The Music Department of Edgewood High School exists to prepare students in a meaningful way to understand, value, and enjoy music throughout their lives. The department is committed to nurturing the development of independent music-makers who can express themselves in multiple ways. Interaction with composers, professional musicians, and multiple guest conductors is a focus of the department.

The National Standards for Arts Education in 2015 stated “…the arts have been an inseparable part of the human journey; indeed we depend on the arts to carry us toward the fullness of our humanity. We value them for themselves, and because we do, we believe knowing and practicing them is fundamental to the healthy development of our children’s minds and spirits. That is why, in any civilization - ours included - the arts are inseparable from the very meaning of the term ‘education.’ We know from long experience that no one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts.”


Instrumental Music

Recent Jazz Ensemble Recordings at Sun Prairie HS Essentially Ellington Festival
February 21: Edgewood High School Jazz "Johnny and the Jazz Cats"
          The Queen Bee - Nestico
          Echoes of Harlem - Ellington
          Jeep's Blues - Ellington

 Ensemble Opportunities
Concert Bands
Wind Ensemble
Orchestra
Jazz Ensembles
Chamber Music Ensembles (Woodwind choirs, brass choirs, percussion ensembles, small instrumental ensembles)
Pep Band
Pit Orchestra
Private Study  

 Goals of the Instrumental Music Department:
·       To continue individual growth as musicians in terms of technical development, musicality, and artistry already initiated in previous ensemble settings.
·       To expose students to a wide array of musical repertoire encompassing many styles and genres.
·       To expose students to high quality musical literature available for instrumental ensembles.
·       To foster in students an appreciation and understanding of the theoretical, historical, and cultural influences surrounding a piece of programmed literature.
·       To nurture in each student a desire to synthesize the elements of technique, musicality, and artistry into a collective musical expression.
·       To provide students with the opportunity to perform for live audiences, and benefit from such experiences.
·       To create a strong musical community where the students learn about music as it relates to life experiences and personal growth.

Opportunities and students experiences:
Conference Honor Bands and Orchestras
Carnegie Hall Honors Performance Series
UW-Madison High School Honors Jazz Ensemble
Winds of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra
University of Minnesota High School Honor Band
Travel 

COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR, CLINCIAN COLLABORATIONS WITH STUDENTS
Composers
Bert Ligon    
Brian Balmages                                                                     
Charles Rochester Young                                                   
Dean Sorenson
Eric Whitacre                                                                 
Frank Ticheli         
Fred Sturm (commissioned)
John Stevens
Kimberly K. Archer (commissioned)
Michael Colgrass (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Michael Markowski
Pierre LaPlante
Rick Kirby (commissioned)
Sam Hazo (visual art project)
Shelley Hanson (commissioned)                                                             
                                                                                         
Conductors/Clinicians
Alexander Sitkovetsky in collaboration with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra                                                      
Amber Dolphin

The Amigos Band(Justin Poindexter, Will Clark, Noah Garabedian, Sam Reider)

·       Beloit Memorial High School Jazz Exchange with Chris Behrens
Corey Desens and Apple Valley High School Exchange  
Craig Kirchhoff – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities     
Cretin-Durham Hall Concert Exchange   
Concordia College Band Residency                            
Brad Carman                                                                     
Dane Richeson – Lawrence University                                 
Dave Heilman                                                                   
Diedre Buckley                                                                   
Dr. Erica Neidlinger – DePaul University                              
Dr. Milton Allen –The Ohio State University/Hal Leonard    
Dr. Peter Haberman – UW-Eau Claire/Concordia College               
Dr. Scott A. Jones – The Ohio State University/Concordia College                     
Dr. Timothy Diem – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities     
Jamie Ryan                                                                         
Jazz at Lincoln Center Residency                                          
Jerry Luckhardt – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities         
Johanness Wallman – University of Wisconsin-Madison     
John DeMain - Madison Symphony Orchestra
Keith Leinert - UW-Platteville
Lawrence University Jazz Weekend
Mark Russell Smith - University of Minnesota
Mark Urness - Lawrence University
Michael Perry - New York Times Bestselling Author Composition Project
Michelle Kaebisch - Madison Symphony Orchestra
Parry Karp - UW-Madison
ProArte String Quartet
Randy Swiggum
Ray Ostwald - York High School
Rob Tapper - Eastern Washington University
Rodney Whitaker - Michigan State University
Ron Carter - Northern Illinois University
Scott Teeple - UW-Madison
UW-Madison Wind Ensemble Residency
String Fever
Sue Chandler - UW-Whitewater
Teri Dobbs - UW-Madison
The Cat's Pajama's
Thomas Buchauser
Todd Hammes
Tom Regouski
Tony Kidonakis – VanderCook College
University of Iowa Orchestra Invitational 
Wisconsin Brass Quintet
Wisconsin Woodwind Quintet

COMMISSIONS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

2015 - Session Presenter at Wisconsin Music Educators Association Convention                                       
Commissioning Your Students to Compose!
2015 - Amigos Band Residency all school interdisciplinary project utilizing American roots music           
2015 - Michael Perry Residency interdisciplinary project with English, art, and music where students 

wrote compositions in coordination with the New York Times Best-Selling Authors books
2014 - Collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center on the music of the Harlem Renaissance                
2013 - Jazz Ensemble Commission with Fred Sturm, incorporating student composition and collaboration….Piece: Talento Escondido
2012 - Creation of Commission Consortium 
Group of schools committed to commissioning a new wind band work each year from a prominent composer          
2010 - Author and Researcher for Masters Project for VanderCook College of Music                   
A Study in the Continued Implementation of the Wisconsin Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance Project in the High School Band and Orchestra
2009 - Session Presenter at Wisconsin Music Educators Association Convention with Edgewood High School students and Dr. Scott A. Jones The 800-Pound Gorilla in the Rehearsal Room: Nurturing Student Independence in Intonation
2008 - Commission with Shelley Hanson and Boosey & Hawkes Publishing                               
The First Noel/Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring for Wind Ensemble



Michael Colgrass Residency
December 1, 2011in the EHS Band Room
Mods 1 - 4 (7:50 am - 11:15 am)
http://www.michaelcolgrass.com/
Adventures of an American Composer
 
A Pulitzer Prize Winning Composer in our school!!!

Michael Colgrass is a composer, writer, lecturer and NLP trainer. He gives personal development workshops around the world for performers, students and others. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, a Tanglewood scholar, twice Guggenheim Fellow, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He won an Emmy for the PBS documentary "Soundings: The Music of Michael Colgrass," which features his unique teaching methods.
The Rockefeller Foundation created a special program for Colgrass called "Artist in the Theater at Large," which led to studies in mime, acting, dance and directing in New York, commedia dell' arte in Milan and avant garde theater with Jerzy Grotowski's Polish Theater Laboratory in Wroclaw, Poland.
In l985 Colgrass became a certified trainer of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). He has been a trainer in John Grinder's hypnosis workshops and is currently guest trainer for the Dynamic Learning Center at NLPU in Santa Cruz, California. He combines his NLP and theater training techniques with 45 years of professional performing experience in his "Excellence In Performance" workshops. He has trained more than 25,000 people in Europe, Britain, South America, South Africa, Indonesia and throughout the United States and Canada.
NLP co-founder John Grinder modeled Colgrass' strategies for creativity, described in NLP developer Robert Dilts' book Tools For Dreamers (Meta Publications, l991). Colgrass originated Deep Listening, a technique for hypnotizing audiences to heighten concentration, which is featured in the book Leaves Before The Wind (Grinder DeLozier & Associates, l991). His articles on creativity and life skills have appeared in The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor and Music Magazine. His first book, My Lessons With Kumi - How I Learned To Perform With Confidence In Life And Work, is the summation of his methods and philosophy.

Meet Michael Colgrass 

A Conversation with Michael Colgrass 

Playing Outside the Box 

Students Create Graphic Notation 

Students Perform Graphic Notation 

 
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