Loveland Magazine

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News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

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Tag: OMEA

Loveland students in prestigious OMEA “Honor Band Festival”

Galop (Arthur Bird arr. James Syler

San Antonio Dances (Frank Ticheli)

Dusk (Steven Bryant)

Metroplex (Robert Sheldon)

by David Miller

Princeton High School hosted the annual Ohio Music Education Association District XIV Honor Bands Festival on January 9. After auditioning, students from area schools were selected to perform in the prestigious OMEA concert. There was a High School Honor Band performance, a High School Honor Symphony Band concert, as well as performances by 7th and 8th-grade Honor Bands.

Students from Cincinnati’s most prestigious schools were represented:

Anderson, Goshen, Indian Hill, Loveland, Mariemont, Milford, Moeller, Mount Notre Dame, Oak Hills, Princeton, Reading Community School, Reading, SCPA, St. Xavier, Sycamore, Turpin, Walnut Hills, West Clermont, Wyoming, Colerain, and Summit Country Day.

The audio above is the concert given by the High School Symphony Honor Band. Several Loveland High School students were selected to be in this band:

Alton French – Bassoon

Kirsten Arill – Clarinet

Lizzy Lip – Trumpet

Aaron Spjut – Trumpet

Olivia Smith – Trombone

Jake Simon – Tuba

Allison Oh – Percussion

Jonathan Kaseff – Percussion

Dr. Brandon Jones was the guest conductor. Jones is a Professor of Music, Coordinator of Instrumental Music, and Music Department Chairperson at Wittenberg University, where he conducts their Symphonic Band.

Several other Loveland School District students performed during the full afternoon of concerts.

High School Concert Honor Band

Shay Thomson, Zack Peebles, Amelia Macura, Sydney Whitlock, and Ellie Brinkman.

7th Grade Honor Band

Katie Oaks, Eleanor Dennedy, James Young, John Paul Galles, and Victoria Elliot.

8th Grade Honor Band

Caitlyn Ferrer, Payton Brown, and Luke Slater.

Jan 18, 2022
[VIDEO] Loveland High School Marching Band and Color Guard: An 80’s Adventure

by David Miller

Loveland, Ohio – Last Saturday afternoon the Loveland High School Marching Band and Color Guard hosted their 25th Annual “Drums Along the Little Miami” marching band competition. Seven bands from around the region attended the competition.

The LHS band and Color Guard performed an exhibition for the crowd before awards were presented.

As LHS was the host, they were not eligible for awards however were adjudicated as well as the other bands by a panel from the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA). Our home band received a Superior (#1) overall rating that qualifies them to compete in the OMEA State Finals.

Their 80’s Adventure included, In the Air Tonight, the Stranger Things main title, the Back to the Future main title, and In Open Arms.

The LHS Drumline also entertained as the crowd awaited the presentation of the trophies.

Oct 5, 2021
Listen and watch Loveland High School Students perform at 2020 OMEA District XIV Honor Band Festival

Princeton High School – On Sunday, January 20 twenty Loveland music students performed in the Matthews Auditorium at Princeton High School. The occasion was OMEA District XIV Honor Band Festival. The 75-year-old Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) is the principal organization in Ohio promoting music education in elementary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities. OMEA began in 1924 in Fostoria, Ohio as the Ohio School Band Association to promote band contests in Ohio.

Students from the region audition for the opportunity to perform at the Festival. They have one rehearsal the week of their performance. The Loveland students are listed below.

The 8th-grade Honor Band performed under the direction of Guest Conductor Lois Wiggins.

Claire Zeigler – Clarinet

Aron Spjut – Trumpet

Amelia Macura – Horn

Avery Dennedy – Baritone

Jake Simon – Tuba

Jonathan Kaseff – Percussion

Daniel Watts – Percussion

The High School Honor Band was conducted by Guest Conductor Brooke Johnson.

Declan Fuchs – Clarinet

Kirsten Arill – Clarinet

Evan Fischer – Alto Sax

Skyler Goodwin – Trumpet

Blake Hensley – Trombone

Olivia Smith – Trombone

The High School Honor Symphony Band was conducted by Guest Conductor Gary Speck.

Anna Hou – Flute

Alton French – Bassoon

Beau Aldrich – Clarinet

Daniel Hinrichsen – Alto Sax

Calvin Spencer – Trumpet

Jack Armstrong – Trombone

Christian Maurer – Trombone

Watch as the OMEA District XIV High School Honor Band performs Reverberations (Brian Balmages) under the direction of Guest Conductor Brooke Johnson.

Jan 16, 2020
The Loveland High School Marching Band Takes “Rhapsody in New York” to Indianapolis on Friday

The photo above of the Loveland Marching Band’s Colorguard was taken at the LHS Homecoming halftime

Loveland, Ohio – The Loveland High School (LHS) Marching Band recently competed at the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) State Marching Band Competition in Columbus with “Rhapsody in New York” – a show that has been a great success throughout the season. Now, by special invitation, the 140-member band will also perform at the Bands of America Grand Nationals in Indianapolis this Friday, November 15. The event will showcase high school marching bands from across the nation and exhibition performances by some of the most respected university marching bands.

The band recently competed at a contest hosted by Turpin High School. The LHS band earned awards for, AA champs, best general effect, best visual,
best color guard, best percussion, best, best music, and were “Grand Champions”.

The event will showcase high school marching bands from across the nation and exhibition performances by some of the most respected university marching bands.

“The Marching Band has a new life to it this year,” said Band Director Geoff Miller, who leads the band with LHS music and jazz teacher Alex McCoy. “The students have worked incredibly hard and are really performing at a high level. I think they understand how incredible the experience is going to be in Indianapolis and they are rising to the challenge. ‘Rhapsody in New York’ features music by George Gershwin, Billy Joel, and Alicia Keys. The music is fun to play, it has a groove and gets pretty powerful as it progresses.”

Grand Nationals, which will be live-streamed on flomarching.com, is a three-day event including preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals held at Lucas Oil Stadium, a world-class indoor venue. 45 bands perform in two prelim contests; 30 bands advance to the semi-finals, and the 12 bands with the top scores continue on to the finals.

The Loveland band is scheduled to play Friday at 3 PM

Watch them HERE

(Be prepared to buy a subscription)

This is the first time the LHS Marching Band participates at Grand Nationals. Last time Mr. Miller performed with a marching band at the event was in 1999 when his high school band from Plymouth-Canton Ed. Park in Michigan won the competition.

In March the band will travel to New York City to march in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The parade has been a tradition in NYC since 1762.

Nov 12, 2019
Loveland High School Marching Band competes Sunday in Ohio Music Education Association State Marching Band Finals

Mya Stulce is a member of the Loveland High School Marching Band Colorguard

The Loveland High School Marching Band will compete Sunday in the Ohio Music Education Association State Marching Band Finals. They qualified for the State contest during their adjudicated performance on Saturday September 29 at the “Drums Along The Little Miami” marching band contest” sponsored by the Loveland Music Boosters and and held at the Loveland High School Tiger Stadium.

During the five days of performances at the Finals you will see and hear some of the finest high school marching bands in the state of Ohio.

Ohio bands receiving a final rating of “I” (Superior) in any of the 63 OMEA-sanctioned marching band adjudicated events held this fall are eligible to participate in the Finals.

These bands are not competing against one another, but rather against a standard, as determined by the Ohio Five Rating Plan.

There are nine judges involved in the evaluation of the bands. Of these, two evaluate the “musical performance”, two judge the “general effect” of the show, two judge the “visual program”, one field judge is evaluating the “percussion” section, and two judges concentrate on all auxiliary units of the band. The Overall Final Rating will be determined by the addition of “ratings” from the music, general effect, visual, and percussion judges.

The LHS Repertoire:
Blackstar – David Bowie, Under Pressure – David Bowie / Freddy Mercury, Symphony No. 4 “Heroes” mvt. 5 – Philip Glass, Heroes – David Bowie, Symphony No. 4 “Heroes” mvt. 6 – Philip Glass

The Tiger band is under the direction of Geoffrey Miller and there will be solo performances by Cara Noel, Ella Kiley, Megan Dakoske, Jack Armstrong, Liam Keldson, and Molly Hansen.

They will perform at 6 PM at Dayton Welcome Stadium, 1601 S. Edwin C Moses Blvd., Dayton, OH 45417

Ticket Pricing
Adults – $8
Seniors – $5
School age children – $5
Children under 5 are free

Parking
$5 per car

Loveland High School Band Background

The Loveland High School Marching Band has a long tradition of excellence. They have received straight division 1 ratings at the OMEA State Marching Band Competition for the past four consecutive years. This season, LHSMB will be traveling to compete at Miami University, Hilliard Bradley High School, Miamisberg High School, University of Dayton, and Mason High School.

State Marching Band Finals History

Band competition has been a part of the school music scene in Ohio since the early part of this century. The forerunners of the OMEA, the Ohio High School Band Association, and the Ohio School Band and Orchestra Association were all formed, at least in part, to foster competition in the state. Following the success of the Fostoria, Ohio Boys Band in winning the first national band contest in 1923 held in Chicago, the Fostoria director, John W. Wainwright, formed the Ohio High School Band Association. Ohio’s first contest was held in 1924 in Fostoria with eight bands in attendance. Prize money was supplied by the music industry including Barnhouse Publishers and Conn Instrument Company. There were four adjudicators in these early contests. By 1928 three adjudicators commented on the groups’ intonation, instrumentation, tone and harmonic balance, tone quality, precision and interpretation, and a fourth judged the band in sight-reading. In 1932 the newly formed Ohio Music Education Association stated among its goals “the promotion of state-wide contests in vocal and instrumental music.” Furthermore, when OMEA affiliated with MENC (Music Educators National Conference) in 1934 the two groups’ statement concerning contests mentioned that the purpose of these contests is to promote education through music. Read on…

Oct 25, 2018
Loveland’s Katelyn Heckenmueller and Caelan Quigley selected for All-State Jazz Ensemble

Photos provided by Loveland Schools

Three additional LHS musicians make the cut for the Cincinnati Youth Jazz Orchestra

Loveland, Ohio – The LovelandHigh School Jazz Program has kicked off the new school year with a series of accolades and recognitions: Seniors Katelyn Heckenmueller (saxophone) and Caelan Quigley (trumpet) have both been selected for the 2019 All-State Jazz Ensemble, which will rehearse and perform at the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) Professional Development Conference in Cleveland, January 31 – February 2.

In addition, Senior Ethan Diver (drums), and Juniors Simon Grome (bass) and Jett Stevens (drums) have been selected to the Cincinnati Youth Jazz Orchestra (CYJO), run by the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Katelyn (Katie) Heckenmueller plays alto and soprano saxophones in the LHS Wind Ensemble and Jazz Orchestra. Having taken private lessons on alto sax for the past five years, she was selected to participate in the District 14 Honor Jazz Band in 2017. Heckenmueller, who plans to continue to play jazz in college, is particularly influenced by Dexter Gordon, whose “pocket and distinctive tone sound effortless.”

Caelan Quigley is one of two students in Loveland High School Jazz Program history to be selected for the All-State Jazz Ensemble twice. As a junior in 2018, he performed at the OMEA Conference in Columbus under the direction of Brad Leali, two-time Grammy-winning member of the Count Basie Orchestra. Quigley was the lead trumpet player in the CCM Summer Jazz Program in 2017. He plans to attend college, potentially combining studies in engineering and music. Quigley credits his jazz accomplishments to the work with his long-time private teacher and mentor, Norman Parr, and his first-rate music education at Loveland.

Ethan Diver has been playing drums for eight years, but is fairly new to jazz, which he started playing about a year ago. He has played snare drum in marching band and has been a member of the LHS showband for the past three years. In addition to playing with the CYJO big band, he also gigs with two combos. Diver teaches private lessons and takes lessons from Jeff Mellott.

Simon Grome has played bass for six years. He has spent that entire time studying privately under Matthew Holt. His biggest influences include Victor Wooten and John Patituccibecause of their innovative sounds and techniques. Grome does not plan on pursuing a degree in music, but expects it to remain an integral part of his future adult life.

Jett Stevens started by playing the piano in kindergarten. In fourth grade, he joined Mallet Madness at Loveland Elementary School, playing mallet percussion and auxiliary percussion. In seventh grade, he joined LMS Stage Band and Guitar Club. Throughout high school, he has been involved in Wind Symphony, CCM Summer Prep Jazz, Symphonic Band, Jazz Orchestra, Loveland Musical Orchestra, Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp, Show Choir Band, Orchestra Band, Marching Band and several bands with friends. In addition to being selected for the Cincinnati Youth Jazz Orchestra, Stevens also earned spots in the District 14 Honor Jazz bands (2015 to 2017) and District 14 Honor Concert Band (2015).

“It is a great privilege to work with such talented students who are passionate about jazz music,” said Erin Fitzpatric, LHS music teacher and jazz program director who joined the district in August. “Being selected to participate as a member of the OMEA All-State Jazz Ensemble is one of the highest honors for a high school jazz student. The ensemble consists of the best high school jazz musicians in the state – out of the hundreds of applicants who auditioned this year, only five students were selected for the trumpet and saxophone sections”

“Being selected to participate as a member of the OMEAAll-State Jazz Ensemble is one of the highest honors for a high school jazz student. The ensemble consists of the best high school jazz musicians in the state – out of the hundreds of applicants who auditioned this year, only five students were selected for the trumpet and saxophone sections.”

The CYJO also gathers some of the best high school jazz musicians in the region. Students audition in the beginning of the school year for a spot in the band that offers a year of high-level challenge with emphasis on developing professional musical, improvisational, and performance skills. The band rehearses weekly and performs a variety of styles within the big band genre in concerts on the UC campus and throughout the community.

“The CYJO offers a great opportunity to play with other skilled high school jazz musicians from neighboring districts and build friendships that extend beyond Loveland,” said Fitzpatric.

Now in his fifth year of teaching full time, Fitzpatric earned his Bachelors of Music at CCM as a music education major with a jazz trumpet specialization. For the past three years, he taught 6-12^thgrade band, jazz, and guitar at Taylor High School in Cleves, Ohio. While he teaches music during the week, Fitzpatric also performs with several bands in his free time.

I look forward to showcasing the talents of the jazz bands at our first concert of the year on October 18,” said Erin Fitzpatric.

“I really enjoy teaching music throughout the week and performing with bands around town on the weekends. I’m particularly excited about the opportunity to teach at Loveland where we have an incredible group of young musicians as well as a top-notch staff in the Music Department. I look forward to showcasing the talents of the jazz bands at our first concert of the year on October 18,” he said.

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Oct 10, 2018
Loveland Schools Jazz Program Presents the 19th Annual Big Band Concert

Loveland, Ohio – The Loveland schools jazz program will hold its 19^th annual Big Band Concert and Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser on Saturday, February 17, with performances by the two Loveland High School jazz bands and the Loveland Middle School (LMS) Stage Band.

“This event has become a tradition in Loveland and is always well attended. We usually serve some 400 meals throughout the evening and expect a large crowd to come just for the great entertainment,” says Susan Sprigg, one of the event organizers.

A photo of last year’s concert and dinner by Olivia Smith

The Big Band Concert and Spaghetti Dinner is the primary fundraiser for the Loveland schools jazz program. Proceeds from the event directly fund trips to enhance the music education and experience for the high school jazz students. In addition to numerous excursions across the country over the years, the LHS jazz orchestra has performed on the U.S. Naval aircraft carrier Intrepid twice, has won the North American Music Festival and received honorable placements in other national competitions.

Photo from last year’s Jazz Band Concert by Olivia Smith

The annual fundraising event was started in 2000 by then Superintendent Secretary Doris Osborne and Cheryl Maegly, wife of Bruce Maegly who taught music at Loveland Middle School for 35 years and reinstated the high school jazz program in the early 1990s. The high school bands are currently led by Jazz Band Director Matt Holt, and the LMS School Stage Band by Music Teacher Chris Huening. Current and former Loveland jazz band musicians have been selected as all-state musicians, to the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) District 14 Honor Bands, and as recipients of the Maegly Music Scholarship Award. The scholarship program was set up by the Loveland Music Boosters in 2014 to honor Mr. Maegly and his extensive contributions to the development of the music program at Loveland.

Saturday, February 17

Location: Loveland High School, 1 Tiger Trail, Loveland, OH 45140

Date: Saturday, February 17, 2018 (Inclement weather make-up date: Sunday, February 18)

Time: Dinner seating is staggered (6:00; 6:15 and 6:30 p.m.), followed by performances by the LMS Stage Band (starting at approx. 7:10 p.m.), the Jazz Studies Ensemble (JSE) and the Jazz, Commercial and Contemporary Group (JCC), with the concert ending at about 9:15 p.m. Advance reservations are required for dinner.

Tickets: Dinner and concert: $13 for ages 10 and up; $7 for children under 10 Concert only: $5 (arrival after 7 p.m.) For more information and to reserve your tickets, email LovelandHighSchoolJazz@gmail.com.

Loveland Magazine is the Media Sponsor of the Big Band Concert and Spaghetti Dinner.

Loveland Sweets – Fine Candies

Loveland Sweets is a purveyor of hand-crafted chocolates, caramels, marshmallows, and ice creams. Our house-made candies are prepared in small batches.

Jan 22, 2018