Three students from Richland County High School participated in the 2019 Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) All-State Music Conference. The All-State conference occurred from January 24th until January 26th, 2019 in Peoria, IL. These students were selected from a rigorous audition process as the top student-musicians representing over 12,000 schools throughout Illinois. Of approximately 2,500 students that auditioned, only a fraction of students were selected to participate in the event.

From left to right, the Richland County High School students that participated in All-State included Ethan Steber (Senior/ All-State Orchestra on clarinet), Sydney Berkshire (Senior/ All-State Orchestra on Horn in F), and Kendra Jellison (Sophomore/All-State Band on Clarinet).

Illinois High School Association has selected the Richland County High School Pep Band to play at the 2019 Boys Basketball State Tournament at the Peoria Civic Center on Saturday, March 9th. The 40-piece Pep Band will comprise of the Honors Wind Ensemble and select members from the Symphonic Band. The band was selected from an audition process that included the top pep bands throughout the state of Illinois.

The tentative pep band roster may be found at the bottom of this post. Members of the Honors Wind Ensemble were selected, plus seniors in the Symphonic Band, and select underclassmen to fill out a few sections within the pep band. Unfortunately, due to the restriction on band size, not everyone in the Symphonic Band is able to participate.

Uniform: blue jeans, tennis shoes, department shirt, band hockey jerseys. Students may wear the department sweatshirt.

Packing List: money (lunch & dinner), coat, instruments, & extra reeds. OPTIONAL: pillow and a blanket for the bus ride. We will make brief stops on the way to and from Peoria for restroom breaks. 

2019 IHSA Boys Basketball State Finals Schedule:
5:00 am...........................................................Call-time at RCHS
5:15 am........................................................Depart for Peoria, IL
9:30 am.....................Arrive at the Peoria Civic Center (Peoria, IL)
10:00 am...........................................................................Snacks
10:30 am...........................................Band ready in the Carver Arena
11:00 am.....................................................1A Third Place Game
12:30 pm...........................................Band ready in the Carver Arena
1:00 pm..................................................1A Championship Game
2:30 pm........................................................................Big Lunch
5:00 pm.............................................Band ready in the Carver Arena
5:30 pm.......................................................2A Third Place Game
6:45 pm.............................................Band ready in the Carver Arena
7:15 pm..................................................2A Championship Game
9:00 pm..................................................Load & depart for Olney
9:15 pm..................................................Brief stop at McDonald's
1:00 am................................................Estimated arrival at RCHS

[UPDATED 2/21/19]


2019 IHSA Pep Band Roster:

FLUTES
Haven Fryman
Kali Hinterscher
Sara Roark

CLARINETS
Katie Campbell
Natalie Doan
Kendra Jellison
Alex Keys
Desiree Kurtz
Ethan Steber

BASS CLARINET
Colby Steber

ALTO SAXOPHONES
RJ Englert
Noah McCorvey
Dylan Seessengood

TENOR SAXOPHONES
Jase Rusk

BARI SAXOPHONE:
Max McVicker

TRUMPETS
Adrian Bower
Ryan Drummond
Taylor Klingler
Jacob Pampe
Jillian Tyler

MELLOPHONES
Sydney Berkshire
Delaney Shryock

TROMBONES
Nick Baker
Alice Chenault
Ben Hout
Bradley Sample
Garrett Wright

BARITONE
Mac Alexander
Austin Vaughn

SOUSAPHONES
Max Balding
Braeden Jackson
Jake Wheeler

PERCUSSION
Rylan Craig - bells
Colby Garrard - keyboard
Joshua Hartleroad - set
Allison Howard - set
Maddi McKinney - bells

Sydney Berkshire, Kendra Jellison, & Ethan Steber have the distinction of being selected out of thousands of Illinois high school student-musicians to participate in the ILMEA IL Music Education Conference (All-State Conference) from Wednesday, January 23rd through Saturday, January 26th.

Mr. Jones will transport students in a school van at 3:30 pm on Wednesday.  Rehearsals in Peoria will occur on Thursday, Friday, and part of Saturday. The week concludes with concerts on Saturday. Those participating in an All-State ensembles will audition on Thursday to determine which of the All-State ensembles he/she will be placed. The All-State Music Conference ensembles include the Honors Band (3:30 PM concert on Saturday), & the All-State Band (1:00 PM concert on Saturday). The concerts are held in the Carver Arena at the Peoria Civic Center. Your student will notify you as to which ensemble they were placed following auditions.

Hotel lodging is provided for the students by the school. Mr. Jones is chaperoning the students the entire conference. Lodging is at Baymont Inn & Suites at 4112 N. Brandywine Dr. in Peoria, IL.

The students are responsible for making arrangements with their classroom teachers for homework, quizzes, tests, projects, and notes prior to departure.

Each student shall to provide enough money to cover 3.5 days of meals.

Parents/guardians may sign-out their student following the concert.

All-State apparel, plaques and recordings of the concerts are available for purchase at the concerts.

Required materials for the festival include:
    •    ILMEA audition music
    •    Appropriate school clothing (to wear for travel & for rehearsals) for three-days
    •    Toiletries
    •    Jacket (Peoria is cold this time of year!)
    •    Cell phone with charger
    •    Tuxedo or concert dresses (see the student handbook for further details http://www.richlandcountyhsbands.org/student-handbook.html)
    •    Folding music stand
    •    Pencils
    •    Mutes
    •    Extra reeds
    •    Value oil or slide grease
    •    Cash for lunches and dinners

Included in the student packet:

• Family Information
• Peoria Downtown Parking Map
• All-State Student Instructions
• Future Music Educators Seminar (FMES) Participant Schedule
• ILMEA All-State Student Schedule
• Pre-clearance Slip (to ensure that the students have spoken to their classroom instructors regarding their absence)

Please thoroughly review details on the ILMEA website regarding the event:

https://www.ilmea.org/divisions/band/
https://www.ilmea.org/imec/2019imec/studentdirector-information/

Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions. I may be reached at 393-2191 ext. 3137 or at cjones@rccu1.net.

Congratulations to those that are participating in the LIC Pep Band Conference on Saturday, January 19th, 2019. UPDATE: In the event of inclement weather on Saturday, and the tournament has to be postponed, one of the backup dates is this Monday, January 21st. The schedule would remain the same for the day. 

Band 1 (stage):
Haven Fryman - flute [not available if the makeup game is on Monday]
Natalie Doan - clarinet
Kendra Jellison - clarinet
Alex Keys - bass clarinet
Jase Rusk - tenor sax
Jacob Pampe - trumpet
Sydney Berkshire - horn [not available if the makeup game is on Monday]
Alice Chenault - trombone [not available if the makeup game is on Monday]

Band 2 (band room):
Carmen Rodriguez - flute
Kali Hinterscher - flute [not available if the makeup game is on Monday]
Ethan Steber - clarinet
Katie Campbell - clarinet [not available if the makeup game is on Monday]
Noah McCorvey - tenor sax
Adrian Bower - trumpet
Delaney Shryock - horn
Austin Vaughn - baritone
Josh Hartleroad - set

The LIC Conference is held at Flora High School. Rehearsal will begin at 1:00 p.m. The call-time for that day will be 11:00 am in the rehearsal hall. Buses arrive at 11:00 am. We will depart for Flora, IL at 11:10 pm. We will stop at McDonald's in Flora for lunch a little before 12:00 pm, so please bring money or a sack lunch. We will arrive at the host school no later than 12:45 pm. Rehearsals begin at 1 pm. We will perform before the games and during all breaks.

We will perform before the 1st game and during all breaks. Pizza is provided between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m.

Buses should park in the North Parking Lot in the fenced in area and student drop-off is at the North entrance where the teams drop off.

Performance attire:

• Jeans
• Tennis shoes with socks
• Department shirt
• Basketball band jersy (unless all have a department shirt)

Required items:

• Instrument
• Valve oil or slide grease
• Extra reeds
• Money for dinner at concessions
• Jacket or coat

Rehearsal locations:
Band 1 (stage)
Band 2 (band room)

Each band will perform before and at half-time of two games:
Band 1 will play the first and 3rd games.
Band 2 will play at the second and fourth games.

Historically, the game times are as follows (take with a grain of salt):
Game 1 = 3pm
Game 2 = 4:30pm
Game 3 = 6pm
Game 4 = 7:30pm