Composer Jess Tuner visits South High School

Contemporary composer Jess Turner visited South High School today, taking time to work with the students in the Wind Ensemble on his new composition  Noche Triste.  

South High School is a participating member of the Consortium for the Advancement of Wind Band Literature, a group made up of eight schools that contribute funds annually for the purpose of creating quality literature for high school bands.  At South High School, the funding of this project is a partnership venture with the Fine Arts Department and the Band Boosters.  Two of the recent commissions by this consortium, Dreamland by Michael Markowki and Riff Raff by Ryan George were both performed at the 2012 Midwest Clinic.  South High School Bands is proud to be a member of this consortium, and appreciates the collaborative support of the Band Boosters and the Fine Arts Department to create quality wind band literature for high school Bands.  

The DGS Wind Ensemble will premiere Noche Triste during the Winter Band Concert on Thursday, March 6, 2014 at 7 PM in the auditorium at South High School.

2014 Winter Choir Concert

The student musicians in the 10 choral ensembles in the South High School Choirs presented their Winter Concert this evening, performing music that ranged from Whitacre to Mozart, from Ellington to Menken, from Britten to Vecchi.  The student soloists were stunning, engaging the audience in captivating musical moments.  The breadth the depth of the repertoire performed by the ensembles tonight was impressive.  Well done DGS Choirs - it was a great night to be a Mustang musician!

2014 Winter Choir Concert

The students in the choirs at South High School are busy preparing for the 2014 Winter Choir Concert which takes place on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 at 7:00 PM in the auditorium at South High School.

Over 280 student musicians in 8 choral ensembles will be featured during the course of the evening.

This concert will also be broadcast live on High School Cube.  Please tell all your friends and relatives out of the area that the concert can be viewed by following this link:

South High School Winter Choir Concert

Scholarship Opportunities for Seniors - Downers Grove Music Club

This is to announce the availability of the Downers Grove Music Club (DGMC) College Music award.  The application is available via the website for the DGMC, http://downersgrovemusicclub.org.  The College Music Award information and application is available in the Educational Opportunities section of the website or it can be accessed directly at this link:  http://downersgrovemusicclub.org/scholarships_college.html.  Email inquiries may be made to the following address:  musiced@downersgrovemusicclub.org. 

Please make this monetary award opportunity available to all Seniors enrolled in music at both South and North.  Two awards will be given and each recipient will receive $1,000.  As outlined in the actual application, the requirements of the application are as follows:

         Purpose:  to recognize TWO District 99 High School Music students for excelling at a high level of achievement;

         Eligibility:  current high school Seniors who are actively pursuing music and who will be attending college in the fall of 2014, are eligible to apply.  These students need NOT be pursuing a music degree program at their chosen college;

         How to Apply:  complete the written application, along with a required recording;

         Selection Criteria:  the merit of the applicant's musical accomplishments and the quality of the applicant's musical performance.

         Award Notification:  the announcement of the College Music Award recipients will be made at the spring awards ceremonies at both Downers Grove North and South.

The application must be submitted either via hardcopy, postmarked no later than April 1, 2014.  Or it must be submitted electronically with a date and time stamp of no later than 11:59 pm April 1, 2014.   

         mailing address:  Downers Grove Music Club, Attn: DGMC College Music Awards, P.O. Box 551, Downers Grove, IL  60515

         email address:  musiced@downersgrovemusicclub.org

The DGMC would like to thank Grove Dental for their generous donation as sponsor of one of these awards.

2014 Friends of Fine Arts Summer Study Grants

Student Artists and Musicians:

If you are interested in continuing your fine arts studies this summer at a music or art camp, but need financial assistance to attend, please consider applying for a scholarship from Friends of Fine Arts, which annually supports over $3,000 in summer study grants to student musicians and artists.

To be considered, your application must be submitted by Tuesday, March 25,2014. New for this year, the Summer Study grant application is on a Google form, completely paperless.. You can complete the form here:  FOFA Summer Study Grants

Questions about the application process? Please ask Mr. Williams, Downers Grove South Fine Arts Department Chairman at gwilliams@csd99.org.

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Auditions

The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (in Michigan) is one of the nation’s leading arts immersion camps.  BLFAC is a non-profit summer school of the arts specializing in two-week arts programs for intermediate and high school students. 

Because there is a strong tradition of highly qualified District 99 students attending Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, the institution actively recruits in our schools.  Additionally, BLFAC sends a representative to our building each February to hear interested students play and sing.  From those ‘mini auditions’ BLFAC frequently awards merit-based scholarships to attend the camp.  This year’s BLFAC scholarship auditions will be held on Wednesday, February 19^th before school starting at 7:30 AM through period 4A.   If you are interested in playing or singing a short audition for the BLFAC rep, please express your interest on a sign-up sheet on the Wenger Room door.

What should you be prepared to play or sing in your audition?  Plan to perform 2-3 min of music that you have been working on with a private music teacher, or in class.  This could be an etude, a solo, or a piece of literature that you have really enjoyed playing.  Pick something that shows off your abilities!

The Blue Lake representative will share some basic information with your child to bring home to you.  In the meantime, you are encouraged to check out Blue Lake’s website at www.bluelake.org.  

Many DGS musicians have received significant scholarships to attend Blue Lake as a result of these mini-auditions.  Please consider this fabulous opportunity!

Way to go Winter Guard Seniors

Congrats to our 4 Winter Guard seniors for an awesome season.

2014 DGS Winter Guard Festival

Sponsored by Midwest Color Guard Circuit, South High School was proud to host 30 winter guard units in competition today.  Starting at 11AM, the competition concluded at 3:30PM with exhibition performances by Purdue University and the DGS Percussion Ensemble.  Special thanks to the more than 100 parent volunteers for their work today, in addition to D99 buildings and ground teams for preparing and cleaning the facility.  Finally, a hearty congratulations to the DGS Winter Guard for their outstanding performance this afternoon.

Scholarship Alert for Seniors: Rotary Music Scholarship applications now being accepted!

Rotary Music Scholarship applications now being accepted!

The Rotary Club of Downers Grove is now accepting applications for their annual Charles Dickerman Music Scholarship. Each year the Rotary Club of Downers Grove gives a $2,000 scholarship check to a deserving high school senior who resides 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.

A scholarship application can be downloaded at www.dgrotary.com.

Applicants must have their forms postmarked by March 10, 2014. If selected as a finalist, candidates must be available for an interview and audition in the evening of April 7, 2014.

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.

2014 Winter Pep Assembly

Great work today by the Mustang Pep Band and senior Caitlin Carr contributing positively to school spirit through sound.  

Scholarship Opportunities for Juniors - DG Music Club

Downers Grove Music Club Rising Stars Music Awards

This is to announce the availability of the Downers Grove Music Club Rising Stars Music Awards.  The application is available via the website for the DG Music Club.  The website address is http://downersgrovemusicclub.org/.  The Music Award information and application is available in the Educational Opportunities section of the website or it can be accessed directly at this link:  http://downersgrovemusicclub.org/scholarships.html 

Please make this monetary award opportunity available to all Juniors enrolled in music at both South and North.  Six awards will be given and each recipient will receive $400 toward furthering their musical education through continued study during the summer.  As outlined in the actual application, the requirements of the application are as follows:

• Purpose:  to recognize SIX District 99 High School Music students for excelling at a high level of achievement;
• Eligibility:  current high school Juniors who are actively pursuing music are eligible to apply;
• Requirement:  the award recipients are required to perform the following year at the Downers Grove Music Club’s Rising Stars program scheduled annually in April;
• How to Apply:  complete the written application, along with a required recording;
• Selection Criteria:  the merit of the applicant’s musical accomplishments and the quality of the applicant’s musical performance.
• Award Notification:  the announcement of the Rising Stars Music Award recipients will be made at the spring awards ceremonies at both Downers Grove North and South.

The application must be submitted either via hardcopy, postmarked no later than April 1, 2014.  Or it must be submitted electronically with a date and time stamp of no later than 11:59 pm April 1, 2014.  

• mailing address:  Downers Grove Music Club, Attn: Rising Stars Music Awards, P.O. Box 551, Downers Grove, IL  60515
• email address:  musiced@downersgrovemusicclub.org

Last year we tested the response to allowing applicants to submit an optional audio/video recording of a musical performance.  Given the overwhelming positive response (the vast majority of the applicants submitted recordings), we have made this a required component of the application.  

Last year's winners are performing on Tuesday, April 8th at 7:30 pm.  The location is Four Corners Community Church, 8251 Lemont Road in Darien.  Faculty, friends and family are welcome to attend this exciting event.

2014 Chicagoland Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Exhibit

The auditorium lobby at North High School in Downers Grove was abuzz with artistic activity today as DGN and D99 hosted the 2014 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards exhibit for the Chicagoland region. 1,059 student artists from 30 area schools submitted 2,430 works of art for adjudication.  This regional exhibition features the award winning pieces from the extremely competitive judging process.   The exhibition takes place in the auditorium lobby just off the Main Street entrance to DGN.  The works will continue in exhibit for one week following the opening reception from 8 AM until 4 PM daily.

District 99 student artists claimed over 200 awards in a variety of art and writing categories from the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition.  North High student artists won 93 awards, including 24 Gold Key Awards, 22 Silver Key Awards, and 47 Honorable Mention Awards. At South High, student Maria Padilla received the highest award--an American Vision Award nomination for her photograph, “Lost.” In addition, South High students merited another 127 awards, including 47 Gold Key Awards, 37 Silver Key Awards, 43 Honorable Mention Awards. God Key winners will advance to the national competition in New York; national winners will be announced in March.

“We are very excited to host the regional exhibition at North High,” said Fine Arts Department Chairman Brayer Teague. “This show is always an amazing display of student creativity and a testament to the wonderful art teaching that is happening in District 99.” 

According to Teague, the art teachers from both North High and South High School play an important role in putting the exhibition together.  “Our District 99 art teachers are the engine behind this regional affiliate of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.  Their dedication and tireless commitment enables student artists from all over the suburban region to have their work evaluated by professional artists.”

“We are exceedingly proud of both the process followed by our student artists, and, of the products they all create,” said South High Fine Arts Department Chairman Glenn Williams.  “Scholastic Art Awards represent a high point of artistic achievement for a high school Visual Artist.”

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which date back to 1923, are an important opportunity for students to be recognized for their creative talents. Past winners include Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote and others. For more information, please go towww.artandwriting.org.

District 99 to host 2014 Chicagoland Regional Scholastic Visual Art Exhibit

District 99 and North High School in Downers Grove are pleased to host the  2014 Chicago area regional Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition held at Downers Grove North High School. 1,059 student artists from 30 area schools submitted 2,430 works of art for adjudication.  This regional exhibition features the award winning pieces from the judging process.  The opening reception is on Sunday, February 9, 2014 from 1-4:00 PM in the auditorium foyer at Downers Grove North High School, 4436 Main Street in Downers Grove.  The exhibition takes place in the auditorium lobby just off the Main Street entrance to the school.  The works will continue in exhibit for one week following the opening reception.