By Jim Beers
CHESTER — The Chester Grade School Jr. High Band, under the direction of Sue Colonel, traveled to Marion, Illinois Friday March 28 to compete in the 2025 IGSMA Organizational Music Contest. The group earned an “Excellent” rating at their 4:00 p.m. performance.
Sue Colonel, Chester Grade School Jr. High Band Director, directs the CGS Jr. High Concert Band at the 2025 IGSMA Organizational Contest Friday March 28. The annual event was hosted at Marion, Illinois.The band performed three songs for a panel of three judges who rated the performances based on numerous criteria. For the evening, the Chester group earned an overall “Excellent” rating. Steve Colonel Photo
IGSMA stands for Illinois Grade School Music Association and that association hosts the annual Solo and Ensemble Contest and the Organizational Contest.
The Solo and Ensemble Contest is an event where individual musicians perform solos (by themselves) or in small ensembles (groups of two musicians, a duet; three musicians, a trio; four musicians, a quartet, etc., etc.).
CGS competed in that competition at Carterville, Illinois Saturday March 1, 2025 and brought home 7 Superior ratings, 26 Excellent ratings, and 3 Good ratings.
At the Organizational Contest, entire bands and vocal groups perform in competition. A group of three judges observes each performance and rates the performance based upon numerous criteria. Each group performs three separate songs for the judges. The three judges’ ratings are averaged for one overall score.
Friday March 28 Mrs. Colonel took the CGS Jr. High Concert Band consisting of 54 musicians to perform three selections for the judges.
For their competitive performances, the CGS Band performed, “American Heroes” by Mark Williams; “Falling Rain”, by James Swearingen; and “Timber Lake Festival”, by Steve Hodges.
In the judging of the performances, two of the judges rated the CGS Band with “Excellent” ratings, while the third rated Chester as “Good”. The average “overall” rating was “Excellent” for the Chester Grade School Jr. High Band.
CGS Band Director, Sue Colonel said, “Overall we did well. The kids behaved very well and performed well. They have shown a great amount of improvement since the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.”
Next up for the Grade School musicians will be the Annual Spring Concert and Awards Night Thursday May 1 at 6:30 p.m.
The event will be held at Chester High School, in Colbert Memorial Gymnasium, on Rocky Bridges Court. This event is always a crowd favorite!