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Time:

Friday
December, 19, 2014
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Location:

Ballroom W190

Category

CHAMBER ENSEMBLES

Conductor

George Hattendorf and Michael Warner

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

The woodwind choirs at Mountain Ridge High School are part of a comprehensive band program consisting of marching, concert and jazz programs. The Woodwind Choir encompasses the entire woodwind section of the wind ensemble at Mountain Ridge. They have consistently received Superior ratings at AMEA Solo/Ensemble Festivals and appeared at special “feeder concerts” performing for incoming students. The Mountain Ridge High School Saxophone Orchestra is a unique ensemble. Not only are saxophone ensembles themselves a rarity, but the fact that one exists and rehearses on a regular basis in a high school setting is even more rare. This ensemble is an extracurricular group meeting one hour, one day a week after school. Members include students from all grade levels and ensembles in the Mountain Ridge High School band program. Membership into the group is by invitation and requires no audition, only a desire to learn and perform music written for this medium. The instrumentation of the ensemble utilizes all members of the saxophone family from sopranino to bass saxophone. During the fall semester the Mountain Ridge Saxophone Orchestra hosts an annual saxophone workshop, Saxemberfest. This past November marked the sixth annual Saxemberfest and included educators, professional musicians and students from across Arizona. The 2014-2015 academic year marks the sixth year for the saxophone orchestra. During their existence they have participated in the AMEA Solo/Ensemble Festival receiving consistent ratings of Superior. At the past AMEA Solo/Ensemble Festival they rated a Superior in Tier 1 and qualified to perform in Tier 2 and also appeared as a featured ensemble at the Arizona Music Educators Association State Convention. In addition, the saxophone septet, consisting of saxophonist from the wind ensemble, also achieved a rating of Superior and was invited to perform at the 75th Anniversary Conference in the Tier 2 performance on January 31, 2014. The saxophone septet also placed 2nd in the Arizona Wind Symphony Small Ensemble Festival. Other extracurricular woodwind ensembles at Mountain Ridge High School are the Mountain Ridge Clarinet Choir and the Mountain Ridge Wind Quintet. Both ensembles achieve consistent Superior ratings at AMEA Solo/Ensemble Festivals. The Clarinet Choir placed 2nd in the Arizona Wind Symphony Small Ensemble Festival in January, 2012.

MOUNTAIN RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL WOODWIND CHOIR AND SAXOPHONE ORCHESTRA

Conductor's Bio

George Hattendorf is currently in his forty first year of teaching and has serves as the Director of Bands at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona where he has been since 2005. Prior to his appointment at this Deer Valley School, he was the band director at Barry Goldwater High School for three years. Prior to his move to Arizona he was the Director of Bands and Orchestra at Chesterton High School in Chesterton, Indiana for twenty years. In addition to public school positions in Illinois and Georgia, Mr. Hattendorf was the Associate Director of Bands at New Mexico State University and Associate Professor of Music at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. Ensembles under his direction have amassed an enviable record of excellence in the areas of concert, marching and jazz including numerous state, regional and national recognitions. The Mountain Ridge Bands have received consistent Superior and Superior with Distinction honors in concert and marching activities. The Mountain Ridge “Pride of the West” Marching Band has appeared as a 2007 Rose Bowl Parade participant, a 2008 Arizona representative to the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship and Parade and in 2009 the band was the Arizona representative to the 56th Presidential Inaugural Parade honoring President Barack Obama and 2011 the band represented Arizona and the USS Arizona in the Waikiki Holiday Parade and events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He graduated from Indiana University with degrees in Music Performance/Music Education and from VanderCook College of Music with a Master of Music Education. Mr. Hattendorf has been recognized for excellence in teaching on numerous occasions by the Duneland School Corporation and was chosen as an Outstanding Music Educator in the Chicagoland area. Most recently Mr. Hattendorf was recognized as a Deer Valley Unified School District “Teacher of the Year” for 2008. In addition the Mountain Ridge Band program received the prestigious “Best of the West” award from the WESTMARC group in 2009 and also was a finalist for the Governor’s Arts Awards in the arts education category in 2010. Most recently the National Federation of State High School Associations recognized Mr. Hattendorf as the Outstanding Music Educator in Arizona for 2011-12 and in 2012 Mr. Hattendorf was recognized by School Band and Orchestra magazine as one of 50 directors “who make a difference.” In 2013 Mr. Hattendorf was inducted as a Legion Laureate by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Mr. Hattendorf is also actively involved in state and national level music associations. He was recently appointed as the Band Council chairman of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). He just completed his second term as the President of the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association and has also served as State Festival Coordinator and AMEA Band Chair for the North Central Region. Prior to his involvement with the ABODA, he served as the President of the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) and on numerous committees for ISSMA. In addition he has been a member of the Bands of America Contest Advisory Commission, serving on that committee as an adjudicator and participant. He has been actively involved with the development of performance assessments for the ABODA, ISSMA and BOA. He continues to be very active as an adjudicator at the local and national level. Michael W. Warner received his education from Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio. He is an accomplished performer and freelance musician in and around the Phoenix area. He has performed with the Sun Cities Symphony Orchestra, West Valley Symphony, the Tempe Symphonic Wind Ensemble as well as numerous professional and community musical organizations He is the founder and soprano saxophonist with the Desert Wind Saxophone Quartet. Mr. Warner has been a contributing writer to the ASaxophone Journal@. His musical works are published with G. Schirmer, Brazinmusikanta Publications and Desert Wind Publications. He also is the director of the Arizona Saxophone Orchestra, an all-state honor saxophone ensemble that performed at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference on the Arizona State University Campus. Currently he holds the position of Assistant Director of Bands and Director of Jazz Bands at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona. In addition to his duties at Mountain Ridge High School, Mr. Warner teaches saxophone and clarinet from his studio in Glendale, Arizona.

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