Dongola Music Department

12/03/2025

Hello all,

This year the Winter Concert will be held on December 17th at 6PM in the small gym. Elementary students need to arrive by 5:30, and JH students by 5:00. The students have been hard at work learning their songs, and we look forward to seeing you all there!

Happy Holidays,
Mr. Buss

10/02/2025

Band parents/guardians!

Some of you have reached out looking for information about the parade this Saturday. This post covers all of it!

*** Traffic Alert *** Saturday, October 4th, 2025, will be the annual Vienna Fall Festival Parade beginning at 10 am. There will be city street closures for the parade route throughout Vienna, this will also include parts of US Rt 45 and IL Rt 146, Including the four way intersection.
Please do not move barricades and barricade tape that are setup through the parade. To allow for marching bands and parade entries to turn on the west and south side of the old courthouse square, there will be No parking on the west and south and southeast sides of the square. Tractors in the parade will be turning at the fourway and go east to the City Park for the FFA tractor show.
The parade route begins at N. 4th and Green St. and will go to N. 6th on Green St., then turn left and cross Il Rt 146 and pass the new Johnson County Courthouse and Administration Building, then turn left onto W. Main St. to the west side of the old courthouse square (5th St.) and then passes the parade judges stand in front of the library, then onto East Main St. to US Rt 45 and then north thru the four way intersection and ending at the Vienna High School. On the map, the parade route is in red.
Please plan alternative routes if you are travelling through Vienna that morning. Expect heavy traffic delays while the parade is underway and after the parade is over until traffic can resume back to normal.
Please be patient and come enjoy the parade!

09/29/2025

Dear Band Parents/Guardians,

This Saturday, October 4th, our Dongola band students will be marching in their first parade with the Vienna Jr. Eagles band in the Johnson County Fall Fest!

Students will need to be at Dongola by 8:00 Saturday morning to catch the bus to Vienna. From there, they will join with the larger group, and be bussed to the event. We estimate that students will be back at Vienna by around 10:45, and back at Dongola school by 11:20-11:30. All students must be picked up at Dongola school, unless I have been notified of extenuating circumstances before-hand.

Students are to wear black pants/shorts depending on weather, and white or black shoes. Shirts will be provided by the Jr. Eagles team. This is still a school event, dress appropriately, and keep the weather in mind!

This event should be blast! Please reach out to me with any questions.
-Mr. Buss
[email protected]

08/28/2025

Dear Band Parents/Guardians,

This year the Dongola Band will be collaborating with schools from the Johnson County area and Vienna Jr. High for marching. This is a wonderful opportunity put together by Mr. Windings and Mr. Talley. The students will get to experience a larger band setting, receive help from teachers with different strengths than my own, and participate in new events in the area.

Students will be bussed to Vienna roughly every other Friday starting on September 5th. Below is a list of the dates we will be practicing.
September 5th and 19th
October 3rd and 17th
November 14th
December 5th

The following are the events we will be marching in:
Johnson County Fall Fest, Saturday, October 4th, Parade Time Starts at 10:00am
Pope County Deer Fest Parade, Friday, November 22, Parade Time Starts at 1:00pm
There will also be a third event in union county TBD

In order to be eligible for participation, students must be in good academic standing (No D’s or F’s). Students will be missing the first hour on these days. It is the students responsibility to ensure they keep up with the class. The right to attend these events can be revoked at any time if poor behavior is displayed on such trips.

Students must arrive at school by 7:20 on these days, and the bus will be departing at 7:30. We cannot wait for any students who are not there, so please ensure your students arrive on time.

If there are any questions or concerns please feel free to reach me at [email protected]

03/31/2025

Hello Dongola Families!

The spring concert will be held May 13th at 6:00 PM and feature all grades.
K-5 will be singing music from/about the old west and westward expansion, so the kids are encouraged to dress up in their best western outfits!

Feel free to email me with any questions.
-Mr. Buss

11/06/2024

Hello all!

We will be holding the Christmas concert on December 11th at 6PM in the old gym. Both the JH Band and the elementary will be performing! The kids are working hard, and I look forward to seeing you all there!

-Mr. Buss

07/25/2024

Hello everyone,

My name is Joshua Buss (Mr. Buss) and I am super excited to be joining Dongola as a music teacher this year!

There is an upcoming camp being run by Mr. Talley and Mr. Windings from Vienna High that our 6th-8th grade students have been invited to attend. This is a great opportunity for students to learn skills for marching. Students are invited to attend on the 8th and 9th of August. All information is attached below.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me!

05/30/2024

Hi everyone! Artspace 304 in Carbondale is having a theater camp this summer! High school students are encouraged to attend.

Here’s the link for more info:

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05/15/2024

Mr. Talley is a great friend of mine, I highly encourage all Dongola band students going to Vienna to join band with him! He’s such a talented and kind-hearted individual, you will learn so much from him. I can’t wait to see what him and Mr. Windings do!

Vienna gains Talley on Music Faculty

Buncombe, Cypress, Vienna Grade, and Vienna High School are welcoming Diamond Talley to the music/band department. Mr. Talley will be replacing John Windings who will be retiring after bringing life back to the music program. Mr. John Windings will move on to serve as the director of the Shawnee Community College Foundation. Mr. Talley will join Mr. Connor Windings who has been serving in the program since 2021.

Talley is a 2017 Massac County High School graduate, and then went to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (SIUC) earning his bachelor’s in music education. He served as a student teacher at both Carbondale Elementary and Carbondale High School. He was the percussion caption head at Carterville High School, a percussion studio technician at SIUC, and has served as an elementary music teacher at Massac Unit 1 for the last two years. He also provides private music lessons.

Talley and Connor Windings will work together and oversee the advancement of the schools' music, band, choral, and theater programs. As Mr. Talley works alongside Mr. Connor Windings, Talley’s focus will be on the band program and helping build up the choral program. Mr. Windings will still be assisting with the band but will turn his focus to choir and theater, as well as assisting with the grade school band programs.

Talley shared, “I’m so excited to be joining Johnson County and learning to spread my wings at the home of the Eagles, I appreciate this incredible opportunity!”

“Historically we have had impressive music and fine arts programming in our community. In recent years that has experienced some interruption, however, in the last four years, we have watched as students have shined through music and theater productions. I am grateful to John Windings for getting us back on the correct track. I am thankful to Connor Windings who has made remarkable strides with his work, and I am looking forward to the Talley/Windings combination leading it into the future. Fielding the team is vitally important and we have a great team working for students in this department,” said Joshua Stafford, school superintendent.

04/30/2024

Spring Concert tonight at 5:30! Students should be here by 5:15. Hope to see everyone there! ☺️

03/08/2024

Join us for our annual spring concert! The kids are having a great time working on our songs :)

02/14/2024

Come support our Jr. High kids tomorrow night!