America Days

Saturday, March 22 at 19:00
Whitefish Bay High School String Symphony from Wisconsin, USA
Kulturni dom Grosuplje
GROSUPLJE
01-786-4028

Whitefish Bay
High School String Symphony
BASIC INFORMATION

The Whitefish Bay High School String Symphony has been in existence since the school opened in 1929. The 2008 tour is the group’s fourteenth tour since 1980. In 1988, the String Symphony pioneered as the first American school orchestra to perform for students in Russian schools. Concerts were performed in Moscow, Kalinin, and Novgorod. Other tours have included performances in Germany, Austria, England, Poland,
the Czech Republic, Puerto Rico, Belgium and Argentina.

The 2008 touring String Orchestra is comprised of forty-four students between fourteen and eighteen years of age. These students elect to take orchestra in addition to their other academic classes. They rehearse daily during the academic school year and make frequent concert appearances. They are musically well-trained and are very excited about the opportunity to share in the cultural exchange of ideas and knowledge that this tour will provide. The 2008 String Orchestra will perform a concert of varied orchestral selections, both written expressly for strings and some adaptations.

The Village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin is stretched along the scenic western shore of Lake Michigan, just north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, population of 1.5 million. The roughly 15,000 residents of Whitefish Bay engage in primarily business and professional vocations. The well rounded suburban community consists of several churches, schools and parks, and the homes are neatly spaced along tree-lined streets. There is a small business district but no industry.

Whitefish Bay High School has an enrollment of over 900 students in four grade levels, 9-12. Ninety-four percent of graduates go on to post secondary education immediately after high school. Varied opportunities in the fields of art, music, and dramatics augment programs in English, mathematics, science, social studies, and foreign languages. In addition to the orchestra, there are six choirs, three curricular and three extra-curricular, four bands and classes in digital music production. Curricula are also offered in industrial technology, business education, and physical education. More than 80% of the students at Whitefish Bay High School are actively involved in at least one co-curricular school activity outside the classroom. Non-academic areas include athletics (twenty-three interscholastic sports for boys and girls), drama (four productions annually), publications (newspaper, yearbook and literary magazine) and numerous clubs, service organizations and academic teams.

Kathryn Borghesani, Conductor

Kathryn Borghesani, a native of Northern Virginia, re-located to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2001 when her husband Dean was appointed Principal Timpanist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. This is Mrs. Borghesani’s third year as Orchestra Director at Whitefish Bay High and Middle Schools. Prior to that, she was the Director of Orchestras at Robinson Secondary School for seventeen years. As one of the largest school orchestra programs in the country, with over 200 string students and a full symphonic orchestra, her groups garnered superior ratings and reviews in local, national and international performances and competitions. Mrs. Borghesani received her Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and recently was awarded a Master of Arts in Conducting from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee where she studied with Margery Deutsch. In addition to directing the Whitefish Bay Orchestras, Mrs. Borghesani is very active as a professional double bassist, guest conductor and clinician, recently completing her fourth European Tour with American Music Abroad.

Whitefish Bay High School String Symphony