Over the past few months, the music department has been selected for many honorable performances.
The band and color guard students have returned from their trip to New York to perform on Veterans Day. Some students were selected by ILMEA to be a part of a performance at New Trier High School the weekend of the band trip as well.
Players had been preparing for their Veterans Day performance, which occurred on Nov. 11. However, they left a few days in advance of the performance in order to venture through the city and to participate in the camps provided by broadway directors.
Once arriving in New York, the band students were able to visit many places in the city that is claimed to be full of excitement and wonder.
“Much to the dislike of the New Yorkers, we took up the entire sidewalk,” said junior Olivia Banach.
The band students visited many major sights that New York is commonly known for in their lead up to their performance.
“Visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on the first day was amazing. Visiting something that you had only seen in pictures is crazy,” said senior Mareliz Gallago.
The Marching Knights were also able to be a part of several different programs run by broadway directors and performers.
“It was a fantastic experience, and I learned a lot,” said sophomore AJ Amadio.
Over the same weekend, many band and choir students were selected to be a part of the ILMEA performance.
Olivia Banach, who was also able to make the band trip after performing for ILMEA, was one of the band students selected to be a part of the performance. She was incredibly excited to experience both.
“I’ve never been in a band with so much talent. After only rehearsing for one day, we sounded like we’d been playing with each other for years, despite the short rehearsal time and difficult music,” Banach said.
Many choir students auditioned, but only one person, senior Lauren Velasco, was selected from Grayslake North to be a part of the performance.
“It was an eye-opening experience to be able to perform with a whole array of singing talent,” she said.
Only 240 students were selected for the district performance that was held at New Trier High School. Over 800 students auditioned for the choir. Students were also aquainted with new figures to look to for expertise.
“The director of our band really brought the best out of our group of students,” Banach said.
The performance was held on Saturday, Nov. 8.
“It is a huge honor to be selected to be a part of the choir. The only bigger honor is to be selected for State. Sadly, none of our students made it to State,” said choir director Paul Nielsen.
The participants look forward to refining their skills as young musicians. During the year, students involved with both band and choir will perform at various concerts, such as the holiday concerts, which were held on Dec. 4, 5, and 10.