The seven-time Grammy Award winning Instrumental Music Program at Northwood High School is rooted in a tradition of and a commitment to comprehensive music education through performance. With the intent of providing each student performer with experiences that will result in finding wonder and excitement in the creative endeavor, the ensembles at Northwood are focused on the development of creative and collaborative performance. In pursuit of student creativity, the highest quality literature is selected to encourage the greatest individual musical growth, depth of experience and development a life-long appreciation for music and the arts.
The core of the Northwood Instrumental Music Program consists of eight performance ensembles which meet during the school day. Students have additional performance opportunities with the Marching Band (Fall) and Jazz Bands (Winter and Spring) as well as Chamber Winds which is comprised of members of the Wind Symphony who join the Philharmonic Orchestra for full orchestra repertoire.
When students first enroll in an instrumental music class at Northwood High School, they are placed in the non-auditioned level performance group – Concert Band or String Orchestra. If students wish to be placed in a higher level performing group, they must audition. Auditions are typically the second to last weekend of the school year. For the audition, students will play scales and the required audition piece. Audition sign-ups will begin at our annual Incoming Student Instrumental Music Open House (typically in mid-April), and will be available on our website www.TIMBMUSIC.org. For the audition date, time and required music, please visit www.TIMBMUSIC.org.
For more information about our Instrumental Music Program, please contact the Instrumental Music Directors, Ben Case (bencase@iusd.org) and Whitney Tavlarides (whitneytavlarides@iusd.org).
For those interested in joining our Marching Band, please note that we hold a required summer marching band camp typically the full week before school starts. While this is an open-level ensemble, there are audition for percussion spots. For more information about these marching percussion auditions, visit our website www.TIMBMUSIC.org or contact the directors.