2/28/10
Sacred Heart University hosts first annual Elements Concert.
Sacred Heart University Performing Arts Department is proud to announce the first annual Elements concert! The concert will feature performances from the University’s Choral, Theater, and Band programs in a non-traditional setting with performances located throughout the theater with a variety of musical styles from all of the groups. New instrumental chamber ensembles such as Percussion Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Woodwind Ensemble, and String Ensemble will debut as well as several choral groups. There will also be presentations from Sacred Heart’s brand new Theater Arts Program. The concert is free and open to the public.
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12/14/09
Sacred Heart Welcomes Janet Boughton to Conduct String Ensemble
Ms. Boughton is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London and has extensive credentials which include performances all over the world. She will be the instructor to Sacred Heart’s budding string program starting next January.
Ms. Boughton came to Sacred Heart for an evening and had the chance to work with some of the string students. The group enjoyed having her direct rehearsal, and found her instruction to be very beneficial. Alex Gatten, a bass player, found Ms. Boughton to be, “…very encouraging and good at communicating what each student needed to do to improve”.
11/16/09
Performing Arts Open House a Success
This past Saturday, the Performing Arts department hosted an Open House. This event included info sessions about band, choir, and the Theater Arts program, performances from the Pioneer Bands and Choir, as well as lunch with the directors of all these programs. Prospective students were also invited to attend the football game at noon. Several prospective students attended the event, which showcased the University’s newest arts program.
11/16/09
Winter Guard Stages Two Minutes of Performance
The Terpsichore Winter Guard has begun its 2010 season. After only two practices, 2 minutes of the show has been staged. The show is entitled “Feroce”, which is Italian for Fierce. This year, the guard is competing as a part of the MAC circuit and will be performing at both the WGI Regional and WGI Championship competitions. For the full season schedule, view it
here.
11/16/09
Band Members Perform in Sacred Heart’s TheaterFest!
Several members of the SHU bands are working to get the Sacred Heart Theater Program off its feet. This past weekend, Katie Perzanowski, Chris, Mastrocola, Stephanie Garcia, Brittany Burger, and Jeff Therkelsen performed a variety of student shows in the Edgerton Theater. This event was an introduction to the new drama program at Sacred Heart, and also served as a creative outlet. The acts were student-written, student directed, and student performed. In the words of Chris Mastrocola, “It was a bundle of fun. It was great working with different directors for different shows.”
For more information on the theater program, please contact Gerald Goehringg
10/1/09
Sacred Heart Establishes Brass Ensemble
The Pioneer Band program has established a brass ensemble to focus on the practice and performance of chamber music. The ensemble meets on Wednesday nights, and is conducted by the Director of Bands, Keith Johnston.
Trombone player Kerry Nolan is very excited about the group. “Playing in a chamber group is a completely different experience than playing in a full ensemble. Musicians in a small ensemble must communicate closely with one another. The role of the individual in a small ensemble is vastly different than the role of an individual in a large ensemble,” she says.
Sacred Heart currently offers a wide variety of standing musical ensembles, and this array is constantly growing. For more information about the ensembles offered by the Pioneer Band Program, please contact Andy Kolar at
kolara@sacredheart.edu.
9/20/09
Members of the Pioneer Band Program Participate in WHRT Radio
Several members of the Pioneer Band Program participate in a variety of music-related activities around campus outside of the realm of the band program. Band members Marni Cutler, Rebecca De Chellis, Alex Zeller, Chris Mastrocola, Michelle Hevey, Billy Grant, Eddie Aliaga, Dom Filiciello, Ross Breton, and Katie Perzanowsi have all chosen to become involved with WHRT, a student-run radio show that operates out of Sacred Heart University. Radio hosts Michelle Hevey and Chris Mastrocola have incorporated their musical experiences into their radio show, Drums v. Sax.
Alex Zeller, host of The Morning Show, shares how WHRT has allowed him to express himself musically. “The radio has given me a way to express my musical style through a venue that is not usually available in other schools. I can play hip hop at one moment, and classic rock at the next moment. This kind of music variety is not available in many other venues.”
WHRT radio has grown exponentially over the past couple of years and has built up a sizable presence on campus. Through this program, members of the band program and the Sacred Heart community have found yet another link to music on the Sacred Heart campus. Listeners across the country can tune in through the internet at
http://www.whrtradio.com/ for a little slice of the musical scene on the Sacred Heart Campus.
9/3/09
Pioneer Band Program Welcomes 29 New Members
Over the past 15 years, the Pioneer Marching Band has shown exponential growth. Every year, more and more Sacred Heart students participate in the Sacred Heart Marching Band. This year welcomed a large freshman class, as well as a few new upperclassmen.
Freshman Colleen Mason shares, “When I first got to band camp I was a little nervous, but as I got the chance to know everyone I relaxed and really enjoyed myself. It was a lot of fun.”
Alex Digiorgi, who joined the band as a senior, also reports having a positive experience. She adds, “I stand by my decision that it was better to try marching band late in life, than never try it at all.”
For information about joining the Pioneer Band, please contact
Andy Kolar, the Assistant Director of Bands.
8/30/09
For the 2009 Marching Season, the Pioneer Bands will be performing two new shows, The
Music of Billy Joel, and
The Music of Queen. In
The Music of Billy Joel, there is a medley of different Billy Joel songs, including “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, “Piano Man”, “My Life”, “Only the Good Die Young”, and “Just the Way You Are”. The show
The Music of Queen includes the hits “Bicycle Race”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “The Show Must Go On”, and “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Pioneer fans will also be hearing new stand music at football games this year, including the Jimmy Buffet hit “Margaritaville”.
The Pioneer Marching Band begins its season on Friday, September 4th with its annual Fall Preview Show. Throughout the season, the band will also be performing at football games and high school exhibitions. The
full 2009 schedule of the Pioneer Marching Band can also be found online.
4/28/09
SHU Director of Bands Conducts Illinois Honor Band
Sacred Heart University Director of Bands Keith Johnston will lead the 24th Bradley University High School Honor Band in concert on Tuesday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Dingeldine Music Center, Peoria, Illinois. The program will include Emperata Overture by Alfred Smith; Let Us Break Bread Together, arranged by Thomas Root; March from 1941 by John Williams; and Abram's Pursuit by David Holsinger. Mr. Johnston will also guest conduct the Bradley University Symphonic Winds in Leonard Bernstein's Overture to Candide.
High School Honor Band students will meet for the first time on Tuesday, April 28th and spend the morning and afternoon rehearsing with Mr. Johnston in preparation for the evening concert.
The 2009 Bradley Honor Band will involve nearly 100 students from more than 35 Central Illinois high school band Programs. The students represent the top musicians in their schools and were recommended by their high school band directors for membership in the Honor Band.
2/11/09
In September, biology major David Peregrim (percussionist with the Sacred Heart Marching and Pep Band) and fellow student Matthew Rigoli gave an invited poster presentation entitled "Effects of dietary fats and antioxidants on exercise performance of migratory birds" at Fachbeirat 200, an international science conference, held at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany. Congratulations Dave!
2/4/09
The Lambda Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi will be hosting the Northern Precincts Convention for 2009, Brothers and Sisters Unite at Heart. This convention is a day of meetings and workshops, as well as socialization between members of the organizations. At least two hundred members of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma are expected to attend this event.
One of the purposes of Kappa Kappa Psi is to foster close relationships between college bands. The Brothers and Sisters who attend the event can expect to gain leadership skills, new ideas for service projects, and new relationships with band members across the Northeast.
The event will be held on February 14, 2009 and is open to members of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.
1/22/09
Pioneer Band Member Jesse Gatten was selected to perform with the 2009 New England Inter-Collegiate Honor Band at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. The New England Intercollegiate Band is a 50-piece honors ensemble selected annually from Colleges and Universities throughout New England. In recent years, a handful of select Sacred Heart musicians have been selected to perform with the band, and have all had positive experiences. Jesse, a junior from New Milford, will be representing Sacred Heart this year. Jesse, a clarinet player, is active in several of the university’s band programs.
The concert will be held April 3-4, and will be conducted by Peter Boonshaft from Hofstra Univeristy. This year, the band will be performing The Redwoods by Rossano Galante, In Heaven's Air by Samuel Hazo, Symphonies of Gaia by Jayce Ogren, and Istvan from "Sinfonia Hungarica" by Jan Van Der Roost.