Lemont Chosen For Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival For Third Straight Year

Lemont will perform at the 2026 University of Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival on May 9.

By Andrea Earnest, Patch Staff

Apr 23, 2026 9:00 am CDT

The Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival amounts to the state championship for concert bands, according to LHS. (Lemont High School)

LEMONT, IL — For the third straight year – and the seventh time overall – Lemont High School’s Honors Symphonic Band has been selected to participate in the state’s premier band festival, the high school shared in a news release.

Led by Ben Clemons, Lemont will perform at the 2026 University of Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival on May 9. The event will take place at Foellinger Great Hall in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

The Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival amounts to the state championship for concert bands, according to LHS. Lemont, which previously participated in this event in 2001, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025 is scheduled to perform at 9 a.m. on May 9. A livestream to the performance will be available at the following link: www.bands.illinois.edu

Bands from across the state applied to be part of this year’s event by submitting a performance tape over the winter, the school said. Lemont’s Honors Symphonic Band is one of just six Class 1A bands that has been invited to participate. It will be joined in Class 1A by bands from Grayslake Central High School, Marian Catholic High School, Triad High School, Vernon Hills High School, and Wheeling High School, as well as Morton High School, which has been designated as the honor band.

Lemont’s Honors Symphonic Band includes seniors Eve Cosenza, Lily Crowther, Jacob DePirro, Carson Fischer, Kelsey Gottardo, Reagan McManus, Taliana O’Connor, Luke Rupert and Elizabeth Staubus; juniors Andrew Ascolani, Emily Bawiec, Jacob Emini, Miles Fago, Emmett Farrell, Gianna Gumina, Oliver Huhn, Michael Kowalewicz, Colin McGrath, Delaney McManus, Anthony Mielczarek, Edvin Morochin, Victor Rafacz and Eli Zogby; sophomores Aaron Anguiano, Madison Jaczak, Cora Jobb, Hunter Kinst, Margaret Kissick, Natalie Rupert, Lyla Smith, Olivia Sulkowski and Henry VanCauwenberge; and freshmen Antonia Beranek and Nathaniel Kincaid.