Music

Outstanding music programs are a constant refrain at Saint George’s

From the Kindergarten students learning rhythms to the Jazz Ensemble that really knows how to swing, Saint George’s is a musical school. Lower School classes sing for each other at Friday Assembly and for their families at concerts. Starting in fifth grade our students experience the thrill of performing in a musical, and each year Middle Schoolers stage challenging shows such as Schoolhouse Rock, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, and Pinocchio.

Saint George's School

Many of those Middle School singers also participate in All-State Choir events and earn high marks at local and regional competitions. The Upper School Choir takes top honors at classical and jazz festivals, and our Jazz Ensemble has won the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival five times against the best – and biggest – high schools in the Northwest.

Saint George's School

By any measure, Saint George’s students are talented individual instrumentalists and singers as well. Each year a number of our fifth and sixth graders audition and are chosen for the All-State Honor Chorus. Saint George’s has hosted the Solo and Ensemble Competition for Spokane-area high schools and our students swept the top honors in all six solo divisions that they entered. One young lady has been named an All-USA Musician and the top alto choral singer in the nation. Another has recorded ethereal background music for a popular video game and spent the summer at the Tanglewood Institute in Massachusetts for the 20 best young sopranos in the U.S.

Learning to sing or play an instrument well is hard – but incredibly rewarding – work. And wherever they go in the future, all of our students take with them a lifelong appreciation for music.

The quality of the choral students that we have just gets better and better as their involvement in school and outside musical activities continues to increase.

David Demand
Middle/Upper School Music Teacher, Symphony Conductor

Music News

  • See Video of Princess Winnifred's Song

    Princess Winnifred (Megan Hatheway) wished for some "Happily Ever After" in a song from the recent Upper School musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress. You can see her perform at the SGS Videos page or go to the www.sgs.org home page and click on "Discover SGS Videos" at the upper right.

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  • Steenblik Places 3rd at State Solo Contest

    Senior Allison Steenblik sang her way to 3rd place in the Mezzo-Soprano division of the WIAA / WMEA State Solo and Ensemble Contest. She received three "Superior" ratings from the judges at Central Washington University in Ellensburg on Saturday, April 24. Justin Heftel also sang in the Tenor division at the state contest. Then they had to jump in a van and hurry back on I-90 to Saint George's, arriving just in time to appear in the final performance of Once Upon a Mattress!

  • See "Once Upon a Mattress" this Week

    Upper School drama students perform the hilarious musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress in Founders Theater this Wednesday, April 21, on Friday, April 23, and Saturday, April 24 at 7 p.m. It's the "real" story behind the classic fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. Will Prince Dauntless and Princess Winnifred live happily ever after? Come and find out -- $5 admission ($3 students and seniors) -- tickets available at the door.

  • LS Students to Perform for National Conference

    Saint George's 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders have been invited to sing and perform at this fall's national American Orff Schulwerk Association "Rhythms of the River" conference right here in Spokane. It will put our students (and Judy Hafso their talented director) on a national stage before nearly 2,000 music and movement educators! Our students already are benefitting from an extra set of instruments loaned by AOSA.

  • Practice Pays Off for Jacobsen

    SGS junior Ryan Jacobsen has been selected as a violinist for the 2010 American High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall on June 26. He also will attend a Juilliard Seminar and appear on the CBS Early Show. Congratulations, Ryan!

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  • Choirs Hit High Notes at Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival

    All three SGS choirs swept their divisions against groups from across the Northwest at the University of Idaho's Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival last week. The Upper School Vocal Combo and the Middle School Choir both were among a select few groups invited to perform at the Young Artists Concerts in the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center. Click here to watch the Vocal Combo and the MS Choir on YouTube! Congrats as well to Allison Steenblik, Hannah Wynn, Justin Heftel, and Megan Hatheway for earning Honorable Mentions on their solos and to David Demand for preparing all the choirs so well.

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  • Jacobsen Leads All-State Orchestra

    Violinist Ryan Jacobsen was principal 2nd Violin in the All-State Chamber Orchestra that performed in Yakima's Sun Dome on Monday, Feb. 15. "This orchestra is much harder to get into than the All-State Symphonic Orchestra," notes David Demand.

  • SGS Singers Shine at All-State Concert

    Three Saint George's vocalists were part of the All-State Symphonic Choir that performed in Yakima's Sun Dome on Monday, Feb. 15. Jack Morrow, Allison Steenblik, and Hannah Wynn sounded great singing works in English, Latin and Haitian Creole. Check out the school's Facebook Fan Page (Saint George's School Dragons) for photos from the event!

  • MS Musicians Earn High Ratings

    The EWMEA Solo & Ensemble competition this Saturday highlighted the depth of Saint George's Middle School's music program. Nine vocalists and two instrumental students won high ratings against Spokane's best middle school musicians -- click Read More for the full list.

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  • Two Singers Win Solo & Ensemble Competition

    This weekend’s EWMEA Solo & Ensemble competition among Spokane high schools saw SGS musicians win two vocal divisions and place in 7 of the 8 divisions they entered. Kudos to Justin Heftel, winner of the Tenor division, and to Allison Steenblik, winner in the Mezzo-Soprano division. Both advance to the State Competition in Ellensburg in April. Congrats as well to Jacob Withers - 1st Alternate in the Baritone division, and to the SG Chamber Choir (Steenblik, Hannah Wynn, Megan Hatheway, Justin, Jacob Kwasman, and Withers) who were 1st Alternate in the Large Ensemble Mixed division.

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