Mount Prospect Resident Member of National Award-Winning Musical Group

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.- Max Arnold of Mount Prospect is a member of Illinois Wesleyan University's Wind Ensemble, national winner of The American Prize in Band Performance competition in the performing arts, college/university division.

Arnold, a junior music education major, plays saxophone in the 35-member Wind Ensemble. Founded in 1979, the Wind Ensemble is comprised of the top wind and percussion students at Illinois Wesleyan and performs the finest wind band literature. The ensemble has worked with and sponsored commissions from Pulitzer Prize-winning composers. The ensemble performs several concerts throughout the year, tours regularly and has appeared at the College Band Directors National Association Conference and the Illinois Music Educators Association Conference.

The American Prize is a series of nonprofit, national competitions in the performing arts providing cash awards, professional adjudication and recognition for the best recorded performances by ensembles and individuals in the United States. It is administered by Hat City Music Theatre, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Connecticut.

Illinois Wesleyan is a top tier, national liberal arts university that is exclusively undergraduate, enrolling approximately 1,770 students from 33 states and 22 countries. It is one of the few universities in the country where young musicians can combine rigorous training of an accredited school of music with a liberal arts education. Illinois Wesleyan's School of Music recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and enjoys a national reputation for producing talented musicians, vocalists, composers and music educators. The University is located in the central Illinois community of Bloomington-Normal.