NORMAL WEST HIGH SCHOOL

WIND ENSEMBLE

The Normal West High School Wind Ensemble has set high standards of musical excellence since its inception in 1995.  The Wind Ensemble is one of five concert bands offered at Normal West High School.  In addition, Normal West High School offers two jazz bands, a competitive marching band, musical pit-orchestra, orchestra winds, and a host of chamber ensembles.  The Wind Ensemble performed in Australia's Sydney Opera House in June 2015 and at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in June 2010.  In the spring of 2005, the Normal West High School Wind Ensemble made their debut performance at Carnegie Hall in NYC. The group is the recipient of multiple mayoral proclamations in the Town of Normal and City of Bloomington, marking these achievements.  In January 2001, 2010, and 2017, the Wind Ensemble performed for the Illinois Music Education Conference in Peoria, IL.  In the spring of 2008, they were selected as the “Encore” ensemble to perform the evening concert at the Heritage Festival of Gold in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  The ensemble has been invited to perform at the University of Illinois “Superstate” Concert Band Festival thirteen times and was named the Class AA Honor Band six times.  The ensemble has also performed at the Capitol and Lincoln Monument, Washington, D. C., and on a cruise ship in Nassau, the Bahamas.  The Normal West High School Wind Ensemble is proud to have premiered five works including A Longford Legend (1995), Metroplex (2005), and With Every Sunrise (2015) all by Robert Sheldon, and A Road, A Path and And We'll All Go Together, both by Roy Magnuson.

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The Wind Ensemble will celebrate Normal West's 25th Anniversary in 2019-2020 by performing at the World Projects Pacific Basin Music Festival at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.  As a part of the PBMF, the band has been selected to collaborate with composer John Carnahan on a commissioned work.  The Wind Ensemble will premier this new composition at the festival's Command Performance.  We thank World Projects and Professor Carnahan for this incredible opportunity!