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IMEA District 7 Honor Band

What a great day! The IMEA District 7 Junior Band Festival was absolutely terrific. Dr. Ryan Nelson (Northwestern University) directed the band this year and did an amazing job. All the students worked very hard and the concert was one of the best in recent history. The 15 McCracken students who participated and the hundreds of other students who performed in the IMEA Band, Orchestra, and Choir should be so proud of the work they did today. Congratulations!

  • HUGE thanks go to:
    • Frank Lestina (Vernon Hills High School), District 7 President, for the amazing work he does to organize these festivals each year.
    • Steve Katz, William Koch, the Niles West Band Parents, and the Niles West and District 219 administration for doing such a wonderful job hosting the event.
    • Scott Duff (Chippewa Middle School) and Steve Nendza (Deerpath Middle School), Junior Band Division Representatives, for all their work making sure the day went smoothly for all our students.

Next year’s festival is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, November 4 (Site TBA). Auditions will take place on Saturday, September 30.

  • The band performed:
    • An Irish Rhapsody – Clare Grundman
    • Down a Country Lane – Aaron Copland/Patterson
    • West Side Story – Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, arranged by Jay Bocook
    • Circus Days – Karl King, arranged by Loras Schissel

Ryan T. Nelson is the Associate Director of Bands at Northwestern University, where he conducts the Symphonic Band and Contemporary Music Ensemble, teachers conducting, and teaches courses in music education and wind literature. Dr. Nelson is the Music Director of the Illinois Brass Band, and is a member of the American Musical Theatre Project (AMTP). An active music theatre director, he is music directing new productions of “Footloose” and “Oliver” at the Marriott Theatre, and the premieres of “Was,” “The Boys are Coming Home,” and Eric Whitacre’s “Paradise Lost” in collaborations with AMTP. Dr. Nelson is a frequent guest conductor of bands and orchestras around the country. Nelson received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Duquesne University, where he studied conducting with Brady Allred. His master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees in conducting are from the University of North Texas, where he was a student of Eugene Migliaro Corporon.

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