Last weekend, 224 students from the music department competed in “Festivals of Music,” a music competition for middle and high school students. This year, the festival took place in Chicago, with nine schools from across the country and Canada attending. Whitman’s Treble Chorale, men’s chorus, women’s chorus and chamber choir all placed first in their respective categories. Symphonic band and wind ensemble placed fourth and third, respectively, in the concert band category, jazz ensemble placed second in the jazz ensemble category, and string orchestra placed first in the string orchestra category and overall orchestra categories. The competition occurred on Friday, and on Saturday, students explored Chicago.

“The kids were great,” choral director Jeffrey Davidson said. “They did so well, and the scores were very high, and they really put out as much effort as they could. They did Whitman very proud.”