First time was the charm for the Clarendon Hills Middle School Symphonic Band, which earned top honors at the Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festival last weekend.

“This is the first time the school’s symphonic band was invited to the event, and we are proud to say the symphonic band was named Honor Band among all middle school entries,” said Robert Sabatino, interim superintendent for Community Consolidated School District 181 during a May 11 School Board meeting.

The 80-member group, composed of students from Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and Oak Brook, was one of eight entrants in the festival, which took place in Champaign-Urbana.

Being named Honor Band means the band will return to perform a signature Honor Band Performance during the 2010 festival and will not have to file an application to be considered as an entrant.

“Usually you have to file an application, but the Honor Band is automatically invited the following year,” said Terry Melbourn, band director. “I am really proud of the kids, really happy for them.”
Even though the band is no stranger to high-profile events  — in January the group played at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. — last week’s competition was special, band members said.

“We’ve played in a lot of places, but none was in such a formal setting,” said eighth-grader David Whinery of Hinsdale.

The symphonic band performed before a panel of judges May 8 in the Foellinger Great Hall on the University of Illinois campus. The hall is a top rate facility, and is designed to provide state-of-the-art acoustics, Melbourn said.

“They had microphones and recording equipment, but they weren’t necessary because the acoustics are perfect in there and don’t require amplification,” said Melbourn, who has taught music at the school since 2000.

Eighth-grader Rudy Oku of Hinsdale said playing in a venue dedicated to music was impressive.

“The sound was perfect, but the silence was awesome. Usually when we play in our school or other places, when the music stops you can hear all  kinds of noise. Inside Foellinger Great Hall, once you finished playing you heard nothing else but an echo of the music," Rudy said.

Although Melbourn said the event is not a typical competition, the band understood the significance of the performance.

“It was such a huge honor, first of all, because it was our first time at the festival. But also, we knew other great bands would be performing, including McCracken Middle school from Skokie,” said eighth-grader Sarah Vesely of Clarendon Hills. “McCracken is a great band and has been named Honor Band before, so to get the award over them was great.”

The CHMS band performed May 8 and returned to Clarendon Hills the same day. On May 9, they found out they had been selected as Honor Band, the event’s highest honor.

“I told the kids just before they were going to board the bus to go home from a trip to Six Flags in Gurnee on Saturday,” Melbourn said. “They went crazy, jumping around and yelling. They were very excited.”

CHMS Principal Griffin Sonntag said the band program is top-notch.

“Terry Melbourn has a knack for instilling the discipline in his students to really listen to the tones they produce,” Sonntag said. “As a result, the overall sound is incredibly mature for this age group.”