Dance Of The Tumblers 2019-12-14 McKinley HS String Orch. 4K

McKinley High School String Orchestra
Thomas Hesch, Conductor

2019 Winter Concert
December 14, 2019

Dance of the Tumblers (from "The Snow Maiden")
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
arr. Sandra Dackow

Find out more about the McKinley program, including:

Festival judges ratings & comments, awards, letters of appreciation, concert programs, rosters, event calendars, alumni messages & more, sorted by year from 1983 to 2021

in the comments section of our video:

"McKinley Band & Orchestra: Who We Are"

We are thankful for the positive feedback & recognition our students, staff, and program have received over the years.

Mahalo for your support !

E-mail: [email protected]

McKinley High School Band & Orchestra
Donna & Thomas Hesch, Directors (1983-2021):

With over 60 years of combined service to McKinley, the community, and the people of Hawaii, Donna & Thomas Hesch devoted their lives to providing their students a stable & nurturing environment to grow, through consistent musical & personal standards / expectations. Their highly-acclaimed McKinley High School Band & Orchestra program was based on the values & ideals instilled in them by their mentors - former McKinley directors Richard Lum, Henry Miyamura & Grant Okamura.

The McKinley High School program is a storied one in Hawaii, and is recognized by the John Philip Sousa Foundation in its National Historic Honor Roll of Distinguished High School Bands. As time passed, the demographics & socioeconomic realities of the surrounding community & the McKinley student population shifted dramatically.

Since the 1990s, McKinley has been designated by the Department of Education as a Title I school, with over two-thirds of its students classified as disadvantaged / at-risk: 95% of McKinley's band/orchestra students could not afford the cost of an instrument, uniform, textbooks, or private lessons. Music programs at many nearby schools with similar demographics saw their enrollments shrink or disappear entirely, their local civic presence and musical contributions diminished or silenced.

Despite these & many other challenges, Donna & Thomas Hesch persevered - under their care & guidance, the McKinley Band & Orchestra program thrived. Over the decades in which they directed the program, McKinley's Symphonic Wind Ensembles I & II, as well as their Chamber, String, and Symphony Orchestras received Superior ratings / reviews from dozens of visiting national & international judges at band & orchestra festivals they performed at.

They also provided dozens of valuable services to McKinley & the community each year:

- Performances at school assemblies/rallies, football games, field marching shows; parades, malls, cultural festivals & civic events.

- Performances for charities: Adult Friends for Youth, Hawaiian Humane Society, Hospice Hawaii, Locks of Love, Make-A-Wish Foundation, National Kidney Foundation & St. Francis Hospice.

- After-school wind, string & percussion tutorial sessions at nearby middle schools.

- Hosted the Oahu Band Directors Association "Parade of Bands" Festival each year; also hosted the Pacific Music Institute summer band/orchestra program, while operating their own McKinley summer program.

Donna & Thomas Hesch provided their students with many opportunities for enrichment:

- Goodwill exchange concerts several times a year with visiting bands & orchestras from schools across the nation & around the world.

- Collaboration with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band, U.S. Marine Pacific Forces Band, Honolulu Brass Quintet, and Pacifica String Quartet.

- Opportunities to see live performances of the Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Symphonic Winds & Canadian Brass.

In 2016, McKinley was honored by the Honolulu City Council following their record-setting performance at Carnegie Hall, and was recognized as a National Model of Excellence in Music Education by the World Association for Symphonic Bands & Ensembles.

In 2017, McKinley was named the Western division winner of the Music Education Alliance National Award of Excellence. Donna & Thomas Hesch received commendations from the National Band Association & the College Band Directors National Association for their outstanding contributions to the band, music & education professions.

In honor & appreciation of their many years of dedicated service to McKinley and the community, Donna & Thomas Hesch were each presented with the Masayuki Tokioka "Tiger Pride" Award by the McKinley Alumni Association.

They taught not only music, but also life skills. Their program fostered caring, responsibility & respect, bettering the community through the development of hundreds of productive, engaged citizens who were able to draw on their strengths, support & diversity; unify their efforts; and build something truly remarkable.

Credit:

Dr. Jeffrey Boeckman, Director of Bands
Professor of Music
University of Hawaii