ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Iowa High School Music Association has awarded its Distinguished Academic Achievement Award to the following Urbandale High School Bands for the Fall 2015 semester.
Marching Band: 3.538 GPA
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC DEPARTMENT
As a whole, students of the instrumental music department gave over 30 public performances throughout the school year.
CONCERT BAND
The Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band each performed 3 local concerts while the Wind Symphony performed 6 concerts and all groups performed at State Large Group held at Johnson High School in May. In 2016, the Wind Symphony earned a Division “I” rating; this is Wind Ensemble’s 24th Division “I” rating in the past 25 years.
MARCHING BAND
The 183-member J-Hawk Marching Band is UCSD’s largest single performing ensemble, and the largest in UHS history. They proudly performed at all home games, three regional festivals and in September of 2015 hosted the 18th Annual Urbandale Marching Invitational. The band received a “Division I” rating at State Marching Contest, its 32nd in a row. They also performed, as they do each year, at the Urbandale Independence Day Parade and Homecoming Parade.
JAZZ BAND
The Jazz Bands performed at 4 local concerts and 2 regional contests. In February of 2016, they hosted the 13th Annual Urbandale Jazz Colloquium – a non-competitive jazz festival with 15 visiting bands from several different Iowa schools. In addition to formal concerts and contests, the jazz bands also performed at several community events such as elementary schools assemblies.
SOLO AND CHAMBER ENSEMBLE FESTIVALS RESULTS
In the spring of 2016, 123 students participated in 138 Solo or Chamber Ensemble performances at the Urbandale Solo Festival and Perry Band Olympics. 80 of the entries received Division “I” ratings. 26 of the entries received further recognition as top 5 performances within each respective instrument category.
ALL-STATE BAND AND ORCHESTRA
28 instrumentalists auditioned for the Iowa All-State Music Festival. The following 7 students were selected or alternates for the All-State Band and Orchestra in November of 2015.
Kelsi Riley, 12th grade, alternate, bassoon
Jonah Penningroth, 12th grade, 1st year, percussion-orchestra
Aaron Pettorini, 12th grade, 1st year, horn
Noah Torstenson, 12th grade, 2nd year, clarinet
Tom Plank, 12th grade, 2nd year, baritone saxophone
Robert Muller, 12th grade, 2nd year, tuba
Brittany Schultz, 12th grade, 3rd year, horn
ALL-STATE JAZZ BAND
4 students auditioned for the Iowa All-State Jazz Band. Jonah Penningroth and Bobby Kaman were accepted into the 4A Iowa All-State Jazz Band. This is the first time since 2011 students from Urbandale have been selected. Only 20 students from across Iowa are selected for the 4A band, which performed on May 12th, at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference in Des Moines.
South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association (SCIBA) District Honor Band
29 instrumentalists auditioned for the SCIBA Honor Band. The following 14 students were selected for participation.
Anne Gage, euphonium
Tyler Gajewsky, trombone
Ellie VanRoekel, trumpet
Sera Veeder, horn
Josh Flory, tuba
Max Sherwood, euphonium
Roxanne Kadoun, flute
Sejla Pujagic, clarinet
Abbie Hunt, bassoon
Bryson Cook, tenor saxophone
Jordan Thomas, trombone
Jonah Guy, oboe
Elise Kerr, horn
Kelsi Riley, bassoon
IOWA BANDMASTER’S AWARD OF MERIT
Senior, Robert Muller was awarded the Iowa Bandmaster’s Award of Merit for his musical achievement, work ethic and service to the organization over the course of his entire tenure in high school band.
LOUIS ARMSTRONG JAZZ AWARD
Senior, Jonah Penningroth was awarded the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for his contributions, achievement, study of jazz music.
VARSITY LETTER WINNERS
Each year band students have the opportunity to earn a Varsity Letter in band by participating in numerous optional performance and educational opportunities. In 2016, 96 band students, or 53%, earned a Varsity Letter.
Freshmen Letter Winners
Alec Albrecht, Nate Baysinger, Christopher Becker, Amanda Brown, Brooke Dannenfeldt, Julia Gyure, Elijah Harris, Sydney Hartman, Lindsey Ingraham, Hope Johnson, Aditya Kotla, Rose Koua, Jonah Larsen, Josh Muller, Robert Rice, Katy Sawyer, Ethan Spidle, Rachel Vander Hart, Riley Vander Hart, Sera Veeder, Mikayla Zmolek, Anne Gage, Kit Stoelk
Sophomore Letter Winners
Seth Gardner, Mason Hamilton, Charles Harman, Serena Ibsais, Robert Kaman, Jack Kaman, Michael Markla, Jordan Page, Michael Rackham, Caroline Riedinger, Sam Sonius, Zachary Stolarz, Connor Story, Claire Weihs, Sophia Wilker, Tyler Gajewsky, Megan Hess, Ellen Van Roekel
Junior Letter Winners
Erika Bartschat, Alex Brown, Bryson Cook, Ashley Correa, Thomas Critelli O’Donnell, Katie Danielson, Caty Elgin, Megan Johansen, Lauren Johnson, Kelsie LeGary, Spencer Pack, Max Sherwood, Ben Stewart, Ami Uribe, Sreeja Vepa, Joshua Flory, Abigail Hunt, Mary Kieffer, Emma Kuehl, Sejla Pujagic
Senior Letter Winners
Jasmine Banwell, Claudia Becker, Lesly Benitez, Hanna Chambers, Lizzie Eppink, Sasha Fetty, Alyssa Giampolo, Lindsay Hemphill, Nini Huynh, Abbey Johnson, Elise Kerr, Carly Klavins, Steven Koele, Ethan Larsen, Emily Leonhart, Raelynn Meade, Tyler Miller, Rachel Penningroth, Tom Plank, Matt Siegel, Mia Tiric, Joel Andrews, Brett Carrier, Josh Ingham, Roxanne Kadoun, Robert Muller, Jonah Penningroth, Aaron Pettorini, Kelsi Riley, Brittany Schultz, Jordan Spidle, Sophia Szakacs, Jordan Thomas, Noah Torstenson, Marin Vidovic
Participants
Erika Avaux, Nicholas Battani, Nathan Baysinger, Nathaniel Belmaster, Brenda Benitez, Emma Birdwell, Sarah Bogaards, Jenna Booth, Maslin Boten, Logan Boyles, Belden Bremser, Quinten Burnett, Noah Chalfant, Briar Conrey, Alexander Correa, Hayden Day, Nicole Elgin, Emily Engelen, Sarah Field, Jessica Finer, Ryan Finer, Sydney Furgerson, Kelsi Gajewsky, Rhea Gaskins, Jonah Guy, Garrett Hanson, Arturo Hernandez Garcia, Alexandra Hickman, Ethan Holub, Justin Hosch, Thomas Huynh, Aaron Johnson, Garrett Johnson, Alena Kamencic, Anna Kerr, Dawson Kimmer, Brandon King, Emma Klein, Alexis Kling, Katherine Koele, Audrey Krukow, Zeke Ledbetter, Robert Luke, Erik Ly, Isabell Malicoat, Ashleigh Martin, Eliason McNees, Andrew Menke, Benito Moeckly, Haley Morgan, Andre Namink, Jean-Pierre Namink, Chaz Nell, Kelsi Nguyen, Elijah Noble, Jack Pearson, Paige Penningroth, Anna Perdue, Abigail Purcell, Macayla Rhodes, Amanda Ried, Chelsi Roberts, Jacob Sammon, Reid Schroeder, Madalyn Sebastian, Chase Shiffer, Andrew Simmons, Victoria Snow, Olivia Sobek, James Sorbo, Christopher Spangler, Mataya St. Aubin, Morgan Staub,m Dumbari Taoh, Michelle Taylor, Devon Valle, Andrew Van Zante, Varun Vepa, Alexander Waters, Jillian Westhoff, Dayton Wright, Jordan Wright, Melina Yaber, Alexander Young