District 303 Students Take Top Honors At State Competition

From ILMEA: Musicians from both St. Charles East and St. Charles North High Schools performed as part of the Illinois Music Education Association’s 2018 All-State Student Programs in Peoria, Illinois from January 24-27. Students qualified for participation during auditions and district festivals in the fall of 2017.

Fifteen hundred students from around the State were selected from a pool of 24,000 students to be part of the program in Peoria. In addition to the bands, orchestras, choruses and jazz ensembles, students took part in Composition Workshops and the Future Music Educators Seminar, giving students from many areas of music education the opportunity to learn from master teachers and conductors, as well as grow as musicians and explore a future in music education.

St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 is proud of our students who excelled in Peoria. St. Charles East HS students selected for top ensembles Lucas Coker, guitar: Honors Jazz Workshop
Katie Swenson, trumpet: Honors Orchestra Ayu Seiya, violin: Honors Orchestra Stella Childs, Honors Orchestra, Principal 2nd Violin Storey Childs, viola: Honors Orchestra
Trudie Childs, cello: Honors Orchestra Alexander Carroll, string bass: Honors Orchestra, Principal Bass St. Charles North HS students selected for top ensembles Jacob Rollins, Honors Orchestra, Principal Viola
Mike Anderson, Honor Band, Tuba Ashley Storinger, Future Music Educator Ajay Gustafson, All State Vocal Jazz, Bass Brett King, All State Jazz Band, Guitar St. Charles East Orchestra teacher Daniel Beder noted, “It is really impressive to have three students from one district chosen as principals. Stella, Alex, and Jacob worked very hard to earn this distinction, as did Lucas to be chosen for the top guitar spot in the state. All the students who were involved did a great job representing our District 303 music programs."

Students in the performing ensembles represent the best student musicians in Illinois and came together to present a series of All-State Concerts. The St. Charles East Chamber Orchestra was chosen to perform.

The All-State Student Programs run concurrently with the Illinois Music Education Conference, the premier professional development opportunity for music educators in Illinois. This event brings over 10,000 students, educators, parents and music education industry vendors to the Peoria Civic Center to celebrate and promote music education in Illinois.

For more information on the Illinois Music Education Association and opportunities for student musicians and music educators, please visit www.ilmea.org.

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