LT Label of the Year announced

Lyons Township High School Music Design and Technology students capped off their semester-long competition with the Label of the Year ceremony, complete with gold record and fanfare.

Music teacher Paul Meiste began the semester by mirroring the Harry Potter sorting hat idea, organizing students into groups. On the first day of school, students drew slips of paper which told them what “record label” they were signed with. There were five record labels: Lion Records, Blue & Gold Records, Clock Tower Records, Respect Records, and Vita Plena Records.

Like Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and other Harry Potter houses, the students were told they would be competing all semester in a class competition for the award of “Label of the Year.” Some of the projects in the competition included writing a short song with three-part form, a trap (hip hop) song and an electronic dance music (EDM) track. The project that counted the most toward the “Label of the Year” competition was the Beat Battle, in which students wrote a one minute track that went head-to-head in competition with their fellow classmates. Senior Sam Peters, of LaGrange, was the winner of the Beat Battle.

Ultimately, the winning label with the most weeks at #1 on the “Billboard Top 5” list was Lion Records. The producers for Lion Records are senior Joe Abrahamson, of LaGrange, senior Martin Brown, of Western Springs, senior Sam Ganzel, of Western Springs, and junior Blake Leinhauser, of Indian Head Park.

At the award ceremony, winning students signed their gold record which was presented by Principal Dr. Waterman. During the celebration, some of the music the students created this semester was played over the classroom speaker.