McCracken is Crack State Band
Skokie Review – May 24, 2001
(and yes…that’s the actual headline they used!)
The last concert of the season for the McCracken Middle School Symphonic Band will be at 7 p.m. May 25 at Niles North High School, 9800 N. Lawler Ave., Skokie. This will be the culminating performance for the eighth-graders who were Chip De Stefano’s first students when he became band director in 1996. These kids, then in fourth grade and just learning notes, are now noteworthy as an award-winning symphonic band.
De Stefano was just awarded this year’s Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator Award. The award has been presented annually since 1989 and recognizes excellence in the field of music education in the Chicago area. Candidates are nominated by other music educators and are chosen by a selection committee which includes previous winners and several university directors.
De Stefano is now in his fifth year teaching at McCracken. Under his direction, the McCracken Middle School Symphonic Band has made three appearances at the prestigious University of Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festival.
A graduate of Northwestern University, De Stefano is an active arranger for university and high school marching bands throughout the country. With commissions from Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Samford University; the University of Idaho, and dozens of high schools, De Stefano’s works receive numerous performances each year.
McCracken Middle School students (sixth through eighth grades), under the musical direction of Chip De Stefano, practice daily from 7:20 a.m. until school starts at 8 a.m., and after school on Tuesdays. Their dedication has paid off: they have received 38 consecutive Division I (Superior) ratings at the Illinois Grade School Music Association District Organizational Contests. In Plainfield this year, they received “ones” across the board at the state level.
The 1999-2000 Symphonic Band received perhaps the two highest honors a middle school band in Illinois can be awarded with its unanimous selection as Honor Band at the 2000 Superstate Festival, and invitation to perform at the 2001 Illinois Music Educators Association State Conference.
In recognition of outstanding performance at the Superstate Festival, one honor band per class is selected to present a noncompetitive performance during the 2001 Superstate Festival. This year, McCracken Middle School had that honor as they won the Superstate contest in the year 2000.