Media

Beginning Orchestra - Fall 2021 Concert

Beginning Band - Fall 2021 Concert

Concert Band - Fall 2021 Concert

"Flashlight"

The song "Flashlight" was composed based on the painting "Low Tech" by James Christensen (below). The music seeks to capture the sounds of energy and light, along with the adventure of traveling through space.

St. George UMEA Tour 2019

The Band and Orchestra had a GREAT time in St. George attending the UMEA convention. We stayed in an amazing hotel and we did so many fun activities like laser tag, mini golf, arcade games, bowling, swimming and so much more! Even the bus drive was fun as we sat, laughing with friends, 4 hours down and 4 hours back. We became a true Jaguar Music TEAM on this trip that we'll never forget!

Orem Jr. Hosts the Junior High
All-State Orchestra

Symphony Orchestra at the
2017 State Orchestra Festival

It was a thrill to bring our Symphony Orchestra to the State Junior High Orchestra Festival for the first time! We gathered in the band room and waited for the final curtain call of the matinee performance of “Alice in Wonderland”, then helped 11 orchestra members speedily change clothes and remove makeup and ushered them onto the awaiting bus. Our driver sped us up the freeway to the University of Utah where we first had about an hour to eat lunch and play pool and ping pong.

After rushing over to the Libby Gardner Hall we dropped our instruments in a room and quietly entered the awe-inspiring concert hall. After hearing an inspiring performance by the Cedar Middle School orchestra (which played one of our pieces: Lullaby to the Moon), two of our friendliest students acted as OJH goodwill ambassadors to the Centennial Junior High Orchestra (from Kaysville) sitting in front of us. Julie Abbot and Sarah Farnsworth stood in front of them and learned everybody’s name and asked fun questions and gave everyone a good time while we waited 15 minutes for the next group. So, then the Syracuse Junior High orchestra came out and performed a piece that is very similar to our “Drunken Sailer” song. Hah!

Next it was time to warm up in the most acoustically live room I’ve ever played in. Every time the orchestra played a final note we silently "oohed' and "aahed" at the incredible length of the reverberation...7 or 8 seconds at least! At last we were ready to hit the big stage. Our performance was fantastic, and each song started and ended brilliantly. I was so delighted to be conducting such an excellent orchestra, with musicians who payed such careful attention to musical details and to watching "the conductor".

The clinic with Wayne Roederer was informative and inspiring! He helped us improve our soft tone quality, our precision in slow tempos, and our concept of matching the exact bowing style of each section leader (which we learned is most commonly called the "principal player" in a professional orchestra).

We were so pleased to receive a I- rating (the second-highest rating possible) at our first ever performance at the State Festival. Great job, Symphony Orchestra!!

Symphonic Band at the
2017 State Band Festival

This is the kind of day that would make anybody and everybody feel like becoming a junior high music teacher:
1) eat doughnuts as we load the bus at 7 AM
2) drive an hour north to "The U"
3) watch 3 inspiring performances by some of the top bands in the state
4) warm up in an amazingly live and unbelievably ornate room
5) conduct a truly peak performance on an equally live, similarly stunning stage
6) have lunch with 38 very happy and hyper teenagers
7) go bowling with the same group of delightful teenagers
8) return back to school just in time for the final bell to ring
Yep - everyone should want this job!

Jaguar Jazz Band Performing "Flashpoint"

The Jaguar Jazz Band had a great performance at the inaugural State Junior High Jazz Festival. We performed three songs: Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Hey Jude, and Flashpoint. We were plagued by a couple of unusual problems: our upright bass would not work with the amplifier, and Andrew's trombone literally "broke" into two large pieces just before we played Flashpoint. Fun! Here is a video of Flashpoint, complete with all-working trombones, from the Evening of the Arts just a week after the State Festival. Enjoy!

District Honor Band

It is so rewarding to go with some of the most outstanding band students at Orem Jr to the District Honor Band. A delightfully grueling full day of rehearsing is followed by a few more hours on Saturday before the grand concert, featuring both the junior high and high school honor bands. Our students did an amazing job learning the advanced songs and performing with near-perfection!

Asha Mevlana Clinic

The Symphony Orchestra traveled to Salt Lake City to the Musician's Toolkit building, and participated in a clinic with world-famous violinist Asha Mevlana of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She taught us to to get started with improvising. She complimented our students, saying that they played better and knew more than she expected!

Our musicians played some call-and-response with Asha, and got a handout with cool patterns in the key of A-minor. You can click the backup track below to practice more, or right-click it to download it to your own computer or hand-held device.

A-Minor Improvisation Track.mp3
File Size:	5427 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

2016 State Band Festival

It was a great honor to be accepted to the Utah State Jr. High Band Festival for the first time in the history of Orem Junior High! We travelled to the University of Utah to perform at the Libby Gardner Hall on March 18th.

But first we visited the Bowling Alley at the "U", and had some fun! Guess who got the high score? ...It was me, Mr. Winters.

The Symphonic Band performed fantastically and enjoyed the amazing acoustics of this concert hall - the reverb was incredible! We did not love working with our adjudicator...what did we learn in 30 minutes? That the percussion sounded too loud in this particular concert hall. Thanks a lot! :-) Okay, we learned more than that...I especially learned quite a few new things about preparing a band for this festival!

We hope this is the start of a new tradition of regular acceptance into the State Festival. I want to thank several parents who stepped up to volunteer and help make this an awesome experience - thanks Mr. Ojeda, Mr. Bullock, and Mrs. Peck!!!

2014 District Honor Band

Orem Junior was able to send 8 students to the Alpine District Honor Band. It was a great experience working with Todd Campbell and playing in this 110-member band!

Mindi Abair Clincs

World-class saxophonist Mindi Abair spent a few hours working with our woodwind and jazz band student. Wow! Amazing playing and inspiring words. She played with our jazz band and was very complimentary. Now the jazz kids can say, "I've played with Mindi Abair!"

Kurt Bestor Photos and Videos

The jazz band enjoyed playing in an assembly with Kurt Bestor! Check out some photos and videos by clicking this link: Kurt Bestor Media