Showstopper

The Libertyville High School concert choir members need to be at the top of their game when they perform in a special concert next week.

Choral director Jeff Brown knows the audience will be watching and listening closely. They are musically educated and critical.

"The people that will be listening to them know the music," he said. "They know what a good choir is supposed to sound like."

Libertyville has been invited its third time to perform at the Illinois Music Educators Association annual conference on Feb. 1.

The performance will begin at 11 a.m. at the Riverside Church in downtown Peoria.

Brown said performing before music educators will be a unique experience for the young singers, much different than singing before family and friends. For family and friends, the praise the students receive is almost a given. In this crowd of musical experts, Brown said praise may not come that easily.

"They will be more critical. They will offer much praise if what they hear is good, what they deem to be worthy of praise," he said.

The choir will give a free preview concert of its IMEA performance at 4 p.m. Sunday at Vernon Hills High School.

The concert choir is made up of 67 sophomores, juniors and seniors who must audition to join. Johnson said it is the school's most advanced ensemble and usually are invited to tour or perform at special events.

Libertyville was last invited to perform at the IMEA All-State Conference in 1998 and 2004. It is an invitation-only performance where schools must apply. Being invited is the prize, Brown said.

"There is no trophy. It is not a competition where we will go and compete against anyone," he said. "Getting asked to go and perform is the honor."

Libertyville will join nine high school vocal ensembles and two college ensembles at this year's conference.

"I feel proud I am in a choir invited to do this," senior Lauren Kaplan said.

The students have stepped up to get ready for this, preparing since August.

"We hope that they see a strong choir but also students who respect their teacher," senior Chantelle Shellenberger said.

Libertyville will share the stage with another high school choir, the 56-member Lincoln-Way Central High School Chorale from New Lenox, directed by Michael Bultman.

Brown spoke with Bultman, a friend from college, to put together a program for the conference. Both high schools will perform songs individually and then perform as a whole.

They will perform a variety of literature including classical pieces, multi-cultural selections, popular music and folk songs.

Among the combined pieces will be a classical piece by William Byrd called "Sing Joyfully," a Spanish folk song called "El Vito," commissioned by IMEA in 1992. They will do a new piece by Eric Whitacre called "Animal Crackers," which are three whimsical poems set to music. The concert will close with a gospel blues called "John the Revelator" by Sean Ivory.

"We want to get all the songs right," said senior Ben Berger said. "We are trying a little harder."

The preview concert on Sunday will be the only time the two choirs will perform together before the conference. Brown said he does not know what will happen when they are thrown together.

"We've been trying to express to the kids that this isn't a competition. We are all in this together," he said. "But when you get them together, one school wants to be better than the other. Kids take that competitive nature. It is hard to fight against that. We try."

"The music is the most important thing," he added. "We all should be focused on making the music as good as possible and not try to sing better than someone from another school."

Senior Angie Sylvester said it's a great opportunity to meet people who also love to sing and exciting to hear how they will sound performing together.

"We want to be able to keep up with their choir and show we are good," Shellenberger said. "We don't want to outshine but show we can behave as a mature choir."

At the conference, Brown said he wants the audience to be impressed. The state will see that Libertyville High School knows good music.

"We have a strong reputation in the state," he said. "We want to uphold that."

If you go

What: Preview of Libertyville High School concert choir's IMEA performance

Where: Vernon Hills High School auditorium, 145 Lakeview Parkway, Vernon Hills

When: 4 p.m. Sunday

Admission: Free and open to the public

In addition: The concert will also feature the Lincoln-Way Central High School Chorale