Singers to join college chorus

John Gorecki and Christopher Scarpulla, both of Elk Grove Village, and Patrick Nakamura of Buffalo Grove were selected to sing in the 2007-08 edition of the Millikin Men, Millikin University's Men's Choir.

Under the direction of Theodore Hesse, lecturer of music, the choir is made up of 25 first-year students who sing a broad repertoire.

Gorecki and Scarpulla are both graduates of Elk Grove High School. Gorecki is a music education instrumental major while Scarpulla is a music education vocal major. Nakamura, a Buffalo Grove High School graduate, is a business major.

• Mount Prospect residents Amy Mastrolonardo, 15, and Jenna Mastrolonardo, 12, will dance in the Civic Ballet of Chicago's Nutcracker Saturday and Sunday at Elgin Community College and Dec. 14 and 15 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.

Amy will be dancing the parts of Clara, Marzipan and Snow. Jenna will dance in the party and Arabian scenes. Both girls study ballet at the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance in Chicago.

• Arlington Heights native Jack Jostes, a senior at Marquette University, Milwaukee, participated in "The Dublin Project," a year-long theater project that began in August 2006, culminating in November with the production of "Poor Tom."

Jostes, along with 15 other students in the Marquette theater department, worked with Patrick Sutton, artistic director of the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland, to create an original theater piece centered around social justice.

In June, the students spent three weeks in Dublin, finalizing and performing the play in Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre before its U.S. premiere in November, as part of Marquette's Department of Performing Arts 2007-08 theater season.

• The Northern Illinois Branch of the International Food Service Executives Association announced the Harper College Team of Tiffany Schuler, Hannah McHugh, Shaon Balkey, coached by Pili Rios, placed second in its first Knowledge Bowl Competition.

A "Jeopardy-style" round of competition pitted teams from local schools against each other, at the Illinois Institute of Art's Culinary campus, in a battle over material contained in the Master Certified Food Executives exam.

The Master Certified Food Executive designation represent the pinnacle of achievement in professional certification for a food and beverage leader.