Glenn Westlake school band takes festival honors
Lombard's Glenn Westlake Middle School Concert Band won top honors in its class at the 2008 University of Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festival, one of the most prestigious concert band festivals in the Midwest.
This is the third year in a row this group was invited to perform at this festival, which was held May 2-3 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The band won Honor Band status after competing against Edison Middle School in Champaign, Hadley Junior High in Glen Ellyn, Hickory Creek Middle School in Frankfort, MacArthur Middle School in Prospect Heights, McCracken Middle School in Skokie and Troy Middle School in Troy.
As the 2008 Junior High Honor Band, Glenn Westlake is invited to present a special performance during the 2009 Superstate Festival.
University Bands and the School of Music sponsor the Superstate Festival. Outstanding middle, junior and senior high school concert bands from across the state performed on the Foellinger Great Hall Stage at the university's Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
Participating bands are divided into four classes: Jr. High, Class A, Class AA, and Class AAA. A panel of adjudicators, outside of the University of Illinois, determines the number of bands selected in each class based upon the quality of performances submitted.
This year 62 bands submitted entries and 24 were invited to perform.
Students participating in the band are: Maria Vachlon, Joe Kirsh, Spencer Sterling, Mimi Heim, Lindsey Paganucci, Brendan Cebulski, Kara Tadda, Ben Chvatal, Jake Schaefer, Emily Dunn, Andrea Erguven, Madison Joiner, Nicole Connet, Jeff Berman, Katie Spitler, Elise Sundberg, Brian Hinkley, Lauren Hill, Brian Kapustka, Kevin Hupp, Miranda Wozniak, Chris Yamaguchi, Samantha Ryan, Sam Scully, Jan Luedtke, Jana Payne, Matt Rossetti, Adam Laird, Tom Zelman, Jacob Sundberg, Doren Blake, Emily Schaub, James Byrd , Charlotte Dorsey , Mike Bochierri, Ben Haimann, Tony Coonrod, Evan Schiewe, Spencer Mehr, Sarah Fraser, Tim McInerney, Nick Cornell, Anna Sikora, Kayla Everhart, Bethany Wood, Kinga Glowik, Anthony Scarpaniti, Kjersten Nelson, Will Pruyn, Becky Somodji, MacKenzie Hill, Jamie Gradishar, Samantha Prentice, Danielle Murphy, Jacob Primas, Alexis Parson, Melanie Torres, Vince Singer, Sonia Lozano, William Becerra, Megan Rochford, Paul Terrafino, Greg Ramos, Dean Frigo and Karl Krems.