On Saturday, November 11, Whitehall schools hosted the 2023 Dairyland Honors Band. Nineteen students from both Alma and Pepin participated in the band along with many other schools in the conference. Alma, Blair-Taylor, C-FC, Gilmanton, Independence, Alma Center Lincoln, Melrose-Mindoro, Pepin, and Whitehall were all the schools with students attending. Sixty-nine students from the schools attended the nine hour event. The Band Clinician, Michelle Jensen, was a high school band teacher from Holman High School. Michelle graduated from UW-La Crosse in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Instrumental Music Education. Michelle Since then, she has been enriching the musical minds of Middle and High School students since 1997. She has now been co-teaching the Marching Vikings, directs the wind ensemble, pep band, musical pit orchestra, and teaches instrumental lessons in music theory. Her band has traveled across the nation for performances, and her students continue to grow and prosper everyday. Each year, the band directors from schools in the Dairyland Conference hand pick students for each section to make the best band possible. The band directors then reach out to different directors to find a clinician. In the past, there have been a mix of directors from both a high school and college setting. Michelle Jensen, was selected to direct the honors band this year. Nineteen Alma and Pepin students made up the sixty-nine piece band. Alma participants include Claire Goldener, Finley Noll, Lorna Lisowski, Zoey Danzinger, Madalyn Wick, Isabella Olson, Ashley Bartelt, Chloe Reed, Ashton Radatz, Roland Goldener, and Allidah Luff. The participants from Pepin include Rachel Schruth, Lundyn Carlson, Wallice Helmin, Isabella Post, John Juliot, Aspyn Pawlak, Cora Komisar, and Johnathan Panzo. The students spent the entire day in rehearsal perfecting each musical selection. The Honors Band played Ascension by Randall D. Standridge, Byzantine Dances by Carol Brittin Chambers, Founders March by Larry Clark, and Take Me Home Country Roads by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, John Denver, and Aiden Thomas. After several hours of practice, the Honors Band performed in the Whitehall Auditorium in front of friends and family members.
Dairyland Honors Band In Whitehall
November 20, 2023