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May 2017

Alumni Band "Concert in the Park" - July 13, 2017

Click HERE for Event Information

We have exciting news to share today with all of our alumni… a summer 2017 alumni band concert event!  Our JTHS Alumni Band “Concert in the Park” event will take place on the evening of July 13, 2017 at Joliet’s Bicentennial Park. Conductors will be: 1) Ron Polancich, Joliet West Class of 1971, retired Director of Bands from York High School in Elmhurst, and; 2) Mike Fiske, Joliet East Class of 1972, retired Director of Bands from Joliet Central High School.  This has been conceived as a “local” event, and we certainly welcome Alumni from near and far who would like to participate.

Click HERE and Register to Partcipate!

The program will be lighter than past Alumni Band Concerts.  Ron and Mike are selecting music fitting a good old fashioned “Concert in the Park” to include marches, show tunes and light concert fare. Registration is now open to both performers and also those who simply wish to attend and enjoy the festivities.

Click HERE for our letter to alumni

Our letter to all JTHS band alumni provides additional information including where to register online to participate and view the "Concert in the Park" event information page. We look forward to seeing you in July!

   
May 2017  
   
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Apr
2017


JTHS BAA 2017
Scholarship Awards

Another year and another round of scholarship applications, auditions, and interviews is in the books. Many thanks to all of our student applicants, as well as donors and directors for supporting these fine young men and women. 


As many of you know, participation in the JTHS band program is a rewarding, fulfilling, and life-changing experience. The students feel the presence of those who have come before them, and are touched by all of your commitment and support.


Thank you, and we hope you will join us in continuing this honor in the coming years.
   
Mar
2017
 
   
Mar
2017

 

JTHS BAA 2017
Scholarship Awards

Another year and another round of scholarship applications, auditions, and interviews is in the books. Many thanks to all of our student applicants, as well as donors and directors for supporting these fine young men and women. 

As many of you know, participation in the JTHS band program is a rewarding, fulfilling, and life-changing experience. The students feel the presence of those who have come before them, and are touched by all of your commitment and support.

Thank you, and we hope you will join us in continuing this honor in the coming years.

     
Feb 2017
Philip & Jacqueline Clarke
JT Central Alumni Spotlight

Joliet Central High School Alumnus Philip Clarke was recognized as Steelman of the Year before graduating in 1972, and he has continued to demonstrate exceptional leadership, community service, and musical passion to this very day through a variety of professional and service activities.

His love for music and academics sparked at a young age. He attending Eliza Kelly from kindergarten to sixth grade, and then went on to graduate from Washington Jr. High School as the Class Valedictorian and recipient of the John Philip Sousa Award for musical excellence. Read more...

     
Feb
2017

Dr. Nicole Graves
JT Central Alumni Spotlight

Joliet Central High School alumna Nicole Graves, DDS (’99) exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship, commitment to the local community, and great intelligence and character.

She now proudly owns and operates her own dental office, The Tooth Company, in New Lenox and works as a dentist performing procedures such as root canals, dentures, and whitening with great care and respect for every patient. Read more...

     
Jan
2017

Jermaine Stegall
JT Central Alumni Spotlight

Imagine watching a film without any music – the experience would not be nearly as impressive. Joliet Central High School’s very own alumnus Jermaine Stegall, class of 1995, now shares his musical genius and passion with many audiences as a music composer for film and television, composing and producing original and additional music score for theatrical and independent films and television shows airing on Netflix, Amazon, Disney Channel, CW network, and VH1.  Read more...

     
Jan
2017

Janina Gavankar
JT West Alumni Spotlight

JOLIET – Former Joliet resident Janina Gavankar will join the supernatural drama “Sleepy Hollow” when it returns to FOX on Jan. 6.

Gavankar recently took some time to answer questions from Herald-News Features Editor Denise M. Baran-Unland via email about her character, her years in Joliet and her current projects.  Read more...

     
Sep
2016

JTHS BAA holds an annual membership meeting every year during the month of September.  Thanks to all who attended our 15th Annual Meeting which convened in the JT West Library Media Center on Sep. 18th, 2016. Click here for our informational letter to all members.
     
Jun
2016

*** IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION ***
The JTHS BAA wants to inform all JT band alumni about an important change in our Facebook posting policy. In the past, we have maintained both a "Group" and a "Page" for our Association on Facebook.  Going forward, ALL postings will ONLY appear on the JTHS BAA Facebook Page. "Follow Us" and "Like Us" at https://www.facebook.com/jthsbaa/
     
Mar
2016

 

2015-16 JTHS BAA Scholarship Awards

A total of nine senior class band students (class of 2016) from JT West and JT Central successfully performed their etudes and were interviewed on March 19th in their bid to be selected to receive one of the 2015-16 JTHS BAA Scholarship Awards. The recipients will be announced during their respective campus’ senior award banquets and also during their band's year-end concert performances

     
Mar
2015

 

Joliet musician to be honored
at 34th Chicago Music Awards

JOLIET – Ted Lega of Joliet is being honored at 34th Chicago Music Awards, in Chicago IL, March 15 with a life time achievement award. Read more...

 

     
Mar
2015

 

2014-15 JTHS BAA Scholarship Awards

On March 14th, 2015 a total of ten senior class band students (class of 2015) from JT West and JT Central successfully performed their etudes and were interviewed during the final steps in their bid to be selected to receive one of the 2014-15 JTHS BAA Scholarship Awards. The recipients will be announced during their respective campus’ senior award banquets and also during their band's year-end concert performances.

     
May
2014

JTHS BAA Announces Second Scholarship

We are thrilled to announce that our JTHS Band Alumni Association added a second scholarship award in memory and in honor of deceased JT band alumnus, Mr. Norman A. MacDonald (JTHS Class of 1961). The JTHS BAA "Norman MacDonald Memorial Scholarship Award" was made possible by a very generous donation. We have worked closely with Mr. MacDonald's family to expedite this award so it could be presented to one JT senior band student from both JT Central and JT West during this (2013-14) school year.The award recipients are: 1) Alex Paolone - JT West, 2) Salvador Rodriguez - JT Central. Hence, our BAA organization will award a total of four scholarships this year! All of this year's recipients will be recognized at the JT Central Concert on 5/11/14 and the JT West Concert on 5/12/14. Visit this link for more information about our newest scholarship -- www.jthsbaa.org/about/scholarship. Contact us at scholarship@jthsbaa.org to learn how to support future scholarships!

     
Apr
2014

JAHM Wins $15K Grant

The Joliet Area Historical Museum, 204 N. Ottawa St., has won a $15,000 grant from the Caesars Foundation, to be used toward the construction of a new permanent exhibit called "Strike Up the Band!" Read more... 

     
Mar
2014

2013-14 Centennial Scholarships

On Saturday, March 15, 2014, a total of eight senior class band students (class of 2014) from JT West and JT Central successfully performed their required etudes and were then interviewed during the final steps...  

     
Fall
2014

JT West - Marching into the Future

Attention JT Band Alumni and Friends - We are writing to you today to ask that you consider sponsoring The Joliet West Marching Tigers for the 2014 Marching Season. Read more...

(Sponsorship Opportunities)

     
May
2013

2012-13 Centennial Scholarships

We are pleased to announce the 2012-13 recipients of the Centennial Scholarships. They are: 1) JT Central band senior Anna Beamsley and 2) JT West band senior Emily Pearson. Congratulations to Emily and Anna!!!

     
Feb
2013


Bruce Houseknecht

Unified JT band triumphed at ’64 World’s Fair

The Joliet Township High School Band played the “1812 Overture,” a masterpiece with its desperate plea, its heralding bells, its lightning-flash fanfare, its volcanic breakthrough cannonade, its banner of final vindication.

This was it: the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the last major event in the history of the unified band.

Read the complete story

     
Jan
2013


The JTHS band marches in Washington, D.C., in the 1953 inaugural parade of President Eisenhower. | COURTESY OF JOLIET AREA HISTORICAL MUSEUM

Presidential Salute in 1953
Joliet was named the best band at
Eisenhower's inaugural parade 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower returned a salute from Bruce Houseknecht as the young director led the Joliet Township High School Band in the 1953 inaugural parade in Washington 60 years ago this week.

Read the complete story

     
Jan
2013


Bruce Hilbert Houseknecht

Houseknecht continued Joliet Township's  winning tradition 

Bruce Houseknecht led the Joliet Township High School Band to a state title in 1949, winning the Illinois Music Sweepstakes, with 26 of 31 soloists and ensembles achieving superior first ratings.

The band was named state champion in the Class A and AA groups, in the April contest at downstate Pekin...

Read the complete story

     
Dec
2012


City of Joliet banner recognizing
the 1924-1925-1926 band.

City of champions: Joliet band has a legacy of winners 

JOLIET — The band played “Black Horse Troop,” a march with percussion resembling the steps of steeds.

A horse is built for the ground and for the wind. So the musicians continued with a flourish of woodwinds — clarinets, saxophones and bassoons. They played the prelude from “L’Arlesienne Suite” by Bizet and the overture for “Phedre” by Massenet.

The band excelled with this balance of power and grace, like a horse galloping in the wind.

The Joliet Township High School Band won the contest — its first national championship...

Read the complete story

     
Nov
2012


A cornet used as a symbol for
the late A.R. McAllister, longtime
director of the JTHS Band.

McAllister band era at Joliet Township High School 

JOLIET — The Minute Men marched down Jefferson Street to the train station, ready on short notice to play for troops headed off to World War I.

The war lasted from July 1914 to November 1918, and in the final 18 months, millions of Americans served and 118,000 lost their lives.

The Joliet Township High School Band greeted troops — at any time, day or night — as the troops passed through the Joliet station on their way to the battlefields.

Read the complete story

     
Nov
2012


Archie Raymond McAllister

Band directors define eras at JTHS

JOLIET — Within the century of musical excellence at Joliet Township High School, there are distinct eras of history.

Each era is identified by a person’s name — the band director who made it unforgettable in the minds of students.

Read the complete story

     
Nov
2012

‘The best band in the land’: A look at
100
years of high school band excellence

JOLIET — “The best high school band in the land.”

America always has been a place of civic boosterism. Every town has eager folks filling the newspapers with hyperbole. This quote could have come from a person who was hopelessly biased for the home team.

Except it didn’t.

This quote — declaring that Joliet Township High School has the best band in the land — was spoken by John Philip Sousa.

Read the complete story

     
Oct
2012


Joliet Area Historical Museum

Prof to discuss JTHS band’s early years

JOLIET — As the Joliet Township High School band celebrates its centennial, an educator will speak this weekend about the band's early years.

The free event will be at 2 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 13, 2012) at the Joliet Area Historical Museum, 204 N. Ottawa St. The public is encouraged to attend, as the museum is hosting a free-admission Founders' Day.

Phillip M. Hash, associate professor of music education at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., will examine the history of the band. Hash will discuss the band’s origin in 1912 and the tenure of the first long-term director, A.R. McAllister.

Read the complete story

     
Sep
2012

Order On-Line Today!
The 2-CD audio recording of our alumni band "Centennial Concert" is available directly from Mark Custom Recording website ... click here, select "Album Title" search and type "Joliet"

Prefer to order by mail?
Click here for the double CD set order form

**Now Available on iTunes**
Click here to preview, purchase, and download the
entire CD or your favorite individual tracks today!

     
Aug
2012

Our Alumni Band Concert of July 29th, 2012 is now a part of our rich history.  Click here to view the Centennial Concert index page or use the History menu on our home page and then select "Alumni Band Concerts"

     
Aug
2012


Cynthia Stacy

Joliet Grads Win JTHS Band Alumni Scholarships

To celebrate 100 years of music at Joliet Township High School District, the band alumni association has awarded two $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors.

Joliet Central graduate Cynthia Stacy and Joliet West graduate Michael Holwey received the JTHS Band Alumni Centennial Scholarship Award.

Read the complete story


Michael Holwey

     
Jul
2012


Richard Wagner

Musical Send-off Touches Soldier's Heart

Richard Wagner, 65, of Chicago, is returning back to his alma mater Sunday to hear a song he played numerous times when the Joliet Township High School Band gave a musical send-off to draftees and enlistees, leaving for Vietnam War.

Read the complete story

     
Jun
2012


Strike up the Band

Joliet High School Band Celebrating Centennial this Year

JOLIET — The Joliet Township High School band thundered to national championships again and again in the 20th century, and its song resounds in many memories, echoing between the limestone walls of its home city.

Now, the Joliet Area Historical Museum is seeking the public’s help in creating its exhibit on 100 years of band history.

Read the complete story

 

     
May
2012

May 2012 Letter to all JT Band Alumni

Dear Concert Paricipant & Band Alumni:

In just under three months history will be made. We are excited to announce that an unprecedented 155 (and growing) alumni will take the stage. This means that we are going to have difficulty fitting everyone on the stage, both for rehearsal and at the concert. To that end, we are asking for your patience in handling the complexities that this event brings. On that note, it has been determined that there are going to have to be two ensembles. We'll be working on the division in the next couple of weeks with the directors and will inform you as soon as possible...

Read the letter

     
Apr
2012


JTHS Alumni Band

JTHS Seeks Band Alumni Stories and Memories

Read the complete story

     
Mar
2012


Bruce H. Houseknecht

JTHS Band: 1949 and 1950

CHICAGO —The highlight of the 1949-1950 school year was the appearance of the band in Chicago at the Hotel Morrison, on December 12, before 2,000 band directors from forty-eight states. The band was acclaimed "greatest in the land" by such guest conductors as Dr. Frank Simon, formerly soloist for John Philip Sousa, Glenn Bainum, director of Northwestern University Bands, and Paul Yoder and Dave Bennett, famous composers and arrangers.

Read the complete story

     
Feb
2012


Joliet Area Historical Museum

Historical museum to honor century-old JTHS band at gala

JOLIET — The band program in the Joliet Township High School District is receiving another honor this year, after a century of victories.

The program, now celebrating its centennial, has been named the DreamMaker to be featured at the annual gala for the Joliet Area Historical Museum.

The Oct. 6 gala — the DreamMakers Ball ...

Read the complete story

     
Feb
2012


A. R. McAllister
and
John Philip Sousa

JTHS: 100 Years to
Beat the Band

JOLIET — The storied band program in the Joliet Township High School District is observing its centennial this year, and the district is proud to be celebrating.

The community can get involved in a number of ways...

Read the complete story

     
Feb
2012


Charles S. Belsterling
and
A. R. McAllister
discuss the score

Vice-president of U.S. Steel Corp. - Writes a Band March

The School Musician (April, 1937) — The hobby of a Philadelphia high school student of years ago furnished the feature number of the 24th annual concert of the JTHS band on March 19... His composition, "The March of the Steel Men", was given its world premier...

Read the complete story

     
Jan
2012

January 2012 Letter to all JT Band Alumni

Well, folks… it’s January 2012, and the Centennial Concert is just around the corner.  The next 6 months will fly by much quicker than any of us expect. July 29 will be here soon!

On that note, there are a number of different house keeping things that need to be communicated to everyone...

Read the letter

     
Sep 2011


Lois Delander wears the
crown she received when
chosen the most beautiful girl
in America in 1927.

Joliet woman held Miss America crown
for six years

JOLIET — Tony Contos, executive director of the Joliet Area Historical Museum, has a photo of Joliet girl and 1927 Miss America Lois Delander. She is standing in front of the West Acres house she had built with her earnings.

Read the complete story

   
Sep 2011


This is a photograph of the
playbill for Marimbist Ardis
(Goeken) Garfield during
the years she performed in various venues

Joliet Twp. H.S. band celebrating
100 years of music

Ardis (Goeken) Garfield’s high school years in the early 1940s were indeed impressive. She had the distinction of being the first girl to perform as a member of the championship Joliet Township High School Band under the direction of the noted A.R. McAllister.

Read the complete story

   
Aug 2011


Robert Moore

Joliet wants to get the band back together

Joliet Township High School band wants to mark its centennial
with a reunion concert and they have a 90-year-old oboist lined up

Read the complete story

   
Feb 2011

Bowling Fundraiser a Success!

The JTHS Band Alumni Association (BAA) held its 2nd annual Scotch Doubles Bowling Fundraiser to benefit its Scholarship Fund.  The event was held at Town & Country Bowling Lanes. According to President, Brad Uffelmann, "It was a total success and raised twice the proceeds for the scholarship fund as in the previous year."

Read the complete story

   

 


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