Upcoming Events
Jazz Orchestra Performance at Noce Jazz Cabaret
Come out and listen to the Jazz Orchestra at Des Moines’ coolest jazz venue!
Tickets can be purchased at https://www.nocedsm.com/. Tickets are available at the door, but please consider purchasing your tickets early, as these nights do have a tendency to sell out.
IIMA Waukee Indoor Marching
This is the 2025 IIMA State Championships!
This event features Indoor Drumlines and Colorguards from around central Iowa. It is being held at Waukee High School as a joint effort between the Waukee and Northwest Band programs.
I&E (solos and duets) early-afternoon
Full performances mid-afternoon & evening
Location
Waukee High School
555 SE University Ave.
Waukee, IA 50263
Spectator Tickets
$20 - General Admission
$15 - Students/ Ages 65+
Children 5 and Under - FREE
Event Schedule
Independent & Ensemble Schedule
Visit IIMA’s website for additional information and tickets here.
Iowa Jazz Championships
The Iowa Jazz Championships features the best fifteen 4A bands from across Iowa. The Northwest Jazz Orchestra will perform at 4:15 p.m. at Stephens Auditorium on the Iowa State University campus. We would love to have your support in Ames.
Awards Ceremony: 6:15 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium at the Iowa State University campus.
Find the full schedule here.
There are three ways for you to purchase tickets for the Iowa Jazz Championships.
Visit Iowa Jazz Championships Tickets prior to March 31and enter code EARLYBIRD to purchase tickets for $12.
Visit Iowa Jazz Championships Tickets between April 1 and April 6 and enter code ADVANCE to purchase tickets for $15.
Purchase tickets at the door for $20 with CASH ONLY.
All tickets will get you a wristband that allows entry in all four performance locations. Children under 5 who sit on a lap are free. NO REFUNDS will be given for any reason. If you're not sure you can attend, tickets will be available at the door on the day of the event at regular price. Checks and credit cards will not be accepted at the door.
Find additional information on Iowa Jazz Championship’s website here.
NWBPO Meeting
The Northwest Band Parents Board will meet on April 15 at 6:00 PM in the NWHS Seminar Room. All band parents are invited to join us!
🍕Papa John's Fundraising Night
Waukee NW Band Fundraising Night
Every 3rd Wednesday of each month, Papa John’s will be giving back 5% of sales to the Waukee Northwest High School Band!!
Waukee Location ONLY
Adventureland Concert Band Festival
Both the Concert Band and the Wind Symphony will perform.
The festival will feature 20 bands adjudicated by some of the finest professional wind conductors and teachers in the United States including Dr. Timothy Mahr (Director of Bands Emeritus, St. Olaf College), Dr. Robert Besler (Director of Bands Emeritus, University of Wyoming), and Dr. Andrew Boysen (University of New Hampshire).
The concerts are free and open to the public. We hope you can all come out to support the bands!
Itinerary: More information to come.
Spring Band Concert
The annual Spring Band concert will feature both the Concert and Symphony Bands. The doors to the auditorium will open for audience members at 6:40 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public!
Students should plan to be at the school by 6:15 p.m. Wind Symphony will meet in the north band room, while the Concert Band will meet on stage.
Concert Dress
We want to look as good as we sound, so please adhere to the following guidelines:
Preferred concert attire
Black suit with a white shirt and a tie and black dress shoes
Black dress that extends beyond your knees when seated and covers your shoulders
Acceptable concert attire
Black slacks with a black long sleeve collared dress shirt
Unacceptable concert attire
White shirts without a jacket *** This is a change from past years
White shoes
White socks
Short sleeved shirts
Jeans or leggings
Torn or distressed clothing
Sneakers or athletic shoes
Short skirt that expose your knees when you sit
Blouses or shirts that expose your shoulders
Please note that in order to improve the uniformity of the ensemble, white shirts are no longer allowed without a jacket.
Jazz @ Northwest
Come out and listen to Northwest’s Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Lab bands. The concert is free and open to the public!
This jazz extravaganza will feature both jazz bands along with a variety of student led small ensembles. It is a great night and a fantastic way to wrap up the year. We hope to see you there!
State Large Group Concert Band Festival
The Concert Band will perform Iowa High School Music Association’s Large Group Festival.
The Northwest Concert Band will perform at TBED in the DCG auditorium.
Spectators should park in the main lot south of the main entrance (South Side) of the building. Admission is $10.00 for adults, $7.00 for Seniors (65+), and $5.00 for students (K-12 only). Pre-school and younger will be admitted for free.
Visit the event website here.
NWBPO Meeting
The Northwest Band Parents Board will meet on May 13 at 6:00 PM in the NWHS Seminar Room. All band parents are invited to join us!
All State Jazz Band
Sponsored by the Jazz Educators of Iowa. Visit their website here.
Practice and performance locations include Johnston High School and Downtown Marriott.
NWHS Graduation
Sophomores and Juniors will play as the Seniors enter and exit graduation. (Bus transportation to and from Wells Fargo Arena will be provided.)
Schedule: More information to come.
Concert Dress
We want to look as good as we sound, so please adhere to the following guidelines:
Preferred concert attire
Black suit with a white shirt and a tie and black dress shoes
Black dress that extends beyond your knees when seated and covers your shoulders
Acceptable concert attire
Black slacks with a black long sleeve collared dress shirt
Unacceptable concert attire
White shirts without a jacket *** This is a change from past years
White shoes
White socks
Short sleeved shirts
Jeans or leggings
Torn or distressed clothing
Sneakers or athletic shoes
Short skirt that expose your knees when you sit
Blouses or shirts that expose your shoulders
Please note that in order to improve the uniformity of the ensemble, white shirts are no longer allowed without a jacket.
Senior Class Recital
Please join us for this exciting new event highlighting the remarkable talents of our graduating senior musicians!
The recital will showcase several of our seniors performing solos and ensembles, reflecting their musical growth and accomplishments.
We invite you to attend and celebrate with us as our seniors embark on the next exciting chapter of their lives.
Band Awards Night
Students and parents are cordially invited to join us in celebrating the achievements of the Northwest High School bands for the 2024-25 academic year. This special event will include the presentation of band awards, an end-of-year slideshow, and special recognition for the Class of 2025 seniors. You won't want to miss it!
Oh the places you’ve been!
One of the highlights of our Awards Night is the end of the year slideshow - and we need your band pictures from the year to make it happen. Pictures from band camp? Great! Pictures from concert band? Wonderful! Pictures from Perry or a jazz band trip? Fantastic!
Please email pictures (or a link to the pictures) to nwbandphotos@gmail.com. Make sure to go through your pictures first before submitting your favorites. If we get too many from each person, we can not include them all - and it would make the video really long if we did. So pick your best and send them in. Think quality over quantity!
End of the Year Video Help!
We are looking for someone who would be willing to put together an end of the year video slideshow to play at our awards night on May 20. The video has typically been between 15 and 25 minutes long and includes band pictures from throughout the year. If this is something that you would be interested in doing, please email Mr. Strohmaier for more information.
🍕Papa John's Fundraising Night
Waukee NW Band Fundraising Night
Every 3rd Wednesday of each month, Papa John’s will be giving back 5% of sales to the Waukee Northwest High School Band!!
Waukee Location ONLY
Leadership Team Training
Training for the 25-26 Royal Brigade Leadership Team including: Drum Majors, Section Captains and other mentors.
Northwest Seminar Room
NWBPO Meeting
The Northwest Band Parents Board will meet on June 17 at 6:00 PM in the NWHS Seminar Room. All band parents are invited to join us!
🍕Papa John's Fundraising Night
Waukee NW Band Fundraising Night
Every 3rd Wednesday of each month, Papa John’s will be giving back 5% of sales to the Waukee Northwest High School Band!!
Waukee Location ONLY
St. Patrick's Day Parade Trip
Ireland here we come!!!
Tentative Itinerary
Friday, March 14 - Travel Day
Saturday, March 15 - Arrive/Rehearse at the Gaelic Athletic Association Grounds
Sunday, March 16 - Visit the city of Kilkenny and Kilkenny Castle
Monday, March 17 - March in the 2025 St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Tuesday, March 18 - Visit the city of Galway and the Cliffs of Moher
Wednesday, March 19 - Tour Dublin, visit the EPIC Emigration Museum and The Jeanie Johnstion: An Irish Faminie Story
Thursday, March 20 - Visit Belfast and tour the Titanic Museum
Friday, March 21 - Visit Causey Farm with Dinner and Show at Taylors Three Rock
Saturday, March 22 - Depart
Northwest Jazz Showcase
The Northwest Jazz Showcase will highlight the musical talents of all NWHS Jazz bands, ranging from 7th grade and up. Join us for a spectacular evening celebrating the incredible journey of budding jazz musicians contributing to the vibrant musical community at Northwest High School.
This concert is open to the public and free of charge. Doors will open at 6:45 pm, so come early and enjoy an unforgettable night of jazz performances.
IIMA Roosevelt Indoor Marching
Location
Theodore Roosevelt High School
4419 Center St.
Des Moines, IA 50312
Spectator Tickets
$15 - General Admission
$10 - Students/ Ages 65+
Children 5 and Under - FREE
Schedule TBD
Northwest “Blue Note” Jazz Festival Set-Up
We are hosting our annual Northwest Blue Note Jazz Festival on Saturday, March 8th.
It's going to be an exciting day with 45 bands performing in three centers around the building. This festival will be an opportunity for us to support jazz music, bring in some great clinicians, and raise money for the band parent organization - which will benefit all of our band students.
Please visit the Blue Note Jazz Festival page for detailed information.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
We have lots of volunteer opportunities available! (Jazz students will have specific jobs assigned to them, so these students should not sign up.)
If you would like to sign up to help, click the link below:
Northwest Blue Note Jazz Festival Volunteer Sign-up
Non-band students can also sign up and earn Silver Cord hours.
Thank you for your help!
Northwest “Blue Note” Jazz Festival
This is the third annual Northwest Blue Note Jazz Festival! Our festival has grown substantially this year and will feature 45 bands performing throughout the day for ten clinicians in five competitive classes.
Not only will this be a great event, but it will also be a strong fundraiser for our program. Soon, we will send out a volunteer signup for this event.
Doors open at TBD
Schedule / Performance times:
1:10 pm - Jazz Lab - Auditorium
7:50 pm -Jazz Orchestra - Auditorium
Full Schedule here.
Ticket Information:
Click here to purchase event tickets.
Volunteers are needed to help make this a successful event.
Sign up here.
Non-band students can also sign up and earn Silver Cord hours.
Thank you in advance for your help!
NWBPO Meeting
The Northwest Band Parents Board will meet on March 4 at 6:00 PM in the NWHS Seminar Room. All band parents are invited to join us!
Ireland Trip Meeting (following band concert)
We will hold a (brief?) meeting for all traveling students and families on Monday night immediately after our concert. Please make sure you have this meeting on your calendar, as this will be your chance to get the final details for the trip and ask any last minute questions you may have.
If you have specific questions that you want to make sure that we answer, please submit them below.
If you have multiple questions, please submit a separate form for each question.
Winter Band Concert
Our winter band concert is coming up on Monday the 3rd at 7:00 with the 9th grade band from Prairieview. The auditorium will be a little more full than normal, so please plan accordingly. Also, please help us make the Prairieview families feel welcome. We are excited to have them all at the high school with us next year!
Concert dress is the same as December and All-Iowa. We plan to have our concert uniforms for the April performances, however for Monday, we ask that all students adhere to the following guidelines:
Preferred concert attire
Black suit with a white shirt and a tie and black dress shoes
Black dress that extends beyond your knees when seated and covers your shoulders
Acceptable concert attire
Black slacks with a black long sleeve collared dress shirt
Unacceptable concert attire
White shirts without a jacket *** This is a change from past years
White shoes
White socks
Short sleeved shirts
Jeans or leggings
Torn or distressed clothing
Sneakers or athletic shoes
Short skirt that expose your knees when you sit
Blouses or shirts that expose your shoulders
Please note that in order to improve the uniformity of our ensemble, we prefer that students no longer wear a white shirts without a jacket.
Perry Band Olympics
The Perry Band Olympics solo and ensemble contests.
More information will be sent out to participating students and their families through a separate ParentSquare group.
This is an all day event.
Tall Corn Jazz Festival
On Friday, February 21, Jazz Lab and Jazz Orchestra will head to the University of Northern Iowa for the Tallcorn Jazz Festival.
NW PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Jazz Orchestra will perform at 3:00.
Jazz Lab will perform at 5:00.
ITINERARY
Find the event itinerary here.
You can find additional information here.
Purchase tickets here.
🍕Papa John's Fundraising Night
Waukee NW Band Fundraising Night
Every 3rd Wednesday of each month, Papa John’s will be giving back 5% of sales to the Waukee Northwest High School Band!!
Waukee Location ONLY
NWBPO Meeting
The Northwest Band Parents Board will meet on February 18 at 6:00 PM in the NWHS Seminar Room. All band parents are invited to join us!
All-Iowa Concert Band Festival
The All-Iowa Concert Band festival is held on Monday, February 17 at Johnston High School. Both bands will perform.
The Concert Band will perform at 3:15 PM.
The Wind Symphony at 4:30 PM.
Find the event itinerary here.
Attendees
Admission is free for this event if you would like to make the drive out to Johnston to support the bands!
Audience members should park in the north lot and enter through the Auditorium Entrance (Door 23).
Find the event website here.
Concert Dress
We want to look as good as we sound, so please adhere to the following guidelines:
Preferred concert attire
Black suit with a white shirt and a tie and black dress shoes
Black dress that extends beyond your knees when seated and covers your shoulders
Acceptable concert attire
Black slacks with a black long sleeve collared dress shirt
Unacceptable concert attire
White shirts without a jacket *** This is a change from past years
White shoes
White socks
Short sleeved shirts
Jeans or leggings
Torn or distressed clothing
Sneakers or athletic shoes
Short skirt that expose your knees when you sit
Blouses or shirts that expose your shoulders
Please note that in order to improve the uniformity of the ensemble, white shirts are no longer allowed without a jacket.
Basie Straight Ahead, Jazz Orchestra Theme Concert
Jazz Orchestra will be holding our first ever theme concert on Thursday evening, February 13 at 7pm in the Northwest Auditorium.
Since the first of the year, we have been digging into the music of Count Basie, and specifically into the music from the 1968 album “Basie Straight Ahead.”
On the 13th, we will be performing that entire album. It has been a great opportunity for us to learn about one of the cornerstones of jazz music.
We hope you can join us!
Drake University Honor Jazz Band Festival
Students are placed in ensembles according to their grades 9-12.
The event is held in Performing Arts Hall in the Harmon Fine Arts Center on the Drake campus.
Schedule:
Rehearsal from 9:30am-3:30pm
Clinics from 3:30pm-4:30pm
Concert with Drake Jazz I at 7:00pm in the Performing Arts Hall of the Harmon Fine Arts Center.
Find additional information here.
Perry Band Olympics Prep Night
Perry Prep Night is our in-house test run in preparation for Perry.
This year’s event will be held after school on Monday, February 3.
Each student who is participating in the Perry Band Olympics will be assigned a 10 minute time slot where they will come in and perform their solo or ensemble for a hired clinician.
For those of you who went through the All-State Mock Auditions, this process will be very similar. Students will perform and then receive feedback to help them prepare for Perry.
Students do not need to wear anything in particular for this event, and are only required to be here for their performance time. Students will not perform with their accompanist for this event.
Northwest Jazz Workshop
The Jazz Orchestra will have the opportunity to work with a clinician.
Jazz Orchestra ONLY, 9 AM - 12:00 PM, south band room
Simpson Jazz Festival
Jazz Bands will perform at the Simpson Jazz Festival.
Northwest Jazz Lab will perform 9:30 AM
Northwest Jazz Orchestra will perform 1:30 PM
Band itinerary here.
Full performance schedules
There is NO admission fee for family and friends.
You can find additional information on Simpson College Jazz Fest’s website.
NWBPO Meeting
The Northwest Band Parents Board will meet on January 21 at 6:00 PM in the NWHS Seminar Room. All band parents are invited to join us!
🍕Papa John's Fundraising Night
Waukee NW Band Fundraising Night
Every 3rd Wednesday of each month, Papa John’s will be giving back 5% of sales to the Waukee Northwest High School Band!!
Waukee Location ONLY
Dublin FINAL Trip Payment Due
If your student is participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade trip to Dublin, the FINAL trip payment is due today.
If you have trip-related questions, please reach out to our Bob Rogers Travel consultant Mike Wallace at (800) 373-1423 ext. 256 or email him at mwallace@bobrogerstravel.com.
SCIBA Honor Band
Congratulations to the following students who were selected to perform in the SCIBA Honor Band!
Congratulations to the following students who were selected to perform in the SCIBA Honor Band on January 11!
Drew Burggraaf, trombone 1
Chloe Gilbert, alto sax 2
Xavier Lago, tuba
Larry Li, oboe 1
Makenna Sheffield, trumpet 3
Josiah Webb, percussion
Concert time is TBD.
Visit SCIBA’s website for additional information.
Jazz Band Rehearsals
Jazz Bands will rehearse Monday through Thursday mornings from 7:00 to 8:00 am starting on October 29, 2024.
Jazz Orchestra: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday mornings from 7-8 a.m. from October 29 through the first week of May (Room A232)
Jazz Lab: Monday and Thursday mornings from 7-8 a.m. from October 29 through the first week of May (Room A234)
🍕Papa John's Fundraising Night
Waukee NW Band Fundraising Night
Every 3rd Wednesday of each month, Papa John’s will be giving back 5% of sales to the Waukee Northwest High School Band!!
Waukee Location ONLY