On Saturday, March 2nd, Reavis held the 2024 IHSA Solo and Ensemble Contest. This event is required for students taking an honors credit in a music and/or theater class. However, non-honors students are encouraged to participate.
Many people form groups called “ensembles” to perform music, while others prefer to do it themselves, known as a “solo”. This event allows musicians to show their skill and their development as students.
Students choose to participate in early January and after that, they spend time browsing music books until they find a solo or ensemble that the student and/or group likes. Participants have some time in class to practice their music for the contest, however, it’s ideal for them to practice outside of school. If a musician is not in an ensemble, they will have an accompanist on a piano or another instrument.
About a week and a half before the contest, students get a schedule that tells them their time, entry number, event, name, accompanist, size and room numbers for their warmup, and practice rooms. On the day of the contest, students show up at the school about thirty minutes to an hour before their solo, wearing attire you would wear to a job interview. Students drop their belongings at the cafeteria while also picking up the original music book the song came from, so the judge can follow along with their music. Students then go to their warmup room with their music and instruments to practice before their performance. Once it’s time for their performance, they traverse to a different room where the judge is. The student will play their song for the judge; once they are finished, the student can leave.
It’s optional if a student wants to stay to listen to their peers perform, or to find their entry number on the T.V. in the cafeteria to see what division they landed in. In total, there are five divisions, with 1st being the best and 5th being that you do not know how to hold your instrument correctly. Luckily for Argo, everyone who has participated in the past has gotten at least 3rd division or higher.
During the day, Freshman Sophia Cepeda was interviewed. “I was a little nervous, but the teachers here were nice, and it was kind of easy to do it. I would definitely do it again.”
