Musicians in Cadenza, West High’s charity music club, stepped into the spotlight at the Vue Rooftop restaurant the evening of Dec. 10, playing a variety of melodies ranging from classical compositions to holiday tunes. The restaurant gave 10% of dinner revenue from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. to Cadenza, which donated the money to the Iowa City Music Auxiliary, an organization that helps fund music programs in the Iowa City Community School District.
The Vue Rooftop concert has traditionally been the club’s main winter showcase since 2021. Many West students and families come to see Cadenza musicians perform, like junior Jack Rippentrop. “It’s good to see other students performing and raising money through Cadenza,” Rippentrop said.
Founded in 2019 as a classical and chamber music group, Cadenza has evolved over the years and has now become West High’s musical charity club. Since then, it has held multiple events, concerts and performances in various settings and has raised over $7,000 for multiple organizations such as the Iowa City Music Auxiliary and the Save the Music Foundation. “The [Auxiliary] provides so much for us, so it feels great to give back to [them],” Cadenza executive board member Momo Shinozaki ’27 said.
Cadenza is open to everyone — anyone can perform, and volunteers are welcome, regardless of prior musical experience.
After its first two recitals, Cadenza will prepare for more performances in the coming months. Many members of the club are additionally performing in current and upcoming annual band, orchestra and choir concerts. Symphony Orchestra and West choirs recently combined for the Choral Masterworks showcase Dec. 9 and Concert and Philharmonic orchestras played their program Echoes of Winter Dec. 12, while the concert bands’ first performance after the marching season will be Dec. 16.
