Almost 500 Oak Park and River Forest High School students will showcase their musical talents at the annual Huskie Music Fest on Oct. 14.
It will feature performances by the school’s bands, orchestras, choirs and show choir in the Oak Park and River Forest High School Field House, plus performances by the school’s award-winning jazz musicians in the school’s south cafeteria. The event provides funds for APPLAUSE!, a volunteer organization which supports the district’s performing arts programs.
“The music in any high school provides an opportunity for those students to grow as humans, but it also provides something for the community,” said Anthony Svejda, director of bands and Music Department chair.
He praised the Huskie Music Fest, saying, “It gives them an opportunity to have large crowds see them, but also to see what their school has to offer.”
The Fest is set up with rotating performances. “It allows for more people to see multiple things simultaneously,” Svejda explained.
They are able to do this because the Field House is used as a massive performance hall, he said.
“The band’s on one side, the orchestra’s on the other, the choir is in the middle,” Svejda said.
Following the band and orchestra performances, the two groups each change to the other side of the Field House. The choir and the show choir perform strictly in the center area.
Each group performs for 40 minutes; 20 minutes if there are two groups in their time slot.
Performances begin at 5:30 p.m. with the Concert Band, the Symphonic Band, and the String Orchestra. The choirs begin performing at 6:15 p.m. At 7, the Wind Symphony and the Concert Orchestra perform. The Capstone Courses — the Wind Ensemble and the Symphony Orchestra — perform at 7:45 p.m.
“Those are always impressive groups to see,” Svejda declared.
Besides enjoying the music, people who attend the concert will be supporting the work of APPLAUSE!
Svejda praised APPLAUSE! for helping all areas of the arts programming.
“It funds scholarships, it funds awards, it provides funds for people in need to go on trips, payments for lessons for students in need, it pays for some equipment that we may need, guest directors,” he said.
The all-volunteer parents’ organization has three co-presidents: Caren Teclaw, Teresa Heit-Murray, and Leonie Lloyd.
“We support the performing arts students through helping them fund school trips,” Heit-Murray said, noting that students are supposed to raise money themselves, too. “The teachers often have visiting specialists that come in — guest clinicians and experts that help with choreography, for instance.”
They also work with organizations that help families who are in need, such as providing instruments, Heit-Murray added.
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Teclaw said the Huskie Music Fest is an important event in many respects.
“It’s our biggest fundraiser that we throw every year,” she said. “It’s the main way that we start off all of our fundraising for all these things that we do for the kids and the department. We try to provide opportunities for students to earn money for themselves but also, we do a lot of smaller things to raise money. We just completed a dine-and-share at Lou Malnati’s.”
Last year, APPLAUSE! earned $7,923 at the Huskie Music Fest; the year before they earned $7,565.
“It’s so fun to feel the synergy that happens when the performers are feeling the energy of the audience and they play even better,” Heit-Murray said.
Tickets to the Huskie Music Fest are $10 in advance; $12 at the door; $8 for students and seniors. Information is at applauseoprf.org/huskie-music-fest.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.