• Mission Statement

    The Highland Park High School band program is committed to fostering the growth of our students as musicians and as people, achieving the highest standard of performance excellence, and supporting the spirit and tradition of our school and community.

     

    Philosophy

    Music is an essential part of the human experience. Music exists in our culture because it provides an aesthetic experience that is unlike any other. No other art form can duplicate the kind of perception which results from expressing one's self through musical performance. The person who performs in a musical organization is paving the way for a lifetime of musical enjoyment. 

     

    A member of the Highland Park Bands enjoys involvement in a campus organization that provides an immediate identity and purpose. The Highland Park Bands encourage and promote musical and academic excellence with a rehearsal and performance schedule that is compatible with the student's academic responsibilities. Band members are involved in concerts, athletic events, trips, social programs, and are an essential ingredient of school spirit at Highland Park High School.

     

    The study of MUSIC will be the most important ingredient of the Highland Park High School Band Program. Although participation in this organization provides such non-musical benefits as learning to work together, building a sense of responsibility, and feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride in doing something well, the primary purpose of the band program is making MUSIC together.

     

    Joshua Chodoroff, Director of Bands

    Mr. Joshua Chodoroff is currently in his twenty-third year of teaching. He was appointed Director of Bands at Highland Park High School in 2014. During the curricular school day, he teaches the Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band, and Percussion Ensemble. His co-curricular activities at HPHS include leading the Marching Band, Pep Band, Pit Orchestra, and STUNTS Pit Orchestra. Under his direction, the HPHS Wind Symphony performed at the 2017 Illinois Music Educators Conference, and has also performed at Symphony Center. In 2018 and 2019, he led the HPHS Marching Band alongside the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in the CSO's premiere and second performances of Leonard Bernstein's Mass; the 2019 performance was featured on PBS in its Great Performances series.

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    In 2014, Mr. Chodoroff was named a semi-finalist for the Grammy Music Educator Award, honoring him as one of the top-25 music educators in the country. He has also been named a Golden Apple recipient and has received the Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator Award and numerous Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association. He currently serves on Illinois' Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance committee. Mr. Chodoroff has been a presenter at the Midwest Clinic, the Illinois Music Educators All-State Conference and Northwestern University on the subjects of music advocacy, music literacy, and music analysis. He has also led successful band tours to Spain, France, Italy, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Florida. 

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    Prior to teaching at HPHS, Mr. Chodoroff taught at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, IL. Under his direction, the WVHS Wind Ensemble performed multiple times at the University of Illinois Superstate Band Festival and as a clinic band at the 2008 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. During his tenure, the Waubonsie Valley Music Department was twice named a Grammy Gold Signature School by the Grammy Foundation.

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    Josh Chodoroff is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. He also holds a Masters degree in Music from Northern Illinois University, and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Concordia University. Mr. Chodoroff was a trumpet student of David Bilger, Principal Trumpet of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and former Philadelphia Orchestra members Donald McComas and Seymour Rosenfeld. At Temple University he also studied piano with Dr. Charles Abramovic and conducting with Arthur D. Chodoroff. He has also participated in conducting symposia at Northwestern University and the University of North Texas. In addition to teaching, Mr. Chodoroff has served as the Assistant Conductor for the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra and the New Philharmonic, and is also an active clinician. He lives in Deerfield with his wife, Jamie, and their sons, Ethan and Collin.