Darien Music June Update

 Hindley pianist Christopher Li to perform at Carnegie Hall

Hindley 4th grader Christopher Li won first prize at the Suzanne Curley 2022 piano competition!  Christopher will perform at The Winners Recital and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, June 29th, 7:30pm at Carnegie Hall.  Congratulation to Christopher and his family and teachers!  

DHS Band receives $5,000 donation

Jon Grauer conducts the DHS Wind Ensemble playing

the Ukrainian National Anthem

DHS band parent Erica Higgins saw a video of the DHS Wind Ensemble playing the Ukrainian National Anthem in an issue of DHS Happenings.  She forwarded the video to her friend Suzanne Johnson, who is Ukrainian American.  Suzanne was so moved by the video that she and her husband Ambassador Robert Wood Johnson made a $5,000 donation to Darien Music for Youth for the benefit of the Darien Band Program.

As music educators, we believe it is vitally important to teach students to use music as a way to connect people.  "When I pick music for the kids to play I try to explain why I pick certain pieces," said Jonathan Grauer, DHS Band Director. "There is a lot of craziness in the world but I feel music is a way to connect. We played the Oxford High fight song in our winter concert after that tragic events this past November and obviously with what is happening in Ukraine I wanted to find a way to connect with the citizens of Ukraine."  Music for Youth co-presidents, Tammy Sload and Irene Trautman, will work with Darien Director of Music Colleen Thompson and Mr. Grauer to determine how the donation will be used.  Said Grauer, "We want to use the donation in a meaningful way that will impact band students in Darien for years to come." 

Darien elementary ensembles receive superior ratings and Darien Elementary Music Festival

4th and 5th grade band, chorus and orchestra students were selected, by audition, to participate in the Darien Elementary Honors Ensembles.  The ensembles performed at MMS on Saturday, June 4th for a panel of adjudicators and received superior ratings!  Students celebrated with a trip to Lake Compounce.  Congratulations to all involved!

Click here for performance videos from the festival!

Honors Chorus Video

Honors Band Videos

Honors Orchestra Videos

Darien Music News - Dallas Brass and Awards

The Darien Music Department Receives National Recognition

We are proud to announce that Darien has been designated by the NAMM Foundation as one of the best communities for music education in the country for the second year in a row!  We are one of 26 districts in CT to receive the distinction.  Read more about Best Communities:  Click here

Dallas Brass in Darien

The Darien Music Department and Darien Music for Youth hosted the world-famous Dallas Brass in concert on April 22nd!  The group was here for clinics during the school day with 5th grade, MMS and DHS bands then performed a concert that evening.  The event was a huge success!  See below for highlights.

Darien Music for Youth sponsored their annual poster and graphics contest.  Students' Dallas Brass-inspired artwork was displayed in the lobby.  Click here for a slideshow of all the selected students' artwork.

5th Grade Band students rehearse with Dallas Brass 

The MMS Honor Band takes a bow after they perform with Dallas Brass 

DHS Concert Band and Wind Ensemble rehearse with Dallas Brass 

Dallas Brass performs onstage during the clinic

Dallas Brass posed for pictures and signed autographs in the lobby after the concert.  Here they are with 3rd grade graphic contest winner from Tokeneke, Mackenzie Godfrey.

Student Awards

Cosmo Armatruda (right) received the Connecticut Association of Schools Award for Excellence in Music.  He is pictured with Thomas Cleary (art) after being presented with the award at the annual banquet at the Aquaturf Club in Southington.

Spring Concerts

Spring concerts will be held live an in-person in the DHS auditorium!  Mark your calendars for the following events:

Mon, May 2^nd - MMS Chorus concerts, 6:30pm and 8:00pm

Tues, May 3^rd - MMS orchestra concert, 7:00pm

Wed, May 4^th - MMS band concert, 7:00pm

Thurs, May 5^th - Ox Ridge band, chorus, orchestra concert, 7:00pm

Mon, May 9^th - Holmes band, chorus, orchestra concert, 7:00pm

Wed, May 11th - Hindley band, chorus, orchestra concert, 7:00pm

Mon, May 16^th - Tokeneke band, chorus, orchestra concert, 7:00pm

Tues, May 17^th - DHS orchestra concert, 7:00pm

Wed, May 18^th - DHS chorus concert, 7:00pm

Thurs, May 19^th - DHS band concert, 7:00pm 

Mon, May 23^rd - Royle band, chorus, orchestra concert, 7:00pm

 

DPS music - April news and events

 Music Department April News and Events

Music Teachers Present at Conference

James Allen (Ox Ridge) and Matthew Curley (MMS) presented sessions at the Connecticut Music Educators Association Conference in Hartford on March 31st.  James presented "Come Jam on the Frame Drum" and Matthew presented "Percussion Methods Cliffsnotes." Thank you for representing Darien and sharing your talents with the larger music education community!

DHS Chorus Concert

The Darien High School Choral Concert will be held in the DHS Auditorium on Monday, April 4th at 7:00pm.  The concert will be livestreamed at:  rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2

Darien Young Composers Concert

The music department of the Darien Public Schools is pleased to announce that the annual Darien Young Composers Concert will be presented live in the DHS auditorium on Wednesday, April 6th at 6:30pm.  The concert is free and open to the public.  We encourage you to come enjoy the creative talents of our Young Composers!  If you are unable to attend, the concert will be live streamed at:  https://youtu.be/KgAkO9re_gc

The performers are listed below:

Name                 School Grade Composition
Sonia Thakker         Royle 2nd        Cosmic Superstars (xylophone)
Emma Donnelly         Royle 3rd         Squishmallows (vocal)
Teddy Cappella, Mackenzie Godfrey         Tokeneke         3rd         Ten Thousand Miles (vocal)
Charlotte Hastings, Riley Kelleher         Holmes         4th          Covid (vocal)
Emma Kayhan         Tokeneke         4th         Me and the Beat (Drumset)
Grace Lantier         Royle 4th         I Can (vocal)
Andrew Hardy                 Tokeneke         4th         Possibilities (vocal)
Liam Lee, Brennan O’Hagan, Jack Stricker    Tokeneke         4th         Panda Band Original (trumpet, saxophone)
Emily Sable         Holmes         4th         Dynamics (piano)
Royle 4A                 Royle 4th         Rat on a Roof (xylophone, vocal)
John McCarthy         Tokeneke         5th         Heist (piano)
Levi Eiref                 Tokeneke         5th         The Spring Parade (trumpet)
Taylor O’Connor         Tokeneke         5th         Fighting Friendships (vocal)
Skylar Stephens + bandmates         Ox Ridge         5th         Colors Shine (voice and rhythm section)
Julianne Kohlberger + bandmates         Ox Ridge         5th         Don’t (voice and rhythm section)
Greeley Morgan + bandmates        Ox Ridge         5th         Wind (voice and rhythm section)
Claire Wood         MMS 6th         Ex-Bestfriend (vocal)
Vaughan Silcox         DHS 10th         Two Preludes (piano)
John Raskopf + String Quartet       DHS                 11th         String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor - 1. Andante
Stephen Cerussi         DHS 12th         Midas (vocal)

Dallas Brass in Concert

Friday, April 22nd, 7:00pm Darien High School Auditorium

Come see Dallas Brass, one of America's foremost music ensembles! The group has a unique blend of traditional brass instruments with a full complement of drums and percussion. See the Darien band students, including grade 5 bands, MMS Honors Band, and DHS bands join them onstage during the concert!  

The event is FREE thanks to Darien Music for Youth and our generous sponsors!  Click here to reserve for your free tickets!

March is Music in our Schools Month

 March is Music in Our Schools Month!

Elementary Performances

The Darien Elementary Choruses performed God Bless America at the Bridgeport Islanders game on March 19th

The Tokeneke Chorus performed Sahayta - a piece featuring 10 different languages - at Tokeneke's Passport Around the World Event on March 23rd

Middle School Performances and Events

MMS Band students were selected by audition to perform in the CMEA Western Region Festival on March 18th. Chloe Zou (flute), Xindi Liu (clarinet), Darragh Hallinan (alto sax)

MMS Jazz

MMS Jazz Band played in the lobby as students and teachers entered the building on MMS Music Monday

The Blues and Beyond

In collaboration with the Social Studies Department, the Music Department presented The Blues and Beyond, where students worked with narrators to gain a better understanding of Black History and the evolution of music in the United States.  On March 2nd, all 8th grade students attended a performance from live musicians featuring the music they learned about during the program

As a final project, 8th grade music students composed their own blues lyrics.  The music teachers chose 4 pieces to be professionally recorded by the Blues and Beyond Team.  The finalists were (L-R): Lucie Smith, William Sapione, Everett Kalvaitis, Will Raskopf, Hadley Hazelton, Claire Chan, Luli Escajadillo, Zuzu Wood, Grace Muecke, Luka Zhou, Aly Matullo. Not pictured: Phebe Childs

Click here to listen to the final performances!  Congratulations to Hadley Hazelton, Lucie Smith, William Sapione, and a student who wishes to remain anonymous!

MMS Chorus

MMS Chorus students performed the National Anthem at the Bridgeport Islanders game on March 19th

High School Performances and Events

Congratulations to Morgan Lindell and John Raskopf (chorus) and Sydney Du and Conan Thibideau (orchestra) who were chosen by audition to perform in the 2022 All-State Festival in Hartford from March 31st-April 2nd

DHS Orchestra

DHS Orchestra performed a Midday Music small-ensemble concert on March 18th featuring a wide variety of music performed by small groups of students

DHS Band

The DHS Wind Ensemble performed for the MMS 8th grade band on March 14th.  85 students from the DHS Band travelled to New Orleans from March 24th-27th for a clinic at Loyola University, performance exchange at a local high school, a performance in the French Quarter, and tours of musical and cultural sites throughout the city

Save the Date for Dallas Brass!

Friday, April 22nd at 7:00pm

Click here to reserve for your free tickets!