Choral singers to musicians of all kinds, Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) provides a yearly competition for each school district in order to celebrate the talent of young musicians, Cody Halberstadt, Illinois Music Education Association District 7 President and Fine Arts Instructional Supervisor, said.
Every year ILMEA selects some of the most committed and hardworking musicians in the District 7 area through online auditions, Halberstadt said. On Nov. 9, South hosted this group of performers at the senior level to celebrate their talents and achievements, Halberstadt added.
ILMEA is split up into three separate festivals: a junior festival on Nov. 2 at Wauconda High School, a jazz festival on Nov. 16 at Niles North High School, and a senior festival here at South, Halberstadt said. Each school’s choral program can only nominate 32 students to audition, while band programs can nominate 16, Halberstadt stated. In all, a little over 500 students will get chosen for the district level festival Halberstadt explained.
“[ILMEA] is a pinnacle of musical achievement in high school,” Halberstadt said. “[The ILMEA experience] creates lasting impressions and memories that, [for me], are still ringing [decades later].”
The audition process consists of a video recording made up of different pieces that will be featured in the festival along with other technical music skills, senior Grace Finn, ILMEA Performer, said. In order to prepare for the audition, Masters’ Singers practiced with the ILMEA song material in class, Finn said.
“We [sang] two of the songs [performed at ILMEA], ‘Measure Me, Sky’ and ‘Cum Sanctu Spiritu’, at our [fall] choir concert,” Finn said. On the day of the senior level performance, South provided many school facilities along with student and adult volunteers in order to keep the day running smoothly, Halberstadt said. School spaces were used for pre-concert rehearsals, professional meetings, and lunch; while volunteers will help with transitions and props set up, Halberstadt said.
“We’re really lucky to have a ton of parents that help facilitate [rehearsal set up] and make it happen,” Halberstadt said. “Our parent groups also [helped] facilitate lunches and food throughout the day for students and teachers that [were] participating in the festival.”
On the morning of the performance, students rehearsed with other ILMEA participants, Finn stated. Rehearsals give performers the opportunity to learn from new conductors with new techniques and styles, senior Leah Plasterer, ILMEA Performer, said.
“[Last year during ILMEA], I liked meeting people from other schools and getting to learn about how their Fine Arts Departments work,” Plasterer said.
Halberstadt recalls all the memories that he made when participating at ILMEA back in high school and hopes that students will all be positively impacted from this special experience.
“[ILMEA participants] are getting [the opportunity] to collaborate with other students that are as dedicated as you are in this field and with [a professional] that is acclaimed in the field.” Halberstadt said. “Either, regionally [or] nationally, it’s a big deal.”
