North Hills Bands Shine in Windy City

Besides performing in Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, the North Hills bands earned eight awards at the Heritage Adjudication Festival, which also was in Chicago.

“It was exciting for our students to perform in the Heritage Adjudication Festival,” Band Director Len Lavelle said.

“We returned with hours of audio comments from university professors about how our students are achieving against a national standard."

The North Hills High School Band received the Sweepstakes Award for an Instrumental Program, earning the highest average score of groups in the competition.

The North Hills High School Wind Ensemble garnered three awards including Outstanding Band, which is awarded to the highest scoring band in the festival; a Gold Award—First Place; and an Adjudicator Award, given to groups that reach a gold award by achieving a score higher than 92.

The North Hills High School Jazz Band earned two awards: a Gold Award—Second Place and an Adjudicator Award.

A Silver Award—First Place was awarded to the North Hills High School Symphonic Band.

David Haberman, a junior saxophonist, received the Maestro Award, which is awarded to an individual student for extraordinary musical ability and sensitivity. 

“The St. Patrick's Day Parade was a wonderfully planned event with the backdrop of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. It was awesome to perform in such a large venue,” Lavelle said. “We were all proud to take North Hills on the road and share the wonderful things that our students are doing and that our district offers.”

- Submitted by Tina Vojtko, on behalf of the . Have news you'd like to share with Patch readers? Email information and photos to at amyjo.brown@patch.com.