Alton Musicians Advance to Illinois Statewide Music Festival

GODFREY — Nine student musicians from Alton High School and six from Alton Middle School have been selected to participate in the 2026 Illinois Music Educators Association (ILMEA) All-State Festival, scheduled for January 29-31 in Peoria.

The Alton High School students named to the All-State Festival include Wesley LeBrun, percussion, selected for the All-State Honors Band for the third time; Quinn Halliday, trumpet, also in the Honors Band; Makayla Burns, violin, in the All-State Orchestra for the second consecutive year; Erick Humphrey, cello, also a second-year All-State Orchestra participant; Austin Koller, bass, in the All-State Honors Orchestra for a second year; and Evelyn Terpening, soprano 1, Aiden McGiffen, tenor 2; Elias Meydam, bass 1; and Preston Watson, bass 2, all selected for the All-State Chorus.

Alton Middle School students chosen for the All-State Middle School Choir are Sopheia Meyer and Parker Scheer. Additionally, Greyson Linley, Loralai Arnott, Lillian Plunkett, and Oscar LaPlant from Alton Middle School were selected to participate in the All-State Elementary Choir.

The selection process began in October with a virtual audition involving more than 23,000 students from elementary, junior high, and high schools across Illinois.

From those auditions, over 7,000 students advanced to regional district festivals in November. Ultimately, the top 1,000 high school students and 1,000 elementary and middle school students were chosen for the ILMEA All-State Music Festival.

Laura Plummer, a representative of the Alton High School music department, said, "We are incredibly proud of the dedication and perseverance our ILMEA All-State students have shown and the pride they bring to Alton High School, our music program, and the entire Alton community."

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