North Hills High
School Wind
Ensemble Selected
for National Honor
N
orth Hills High School’s Wind Ensemble received a national
honor from the National Association for Music Education.
The ensemble was chosen from among music ensembles
from throughout the United States’ east coast to perform at
the 2017 National Association for Music Education All-Eastern
Convention in Atlantic City, N.J.
North Hills musicians served as a model ensemble for
educators, professors, presenters and exhibitors from across the
nation who attend the bi-annual conference.
Ensembles from the 13 states submitted audition packets that
included recordings from their previous year’s performances to
their state board. The state boards sent their recommendations to
the national selection committee, which selected the ensembles
who would perform.
“This invitation is one the highest recognitions a concert band
can attain in the country. We are excited to see the highest level
of achievement continue in the North Hills band program for our
students, school and community. We are grateful to all our band
directors, teachers, administrators, boosters and community
members for their support of our students,” Len Lavelle, North
Hills High School music teacher and band director.
Their performance included the world premiere of “Metro
Dances” by Travis Weller, the program’s 2017 commission. North
Hills has commissioned a work each year since 1965, making their
series the longest-running band series of its kind in the United
States. Through the support of the North Hills Instrumental
Parents Association, the series has resulted in the creation of more
than 50 works. Works from the series have been recorded by the
Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra with Frederick Fennel conducting,
military bands in Washington, D.C., University of North Texas Wind
Symphony and college ensembles throughout the country. They
also have been featured in the educational series “Teaching Music
Through Performance in Band.”
The high school’s wind ensemble consists of 48 musicians
in grades 9 to 12 and is under the direction of Len Lavelle
and Chris Ballentine. All ensemble members are selected
through an audition process. This latest accolade adds to the
list of achievements already acquired by North Hills’ talented
musicians. In the last seven years, bands from North Hills have
performed three times at each the PMEA State Convention and
NAfME All-East Convention, all in different years.
36 Ross Township
North Hills Students
Advance to 2017
PPT Shakespeare
Monologue and
Scene Contest Finals
N
orth Hills School District students were named finalists
in the 2017 Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest
sponsored by the Pittsburgh Public Theater.
Highcliff Elementary School fifth-grader Samantha Lubbert and
North Hills High School junior Michelle Do topped hundreds of
fellow competitors in the contest’s preliminary round to advance
to the finalist showcase at the O’Reilly Theater.
Samantha presented a monologue from “As You Like It” as
Rosalind/Ganymede, while Michelle performed a monologue as
Antony from “Julius Caesar.”
More than 1,000 students participated in the yearly contest that
is open to elementary, middle and high school students in grades
four to 12. Only a fraction of the students are chosen as finalists.
To prepare for the contest, for weeks students rehearsed and
memorized their scenes which were required to be under five
minutes. To reach the finalist round, the students performed their
scenes at the O’Reilly Theater before a panel of distinguished
judges and outshone their peers to earn an invitation to perform
in front of a different panel of judges.