Andrea Kidd, Director, Southland College Prep Charter High School ( l.) and Dr. Blondean Davis, CEO, ( r.) present Joseph Lawrence, Band Director with the Illinois High School Association award for excellence in band performance. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)
Richton Park, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Southland College Prep Charter High School’s Concert Band recently displayed an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Music Award for a Division I Superior Performance Rating during the school’s recent annual Concert, entitled “Without a Song.”
The 60-member Concert Band competed earlier this year against bands from Rich East, Rich Central, Rich South, Thornwood, Mt. Carmel and Marian Catholic and other high schools.
According to Joseph Lawrence, Director of Southland College Prep’s bands, “this was a significant accomplishment for a three-year-old school to achieve. Southland’s students have worked very hard and have been most diligent in following advice that I’ve offered students throughout my career as a music educator: ’practice does not make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect.’ "
“Southland’s Concert Band has quickly become a wonderful voice for this new school, “said Dr. Blondean Davis, CEO. “The talented young people who participate in our Fine Arts Department offerings of band, chorus and dance are wonderful ambassadors for Southland wherever they perform.
“So, we’re going to take it up a notch and have scheduled the Concert Band to play next May when Southland College Prep’s first graduates will walk across the stage of a high profile Chicago Loop theatre to accept their diplomas at this new charter school’s first commencement,” Dr. Davis disclosed in a surprise announcement during the concert.
Earlier this year, six Southland College Prep students earned Superior Performance Division I gold medals in the IHSA’s Solo Contest. They are:
Emily Aguirre, trumpet, Park Forest; Samuel Neal, trombone, Matteson; Rickey Owens, trumpet, Richton Park; Elisha Young,trombone, Richton Park; Ashley Jackson, trombone, Matteson and Justin Webster, clarinet, Park Forest.
Twenty-three other Southland College Prep Concert Band members earned silver medals for Excellent Performance in Division II:
They are: Elijah Calloway, saxophone, Matteson; Cenada Clifton-Smith, baritone, Richton Park; Jeffery McNair, clarinet, Richton Park; Brandon Perry, clarinet, Park Forest; Karijhon Johnson, clarinet, Park Forest; Anthony Harris, saxophone, Matteson;Jerry Fort, trumpet, Park Forest; Sarabi Woods, flute, Richton Park; Tyre Nelson, clarinet, Crete Monee; Anita Williams, clarinet, Country Club Hills; Kacper Przyoysz, trumpet, Park Forest; Evan Blocker, saxophone, Olympia Fields; Destiny Abercrumbie,clarinet, Matteson; Imani Thornton, flute, Matteson; Delon Abercrumbie, trumpet, Matteson; Jeremy Rhymes, saxophone, Chicago Heights; Wilfrid Eouke, trumpet, Matteson; Jordan Murphy, tuba, Richton Park; Danielle Lewis, flute, Country Club Hills; Aeriell Charles, clarinet, Olympia Fields.; Marcus Guyton, clarinet, Country Club Hills; Taylor Thompkins, trumpet, Matteson; and Samatha Higgins, clarinet, Richton Park.
Seven Southland students received Division III Good Performance bronze medals: Bandon Lampkin, saxophone, Park Forest;Deon Daniels, saxophone, Park Forest; Tamara Newbern, trumpet, Park Forest;
Della Shantae-Okafor, saxophone, Matteson; Kendall Anderson, saxophone, Matteson; Christopher Morris, saxophone, Country Club Hills; and Richard Herron, percussion, Matteson.
The Southland College Prep Charter High School Concert Band with Joseph Lawrence, Band Director, on the far right. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)
