Students Perform at Conference Music Festival

Donna Novey, Band Director - Updated 2/19/18
February 19, 2018

The 31st annual Suburban East Conference (SEC) Music Festival was held January 29, 2018, at Stillwater Area High School.The value and power of music were on full display at this year’s SEC Music Festival.

The Festival has two components:  the Day Program and the Grand Finale Concert.

The Day Program consists of each school’s top band, choir, and orchestra performing throughout the day. Each group has the opportunity to hear six to seven other groups and do a critique. Each group also has a short clinic with the guest conductor.  

The CDH band performed two great band pieces: “Kinetic Dances” by Randall Standridge and “Elements” (Air, Water, Earth, and Fire) by Brian Balmages.

The Grand Finale Concert process actually began in November when the top music students from each school were selected for the All-Conference Band, Choir, or Orchestra. They had rehearsals in November and January before the guest clinicians joined them for the Honor Band Weekend.  Ten CDH students were selected for the All-Conference Band, Choir or Orchestra.

The Grand Finale Concert was the culmination of those months of work and was an incredible evening of music from the finest musicians in the Conference. Each ensemble (band, choir, orchestra) performed a 20-minute program and the concert concluded with all three ensembles performing together on “America, the Beautiful.” 

Guest conductors for this year’s festival were Emily Threinen, Director of Bands at the University of Minnesota; Tefsa Wondemagegnehu, Director of Choral Ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis; and Dr. Stephen Benham, Associate Professor of Music Education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

These band students were selected to perform in the All-Conference (AC) Ensembles:

Seniors:

Josie Baker, alto sax, AC Band

Danny Gendreau, trumpet, AC Band

Katelyn Jaksha, percussion, AC Band

Mikey Jay, flute, AC Orchestra

Patrick Hahn, French horn, AC Orchestra

Juniors:

Lynn Willems, clarinet, AC Band

Jack Chojnacki, alto sax, AC Band

Mary Grace Shearon, trumpet, AC Band

Zach Muetzel, percussion, AC Band

Will Dusek, French horn, AC Choir