Mahomet-Seymour Choral Students participate in ILMEA All-State

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com

Their sound radiated through the Peoria Civic Center Arena. Their gleeful emotion radiated from their faces. 

While it was difficult to identify each singer in the pack of 200 at the ILMEA All-State and Honors Choral performances on Saturday, Feb. 1, each audience member witnessed a group of talented students who understood the moment they presented.

For nine Mahomet-Seymour High School performers: Neenah Williams, Kyle Kinnamon, Nicolina Di Girolamo, Jillian Jordan, Leah Nykaza, Kyle Widener, Jessica Smith, Alexis Young and Joshua Cubberley, being selected for the State ensemble, after 25,000 Illinois choral and band students auditioned in October, was an honor.

“All-State is the highest honor a high school musician can be given in their career,” senior Neenah Williams said. “To me it meant that all my hard work and dedication to my craft is being noticed and is paying off, not to mention that is shows just how brilliant the music program at Mahomet-Seymour is to enable so many people to reach their full potential in music.”

The process began in October. Students were given two audition pieces to prepare for the next month.

“I was super sick this year so I actually was really nervous about how my audition went,” senior Nicolina Di Girolamo said. “I wasn’t really expecting to get in to All-State, let alone Honors. So I was really thrilled when I found out.”

Between November and January, students used “rehearsal tracks” prepared by Mahomet-Seymour Choral Director Nicole Kuglich to practice their parts before arriving in Peoria as a group on Jan. 30.

Jillian Jordan said that she was nervous about the two-and-a-half day rehearsal schedule that had choral students working for eight-hours each day.

“I wasn’t used to that,” she said. “After working with fellow students, I had a great time and my voice had never felt more warmed-up than it was then.”

Having familiar faces within the sea of singers, made it possible for Mahomet-Seymour students to have someone to buddy up with for lunch. Jordan said that while Leah Nykaza was in her All-State Soprano 2 group, they rarely saw each other during rehearsals.

The fall of 2019 was the first time Jordan, a Mahomet-Seymour Madrigal for three years, had tried out for ILMEA. In years past, she stayed at home for auditions to spend her birthday with her family.

Being in Honor Chorus at Mahomet-Seymour High School as a senior prompted her to audition.

“You get to sing with the best singers around the state,” Jordan said. “I obviously love to sing, but to have others share that same love is something you don’t always get to experience in normal ensembles.”

Being selected for All-State was also a first for Williams. 

“I made sure to practice and show up knowing my music the best I could,” Williams said. 

“As soon as we started working with the other singers, the music started to flow and fall into place. It’s all about the process when it comes to choral singing, as the piece isn’t quite finished until you have the group. This solidified everything and makes you realize just how beautiful the music you’re singing is.”

ILMEA Choral Director Johnathan Palant, Associate Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at Dallas, worked on warmups, pronunciation and performance techniques with the students. 

“Working with different directors is always a little difficult,” Di Girolamo said. “We’re used to our school directors. Working with a totally different person gets to be a little challenging. Sometimes their techniques don’t really click with you as much as your own directors, or you don’t love their personality as much. 

“Luckily, in my years of districts and All-State, I’ve had really good experiences with my directors. It does really change the way that I sing because each different director encourages us to try new ways of singing the music that I might not have thought to do.”

Williams believes that opportunities like performing at ILMEA Districts or All-State will also make the Mahomet-Seymour chorus, her “family,” stronger.

“I feel like this will create stronger bonds in our choir and reinstate the meaning of what we do and what we create with music,” Williams said. 

“We did lots of fun stuff, we went to the pool, hung out in our hotel rooms and have tons of new inside jokes. It helps having friends be a part of this experience because of the sense of unity and love.”

Di Girolamo said, “I think it helps to have a friendly face or two in the group because it makes me feel a little less alone and like I have people I know I can connect with.”

Jordan said that the ILMEA experience showed her that she is capable of more than she believes.

“It was interesting to see that my director from All-State was saying the same things that all my other directors have said to my other ensembles in the past,” she said. “It shows you what you need to focus on more to push you past what their original expectations are.”

As the All-State choral students performed “Hallelujah from the Mount of Olives,” “The Isle is Full of Noises,” Voice on the Wind,” “When We Love,” and “Ezekiel!” and the Honors Choir performed “The Last Words of David,” “Muusika,” “Love: Then and Still,” “I Cannot Dance, O Lord,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and “Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down,” the Mahomet-Seymour students realized how much their hard work mattered.

“Seeing people’s minds wander as they figure out what the meaning of a song means to them, is something so profound and powerful,” Williams said. “Singing is a gift I was blessed with and being able to share that with my family, friends, community, and the state is something I’m so grateful for. 

“Music can change people’s lives and that alone makes me love it so much more.”