About Cardinal Heights Bands:
Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School houses grades eight and nine, with more than 200 students enrolled in band classes. The Cardinal Heights music program includes four concert bands, two orchestras, three choirs, and a digital music class. Concert bands at Cardinal Heights include two eighth grade bands, a ninth grade band, and an auditioned Wind Symphony comprised of both eighth and ninth grade students. Concert bands rehearse daily and students receive weekly small group instruction as part of the band curriculum. Co-curricular ensembles available to Cardinal Heights band students include two jazz ensembles, a jazz combo, the "Epoch Sound" pep band, and a voluntary marching band, the "Sound of Sun Prairie."
The mission statement "a vision of students as accomplished learners and evolving musicians in pursuit of artistry" guides the Cardinal Heights band program. With support from the Sun Prairie Education Foundation and Sun Prairie Band Booster organizations Cardinal Heights bands have created a series of visiting clinicians, conductors, composers, and artists to collaborate with students. These collaborators have played an important role in supporting the growth of students. These visitors and musical mentors have introduced students to new approaches, perspectives, and philosophies about music, creativity, and self-expression. Past collaborators include composers Rick Kirby, Joel Blahnik, John Stevens, John Nelson, Jonathan Newman, and Kim Archer; conductors Scott Teeple, Peter Haberman, Carolyn Barber, and Matt Temple; clinicians Philip Ostrander, Matt Buchman, and Ronald Carter. Cardinal Heights students have participated in the commissioning of new works for band including Aurum Memoria, In Memory of Jay Haraldson John Nelson, 3 O'Clock Mix by Jonathan Newman (consortium), and Beacon, In Memory of Jim Croft by Kim Archer (La Crosse Central consortium).
The mission statement "a vision of students as accomplished learners and evolving musicians in pursuit of artistry" guides the Cardinal Heights band program. With support from the Sun Prairie Education Foundation and Sun Prairie Band Booster organizations Cardinal Heights bands have created a series of visiting clinicians, conductors, composers, and artists to collaborate with students. These collaborators have played an important role in supporting the growth of students. These visitors and musical mentors have introduced students to new approaches, perspectives, and philosophies about music, creativity, and self-expression. Past collaborators include composers Rick Kirby, Joel Blahnik, John Stevens, John Nelson, Jonathan Newman, and Kim Archer; conductors Scott Teeple, Peter Haberman, Carolyn Barber, and Matt Temple; clinicians Philip Ostrander, Matt Buchman, and Ronald Carter. Cardinal Heights students have participated in the commissioning of new works for band including Aurum Memoria, In Memory of Jay Haraldson John Nelson, 3 O'Clock Mix by Jonathan Newman (consortium), and Beacon, In Memory of Jim Croft by Kim Archer (La Crosse Central consortium).