jazz who have been selected through highly competitive audition to participate in the 2009 IMEA District Festivals. "This is the highest total number of participating students at DGS since 2003, when we also had 61 students accepted into District Festival." said department chairperson Glenn Williams. “District 99 and DGS student musicians have had a long history of success with the IMEA, and we are excited to carry that tradition strongly into the future.”

For more information about DGS and IMEA Festivals, contact Fine Arts Department Chairperson Glenn Williams at gwilliams@csd99.org or at 630.795.8681.

BAND
Patrick Bartlett – tuba
Brad Jones – trumpet
Ashley Jovien – trumpet
Matt Kowalski – trombone
Kelly Lamorena – trumpet
Brenda Miller – trumpet
Billy Moroney – clarinet
Sherilyn Munoz – flute
Lexi Osborn – flute
Zach Plata – clarinet
Amanda Ruzek – flute
Steve Strantz – trombone
Tiffany Wu – flute

ORCHESTRA
Chan Choi – violin
Dan Field – violin
Emily Levine – viola
Nikki Mihelich – cello
Michael Rau – violin
Lisa Salazar – viola
Carly Charles – horn

CHOIR
Arjun Bajaj – tenor II
Ryan Breig – bass I
Billy Chengarry – bass I
Sonny Delrosario – tenor II
Colleen Derosa – alto I
Claire Drews – soprano II
Lars Feste – tenor I
Elise Floss – alto II
Hank Gordon – bass I
Jean Hesik – soprano I
Blair Janis – alto I
John Junk – bass I
Taylor Lane – soprano I
Paris Mcfall – bass I
Liam Merrick – tenor I
Jeff Novak – tenor I
Tom Reusz – bass II
Meredith Richard – soprano I
Lauren Santee – soprano II
Megan Schreck – sop I
Lily Space – alto I
Amanda Strolia – alto I
Minh Tran – alto II
Erin C. Walsh – soprano II
Erin M. Walsh – alto I
Megan Wanazek – soprano I
Cory Wilson – bass II
Sam Worlton – alto II
Kyle Wulf – bass II

JAZZ BAND
Elliot Bild – trumpet
Brad Jones – trumpet
Ashley Jovien – trumpet
Sam Kotlicky – trumpet
Matt Kowalski – trombone
Kelly Lamorena – trumpet
Tim Neumann – trombone
Steve Strantz – trombone
Josiah Williams – trombone
Ian Williams – piano
Lauren Wood – bari sax

VOCAL JAZZ
Jeff Novak - tenor