July/August
100-day Challenge
Keep working on your practice charts. You can still do this challenge.
Start at any time! Download this chart or make your own.
Students who have completed the 100-day practice chart
Composer of the month
Florence Price
1887-1953
Excerpt from Piano Concerto in One Movement
Juba Dance from Symphony No. 1 in E Minor created as a virtual performance this spring by The Civic Orchestra Fellows for Chicago Public School students.
Hold Fast to Dreams sung by Louise Toppin
Sketches in Sepia performed by Samantha Ege
Piano Sonata in E Minor, performed by Althea Waites
Ethiopia’s Shadow in America, which won honorable mention in a contest in 1932. Performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
The Piccolo
Flight of the Bumblebee played by 4 piccolos!
Barry McKimm’s Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra, 2nd mvt “Air” performed by Members of the Gewandhaus and Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Leipzig.
Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles played on piccolo by Jeremy-Paul Chatoor accompanied by Glenn Balck.
The famous Stars and Stripes Forever (by J.P. Sousa) piccolo solo played by Staff Sgt. Torin Olsen.
An introduction to the piccolo by Keith Bragg of the London Philharmonia Orchestra.
Parts of the piccolo by a member of the Minnesota Orchestra.
2020 Composition Contest Winners
Congratulations to everyone who participated. Your pieces were great! Hundreds of students sent in compositions about the Arctic and Antarctica with music about penguins, polar bears, walruses, and other animals as well as pieces about the polar landscapes and oceans! As always, it was difficult to pick just a few, but we are pleased to announce the 2020 winners.
Winning Pieces will be printed in upcoming issues.
10 and younger
1st Place:
A Polar Bear’s Lullaby
by Beverly Horton, age 10
Teacher: Terry Doremus
2nd Place:
The Arctic Fox
by Maggie Miller, age 10
Teacher: Jessica Olson
3rd Place (tie):
Arctic Waves
by Jillian Williams, age 9
Teacher: Jessica Olson
3rd Place (tie):
Tundra
by Harry Graves, age 10
Teacher: Alison Siener Brown
Honorable Mention:
Jumping Arctic Foxes
by David Beamer, age 9
Teacher: Barbara Azevedo
Honorable Mention:
Cold and Beautiful
by Marissa DiChiaro, age 10
Teacher: Mark Raimondi
11 and older
1st Place:
Lullaby of the Northern Lights
by Colleen Leacock, age 16
Teacher: Lydia McCool
2nd Place:
The Penguin Strut!
by Elisa Lipkin, age 17
Teacher: Diana Wan
3rd Place (tie):
Snowfall
by Audrey Schultz, age 11
Teacher: Maggie Casey
3rd Place (tie):
The Groovy Walrus
by Ella Miller, age 13
Teacher Jessica Olson
Honorable Mention:
Waltz of the Polar Bears
by Eli Minasian, age 14
Teacher: Reese Ancheta
Honorable Mention:
Guided by the Northern Lights
by Marina Prikis, age 17
Teacher: Nancy Osborne
Honorable Mention:
A Sled Dog’s Day Off
by Shawn An, age 18
Teacher: Diane W. Higgins