The Italy Gladiator Bands will be presenting their annual spring concert tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Italy HS multi-purpose facility (dome). The concert will feature the 6th grade, junior high and high school bands, and admission is free-of-charge. See you there!
Karate is alive and well in Italy — recorder karate, that is. Just ask Stafford Elementary fifth grade student Itzayanna DeLaHoya.
Congratulations to the band for making school history on Saturday. After receiving straight 1st division ratings at the UIL Region Marching contest on Wednesday, the band advanced to the UIL Area Marching contest on Saturday. Competing directly against 16 bands in prelims, the band finished in 5th place, the highest prelims finish in school history.
On Saturday, October 14, the Italy High School Band competed in the Lake Whitney Invitational Marching Contest at Whitney High School. The contest featured bands from 19 different schools from Class 1A, 2A, and 3A in size. At the end of the preliminary round, Italy High School received caption awards for Best Colorguard, 2nd Place in Class, and 1st Division Overall. The band advanced to the finals round, and after their performance finished in 5th place.
Poem by Ron Scott 2017
The Italy Gladiator Band Booster Club is hosting the annual spaghetti dinner to kick of the Tour D’Italia this weekend. Everyone, not just cyclists, are invited to come and eat at the High School Cafeteria. Dinner starts at 5:30pm this Friday, June 16th—$6 per plate. Bring the whole family!
While many extracurricular organizations are accustomed to winding down towards the end of the school year, that clearly wasn’t the case with the Italy Gladiator Band, particularly the junior high band members. Here are the activities that the 6th, 7th and 8th grade band members participated in during the last 3 weeks of the school year:
It is contest season for the bands, and the Italy Band Program has had a stellar couple of weeks, bringing home three trophies from two concert band competitions.
Last month, select students from the Italy Band in grades 7-12 competed in the Centex Honor Band auditions. The Centex Honor Band is an invitational Honor Band consisting of 27 schools in the Waco area which are division 3A or smaller with three performing bands, two at the high school level and one for junior high students.
On Monday this week, members of the junior high and high school bands under the direction of head band director Jon VanOmmeren performed a Christmas concert at Trinity Nursing and Rehab.
Recently, 24 junior high and high school band members competed in the Region 8 Association of Texas Small School Bands Honor Band Audition hosted at Groesbeck High School. Two of our 8th graders, Rocklin Ginnett on Euphonium and Xander Galvan on clarinet, earned a spot in the Region 8 ATSSB Junior High Honor Band.
On Thursday, December 15, the Italy Band Department will perform their 2016 Christmas Concert. The concert will begin at 7:30 pm in the Dome at the high school and will feature all band students from grades 6-12 performing holiday favorites. The Italy Gladiator Band Booster Club will also be serving a Spaghetti Dinner and hosting an auction prior to the concert to help raise funds for the band.
Following an outstanding performance at the Lake Whitney Marching Invitational that included qualifying for a performance in the finals round, the Italy High School Gladiator Regiment Marching Band competed on Wednesday in the UIL Region 8 Marching Contest and received a 1st Division Superior rating. This caps off a very successful 2016 competitive season for the Gladiator Regiment.
The Italy High School Gladiator Regiment Marching Band competed on Tuesday, October 18 at the Troy Invitational Marching Contest. The band performed very well, bringing home a 1st Division trophy.
Our new IHS Band Director, Mr. VanOmmeren, invited the band parents to come and see what the band has been working on all summer. Unfortunately, the weather forced us indoors, but it was great to hear the marching band’s halftime program for this year. The theme is music from Guardians of The Galaxy. After the performance, the band boosters hosted an ice cream social for all.
During a meet and greet on Friday, Italy High School and the community welcomed its newest band director, Jonathan VanOmmeren, and his wife, Aimee, while enjoying cake and punch inside the school cafeteria. The event also gave band supporters a chance to say thanks and goodbye to former band director, Jesus Perez, who will start anew at Midlothian Heritage High School.
Approximately 140 students from Italy High School are participating in “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band’s “Sousa’s March Mania” competition which began recently.
Congratulations to the Gladiator Regiment for their recent success at the Region 8 East zone UIL Concert and sight reading contest. The event was held on Wednesday, March 2 at Groesbeck High School and included thirty five bands from class 1A-4A.
Selected members of the Italy, Texas Gladiator Band drumline, directed by Jesus Perez, performed at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner in Waxahachie recently before a crowd of approximately one hundred citizens. The event was sponsored by Ellis County Republican Women and attended by numerous elected officials, including Senator Brian Birdwell, Master of Ceremonies, and State Representative John Wray.
There were nine Gladiators (counting directors Jesus Perez and David Graves) at this past Saturday’s 2015-16 ATSSB (Association of Texas Small School Bands) all-region band clinic and concert at Groesbeck High School. However, there were far more smiles and accolades, as the students performed a wide variety of band literature for an auditorium filled to capacity with proud band directors, parents, and appreciative community members.
This year’s UIL area band competition for your Italy Gladiator Regiment Band will be hosted by Midway Middle School in the Waco area. It is important to note that admission for the contest will be $5 per person.
The UIL has postponed The Area Band Competition scheduled for Saturday. They are currently working on the reschedule time and date. We will notify you of changes and updates as we are informed.
Congratulations to Ty Hamilton and Anthony Lusk for representing Italy at the all-region jazz auditions. The auditions took place at Groesbeck high school on September 23 and included 2A-4A schools from region 8.
Congratulations are in order for both the Italy high school and middle school bands. Both earned recognition at the state level of the Outstanding Performance Series, a contest that is based on recorded selections of a band’s performance. The middle school placed 4th in state in the Class C (under 250 students in MS enrollment) category with their recording of “Shepherd’s Hey.” The high school placed 3rd with their rendition of “Foundry.”
Congratulations to the Italy middle school and high school bands for their recent success in the Outstanding Performance Series (OPS) competition. Both groups submitted recordings that have advanced past the region and area levels and will be judged at the state level on July 23 at the Texas Bandmasters Association convention.
On Sunday the 17th, 11 Italy Gladiator regiment band members made their way to Trinity Mission Health center to give a little treat to the residents there. “You never know what a little music can do for somebody,” clarinet player Christy Murray said afterword. “These people love to see the talent in this young generation, and we want to exceed their expectations.”
The Italy Gladiator Regiment Band will cap off a second consecutive sweepstakes year with performances by the 6th grade, junior high, and varsity bands on Monday, May 11 at 7:30 pm in the HS gym.
Annual Gladiator Regiment Band Christmas Concert
Thursday, Dec. 18 at 6:30pm
Italy HS Gym
Beginning, Junior High, and High School Bands
admission is free
The Italy Gladiator ColorGuard will have a Bake Sale on Saturday, November 22 from 10:00am to 3:00pm at the Texas Best Travel Plaza. Donations of baked goods are appreciated.
Parents and community members— we know you’ll want to come out and support many of our seniors as we recognize their efforts throughout high school. Senior football players, cheerleaders, cross country participants, and band members will be recognized during this Friday night’s football game against Dallas Gateway. Recognition will take place on the football field at 7 p.m. before the game. We hope to see you there.
Congratulations to the Italy Gladiator Regiment Band for placing third in the Texas Music Educators Association State Honor Band Contest in San Antonio. This result marks the first time that an Italy band places at a state level contest!!!
Towards the end of the school year, 30 of the Italy Gladiator Regiment band members, accompanied by 9 chaperones travelled to New York City on what became a trip of firsts. For many of the students, this was their first time out of state, on an airplane, on a train, on the subway, on a rowboat, and/or on a skyscraper.
Congratulations are in order once again for the Italy Gladiator Regiment Band. The band has put a big explanation mark at the end of what has already been an extraordinary year of accomplishments by qualifying for the State Honor Band competition.
Congratulations to the Italy Gladiator Regiment Band for advancing to state in the Outstanding Performance Series (OPS) competition for the first time in school history. The band’s march selection, “Omaha Beach,” was one of two marches that advanced from the June 2nd region 8 contest to the area round of competition. The area contest was held in Lubbock on June 17th. In the OPS competition, band submit recordings of individual songs so that is why you may see a school more than one entry. The overall rankings for 1A are as follows:
Italy ISD invites you to the annual spring band concert on Tuesday, May 20th at 6:30 pm at the George Scott Gymnasium. Students from grades 6th-12th grade will be presenting their contest selections as well as some additional music to display their talents.
Congratulations to the Italy Gladiator Regiment band for earning straight 1st division ratings from all three concert judges and all 3 sight reading judges at the Region 8 UIL Concert & Sight Reading Contest. The contest was held at Groesbeck High School on March 5-6.
The sixth grade band class from Stafford Elementary participated in the Riesel HS Solo and Ensemble Contest this past Friday, February 28. Of the twenty-six students who participated, twenty-one earned top honors (a superior “1” rating), and five earned an excellent (“2”) rating.
Sarah Levy, Alexis Sampley, and Trevor Davis represented Italy at the ATSSB Area Central auditions in January. Levy became the first Italy ISD student to be selected to the ATSSB All-State Band, as a freshman!
The Italy Christmas Concert lifts everyone’s spirits with three school bands performing holiday music to a packed gymnasium.
Italy HS/JHS band parents and students, due to the possibility of inclement weather, the all-region band auditions scheduled for this weekend have been postponed till next weekend (December 13 and 14).
Bi-district burgers and fries fill up bye week with Italy waiting for a winner between Wolfe City and Collinsville.
The Italy Gladiator Regiment Band will be recognized at the school board meeting on Monday, November 18th at 7pm. The band made Italy history this year by being the first ever to advance to the area finals. We want to take this time to show our appreciation to all involved and hope to see everyone there!
The Italy Gladiator Regiment Band competed in the Region 8 UIL Marching Contest on Wednesday, October 23. The band received a unanimous 1st division rating from all three UIL judges. The panel consisted of Travis Hobbs (Wall HS), Perry Morris (ATSSB), and Tim Edins (Hamilton).
The Gladiator Regiment Band will be competing in the Region 8 UIL Marching Contest at La Vega High School on Wednesday, October 23 at 1:15 PM. Admission for this contest is free. This is the contest that determines if the band advances to the Area Marching Contest. The band would appreciate your support.
Members of the Italy High School varsity band enjoyed a night out on the town in Fort Worth as part of a summer band attendance incentive. Students that didn’t miss any summer band rehearsals were treated to see the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra perform.
David Graves was hired this year as Italy’s Assisstant Band Director when Erica Miller moved to the counselor’s office. In school, he gravitated to the band hall and the trombone. He was not a jock due to his size, so being in the band was a good fit for him and started his life long journey in music. He served in the Air Force for four years and played in the Air Force Band.
The Gladiator Regiment Marching Band and Color Guard performed on field for fans during their annual Band Social and then shared ice-cream with the community inside the band hall.
The Italy High School Gladiator Regiment Band under the guidance of band instructor, Jesus Perez, gains knowledge during week-long summer camp while the IHS Color Guard trains with sponsor Amber Droll and Scooter Spicer of the Garland ISD.
Driving down the bi-ways and highways of Italy sure can make a car dirty! That’s ok, there is a great solution. On Saturday, in Waxahachie, the IHS Band will wash your car at Chicken Express from 9:30am-4:00pm. Come and let the band shine for you!
Both the Italy High School and Middle school bands enjoy recent success in the Outstanding Performance Series competition.
