IHSA Solo/Ensemble Contest

Today I was able to spend most of the day as a Vocal judge for IHSA Solo/Ensemble Contest. It was the second time I've had the opportunity, and I really enjoy it. It is a bit awkward that I don't have many (if any?) other ties to the school music programs around here and don't know any of the other judges/directors/participants. But, I can deal with that, as I am confident that I know what I'm doing judging high school vocalists.

Sadly, I didn't hear anyone who blew me away this year, and most of the girls I heard were not so hot--and I don't mean looks-wise. I did give several I's, many II's (especially to ensembles), and even a few III's. And, so many were singing out of the new folksong books--or at least they're new to me, just noticed them in the music shop a few weeks ago. Much too easy for most high school students, I thought. Blah.

I wish contest could be a little more like a masterclass, and I could actually give the students some verbal input and a little coaching right there on the spot. How nice would that be?! I tried to at least speak to them or to the room before they sang, to show I wasn't scary, but everyone is so tense at contest anyhow. There were 25 central Illinois schools participating, and over 1,000 students.

So, it was cool to be involved. I missed it last year, but hope to have the opportunity again.

I did find one person there that I at least felt like I knew... As I was finishing up a judging sheet, I looked up to see a duet getting ready for their piece and noticed their accompanist looked very familiar to me. I did a doubletake, and said, "I know who you are!" It was Jill Savage! She is someone I look up to very much, have heard speak several times at the Hearts-at-Home National Conference, and have met now a couple times. Her book, Professionalizing Motherhood, made a huge impact on my life shortly after we moved here to Illinois, and I just feel a connection with her whenever I see her. She is a neat, inspiring lady! So, since the duet was the last I had before lunch, Jill came up and chatted with me for a few minutes. She was back with another duet later in the afternoon, which happened to be my best-of-show for the day. Anyway...it was just really cool to see here, especially there! One of the things we talked about was how excited we are about the upcoming National Conference in 2 weeks! I haven't gone since I was pregnant with Caeden in '04, so I'm thrilled to be going this year!

Edited to add:
Oh yeah, and also while eating lunch with the judges, I figured out through discussions that one of them is in this great acapella group called Chapter 6, of which one of the other members is Luke Menard, currently in the top survivors on American Idol. Kinda nifty.