News & Announcements — Illinois Music Education Association

Lori Evenhouse

Advocacy Alert: Tell Your Rep to Vote "NO" on HB1358!

Advocacy Alert: Tell Your Rep to Vote "NO" on HB1358!

ILMEA is issuing an urgent call to action regarding HB1358 + Amendment 2, which severely restricts a school board's ability to request and renew physical education (PE) waivers. The House Education Committee voted the bill through to the house floor, despite the more than 2220 witness slips filed in opposition, as compared to the 395 witness slips in favor. The bill is now expected on the House floor. ILMEA urges you to take immediate action by contacting your legislators to vote “No” on this bill.

Fine Arts Indicator Advocacy Alert: Phase 2 - Fine Arts Administrators

Fine Arts Indicator Advocacy Alert: Phase 2 - Fine Arts Administrators

The Illinois State Board of Education is exploring changes to the Illinois School Report card, and the proposed accountability system does not have a clear plan for including the Fine Arts as an indicator for School Quality/Student Success (SQSS). We need Music Education Advocates to voice their support for how fine arts can be an impactful piece of reporting school quality and student success.

Spring Festival Opportunities

Spring Festival Opportunities

Spring Festivals are coming soon! These are fantastic musical experiences for student musicians that might not be part of the fall auditions and festivals, so the spring festivals are a great time to focus on the music-making that happens at your school outside of the traditional ensembles. These festivals are also open to participants from other districts!

Tagged:

Share

Elementary Band, Chorus, Orchestra and EGM Festivals

Elementary Band, Chorus, Orchestra and EGM Festivals

Spring is the perfect time for Elementary students to get their first experience with ILMEA festivals! More districts every year are adding elementary band, chorus and orchestra events to the already thriving Elementary General Music festivals. Read more about these great opportunities for our young musicians to be a part of these ensembles with students from around their ILMEA District.

Share

Junior High All-State Chorus FAQ

Junior High All-State Chorus FAQ

ILMEA is excited for the inaugural Junior High All-State Chorus in January 2025 in conjunction with the 2025 All-State Student Programs and Illinois Music Education Conference! As with any new program, we know that educators, administrators and parents will have many questions. This FAQ will help to address these questions so that everyone is as prepared as possible for this outstanding experience.

Announcing 2025 Large Group Festival Dates & Sites

Announcing 2025 Large Group Festival Dates & Sites

Join us for the 2025 ILMEA Large Ensemble Festival series! We invite all middle and high school band, orchestra, and chorus programs to participate in this event, designed to deliver outstanding educational experiences in high-quality performance venues with valuable feedback and clinics from renowned adjudicators. And new for 2025 - a Large Group Festival site for Instrumental Jazz!

End-Of-Year Resources for Chapters

End-Of-Year Resources for Chapters

If your junior high or high school is home to an Illinois Music Honors Society chapter, you’ll want to check out the resources at www.ilmea.org/chapters! You’ll find graduation cords, pins, and certificates along with a sample script that can be used for induction and recognition ceremonies. These are great ways to recognize and celebrate your student musicians!

IMEC 2023 Revisited in Webinars

IMEC 2023 Revisited in Webinars

IMEC 2023 Revisited! If you were unable to attend IMEC, or if you attended but could not make it to all the sessions you wanted this is your chance to gain some of that valuable information that you may have missed! These are LIVE webinars, so you will be able to interact directly with the presenters and some of the content as presented at IMEC may be new and updated. Webinars are free for current ILMEA members ($30 each for nonmembers).