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CHS Music finishes third at state

Posted April 15, 2016 11:00 pm

By Jim Beers Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE -- Last year at the 2015 Chester High School Spring Concert, Steve Colonel, CHS Band and Choral director, announced a goal for the 2015-2016 school year.

He stated that the CHS Concert Band, Swing Choir and Concert Choir were going to do everything possible to bring home a "Top-3" trophy from the 2016 IHSA Music Sweepstakes competition.

A year later, and CHS came away with third place in Class C at the state competition in Nashville on April 15.

"I am very proud of our students for their hard work and dedication to accomplishing this goal," Colonel said. "We had more students participate this year than ever and they all made a good showing."

Prophetstown, which entered four groups to CHS's three, placed first with 636 points. Iroquois West placed second with 624 points, followed by Chester with 526.5.

"I compiled the scores from all of the five classes of competition and out of 378 competing schools, we finished 31st overall," Colonel said. "That puts us in the top nine percent in the entire state."

The CHS Concert Mixed Choir, a new addition this year, was first to perform and performed three selections for the panel of three judges.

This year's repertoire consisted of "I Will Lift Up My Voice and Sing," by Victor J. Johnson; "Prayer of the Children," by Kurt Bestor/arrangement Mark Hayes; and "Lean on Me" with "We Shall Overcome," arr. Mark Hayes.

Judges had a possible 40 points to award, which were spread over eight criteria areas: Tone Quality, Intonation, Rhythm, Balance/Blend, Technique, Interpretation/Musicianship, Diction, and Performance Factors.

Judge No. 1 awarded a total of 34 points, which fell into the Division II Excellent range. Judge No. 2 awarded 37.6 points, which fell into the Division I Superior range.

Finally, Judge No. 3 awarded 35.8 points, which fell into the Division II Excellent range. All three scores were averaged, giving the Chester Concert Mixed Choir an overall score of 35.8.

The score to enter the Division I Superior range was 40 points. Thus, the CHS Concert Mixed Choir earned another 37.5 sweepstake points to add to Chester's 339 points that were earned at the solo and ensemble contest in March.

The next Chester group to compete was the CHS Swing Choir "Sound Affect." Sound Affect also performed three songs for the panel of judges.

The selections were "I Say a Little Prayer," arr. Michele Weir; "Happy Together," arr. Audrey Snyder and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," arr. Kirby Shaw.

"Sound Affect" earned Division I Superior (1st place) ratings from all three judges, with an average score of 42.5 - bumping Chester's sweepstakes total up to 451.

Chester's Concert Band performed three selections for a different panel of three judges. Selections were "Cradle of Liberty March," by Al Hayes/arr. Laurie Lafferty; "Kinetic Dances," by Randal Standridge and "Beyond the Higher Skies," by Robert Sheldon.

The concert band was awarded an average of 37.5 points, making Chester's total 526 points and earning the Yellow Jackets third place.

Chester finished seventh overall out of the 79 Class C schools when just considering the Solo and Ensemble Band competitions with 129 points and first - with 204 points - when considering just the Vocal Division.

The CHS Spring Concert will be held Tuesday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. Colonel will unveil the third-place trophy, in addition to the plaques earned this year in competition.

The band, chorus and swing choir will also perform many of the selections featured at this year's organizational competition.

The IHSA Music Sweepstakes Series keeps track of how individual students or small ensembles score during respective performances at the IHSA Solo and Ensemble Contest.

Likewise, entire bands and/or choral groups receive scores for performances at the IHSA Organizational Contest.

Last year, Chester finished in sixth place overall among all Class C schools, while Colonel's individual students and small group ensembles finished first among all schools that had competed in the Vocal Music Division of the solo and ensemble contests.

This year's IHSA Solo and Ensemble Contest was held March 5 at Carterville, with Chester recording 339 points - putting the Yellow Jackets at the top of the state rankings.

Sweepstakes points are awarded for performances at both contests based on the ratings from respective judges.

Last year, CHS only took two large groups to the organizational contest. Schools are allowed to enter two instrumental and two vocal groups at organizational contest.

Schools that enter all four groups have the opportunity to earn more points.

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