Recently, Freshman Vivienne Hancock and I auditioned with many others in the St. Charles East choral department to be a part of the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) District Nine. Out of them, the two of us were selected for two separate festivals—Hancock for Vocal Jazz, and me for Festival Chorus. These events took place on separate weekends, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, so I have compiled the events of both days.
Hancock was a part of the ILMEA Vocal Jazz Festival, an event that consisted of three different vocal jazz groups: level one, two and three, level one being the highest and so on. Hancock was selected to be a part of Vocal Jazz Three, where she sang Alto Two. The group sang three songs, “Keep Marching” from the new musical Suffs, “Storm,” and “Your Mind is On Vacation.” She got to be featured in “Keep Marching” with a solo. The ensemble of 28 was under the direction of Mr. Catt and accompanied by Professor Uhl. They started the day in a choir classroom to begin rehearsing their set and later moved on to sectionals—a process in which each section (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass) practices by themselves to lock in their part—in another room and returned to a full ensemble rehearsal before breaking for lunch. During lunch, Hancock was able to go to solo auditions, after which she discovered she had been chosen for a solo. They moved to the auditorium to perform and hear the other ensembles. In Hancock’s words, “…they were both absolutely incredible”.
The following weekend, I participated in the ILMEA Senior Concert Festival. There were two groups, Festival Chorus and Treble Chorus. I was selected to perform with the Senior Chorus as an upper Soprano One. The chorus sang four songs together, then the male voices sang one song by themselves, and the female voices joined the treble choir for one song. The senior chorus songs were “Dawn and Dusk,” “Sit Down Servant,” “O Nata Lux,” and “Hymne Au Soleil.” The Treble and Senior female voices combined song was “Sing a New Song,” and the male-voiced singers sang “The River.” We were conducted by Professor Catt (Mr. Catt’s wife) and accompanied by Professor Uhl. The Treble chorus was conducted by Ms. Castaldi and accompanied by Mr. Denien. The day started with rehearsals in the auditorium, then moved to the gymnasium, where we would perform later. After that, we moved back to the auditorium for sectionals, then we had lunch for an hour and met back in the auditorium for a last rehearsal before we were sent to change into our choral robes and met in the auditorium to walk to the gymnasium all together and perform.
These weekends were centered around spending time with people who shared a common interest with you and, most of all, celebrating our love for music. You were able to learn from the best teachers and sing with the best students. An experience like this gives you so much perspective on how we can all connect through song.
