Cadenza Music Club

​

​




























​




CADENZa

Leadership
Instagram
  • Home
  • Leadership
At Cadenza, we strive to generate change through music.

Cadenza is a classical music charity club at West High School in Iowa City, Iowa. We're a community volunteering group made up of talented instrumental student musicians with a passion for music and goodwill. Our members prepare for and participate in various fundraising performances throughout the year for non-profit organizations.​

In Cadenza, we also aim to further engage each of our members with classical music, enhancing their exploration of the music that they play. Our mission at Cadenza is to generate change through music. Cadenza was founded in 2019 when we realized that our talents in music could be used for something far greater than ourselves. At first, we targeted our efforts at the Iowa City Music Auxiliary, raising $1000 in our first events for the organization. Soon after, we trained our sights on benefiting our entire community. So far, we've held independent concerts and performed in invitations from local businesses to help pursue our charitable goals, raising over $7000.​

PAST EVENTS

December 10, 2025 - holiday carols

West Side Story Article
Picture

November 14, 2025 - harvest harmonies

West Side Story Article
Picture

December 18, 2024 - Vue Rooftop Concert​

West Side Story Article

November 15, 2024 - Fall Fantasia​

West Side Story Article
Picture
Special thanks to our sponsors for this event!
Picture

December 19, 2023 - Vue Rooftop Concert

West Side Story Article
Picture

News & Media

  • "Q&A with Cadenza’s 2023-24 executive board"
                West Side Story, October 12, 2023 [link]
  • "After a year of playing alone, West High musicians collaborate to perform duet"
                Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 25, 2021 [link]
  • "Cadenza: music for charity"
                West Side Story, May 19, 2021 [link]
  • "Student groups join forces for UNICEF fundraising virtual concerts"
                The Gazette, February 1, 2021 [link]
  • "Cadenza to hold second virtual concert"
                West Side Story, January 27, 2021 [link]​
  • "Talented music kids cooped up with the classics plan online benefit series"
                Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 6, 2020 [link]
  • "Cadenza and UNICEF club present United in Isolation"
                ​West Side Story, May 5, 2020 [link]

Grand Living/Oaknoll

March 22nd, 2022
Picture
Cadenza took a field trip to 2 retirement homes to play music for the residents there. We played at Grand Living at Bridgewater in the morning and Oaknoll in the afternoon. Members played a variety of music, including classical, jazz-like pieces, and film music. 

Music of Love

September 26th, 2021
Picture
Our first in-person concert of the year, "Music of Love", was produced with the Iowa City Area Chinese Association (ICACA) to raise funds for United Action for Youth, a local organization engaging in youth prevention/intervention programs. Playing a mix of classical and traditional Chinese music, we raised over $2000 on the Iowa City Ped Mall. Iowa City mayor Bruce Teague (pictured above, far right) was also in attendance.

United in Isolation

May 13th, 2020
Picture
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we produced "United in Isolation", our first virtual charity concert. With 23 musicians and the United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties, we raised funds for local COVID-19 relief from online audiences.

Lepic-Kroeger

​November 14th, 2019
Picture
For a holiday event at Lepic-Kroeger Realtors, we were invited to perform while raising money for the Iowa City Music Auxiliary. Thanks to our great ensembles and soloists, we had a great first performance!

THE VUE ROOFTOP

December 13th, 2021
Picture
Cadenza returned to the Vue Rooftop to once again raise funds for the Iowa City Music Auxiliary. We played a variety of classical, jazz, and Christmas music. 

Sounds of Spring

June 1st, 2021
Picture
We produced our final virtual concert at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Collaborating with Red Cedar Chamber, we raised funds for the Iowa City Music Auxiliary to fund local music education. We concluded "Sounds of Spring" with a mass performance of Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel, featuring 37 musicians from seven schools and four states.
​

​The Vue Rooftop

December 10th, 2019
Picture
We were invited to perform at the Vue Rooftop in this winter event to raise funds for the Iowa City Music Auxiliary. This night was a great opportunity to showcase our talent in the local community, and we performed there again in December of 2021. 

Colors of autumn

November 12th, 2021
Picture
"Colors of Autumn: An Evening of Chamber Music" was held in the Iowa City West High School Cafeteria with the West High Chamber Orchestra, mirroring our first independent concert two years earlier. Like our first concert, this event was held to raise funds for the Iowa City Music Auxiliary. Nearly 50 musicians were featured, including those from the WHS Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Cadenza adviser and orchestra teacher Jonathan Welch.

United in the Cloud

February 1st, 2021
Picture
​Our second virtual concert during the COVID-19 pandemic, "United in the Cloud", was produced with UNICEF Iowa at the University of Iowa. Together, we raised funds for UNICEF USA's COVID-19 efforts. Our efforts with UNICEF during this concert were featured in both the Gazette and Forbes.

A NIGHT OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

​December 2nd, 2019
Picture

​

"A Night of Classical Music" was our first independent concert. Held in Iowa City West High School's cafeteria, through the effort of over 20 performers, we raised funds to support the Iowa City Music Auxiliary.

Email for Inquiries

[email protected]
  • Home
  • Leadership