Musicians do well at IHSA contest

Chester High School band and choral students competed in the 2022 IHSA Class B Solo and Ensemble Contest Saturday, March 5, at Murphysboro. Steve Colonel and his CHS music students had a record-high number of entries in this year's contest with a total of 111.

Chester sent 58 vocal and 53 instrumental entries. Vocal entries included 37 vocal solos, 20 vocal ensembles and one chamber choir entry. Instrumental entries included 37 instrumental solos and 16 instrumental ensemble entries.

Of the 58 vocal entries, Chester earned 34 Division I, first place ratings; 18, Division II, second place ratings; and six Division III, third place ratings.

Of the 53 instrumental entries, Chester earned 39 Division I, first place ratings; 13 Division II, second place ratings; and one Division III, third place ratings.

All together the YellowJacket music program earned a total of 73 Division I, first place ratings; 31 Division II, second place ratings; and 7 Division III, third place ratings.

Schools are placed in classes for competition depending on the number of students enrolled in their schools. Though for the past several years Chester has competed in Class C, this year they were Class B, which includes larger schools.

"In the first week of school, I told all of my music ensemble classes that based on our previous two years' enrollment, Chester High School had been moved up to Class B in the IHSA Music Sweepstakes Competition," Colonel said.

"All of our State level trophies have been earned at the Class C (smaller schools) level. I told them, however, that if we worked really hard, we could still finish in the top three at the Class B level (competing against larger schools).

"Well, fast forward to today at the 2022 IHSA Class B Solo and Ensemble Competition, CHS earned 73 Division I (first place) ratings, 31 Division II (second place) ratings, and just seven Division III (third place) ratings."

"We tied for second place overall in the State of Illinois in Class B overall in sweepstakes rankings. We finished second in instrumental entries and third overall in choral entries. Now it's on to the IHSA Organizational Contest on April 8 to try to cement our place as the state runner-up in Class B for 2022. I can't begin to express how proud I am of our kids!"

Perfect scores

Four Chester performances earned perfect scores with no deductions.

Jacob Handel earned 35 of 35 points for his trumpet solo. Judge Michael Moreland said, "Very well done on resonance, control, clarity, focus, consistency, and warmth. Good attacks, artistry, pulse, and mechanical skill." Overall rating was deemed to be "superior."

Hannah Kaempfe earned 25 of 25 points on her piano solo. Judge Christy Allen said, "Good hand position and posture. Good for you. You have good finger dexterity, note accuracy, pedaling, and very clean 16ths. Poise, posture, and general conduct are great. Keep working hard and listening to your teacher!" Kaempfe earned "superior" ratings.

Oddessy Flores earned 35 of 35 points on her vocal solo. Judge Lauren Arnett said, "Wow! Awesome tone. Clarity, resonance, focus and warmth were very good. Diction was clean and clear. You had a lovely musical performance. You were very poised, polished, and professional. Keep singing! You are super talented and a PRO!"

Kerringtyn Malley and Chelsea August earned 25 of 25 points for their membrane percussion (drum) ensemble performance. Judge Jimmy Beers said, "Balance, head tension, and stuck choice were nice. You had good grips and rebound strokes. Dynamics, tempo, accents, style, phrasing, expression, finesse and articulation were good. Your performance, poise, posture, general conduct and articulation were good. Thank you for playing!" Their performance was rated "superior!"

Vocal performances

Chester had a total of 58 entries in the vocal category. Of those, 37 were vocal solos, 20 were vocal ensembles and one was a Chamber Choir.

VOCAL SOLOS

Division I (first place) ratings: Isaiah Ferrell, Salem Heins, Brayden Ridings, Mikayla Straight, Mirra Krieg, Chelsea August, Tulsa Addison, Alex Hennrich, Kaleb Rehmer, Jaden Lopez, William Smith, Jack Heffernan, Cesar Marquez, Oddessy Flores, Ace Smith, Lydia Smith, Savanna Guebert, Rylie McDonough, Cayla Sibley, Abby Bollmann, Jessica Ixcoy, Julia Venus and Hannah Colvis.

Division II (second place) ratings: Lilly Lochhead, Joel Buskohl, Ary Shipley, Conner Wolff, Avery Carpenter, Kaitlyn Pfeiffer, Brooklyn Webb, Summer Valleroy, Hannah Kaempfe, Emma Bryant, Nico DeGuzman and Amanda Kennon.

Division III (third place) ratings: Ava Meade and Haley Hoskin.

VOCAL ENSEMBLES

Division I (first place) ratings: Alex Hennrich, Lily Lochhead, and Abby Bollmann; Conner Wolff, Kaleb Rehmer, and William Smith; Julia Venus and Cesar Marquez; Abby Bollmann and William Smith; Ace Smith and Salem Heins; Oddessy Flores and Alex Hennrich; Jessica Ixcoy and Mirra Krieg; Cesar Marquez and Jaden Lopez; Kaleb Rehmer and Oddessy Flores; and Chelsea August and Julia Venus.

Division II (second place) ratings: Jessica Ixcoy and Jaden Lopez; Ary Shipley and Isaiah Ferrell; Haley Hoskin and Ary Shipley; Cayla Sibley and Amanda Kennon; Brayden Ridings and Kaleb Rehmer; and Savannah Guebert and Hannah Kaempfe.

Division III (third place) ratings: Kaitlyn Pfeiffer and Emma Bryant; Salem Heins and Mikayla Straight; and Hannah Colvis and Mikayla Straight.

VOCAL CHAMBER CHOIR

Vocal Chamber Choir: Abby Bollmann, et al. (Division I (first place) rating

Instrumental performances

Chester had a total of 53 entries in the Instrumental Category. Of those, 37 were solos and 16 were instrumental ensembles.

INSTRUMENTAL SOLOS

Division I (first place) ratings: Chloe Miller, Clarinet; Jessie Heath, Alto Saxophone; Isaiah Ferrell, Baritone Saxophone; Nico DeGuzman, Clarinet; Rylie McDonough, Tenor Saxophone; Haley Hoskin, Clarinet; Lily Lochhead, Tenor Saxophone; Julia Venus, Clarinet; Anna Childs, Alto Saxophone; Kerringtyn Malley, Snare Drum; Jacob Pfeiffer, Snare Drum; Max Blechle, Snare Drum; Kaitlyn Pfeiffer, Snare Drum; Luke Miller, Trumpet; Jacob Handel, Trumpet; Chelsea August, Xylophone; Mirra Krieg, Xylophone; Abby Todd, Flute; Jordana Frazer, Bass Clarinet; Salem Heins, Clarinet; Ary Shipley, Clarinet; Jaden Lopez, Trombone; Kaleb Rehmer, Tuba; Brayden Ridings, Trombone; Tino Rafael, Baritone; and Hannah Kaempfe, Piano.

Division II (second place) ratings: Will Welge, Clarinet; Aden McFarland, Bass Clarinet; Cesar Marquez, Alto Saxophone; Garrett Hopkins, Trumpet; Jessica Ixcoy, Flute; Josalynn Anaya, Flute; Mikayla Straight, Baritone; Joel Buskohl, Trombone; Chase Gilbert, Trombone; and Clayton Andrews, Alto Saxophone.

Division III (third place) rating: Blake Huffman, Alto Saxophone

INSTRUMENTAL

ENSEMBLES

Division I (first place) ratings: Will Welge and Nico DeGuzman, Mixed Woodwind Ensemble; Aiden McFarland and Jordanna Frazer, Clarinet Ensemble; Hanna Colvis and Sydney Collins, Mixed Woodwind Ensemble; Salem Heins and Julia Venus, Clarinet Ensemble; Jessica Ixcoy and Josalynn Anaya, Flute Ensemble; Josalynn Anaya and Chloe Miller, Mixed Woodwind Ensemble; Oddessy Flores and Hannah Colvis, Mixed Woodwind Ensemble; Jacob Handel and Clayton Andrews, Mixed Brass Ensemble; Cami Schroeder, Cayla Sibley, and Garret Hopkins, Trumpet Ensemble; Lily Lochhead and Isaiah Ferrell, Saxophone Ensemble; Chase Gilbert and David Sullivan, Trombone Ensemble; Kerringtyn Malley and Chelsea August, Membrane Percussion; and Mikayla Straight and Lily Lochhead, Mixed Brass Ensemble.

Division II (second place) ratings: Jaden Lopez and Joel Buskohl, Trombone Ensemble; Brayden Ridings and Kaleb Rehmer, Mixed Brass Ensemble; and Isaiah Ferrell and Eva Meade, Saxophone Ensemble.