Four band students, Senior Henry Carpender, Senior Gabe Martinez, Senior Steven Surmin and Junior Paige Eifert represented MHS in multiple All-State bands on Jan. 27-30 in Peoria, IL.

“It is a big deal” said Band Director Andy Sturgeon about these students making their way into the top bands of the state.

The All State Music Festival is a collection of the top high school musicians among nine districts across Illinois. MHS falls under District VII, which pulls students from Evanston up until the Wisconsin boundary.

These students work yearlong to build their skills up to state-level in order to be honored as a top high school musician.

The festival includes different groups of jazz ensembles, orchestras and bands. MHS sent students to represent in each of these categories this year.

Carpender, trombone in the All State Jazz Ensemble, and Eifert, trumpet, both said they were confident about representing MHS at the state-level.

“I know that MHS is doing great things,” said Carpender.

Sturgeon added that “MHS has a large presence” at the All State Music Festival.

Aside from the four students performing separately, MHS’s Jazz Ensemble performed at the festival one night for concert attendees.

Those who made it to the state-level first auditioned for district bands back in mid-October. The top two chairs from each district are then taken for the All-State bands.

In order to prepare for the various levels, the MHS Band Directors Sturgeon and Jerry Shelato had the students audition for them before they could audition for district.

The students prepare differently for their auditions; some work alongside a private teacher, which is what Carpender, Martinez, Surmin and Eifert all chose to do.

Each, though, had different emotions going into the various auditions.

“I get really nervous when I play in front of other people,” said Eifert.

Therefore, Eifert said the hardest aspect she had to overcome was her nerves, as it can be intimidating when a person must perform in front of others waiting to offer critique.

Eifert said she really hated doing the auditions, but Carpender said his nerves have become use to the process.  This is because not only was he doing auditions for the All State and district bands, he was also auditioning for various colleges this year.

When Carpender auditions, he said he keeps in mind who he is in an audition, which is what his private lessons teacher told him: “Who you are in your audition is well-rounded, professional, heartfelt and musical.”

Additionally, during the auditions some students might view them as competitions among the various high school music programs, but Carpender said not many see them that way.

He said, “When you go there, you know you’re going to be around people who care about the same things that you do.”