Dist. 59 choral festival Saturday in Des Plaines

Elk Grove Township Elementary School District 59 will host its annual choral festival 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at Friendship Junior High School, 550 Elizabeth Lane in Des Plaines.

More than 500 students in 13 different choirs from seven of the district's schools will participate. Each performance consists of a set of three songs for twenty minutes, including a foreign language piece at the junior high level.

During their performance, all choirs will be evaluated by a panel of music educators, and have a workshop afterward. Steve Sivak, current choral director of Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, and Catherine DeLanoy, who recently retired from Westmont Junior High School, will serve as judges on the panel. Both have a significant amount of experience in working with children of all ages in musical instruction.

The choir groups are evaluated in categories, from intonation and tone quality, to stage presentation and song selection. They will receive constructive feedback along with tips and techniques to further refine their performances in the future.

The annual festival is the result of months of preparation. Students learn a great deal and it kicks off "Music in our Schools Month," which celebrates 30 years this March.