Fargo North High School - Music

Music

The music department of Fargo North consists of three concert bands, two jazz bands, two concert choirs, one jazz choir, two concert orchestras, and one symphony. Many students in the music program are in two or more of these groups. The jazz groups are pulled almost entirely out of the concert groups.

Choir There are four choirs at Fargo North: a girls' choir, a mixed choir, a concert choir, and a jazz choir, which is known as the 19th Avenue Jazz Choir. The Concert Choir and Jazz Choir are joined by audition, the Girls' Choir for ninth grade girls and a Mixed Choir for boys in the ninth and tenth grade and the girls in the tenth grade. All choirs take part in several concerts throughout the school year, and the Jazz Choir sings in many public venues.

Band The Band program consists of a freshman band, a sophomore band and a junior-senior band. The three concert bands, play at several concerts each school year. The two jazz bands, also split by grade, sometimes play at these concerts as well, and often partake in jazz competitions and festivals. In addition to these bands, many of the students volunteer to play for the school's sporting events in Pep Band. On a few occasions, there have been 'stands bands,' or smaller versions of pep band set up for football games, to play in downtime during the game itself.

Orchestra There are two string orchestras - the freshman orchestra and the 'High School Orchestra', which consists of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The freshman orchestra consists of bowed string instruments (violins, violas, celli, and double basses.) The High School Orchestra also consists of bowed string instruments, but is much larger than the freshman group. They are also regularly joined by woodwind, brass, percussion, and sometimes, although seldom, voice accompaniment. In addition to the two orchestras, there is also a smaller group called Northern Gold Chamber Orchestra, which is joined by audition. It consists of around twenty people, much less than the full orchestras. The NGCO does more visitation performances or exhibitions rather than full concerts, but it also usually plays with the full groups at concerts as well. Mr. Italiano conducts all of these orchestra groups.