While the chance to perform in front of a crowd with likeminded, dedicated musicians are not found everyday, the Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) All-State festival allows students to do just that.
On January 27, 2024, a handful of LZHS students had the opportunity to perform at the ILMEA All-State festival. ILMEA is an “opportunity for students from all around the state to audition into the musical ensemble of their choice and [attend the] conference in their district,” according to Elise Tyson, junior and ILMEA All-State violinist.
“I feel very honored to have made it to the state level, and so blessed to have been given the opportunity,” Tyson said. “I love making music with other people, so getting to work with tons of kids I’d never met before […] was such a mind blowing experience.”
Leading up to the performance, the students had the chance to practice their pieces with a guest conductor, in order to further their understanding of the music and “shape it into something we couldn’t have created on our own,” according to Tyson.
“The guest conductor really demonstrated to me the power of looking for the next way to bring it to the next level, to more effectively communicate the story we were trying to get across, and that lesson will definitely stick with me forever,” Tyson said.
Additionally, ILMEA gives students the opportunity to participate in a larger performance than most high schools would be able to offer. The more musicians participating, collaboration is even more necessary for a successful performance.
“It is a matter of blending all the different instruments together and contrasting them in different ways throughout a piece,” Tyson said. “Each person is contributing a different skill and tone to the finished product, which gives it wonderful variety and richness of sound.”
This blending of talents is not only applicable to the band and orchestra sections. According to Josef Meister, junior and All State choir singer, each voice part contributes to the overall performance as well.
“Regardless of the instrument or voice part, everyone there is a dedicated musician who loves what they do,” Meister said. “I enjoyed every second of it [and] was very sad to have to leave it. I was very proud of the hard work the choir put in and how well it paid off in the performance […] Ultimately, this was one of the best weekends of my life, and I will cherish these memories forever.”
In addition to being a valuable experience in collaboration, ILMEA aims to teach its participants about the music itself.
“Being in the All-State Honors Choir taught me so much about musicality and choral singing. I plan to do choir as an extracurricular in college, and this experience has helped me to prepare to do that,” Meister said.
Overall, Meister feels that ILMEA was a valuable experience that he is grateful he got the experience to participate in.
“I enjoyed every second of it [and] was very sad to have to leave it,” Meister said. “I was very proud of the hard work the choir put in and how well it paid off in the performance […] Ultimately, this was one of the best weekends of my life, and I will cherish these memories forever.”
