Denton ISD Fine Arts

Empowering Artistic Growth. Every Student. Every day.

October 2019

All Four HS Bands Earn UIL 1st Division, 5As Advance to Area

On Saturday, October 5, three of Denton ISD's high school marching bands competed in Pre-UIL contests. Braswell HS Band finished 1st place with its show "Moonwalker" and was named Grand Champion of the US Bands Regional Contest in Burleson, TX. Guyer HS Band's "Chutes and Ladders" finished 3rd place overall at the Mesquite Marching Band Invitational and won the Outstanding Percussion caption award. Denton HS Band placed 6th overall at the Princeton Invitational with its show, "Echoes of Beethoven".

On Saturday, October 12, Ryan HS Band hosted the annual Don Hanna Memorial Contest at CH Collins Stadium. 20 bands from all over Texas performed in prelims and the top 10 advanced to finals. Guyer HS finished 2nd place in finals and Denton HS finished finished 9th place in finals.

On October 19, Braswell, Denton, Guyer, and Ryan high school bands earned 1st Division "Superior" ratings at the UIL Region 2 Marching Band Contest at C.H. Collins Stadium. DISD's three 5A bands, Braswell, Denton, and Ryan, have all advanced to compete in the UIL Area B Marching Band Contest at Little Elm Stadium on Saturday, October 26. Here is a link to the Area schedule. The top 10 bands from prelims will perform in the finals. After finals, only the top 4 will advance to the UIL State Contest at the San Antonio Alamodome, November 4-5.

The Area contest will be a very competitive contest among some of the best 5A bands in the state. We encourage families and friends to attend in Little Elm to support and cheer on our students. We are extremely proud of our bands and the outstanding performances they continue to give. Congratulations to these students and directors on their continued success. We wish our 5A bands all the best at Area!

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DHS Theatre Presents: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Denton HS Theatre presents Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the DHS Auditorium, October 24-26 and October 31-November 2. All performances will begin at 7:00pm. Audiences need to be aware the script is PG-13. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for adults.

UNT Texas Center for Performing Arts Health and DISD Fine Arts

On October 11 and 14, Denton ISD hosted a two-day mini-conference for the Denton ISD Fine Arts Professional Learning Communities that included collaborations with the University of North Texas Center for Performing Arts Health and Denton ISD Fine Arts. Topics and PLC discussions included research findings and best practices on subjects such as: musculoskeletal health, vocal health, hydration, hearing health, and hygiene. Providing DISD's teachers with the most current scientific information in performing arts is valuable for guiding curriculum and program design in dance, music, and theatre education. Many thanks to UNT and Dr. Kris Chesky and Dr. Sajid Surve of the Texas Center for Performing Arts Health for coordinating the presentations with DISD Fine Arts and providing tremendous resources to our teachers.

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Big News for Denton HS Lab Bands

Denton HS Lab Bands 1 and 2 were both accepted to perform at the Jazz Education Network Convention’s JENerations Jazz Festival in New Orleans in January 2020. Each group will have a performance spot and receive valuable feedback from nationally recognized jazz educators. Students will also have access to the entire convention and will be able to learn and network with some of the biggest names in jazz.

DHS Lab Band 1 just accepted an invitation to participate in the Apex Jazz Festival in Southlake. Each year two high schools from DFW are invited by the Southlake Carroll Jazz Program to premiere a piece by a graduate jazz composition major from the University of North Texas and perform in concert with the One O’Clock Lab Band. This is DHS's third time to be invited to this.

Michael Baylock (class of 2017) just earned a position playing bass in the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band. Alex Souris (class of 2016) earned a spot playing drums in the Two O’Clock Lab Band. Catch the DHS Lab Band's Fall Concert, November 11, where they will be joined by Earth, Wind, and Fire's Bobby Burns Jr.

Kelley McGee Honored as TAEA Elementary Teacher of the Year

Kelley McGee, Art Specialist at Frank Borman Elementary School. was named the Texas Art Education Association's Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2019-20. Congratulations to Mrs. McGee for this tremendous honor and many thanks for being such an outstanding art teacher for the students of Borman Elementary. Denton ISD is very thankful for her dedication, leadership, and the amazing work she does with her students.

All-District Middle School Band

On Saturday, October 5, nearly 400 middle school band students auditioned for positions in the DISD All-District Band. The 102-member band consists of the top 7th and 8th grade band members from all eight Denton ISD middle schools. The students audition for the All-District Band on a selected portion from the TMEA All-Region audition music. The All-District Band members will participate in a clinic and concert with a special guest clinician on January 10, 2020. The concert will be open to the public.

Congratulations to these outstanding middle school band students that made the All-District Band. Many thanks to their band directors, private lesson teachers, and parents for supporting them.

Art Teachers and Students in Denton Chalkfest 2019

Many Denton ISD art teachers and their students participated in the Downtown Denton Chalkfest 2019 on Saturday, September 14. Award winners included:

Kennedy Lovette - 1st place adult (art pictured below)

Katie Kernan - 3rd place adult

Tear-riann Quinteros – 1st place 6th grade

Arely Lopez – 2nd place 6th grade

Melanie Rodriguez – 3rd place 6th grade

Micahel Leonas, Finalist for Grammy Music Educator of the Year

Michael Leonas, Ginnings Elementary School music specialist was one of 180 finalists for the 2020 Grammy "Music Educator of the Year" Award. Mr. Leonas was nominated by Ginnings Principal, Cornelius Anderson, and was among over 3,200 nominations nationwide. His teaching peers also submitted video and written testimonials on his behalf. Congratulations to Mr. Leonas for this recognition of excellent teaching. Thank you for your dedication to the students of Ginnings Elementary!

Students Create Art at TASA/TASB State Convention

On September 20, art students and teachers from Adkins and Borman Elementary Schools attended the Texas Association of School Administrators/Texas Association of School Boards Convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas. These student created paintings in the middle of the exhibit hall as a reminder to all of the attendees and exhibitors of the creativity, imagination, and skills of students that they serve. DISD school board members and administrators stopped by to visit with the students and witness their creative process. The students were outstanding Fine Arts ambassadors for Denton ISD and created amazing works for convention attendees to experience. Many thanks to art specialists, Jamie McCormick of Adkins Elementary and Kelley McGee of Borman Elementary for making this possible and accompanying the students.

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Fine Arts and Denton ISD Football

Every week of the football season, students from Denton ISD Fine Arts can been seen and heard performing at varsity football games. Bands and choirs perform the National Anthem at each home game. The bands and drill teams perform at halftime and throughout the games, traveling along with our teams to games both home and away. Many thanks to the band and drill team students and directors that work so hard and dedicate themselves to excellence in their performances. Thanks to the community for supporting these Fine Arts students and our football teams. Best wishes to our teams and their coaches the rest of the season!