On March 11th, the OHS Band Department held its annual JazzNite. Featured on the concert were the Jazz Ensemble II, the Stay Tuned Jazz Choir, and the Jazz Ensemble I. The groups all played fantastic, and the soloists showed off their improvisational expertise. The highlight of the evening was guest artist Ian Torres, who amazed the crowd with his incredible trumpet playing. If you would like to hear some of the songs from the evening, click here to go to our Performance page. (you will need the band password…if you don’t know it, ask your kids or email Mr. Schoenbach at kschoenbach0922@oswego308.org .) To see pictures of the evening, go to our Pictures page or click here.

On March 10th, the OHS Wind Ensemble got to have a one hour question and answer session with film composer Jermaine Stegall from Los Angeles. The conversation was conducted via Skype, and though the video quality was not the best, it still enabled us to see and speak to Jermaine, and him to see and speak with us, both in a much more personal way then a phone call. The students were able to ask him questions, viewed some videos of him conducting film orchestras performing his own music, and see a movie with his music behind the scene. To see three video clips of the session, go into the video link to the right, or click here.
For a link to Mr. Stegall’s website, click here.

The Oswego Band Boosters are an incredible organization who without whom, quite simply, our program could not function. Because a big part of what they do requires money going in and out, they have a set of By-Laws that they operate under. Over the past few months, we have worked to change some things, word things differently, etc. If you wouldn’t mind checking them out and providing any input, good or bad, that would be great. If there is something we missed, should be worded differently, or something we can take out, let us know!!! You can either comment right here on the website, or email Mr. Schoenbach at kschoenbach0922@oswego308.org. Thanks, and remember, our next Band Booster meeting is Tuesday, April 6th, and all are welcome. We will be voting on the finalized By-Laws then, as well as talking about the many end-of-the-year things going on in the Panther Bands.
Proposed 2010 Band Booster By-Laws

Last weekend, our top jazz band went to the Rolling Meadows JazzFest, an event we had not ever gone to before. We nailed our warmup, and after a decent performance, we waited for our rating. Amazingly, we were first place with only one band to play!!!! Unfortunately for us, the last band was from Decatur Macarthur, who has won 13 of the 27 Rolling Meadows JazzFests. They did end up beating us out, but we were very happy to get second place in our division, beating out many other schools(including one from Missouri who boasted having a quarter of the Missouri All-State Jazz Band the last 4 years). All in all, it was an extremely successful day for the program, as we got a Division I rating, the second place in our division, outstanding musician awards for Maddie Vogler, Ken Citro, and Mike Todd, seeing the best HS jazz bands in the area perform and give us something to shoot for, see the fantastic Roosevelt University Jazz Band play a concert, and we went home with a trophy and plaque to add to our long list of awards.
This event literally would not have been possible if it wasn’t for our great parents, who because of the budget situation, had to drive. They were Ms. Nagel, Ms. Vogler, Mr. Frieh, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Citro, Mr. Wooley, and Ms. Tormey.

New Orleans!!!!! Ms. Silosky and I have been talking about this trip since even before we knew the choir was going there this year, and while we kicked around other options, we kept coming back to New Orleans as a place that our students could get a fantastic musical and educational experience, and perhaps never get a chance to go to again.  Obviously, there is much to finalized, but what we do know is that this will be a concert and jazz band trip for sure, and hopefully a way to have a marching band element too.

We are looking at stopping in Memphis on the way down as well, experiencing the Rock and Soul Museum, the Civil Rights Museum, and performing and exploring at Graceland.

Once we get down to New Orleans, one of the things we are looking at are doing a clinic at one of the fantastic universities down there, like Tulane, LSU, or Loyola. We are looking at performing at a festival and possibly another venue for the concert band. The jazz band will have a field day down there, as New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz. They will have the chance to play at Preservation Hall, one of the oldest jazz clubs in the country, and play on a jazz cruise, as well as possibly doing a festival. Besides touring all the history of New Orleans, some other cool things we are looking  at is taking a swamp tour, a ghost tour of the French Quarter, and possibly doing a small service project helping a community that is still reeling from Hurricane Katrina back in 2005.

We will be talking about the trip off and on over the next few weeks, and the tentative date for the trip is over spring break in 2011. Definitely start/keep fundraising and buying those BandBucks!!!!!

Today, Don Shupe, one of the most heralded and respected high school directors around, came to work with the wind symphony on “Armenian Dances”, a very difficult piece that they are planning on doing for festival later this year, and recording to apply for some prestigious events next year.

This past week, the Suburban Prairie Honor Band Festival occurred at Plainfield North high school. After being rescehduled because of weather on Tuesday, the event finally happened on Thursday, February 11th. Students rehearsed in an “all-star” kind of band for the majority of the day, then gave a fantastic concert at night. The students selected to go this year were Matt Adams, Matt Memming, Alissa Cullen, Jennifer Moore, Rick Tormey, Kendra Lee, Coltan Parker, Deanna Reichardt, Ken Christy, Ken Citro, Brad Donati, Kayla Lee, Bridget Rodino, Eric Novak, Joey Corbino, and
Ryan Zerna.

Nationally, April is Jazz Appreciation Month. Around Oswego though, we celebrate a little earlier. The top jazz band recorded their application CD for the Essentially Ellington competition in New York. You can listen to our recordings in the Performances link of the Jazz page.

Next, the top jazz band participated in the NIU JazzDay, where schools from all over Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa come to receive a clinic by NIU professors, see the acclaimed NIU Jazz Ensemble play, and see masterclasses on their individual instruments. Our band played very well and received feedback on some tunes we will be playing at contest later this month. A couple individuals received some serious honors, as senior trombonist Justin Smith received an Outstanding Soloist award, and saxologist Maddie Vogler received a scholarship to come for Combo Day, where some of the best individuals from all over the Midwest come to jam with coaching by the NIU staff.

Justin Smith

Maddie Vogler

The next day, we hosted our annual JazzFest here at the OHS Auditorium. There were 9 bands that attended, including our two, Oswego East, Traughber and Thompson, 2 from Yorkville, Plainfield East, and Gwendolyn Brooks MS from Harvey. Our clinicians were trumpeter/bandleader Ian Torres and guitarist Don Tisch. Each band performed and received a clinic from both artists, and at the end, they sat in with OHS on a song to the delight of the crowd. For pictures of JazzFest, click here.

Ian Torres and Don Tisch work with Thompson MS

This year, The Oswego East Performing Arts Center is hosting a Battle of the Bands. We know there are several band students that play other instruments and may play in bands outside of school. If your band would like to participate, please click on this link for the application. The grand prize in a 10 hour recording session where you can do whatever you want in a real recording studio. The date of the Battle of the Bands is Saturday, March 6th at 6:00PM. Check it out!!!

Enjoy these pics from the pep game at the United Center!!!