Darien High School Announces Upcoming Fall Concerts

The Music Department at Darien High School would like to announce three upcoming concert programs.

The Darien High School Band program, under the direction of Mr. Jonathan Grauer, will be presenting their fall concert at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 24. The concert will feature the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo and our new Percussion Ensemble. The concert will also feature Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Alan Addley, reading the narration on the performance of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." 

The Orchestra program under the direction of Ms. Jane Minnis will be presenting their annual fall Orchestra Night Concert featuring the Chamber Orchestra, Concert Orchestra and Pops Strings Ensemble and will also be joined on two selections by the Grade 8 Orchestra directed by Mr. Austin Scelzo. This concert will be held on Monday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m.

The Choral Program, directed by Mr. Christopher Andrade, will present their fall Chorus Night program on Wednesday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. This concert will feature the DHS Concert Choir and Tudor Singers and will be joined by the Middlesex Middle School Grade 8 Chorus directed by Mrs. Kim Sadler and Mr. Thomas O’Donnell.

All of the concerts take place in the Darien High School Auditorium and are free and open to the public.

DHS Chamber Orchestra Performs Mid-Day Lunchtime Concert

Members of the Darien High School Chamber Orchestra performed a Midday Music Lunchtime Concert for students and staff members on Wednesday, October 15th in the DHS Orchestra Room. The students performed literature for smaller ensembles which enabled the students to perform string literature that is not often programmed for larger string ensembles. The full program is listed below. The director of the DHS Honors Chamber Orchestra is Jane Minnis.

Christian Nawrocki, Nick Levinson and Eric Lancellotti perfom "Sheep May Safely Graze" by J.S. Bach

Chamber Orchestra students performing Pachelbel's Canon on October 15th.

Alex DelVecchio, Quinn Taylor, Wes Wayland and Alex Oh performing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."

Anika Satish and Catherine O'Connor performing J.S. Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. 

                       Mid-day Music: Lunchtime Concert Program

Passacaglia by Halvorsen based on a theme by Handel

John Phipps, violin & John McGovern, cello

Sheep May Safely Graze by J.S. Bach

Eric Lancellotti & Nick Levinson, violins - Christian Nawrocki, cello

Ode to Joy by L. van Beethoven

Alex Oh, violin - Quinn Taylor & Wes Wayland, cellos - Alex DelVecchio, piano

Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, I. Vivace by J.S. Bach

Anika Satish & Catherine O'Connor, violins

Canon in D by J. Pachelbel

Nicole Czaja, Kerry McDermott, Katie Lane, Olivia Lash, Ashwini Patel, violins

Lauren Blake, Maggie Russell, Maya Nalawade, Meghan Shaughnessy, violas

Nisha Nalawade, piano

O Mio Bambino Caro by G. Puccini

Rowan Kennedy, violin - Jane Minnis, harp

In The Hall of the Mountain King by E. Grieg

Kai Zhou, cello - Jack Roberson, bass

Theme from Swan Lake by P.I. Tschaikovsky

Emily Wiley & Saskia Zimmerman, violins - Lauren Grandon, viola

Ave Verum Corpus by W.A. Mozart

Michael Dong, Andy Lin & Ellis Murphy, violins

Percussion Students Learn Drum Set Techniques with John Cutrone

The Darien High School Percussion Ensemble students had the opportunity to learn drum set techniques with professional drummer John Cutrone on Wednesday, October 2.  There were five drum sets set up on the DHS auditorium stage and each student was able to perform for Mr. Cutrone and try out various patterns and techniques. Mr. Jon Grauer, DHS Band Director, organized the event and has been scheduling similar  masterclasses for each instrument in the Band.

Darien HS Tudor Singers Welcomes China Exchange Students

The Darien High School Tudor Singers, under the direction of Mr. Chris Andrade, perform a song of welcome for the China Exchange students from Shanghai School #3 on Tuesday, October 1. 

Announcing Grade 5-6 Jazz Lab Registration

Announcing Registration for the Darien 5-6 Jazz Lab!

The Music Department of the Darien Public Schools would like to announce an opportunity for all grade 5 and 6 Band students to participate in our Jazz Lab program. The program is available to all 5^th and 6^th grade students currently enrolled in their school bands, with exceptions made for a limited number of piano, bass and guitar students.

Students will be performing music in the jazz, pop and rock styles and will develop skills in improvising, creating and performing their own original music. This ensemble with be directed by Mr. Matthew Curley and is assisted by members of the award winning Darien High School Jazz Ensemble, as well as Music teachers from throughout the district. The ensemble will meet every Thursday from 4:00 -5:00 p.m. at the Darien High School Orchestra room from October 17 through February 6^th.  For more information please contact Jazz Lab Director Matthew Curley at: mcurley@darienps.org by Friday October 11 in order to assure participation.  

You can use the link below for more information about how to sign-up for this opportunity.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cf0unxwDIjgqS08p_tLoirevsete7wok9R0LzrF2IJk/edit?usp=sharing