© 2009 - SLD Web Designs. All rights reserved.

CONCERT ENSEMBLES

Concert Band is made up of 9th Graders, and is designed to broaden the musical knowledge and skill acquisition of each student. Students in the Concert Band combine with the upperclassmen band members to form the Marching Band during the first quarter of the year as well.

Students will perform a wide variety of literature in their concerts during the school year. Students will also be tested on their major scales, and will perform one playing assessment per quarter, which will be used to identify principal players in each section. The Concert Band utilizes rotational seating under a principal player.

Symphonic Band is comprised of students in grades 10-12, with the only pre-requisite being successful completion of concert band or instructor consent. Symphonic Band members combine with the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band to form the Marching Band during the first quarter.

Students will perform a wide variety of literature in their concerts during the school year. Scales, sightreading and rhythm studies will be used for performance assessments. The Symphonic Bands utilize rotational seating under a principal player.

There currently four concert ensembles in the band department at St. Charles East High School; Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble. The concert ensembles have been fortunate enough to perform while being conducted by composers Stephen Melillo, Frank Ticheli, Timothy Broege and Jonathan Newman.

Wind Ensemble is the premier group for wind and percussionists at St. Charles East High School. The group is open by audition for students in grades 10-12. Auditions are held during January for the next school year, and consist of the IMEA etudes and scale sheet for wind players, and 2 selected percussion etudes for the percussionists.

The Wind Ensemble (under the auspices of our band boosters) have participated in consortiums to commission music written by Stephen Melillo, Jonathan Newman, John Mackey and David Dzubay. The Wind Ensemble also commissioned David Gillingham for a piece dedicated to the memory of band member Tyler Caruso, who passed away unexpectedly on July 14, 2002 at age 17. The resulting piece, The Echo Never Fades, is being widely performed all over the country and in Japan. The Echo Never Fades is published by C. Alan Music.

The Wind Ensemble is well known for their performances of contemporary music for band, and they have performed at the Illinois Music Educators Convention and in February 2006 at Carnegie Hall. A highlight of the 2006-2007 season was the Wind Ensemble's trip to Beijing and the Henan Province in China.

Students in the Wind Ensemble are assessed on their IMEA audition material and sightreading during the school year. The Wind Ensemble combines with the symphonic and concert bands to form the marching band first quarter of the year. The Wind Ensemble utilizes rotational seating under a principal player.

Wind Symphony is comprised of students in grades 10-12, and is students are selected by auditions held in January for the next school year, consisting of the same material used in the Wind Ensemble auditions, which are the IMEA etudes and scale sheets, and two of the percussion etudes. Students in the Wind Symphony combine with the other concert ensembles to form the marching band during the first quarter.

Students will perform a wide variety of challenging literature in their concerts during the school year, and will also have periodic assessments over assigned music and IMEA materials. The Wind Symphony utilizes rotational seating under a principal player.