A dream realized: Chester High School bands, choruses bring school its first state championship
Chester High School Band and Choral Director Steve Colonel began the school year with the attitude that this was the year for his CHS Music Department to make history and claim the championship of the 2018 IHSA Music Sweepstakes Competition.
Colonel and his students in Concert Band, Concert Choir, Swing Choir and Jazz Band have a motto: "Chasing the Championship in 2018; every performance better than the last!" He and his students boldly proclaimed throughout the year, in "Hamilton" style, "We are not throwin' away our shot!"
That shot paid off on April 13, when Colonel and his students walked away from the competition at Nashville High School with the first place award for Class C schools (enrollments of 185-333 students).
Chester grabbed the title with 708 points, well ahead of runner-up Gilman Iroquois West with 630 points.
The musicians have made school history by becoming the first team or group at Chester High School to ever win a state championship.
Colonel and the students returned home on Sunday and were greeted by Chester police and fire vehicles, which escorted the state champions through town in a welcome home parade with flashing lights and honking horns. Parents and other well-wishers joined the parade.
Chester's Concert Band, Concert Choir, Swing Choir and Jazz Band competed in the Music Sweepstakes Competition, which combines scores from a preliminary solo/ensemble contest held March 3 with the organizational (full band/chorus) contest held April 13.
The groups performed three pieces for three judges. As each group performed, judges rated the groups on tone quality, intonation, their interpretation of the music, diction; the creativity and musicianship of the soloists and other factors like the choice of literature, appearance, poise, posture, general conduct, facial expressions, and mannerisms.
The entire judging experience is very demanding and can feel even threatening to some students, Colonel said, but he said his students took the challenges in stride and "knocked both the audience and judges dead."
All four Chester groups earned a Division I "Superior" rating overall. All three judges combined their respective individual scores to create an overall score. Out of the 12 possible individual scores (three per performance group) judges awarded Chester 11 Division I "Superior" ratings and one Division II "Excellent" rating.
The Concert Band performed "The American Red Cross March" by Louis Panella/David Butler; "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland/Robert Longfield, and "On Golden Wings" by Michael Oare. All three judges gave "Superior" ratings for all three performances.
The Concert Choir or mixed chorus sang three numbers, "Hold Fast Your Dreams" by Louise Driscoll and Greg Gilpin; "Count the Stars" by Andy Beck; and "Good News!" from (Chariot's-Comin') arranged by Roger Emerson. Accompanist for the Concert Choir was Vicky Beers and Sue Colonel was her page turner.
The Concert Choir earned three Division I "Superior" ratings from the panel of three judges.
The Swing Choir "Sound Effect" performed three pieces including "Ain't That a Kick in The Head" arranged by Ryan O'Connell, "Man in the Mirror" arranged by Kirby Shaw and "Trashin' the Camp" arranged by Moses Hogan. Accompanist for the Swing Choir was Vicky Beers, with Sue Colonel was her page turner. All three judges awarded Division I "Superior" ratings."
The Jazz Band performed "Five Spot after Dark", by Benny Golson/Mike Story, "Here's That Rainy Day" by Burke and Van Heusen/Rick Stitzel and "You Can't Stop the Beat" arranged by John Berry.
The Jazz Band earned two Division I "Superior" ratings and one Division II "Excellent" rating, which was only one tenth-of-a-point from being a Division I "Superior" rating. Overall the Jazz Band scores averaged to a "Superior" rating.
Going into the April 13 Organizational Contest, Chester led the state in Class C competition by 78 points and knew that the 2018 IHSA State Championship was "theirs for the taking," Colonel said. The students were confident, anxious to compete, well prepared and driven. Chester placed third in the state in 2016 and fourth in 2017.
After studying the results of all five classes in the 2018 IHSA Music Sweepstakes Competition, Colonel also discovered that Chester ranked 13th overall among all five classes of competitors.
"The CHS Music Department ended the 2018 IHSA Music Sweepstakes Competition with the 13th-highest score in the entire state of Illinois regardless of school size," Colonel said. "That includes ALL of the huge schools in the Chicago area. What an amazing accomplishment for our program!"