Did you miss a story from our front page? It might be here! We decided that we hate to just delete all our great news, so when we move it off of the front page, now we'll be putting it here for posterity. Scroll down as far as you want, to catch up on what you may have missed.
APRIL, 2023
CAKE WALK 2023 - A cake SMASHING SUCCESS!
We are still working on final numbers for Cake Walk 2023, but it appears we will ultimately raise something in the neighborhood of $8000 to support instrumental student programming and activities! Many MANY people and businesses helped us make this happen, and there are some groups that we would like to acknowledge below. Check out our Cake Walk 2023 Photo Album on the right, too, for lots of fun pictures and a few entertaining videos. 2023 CAKE WALK SPONSORS An amazing number of local businesses offered gift cards, cakes, and other goods and services for us to sell at our silent auction, including: Start Talking Grandview, La Tavola, La Chatelaine, Pistacia Vera, Sadie Baby Sweets, Paul’s Kitchen, Chocolate Cafe, Sweet Carrot, Kroger, Aladdin’s, DK Diner, Cakes & More, Whole Foods Market, The Original Goodie Shop, Z Cucina, Golightly Bake Shop, Pure Imagination, Chocolatier, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Lion Cub’s Cookies, Figlio, Dewey’s Pizza, Watershed Distillery, Bobcat Sports Bar, Third & Hollywood, Krema Nut Company, Modo Yoga, and Little Ladies Soft Serve.
We encourage you all to stop in and say "thank you" as well, to let them know how much the community appreciates their support of our students. And one more big thanks goes out to Band Parent Jenni Betz for spearheading the effort to gather these sponsorships.
2023 CAKE WALK VOLUNTEERS Simply put, an operation as big as Cake Walk 2023 does not happen without a whole lot of community volunteers pitching in to help. This year we had parents of students who were too young to play instruments, HS students who have never played an instrument, parents whose students graduated years ago, and a little bit of everything in between! For every volunteer we snapped a photo of, we know there were ten others we missed - but the GH Band Parents Association is very, very grateful to ALL of the volunteers who helped make this year's event a huge fundraising and FUN-raising success!
2023 CAKE WALK BAND DIRECTORS While making the cake walk magic happen just by making the music happen, our directors were also teaching and supporting our "guest" conductors, occasionally sitting in with the rhythm sections, and monitoring the action across a loud and crowded gymnasium.....truly, these folks did it all! And before they did any of that, they spent time in the classroom, prepping our band students to be able to play in that same loud and crowded environment, which is no small task. Please help the GH Band Parents Association give a big thank you to Scott Heath (MS band director), Thomas Stanley (HS/MS orchestra director and assistant HS marching band director), and Julie Vish (interim HS band director) - and to Jennifer Olis (HS band director) as well, who certainly helped lay the groundwork with our young musicians, even though she was not with us last Friday night. 2023 CAKE WALK CO-CHAIRS Last but certainly not least, the REAL HEROES of the 2023 Cake Walk are Catt Dimes and Kate Lobley, who chaired our event for the second straight year. Catt and Kate were everywhere doing everything, all night long, and they are the biggest reason that this fundraising event was so wildly successful. Please join the Grandview Heights Band Parents Association in a HUGE THANK YOU to Catt and Kate for all of their hard work on behalf of our students!
(Updated April 22, 2023)
CAKE WALK 2023 PHOTO ALBUM
MARCH, 2023
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL OMEA SOLO & ENSEMBLE PARTICIPANTS!
This past Saturday, a total of ten Larson Middle School students participated in the OMEA solo & ensemble competition at Canal Winchester High School. Not only is this an awesome, huge number of participating students, it's the first time that we have sent any students to the middle school competition in many, many years! Students prepare a short solo and/or ensemble piece, perform it in front of a judge (usually current or retired music educators), and receive a written rating and feedback for their performance. Congratulations to seventh and eighth grade students Laura Alvarez-Link, Hudson Barber, Mira Bondy, Evie DeLong, Bruno Lount, Max McCullough, Charlotte Ritzman, Callie Rutter, Audrey Siefker, and Isla Swisher for embracing this performance and learning opportunity! And kudos and thanks also to Mrs. Olis, Mr. Heath, and Dr. Julie Vish (Mrs. Olis's substitute during her maternity leave), for helping our students prepare for the big day. Mr. Heath and Dr. Vish spent many hours in Canal Winchester guiding our students through the experience as well! Check out some photos from the day down below.
The GH Band Parents Association is proud to have underwritten the students' participation in this activity - and of course that means we are grateful to all of you, as well, for helping to raise the funds that made it all possible. Thank you!
(Updated March 26, 2023)
ANOTHER GREAT FIELD TRIP EXPERIENCE!
Mr. Stanley recently partnered with Columbus's own ProMusica Chamber Orchestra for a great in- and out-of-class learning experience for our 7-12th grade orchestra students. ProMusica presents an innovative program called Naked Classics, which explores classical music in a fun and fresh format through multimedia images, animation, sound bites, and interviews with the musicians. ProMusica engages professional composer, presenter, and animateur Paul Rissman to lead the program, and Mr. Rissman visited GHHS along with one of the ProMusica musicians to provide an in-class preview of the event last week.
Then Mr. Stanley and the students and a few lucky parent chaperones took in the full program, titled Mozart, Journey of a Genius, on Friday, March 3 at the Southern Theatre in downtown Columbus. Mr. Stanley enthusiastically reported that the students had a great time and declared that "we'll be doing more of this in the future!"
The GH Band Parents Association is proud to have supported this extended learning opportunity for our orchestra students! And, as always, we are so grateful to all of you for helping us raise the funds that make these types of events possible. Thank you!
(Updated March 6, 2023)
February, 2023
CONGRATS TO OUR MOST RECENT HONOR BAND PARTICIPANTS!
A hearty congratulations to Larson Middle School musicians, pictured left to right: Max McCollough (horn), Charlotte Ritzman (flute), and Tucker Betz (percussion), who performed in the Ohio Wesleyan Honor Band this past Friday and Saturday with 90 other incredible middle school band students from across the state of Ohio. Truly an outstanding achievement to be selected! We are is so proud of our band students for going above and beyond with performance opportunities like this.
Interested in learning more about how your student can participate in future opportunities like this? Contact Mrs. Olis or Mr. Heath for more information! (Updated February 21, 2023)
JANUARY, 2023
STILL MORE GHHS MUSICIAN ACHIEVEMENTS!
Four Grandview High School instrumentalists participated in the recent District 15 Solo and Ensemble Contest last Saturday, January 21, at Reynoldsburg High School. Over 1000 students across Central Ohio participated in this annual event at the Reynoldsburg location alone! Students perform a prepared solo or ensemble piece and receive ratings from music instructors who serve as adjudicators for the event Students also have the option to perform in the "Festival Division" for comments only.
Grandview Band students performing solos at contest this year included junior Lyla Baxter (bari sax), freshman Livia Glaser (bassoon), senior Aylish O’Harra (clarinet, pictured here, at the event), and junior Colin Parker (trumpet). ALL FOUR of our Grandview musicians received ratings of superior or excellent! Congratulations to these fantastic musicians! The Band Parents Association underwrites the fees for participation at OMEA, so there is no cost to the students. Thanks to evereyone reading this for helping to make this possible for our students! BPA is proud to support this type of performance and learning experience - and of course we are extra proud of these four students for taking advantage of the opportunity. Way to go, Lyla, Livia, Aylish, and Colin!
(Updated January 27, 2023)
MORE GHHS MUSICIAN ACHIEVEMENTS
GHHS musicians Ali Hamm and Colin Parker attended the two and half day Ohio State Honor Band Festival earlier this month, where they participated in masterclasses with OSU music faculty and then finished the weekend performing in one of three honor bands.
The Festival included more than 250 talented musicicans representing 100 high schools in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and California. It's a huge honor to be selected for this event, and we are so proud of our GHHS students for seeking out and seizing these additional performance and learning opportunities. Congratulations, Ali and Colin!
(Updated January 22, 2023)
DECEMBER, 2022
OSU FIELD TRIP- THAT'S A WRAP!
On Friday December 2, our fifth and sixth grade instrumental music students (167 in all, from both the band and orchestra programs!) traveled to Ohio State to be in the audience for OSU's Music Celebration Youth Concert - an annual event that returned for the first time since 2019. The concert featured jazz, orchestral, vocal, and marching band music, with performers on stage, in the aisles, in the balconies, and often close enough to touch! There were even several GH alumni among the collegiate performers.
This event was made possible with the support of GHS District administration and the entire instrumental music staff, the twenty parent chaperones who volunteered their time to supervise the students, and it was underwritten by the Grandview Heights Band Parents Association - which means it was made possible by all of you, too. Thank you to everyone who has donated time, effort, and money to help us raise funds to support student programming like this!
Several parent chaperones shared photos from the event, which we have compiled into the slide show below. Enjoy!
(Updated December 5, 2022)
NOVEMBER, 2022
OHIO WINDS VISIT
On November 4, the Ohio Winds faculty wind sextet (flute, oboe clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, and horn) from Ohio University visited Grandview Heights! They performed a concert for our GHHS students, showcasing professional level chamber music. A great opportunity for our students!
(Updated November 21, 2022)
GH MUSICIANS, OUT AND ABOUT!
November 12-13 was a blockbuster weekend for our GH instrumental music students! Eighth grade band members Ella Kinsinger (percussion) and Max McCullough (horn) spent the day on Saturday at Thomas Worthington High School, as part of the OMEA District 15 Middle School Honors Band. Meanwhile GH High School musicians Carmen Cunningham (cello) and Aylish O'Harra (viola) - who are both members of the GH band and orchestra programs - performed as members of the Columbus Youth Symphony Orchestra's Repertory Orchestra on Saturday evening. And six more GHHS musicians - including Liv Glaser (bassoon), Ali Hamm (clarinet), Alayna Lee (tenor sax), Reece Mayfield (alto sax), Colin Parker (trumpet), and Alex Young (trombone) - participated in Capital University's two-day Band Festival, culminating in their performance with two different honors bands.
The Grandview Heights Band Parents are so proud of all of these students! If you are interested in learning about how your young musician can get involved in opportunities like these, please contact your student's director to learn more! (Updated November 14, 2022)