On October 1, Plainfield South’s choir performed at South to prepare for their upcoming Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) competition.

“This concert is where all of the schools from the district come together and rehearse their ILMEA pieces,” said Keegan Eich, a senior in choir.

According to Eich, the ILMEA Districts competition includes the top 200 choral students in the district and everyone who participates sings the same piece. Although every member is required to sing the same notes, some commented on the obstacles leading up to the event.

“Each concert has its own special challenges, but I honestly believe that you perform as you practice. We rehearse for several weeks prior to a concert. I already know what parts of each piece will be successful and which will not,” said Megan Geotz, South’s choir director. However, Geotz said she is proud of her students as long as they are working to their personal best. The choir students practiced many hours in and outside of school to prepare themselves for the competition.

“The repertoire performed on this concert is assigned by the ILMEA Music Selection Committee,” Geotz said.She also said students have been practicing their pre-assigned pieces since May and their skills were measured on October 6 at the real auditions that determined if students get into the ILMEA district and All State Choir. Geotz said that students were able to choose the parts they wanted to sing based on their personal strengths.

“You get to watch all this musical talent come together and it creates one big voice that just sounds magnificent. There’s no other way to describe this,” said Emilio Rodriguez, a junior who sings Bass II. Eich agreed.

However, Rodriguez said that it was a little difficult to adjust to different directors, as each director has their own style of conducting.

According to Alex Ohlson, a sophomore in choir, he enjoys seeing how many other students there were that were working towards the same goals.

“The concert as a whole went very well. We all did very well. We had very few flaws,” said Eich.

And while Eich believes he did well, he knows that one man doesn’t make up an entire choir.

The district ILMEA concert will be held in November.