the 2009 Macy’s Great American Marching Band. Kayleigh was featured front and cen-ter in the band’s performance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and was easily spotted in the television coverage. Kayleigh said this was truly a once in a life-time experience. She was required to send a video-taped audition and was one of only 25 girls from across the country to be invited to perform. When it came time for the parade Kayleigh said she was a little nervous but had a great time, not only performing but sightseeing, meeting other students from around the country, and even getting to see the Rockettes perform! Congratulations to Kayleigh on her perform-ance and for representing the Kettering City Schools Music Department in this prestigious event!

Kayleigh Roenker, a senior color guard captain in the Fairmont Marching Fire-birds, recently performed as a member of

Featuring News, Highlights, and Upcoming Events from all Kettering City Schools Music Programs

Beginning with this issue, just a single page of “Kettering Music” will be circulated to stu-dents in the Kettering City Schools. We encourage students and families to view the full length and full color newsletter online at www.ketteringschools.org The newsletter is avail-able on the performing arts page and the Fairmont Music Page. For more information or to obtain a full printed copy contact the Kettering Schools Music office at 499-2647. A complete schedule of all Kettering music programs and concerts is also available at www.ketteringschools.org

Fairmont Music Page 2-3

Elementary Music Page 4-5

Middle School Music Page 6

New Faces and Alumni Page 7

Music Royalty Page 8

I N S I D E . . . K E T T E R I N G M U S I C N E W S L E T T E R B E G I N S N E W F O R M AT W I T H T H I S I S S U E

V o l u m e 4 I s s u e 1 F a l l 2 0 0 9

I N T E R N A T I O N A L L Y A C C L A I M E D C E L L I S T P E R F O R M S F O R F A I R M O N T M U S I C I A N S

Music students at Fairmont recently had the opportunity to hear and learn from one of the worlds premiere cellists, Narek Hakhnazaryan.

This 21-year-old Armenian was accepted at the Moscow Con-servatory at age 12 and has since been thrilling audiences in Italy, Austria, France, Great Britain, Greece, Turkey and Canada with "elegant, fearless musicianship!” At age 19 he was first prize winner in the

2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and made his American debuts at Carnegie's Zankel Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Special thanks to the Day-ton Art Institute Vanguard Concert Series and coordi-nator Alana Bowling for making this and future ap-pearances at Fairmont pos-sible.

“We have the very best music

teachers - I know that because I hired most of

them. The par-ents of Kettering

send us great kids. Together we produce the

finest music in the state. We are

very proud of our programs. I love

going to con-certs.”

-Dr. James Schoenlein Kettering City Schools Superintendent

Philip Drennen a 2002 graduate of Fairmont’s music program and co-founder of the band As-toria Boulevard has re-leased an EP available on itunes. Philip has been working as an actor in New York and was recently seen starring in a national touring company of Altar Boyz which stopped in Day-ton last winter. He was a member of the choir and band programs, was a drum major for the March-ing Firebirds, and played several roles on the Fair-mont stage, the most memorable being the lead role in “Singing in the Rain.” In a recent inter-view with Darin Haas of examiner.com Phillip said

“Literally all my best memories from high school are from doing shows and playing in the band … All of my best friends from that time, who still are my best friends, I met in a performance group.” Despite branching out in a slightly different direction in his still young career, Phil believes that he would not have discovered his voice for writing music had it not been for his years involved with high school theatre at Fairmont High School, and with the Muse Machine productions.

More information about Philip and his career can b e f o u n d a t w w w . e x a m i n e r . c o m /dayton

tine vocal sound and cho-reography, and just as im-pressed with "Shazaam," the show choir band, di-rected by Mr. Ryan Chatter-ton. Mr. Smith went on to say, "They (Shazaam) are just as good at supporting the show as Findlay's award-winning band, The "Boingers" were in their hayday." "Shazaam" also

The Illusion Show Choir had a spectacular perform-ance on Saturday, Decem-ber 5th in Perrysburg, Ohio. Perrysburg hosted a show choir clinic with schools from both Ohio and Michigan, that fea-tured clinician J.D. Smith, a big name in the business. Mr. Smith was astounded by Illusion's mature, pris-

includes a show-enhancing string quartet under the di-rection of Mr. Wright. Illusion looks to make finals on their four upcoming competitions, and also has a wonderful show offering for their holi-day performances. Be sure to catch them around the district in the coming weeks.

Page 2

FAIRMONT MUSIC

F H S S H O W C H O I R H I T S T H E R O A D

Volume 4 Issue 1

Upcoming

Fairmont Music Performances

Fairmont Music

Holiday Concerts Dec. 15 and 17

7pm FHS Auditorium

Fairmont Music Staff

Band Michael Berning

Dan Nicora Tim Parker

Krista Berning Lori Griffin

Orchestra

Rich Wright Michelle Donohoue

Becky Geels

Choir Brody McDonald

Alex Phan

2002 Music Grad Branching Out

Three Fairmont alumni will be marching their way to the Rose Bowl as members of the Ohio State University Marching Band. Adam Bale, trum-pet and Chris Ott, trom-bone, both are returning members of the band. Sophomore Joe Platten-

burg is a first year mem-ber. Incredibly Joe passed the very demand-ing audition process on trumpet after playing clarinet all through the Fairmont band program. “Joe started messing around on trumpet when he was in high school”

FHS band director Mike Berning recalls. “I always thought he sounded pretty darn good for a clarinet player!” said Berning. Obviously he stuck with it and the Ohio State band agreed!

Congratulations Boys!

starting with band camp in August, 10 football game appear-ances, the Holiday at Home parade, and several local and re-gional competitions. Homecoming featured the tradition of the Fairmont Alumni Band and also a special ap-pearance by Fairmont West Alum Nancy Cart-wright, the voice of Bart Simpson. Nancy, who played in the Fair-mont West Band, dotted the I in the pre-game Script Birds performance.

On the competition field the band earned the grand champion title at the Hamilton Band Invi-tational, and superior ratings at the Tecumseh and Shawnee Competi-tions, as well as their 12 straight superior rating at the OMEA State Fi-nals! Congratulations to all band members and thanks to all parents and volunteers who made the 2009 season a suc-cess!

The 2009 Marching Firebirds fin-ished their season strong with a Superior rating at the OMEA State Marching Band Finals and an out-standing performance at the Bands of America Regional Champion-ships held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. This year’s competition show was a departure for the band from more serious shows of the past. “Like Totally 80’s” featured the most memorable pop tunes of the 80’s woven into a kaleidoscopic pro-gram featuring more than a dozen songs, Cyndi Lauper inspired guard costumes, and an 8 foot tall rubiks cube prop. The Marching Firebirds kept busy

Page 3

2 0 0 9 M A R C H I N G F I R E B I R D S F I NIS H S E A S ON “ L I KE T OTA L LY ” S T R O N G

TH R E E KE T T E R I N G MU S I C GR A D S H E A D I N G T O RO S E BO W L

Marching Firebird Drum Majors and Guard Captains show off trophies at the Hamilton Band Ivitational

Drum Major Joe Weiffenbach leads Nancy Cartwright in dotting the I in Script Birds

Color Guard member Nikki Israel prepares to launch her rifle

Left to right: Adam Bale, Chris Ott, Joe Plattenburg

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MUSIC

Page 4

O A K V I E W S T U D E N T S P E R F O R M

F O R V E T E R A N ’ S

D AY P R O G R A M

Oakview Elementary's Veteran's Day Pro-gram was on the afternoon of November 11th. Each grade level performed a song for the standing-room-only audience of veterans, family, and friends. There was also much audience participation in the singing of some favorite patriotic songs in between the class performances.

A highlight of the program was a special flag presentation made by a kindergarten student, Hope Nickel, and her mother, Teresah. Hope's father, CW3 Rob Nickel, is currently serving in Iraq as a helicopter pilot with the United States Army. CW3 Nickel had sent a flag as a gift to his daughter's kindergarten class, followed by another flag sent as a gift to the entire

Volume 4 Issue 1

school. Each flag had been carried aboard his helicopter on recent Classified Combat Missions over Iraq. The certificate accom-panying each flag was signed by the four-member crew and included the following wording: "As this flag was flown, it symbol-ized the sovereign power of the United States of America and the unshakeable re-solve to keep our country safe by guarantee-ing liberty and stability to the citizens of Iraq."

After the flags were presented to kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Raines, and principal, Mrs. Engelhardt, Hope and her teacher unveiled a thank you note from her class, thanking her daddy and his friends for keeping us all safe.

Elementary Music Staff

Beavertown Najwa Turpen

Greenmont Lori Griffin, Diane DuVal

Indian Riffle

Courtney Nicholl

John F. Kennedy Jody Wilson

Moraine Meadows

Krista Berning

Oakview Janis Combs

Orchard Park Diane DuVal

JE Prass

Coleen Badenhop Rebecca Childs

Southdale

Rebecca Childs

Pictured Left to Right: Peg Englehardt,

HelenRaines, Hope Nickel,

Teresah Nickel, and Janis Combs

Page 5

Southdale students are singing, dancing, and performing in the month of December. The 3rd graders and Southdale Singers will be sharing The Holiday Spirit on Wed., Dec. 16 at Southdale. Also, 5th grader Sam Burt just had the remarkable experience of portraying the role of Amahl in

The third grade class at J.E. Prass Elemen-tary entertained a full audience on October 26th with their fall musical, The Principal and the Pea, by Mark Burrows. In this story, based on the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea, the kids have to choose a new principal for their school when the old one retires. This was a perfect fit for Prass, as we have just bid farewell to our long-time principal (Rich Bowden) and said hello to our new principal (Valerie Dupler). Every third grader had a special part to play, and the show was a great success!

the University of Dayton Faculty Artist Series production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. Lindsay Broadway, Alex Winkel-man, Alyssa Higle and Ryan Hed-burg appeared as Munchkins in Oz, the Musical which performed at the Dayton Convention Cen-ter. Several students are also

SOUTHDALE ELEMENTARY MUSIC

J.E. PRASS - “TH E PR I N C I PA L A N D T H E PE A”

involved productions of The Nut-cracker throughout the area. Fourth graders are busy practic-ing their recorders, and all other grades are singing, playing in-struments, and moving to music old and new.

fairmont music and orchestras to host The section quartet

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 7pm Fairmont Auditorium

Tickets $10 — Call 499-2647

The Fairmont Music Department and Orchestras will host “the Section Quartet” for a day of workshops with string students and an evening concert. This ensemble is anything but the typi-cal string quartet. One reviewer wrote of their latest album: “The Section Quartet was formed on the principles of rock & roll: musicians challenging the establishment by knocking down walls dividing two genres of music. With their kinetic arrange-ments, eclectic repertoire, and bold performance style, the worlds of classical and rock collide with spectacular results on their new CD Fuzzbox”

Middle School Music Staff

Van Buren

Middle School Band

Dan Nicora Jeff Blume

Krista Berning Orchestra Lynn Rohr

Rich Wright Choir

Brody McDonald Janis Combs

General Music Jeff Blume

Kettering Middle School

Band Tim Parker Lori Griffin

Krista Berning Orchestra

Michelle Donohoue Becky Geels

Choir Alex Phan

Joan Reynolds General Music Joan Reynolds

Courtney Nicholl

Middle School mUSIC

KMS and Van Buren 8th grade band students recently had the opportunity to perform with Fairmont Marching Firebirds at the Varsity Football Game on October 9th at Roush Stadium. This annual performance gives all of our Future Firebird Musicians the chance to perform

with the marching band in a real game setting. Even with this year’s soaking rain, Mid-dle school night is always a highlight of the season and is a great way to get students thinking about their partici-pation in Fairmont music programs. Any 8th grade parent with questions about Fairmont music programs can contact their middle school music teacher or the high school music office at 499-2647.

8th grade band members make music with Fairmont Marching firebirds

Van Buren musicians are busy preparing for our annual Holiday Concert on Friday December 11th starting at 8:50 A.M. All friends and relatives are welcome to this concert which will feature all of the performing ensem-bles Band, Orchestra, Chorus, and Jazz Ensem-ble. This year our 6th grade exploratory instrumen-tal produced 77 band students and 59 or-

chestra students. They will also be performing the first time on this con-cert after only playing for six weeks. Van Buren is very proud of eighth grade band stu-dent Sophie Lockhart and seventh grade students Molly Donavon and Rob Maclean for participating in Wright State Univer-

sity’s Saxophone Quartet Festival on Novem-ber 14th .

Page 6 Volume 4 Issue 1

Spotlight on new Music Staff

Jeff Blume is the most recent addition to the Kettering Music Team, joining the school district this August. Mr. Blume co-directs the Van Buren band program with vet-eran teacher Dan Nicora and also teaches general music for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Mr. Blume grew up in Columbus where he graduated from Thomas Worthington High School in 2002. He received the bachelor of music degree in music education from Capital University Conservatory in 2009 where he per-formed in numerous ensembles including singing in the “Chordsmen” a group founded by Fairmont Alumni and Capital student Jeffrey Delman. Mr. Blume recalls meet-ing our own Brody McDonald while with the Chordsmen when he worked with the group as a clinician. Mr. Blume is also very involved in the drum corps activity having marched as a member of the Canton Bluecoats for three seasons. He will be returning to the staff of the top 12 drum corps, the Blue Stars, this summer. Mr. Blume was married this Fall and resides in Kettering with his wife Maggie.

Students studying music in the Kettering Schools have many wonderful opportunities, one of those being private lessons. Whether the student is involved in band, or-chestra, or choir there are many quality private teachers available. Contact your child’s music teacher or the dis-trict music office at 499-2647 for more information on

private lessons. Many teachers offer lessons during daily music classes. Make plans now to enrich your childs music education! Your child may be next year’s college scholarship winner or simply another life long lover of music!

Jeff Blume,

Van Buren Middle School

Page 7

James Sparling,

Fairmont Percussion

James Sparling received his degree in Music Education with a minor in Architecture at Miami University. While at Miami, he performed with nearly all possible ensembles. He has been heavily involved in the world music ensemble, Global Rhythms, where he served as Percussion Coordinator and Arranger (2004-2006). This ensemble has led him to per-form and work with Grammy winners Glen Velez and Jamal Mohammed, Ghatam Khartick's heARTbeat, Musafir, Jeff Queen, Michael Burritt, Anthony Cirone, Indian film composer A.R. Rahman, Nelly Furtado, and Lenny Kravitz. He contin-ues to perform with this group annually. James has taught privately for several years, served as a Percussion Mentor at Tower Heights Middle School (2007), and served as Director of Percussion at Bellbrook HS/MS (2007-2008). His involvement at other notable schools in-cludes: Carroll HS, Centerville HS, Kings HS, LaSalle HS, Miamisburg HS, Milford HS, Northmont HS, Plymouth-Canton HS, Springboro HS, Sycamore HS, Turpin HS, and The Univer-sity of Cincinnati alongside Nick Angelis. He marched tenors with Trinity Indoor Percussion Ensemble (2000), Music City Mystique (2001, WGI World Champions), Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps (2001), Glass-men Drum and Bugle Corps (2002), and Rhythm X (2003-2004). In 2002, James was a part of the Colin McNutt marching clinic and the MU Balinese Gamelan clinic at PASIC. He served on the percussion staff for the Glassmen (2003), Madison Scouts (2004-2006), Carolina Crown (2007-2008), and currently works with Spirit of America (2006-present) as visual designer, RhythmX (2005-present) and the Cadets (2009).

Always a great time to start private lessons

NONPROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

DAYTON, OHIO PERMIT NO. 481

Kettering City Schools

3750 Far Hills Ave.

Kettering, OH 45429

District Music Office Fairmont High School

Performing Arts Center 3301 Shroyer Rd.

Kettering , Ohio 45429

Phone 499-2647 Fax 499-1648

Coordinator of Music

Michael Berning

Websites of Interest

Kettering City Schools

www.ketteringschools.org Pages for music...

Kettering Bands

www.fairmontbands.org

Kettering Choirs www.fairmontchoirs.org

Kettering Orchestras

www.KetteringOrchestras.org

Kettering Music!

The 2009 Fairmont Homecoming Court featured several members of the music program. When the drum roll sounded and the names were read, two Fairmont musicians ended up as Homecoming Royalty.

King Ryan Rice is a member of the Marching Firebirds, Wind Ensemble, Show Choir, and, Symphonic Chorale. Queen Kendall Young is a member of Symphonic Chorale, 11th Hour, and played a lead role in the Spring Musical. Congratulations Kendall and Ryan!

M U S I C I A N S C R O W N E D R O Y A L T Y

Eleventh Hour (Debut Album)How Sweet It IsEvolutionLike Clockwork

*Kettering City Schools mail requires no fee