Three years ago, Devan Moore set out on a mission. She was newly hired at Fairview Middle School as the director of band and orchestra, two separate programs, but she had a vision that combined them into one unique opportunity. "Band kids are always with band kids and orchestra kids are always with orchestra kids," she said. "I told the principal, we're going to have a full orchestra at some point, I don't know how it's going to happen but we're going to make it work, and here we are."

Thanks to Moore's persistence, the enthusiasm of her students, and an Arts Education grant from the Council on Culture & Arts, her vision has become a reality. The combined program boasts 25 student musicians and full instrumentation, including strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion.

Emily Heisterkamp is the daughter of a retired elementary school music teacher and, she recalls "we were drug all over the place, to symphony concerts, ballets, and any cultural activity that was offered in our area." As a very young child, she attended a performance that would help determine her fate. "They played Rhapsody in Blue and I remember listening to the opening solo. I was so fascinated." Unfamiliar with the instrument, she asked her mother what kind it was. The answer was clarinet and, right then, she chose to make a study of it. "That was the start of it all. Now, can I play that solo? Absolutely not. I've tried for years to get that slide down."

Heisterkamp may not have mastered that piece but she is adept at passing on her passion for music in her own classroom at Astoria Park Elementary School. Just as the clarinet was a revelation, she had a similar epiphany when it came to teaching. She recounts an experience when she was a sophomore in high school.

The "hair bands" of the 1980s gave us some of the most iconic anthems in the history of rock and roll. These groups had a significant influence not only on music, culture and fashion, but also on untold millions of adolescents, including Josh Lessard, guitar teacher at Raa Middle School. As a teenager, Lessard was drawn into heavy metal by bands like Poison, Guns N' Roses, and Stryper, but it was the genre's emphasis on guitar riffs that held his attention.

"The solo in 'Sweet Child of Mine' really encouraged me," recalled Lessard. "I picked up my Dad's guitar and taught myself chords and then my parents plugged me into lessons." He was introduced to classical guitar soon afterward as part of the audition process for enrollment in an arts magnet high school. He began a more thorough exploration of classical guitar and thought, "I like this. I can rehearse, and my ears don't ring afterward and I can play a piece all by myself, I don't have to have a band."

Congratulations to the Chiles Orchestra!

The talented Chiles Orchestra was invited to participate this past weekend at the National Orchestra Festival in Pittsburgh, PA. The Chiles Chamber Orchestra earned ratings from the three judges of Excellent, Excellent, and Superior. Their final piece in the program, the Vaughan-Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis earned warm and prolonged applause from the audience in attendance at the competition. After suffering two mechanical breakdowns and waiting for a replacement bus, the group was nine hours behind schedule arriving in Pittsburgh, but the orchestra members showed real heart in rallying from their exhaustion to perform in a manner to make them and their school proud. After their performance, the students were treated to the sight of snow swirling through the air outside the convention center.  

Congratulations to all the students and teachers involved in this year's Mahaska Whitley Student Art Exhibition & Senior Portfolio Competition. Currently on display at LeMoyne are more than 170 examples of artwork created by local high school students. Many of them have been recognized with additional kudos in the form of $3,500 in scholarships. Bravo to all the participating students at teachers  representing  Chiles, FSUS, Leon, Maclay, SAIL, FAMU, Godby, Lincoln, Rickards, John Paul II CHS, and local homeschoolers.