2007-12-07 IPSD Music

My family lucked into an absolutely incredible music program when we moved into the Indian Prairie School District. My children were young and I didn't know that the district had a great music program, nor would I have even known it would matter to us. The music program in our schools continues to astound me year after year.

Over the years, my children have participated in orchestra, band, chorus, and a variety of musicals. I've been to dozens of performances and have always been impressed. The district is teeming with musical talent.

The elementary school music program has an impressive curriculum and includes an evening musical performance each year for each grade in every school. Fourth and fifth graders have the opportunity to take part in chorus and a large number of students participate. Fifth graders can join band or orchestra after spending a few weeks learning about all the instrument choices and deciding on the one that's right for them.

The middle schools continue on with strong band, orchestra and chorus programs. Among the several concerts performed by Granger students each year is the Kaleidoscope concert. This beautiful concert is held in December and all of the music students perform in the decorated gym. Extra-curricular music groups such as Fiddlers, Select Strings, Concert Choir and Wind Ensemble meet before school and perform several times each year. Students especially enjoy taking part in the spring musical. District students from sixth grade on have the opportunity to audition for Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA) festival and to participate in annual solo/ensemble festivals.

This extensive preparation in the earlier grades leads these gifted musicians into our Grammy Award winning high school music programs. Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley have been honored by the Grammy Foundation numerous times.

About 20% of Waubonsie students participate in curricular music. There are several small groups and extra-curricular performing groups available as well. Dozens of concerts are held at Waubonsie and other locations each year. Our students have done particularly well at IMEA and this year we have 21 students attending the All-State Conference.

I'm usually not the sort of person to gush, but I’m absolutely amazed at the quality of the concerts I've attended at Waubonsie. The most well-known and attended district concerts of the year are Waubonsie’s Prism concert and Neuqua’s Crystal Concert. These concerts are held each December. At Waubonsie all curricular music students in grades ten through twelve participate as well as freshman in extra-curricular music groups.

This is the sixteenth year the Prism concert has been held. There will be at least six hundred performers in twenty-six musical ensembles as well as some pre-concert soloists and ensembles. This is a musical experience I wish I could invite all of you to witness for yourselves, but tickets are very hard to come by. The concert is performed four times over two nights to a total audience of almost 3600. After students and staff have acquired their tickets during the week-long well-coordinated distribution, the public is welcome to stand in line in the hopes of obtaining some of the remaining fifty or so tickets, or they may be lucky enough to get some turned-in tickets at concert time.

The Prism concert features a dazzling array of exceptional performers in every possible location throughout the auditorium with no breaks between songs. The audience attention and lights shift from song to song to locations in front, back, center, one side or the other. The finale is absolutely incredible and includes all of the concert participants filling the stage and aisles and providing an unforgettable ending to an incredible evening. This concert would not be possible without the directors, auditorium staff, dedicated music students, and numerous parent helpers.

Another huge event every year is the Fine Arts Festival, held at each high school in May. This day-long event features musical performances and art work from students at every grade level. I am amazed each year by the high quality sewing projects and architectural drawings, the furniture, drawings, paintings, and 3-D art projects. This is an excellent chance to see and hear the talents of our students, with no tickets or fees required.

Waubonsie and Neuqua each have a large and active Tri-M club. Tri-M is an honors music society that does community service. This year's Waubonsie club goal is to raise $50,000 to help start music programs in some schools in Chicago.

It would take a book to fully describe the district’s music program and all of its concerts, awards, and honors. Many thanks are due to all the people who work so hard for this success.