The third annual NLCC conference honors Band Festival was held this year at Wauconda High School alongside the NLCC Choir Festival at Round Lake High School.

During the band conference on Feb. 8 and Feb. 9, students such as Steven Turnbull and Olivia Garcia played their instruments and showcased their talent alongside the many teachers and directors in attendance.

“One of the nice things about it is, the directors we hire are college music professors so our kids get to work with, depending on their ages, … one or two college directors, which is a good experience for the kids.” band director Dom Bertino said.

For the band conference, certain students are chosen to play. They attended several rehearsals before the conference to get ready and prepare.

“All the directors nominate our best musicians, and we come up with two seperate bands… [with] some of the best musicians in the conference. Once they are there, each band shows up for a Friday night rehearsal, and Saturday, they show up for another three hour rehearsal, and Saturday night they have concerts.” Bertino said.

These two events were two great opportunities for different schools in the community to perform for one another and enjoy music.

Much like the NLCC Band Festival on Feb. 20, the NLCC Choir Festival allowed members of Grayslake Central’s Mixed Honors Choir such as Sean Lambie, Emma Pirie, and Jake Gately to showcase their singing and put together pieces of music to share with other schools within the community.

“We all get together. We have about ten minutes per school to perform with our choirs, and then there is a combined piece at the end, [where] everybody sings the national anthem and [has] a great time just sharing music with each other.” choir director Michael Gutierrez said.

This is the second year of the Choir NLCC Festival, and the tremendous practice has allowed GCHS choir to be prepared.

“We have been preparing since January. We are only taking Honors Mixed Choir this year, and they have been preparing two pieces one [in] English and one in Spanish.” Gutierrez said.

Both conferences celebrated music from all around the Lake County area. The conferences were successful for those in attendance, and many GCHS students got to share their talent and celebrate music with the community.