This is a fan­tas­tic oppor­tu­nity to play with great, like-minded play­ers as well as per­form solid lit­er­a­ture and work with renowned conductors.

Here are the dates to know:

• Sept 14–16 ILMEA Instru­men­tal Pre-Screening — Play your solo for Mr. H
• Sept 18 ILMEA Nom­i­na­tion Due — To be nom­i­nated you must let Mr. H/Ms. S early and per­form for them dur­ing the Pre-Screening time
• Oct 10 ILMEA Auditions
• Nov 14 Jazz ILMEA Festival
• Nov 21 ILMEA Jr/Sr Band and Choir Festival
• Jan 27–30 ILMEA All-State

Audi­tion Material

All of the mate­r­ial, and resources need for next year’s audi­tion are avail­able on our ILMEA Set 3 Page

Tips and Practicing

• The great­est way to pre­pare any audi­tion is with the aid of a Pri­vate Instruc­tor. If you are inter­ested in Pri­vate Instruc­tion please let Mr. H know! There are many resources and peo­ple avail­able to you to help! Pri­vate lessons are the sin­gle great­est com­mit­ment that can change the way you play your instrument.
• Start NOW — many stu­dents wait to pre­pare for the audi­tions or try to “cram” for the audition. The ear­lier you start, the ear­lier you can pre­pare. It does not work to cram for auditions!
• Split up the work — don’t think you have to prac­tice all of the pieces from start to end every time you prac­tice. Focus your efforts and divide up the piece. See Mr. H for more details and guid­ance on how to do this!!!
• Keep a journal/log — Many stu­dents get frus­trated because they don’t feel like they are improv­ing. It is hard to know if you are or aren’t if you aren’t keep­ing track! A prac­tice jour­nal helps show exactly what you were or will be work­ing on. Keep track of seg­ments you are doing, fun­da­men­tals, notes on your per­for­mance and tempo mark­ings. This focuses your prac­tice and helps show progress.
• Record your­self – It is hard to hear our­selves play but I promise this is a great way to improve. Try it the first time you play to have a ref­er­ence. I guar­an­tee you will improve and feel good when you go back and lis­ten a few months later!
• Get help! – This goes back to Pri­vate Lessons but your music teach­ers would love to help you improve. Seek them out!

Let us know if we can be of assis­tance in any way! Good luck!

Now get practicing =)