On Saturday, February 4, harmonized voices and mesmerizing melodies could be heard ringing through all of Parker. The school hosted the second annual Independent School Music Festival, which welcomed almost 500 student participants from five schools: The Latin School of Chicago, North Shore Country Day, The Oakwood School, and Lincoln Park High School.

The festival, which gives middle school and high school bands and choirs a chance to collaborate, lasted from 8:45 am to 11:45 am, and admission was free to all.

The chief organizer of the festival was Parker music teacher and Department Co-Chair Kingsley Tang. It’s purpose was to create an event that would help students from different schools learn from each other as musicians and provide the opportunity to work with outstanding guest conductor Stevi Marks, the former choral director at Glenbrook South High School, and currently the director of the high school chorus at the Independent School Music Festival.

“The purpose of including other schools in the event was to create a larger community of musical learners,” Tang said. “The festival allows faculty to create relationships, where through mutual support and respect, they can help each other better serve students.”

Tang decided to expand the event from last year to include more schools than just Parker and Latin. According to Tang, several students questioned why the event was not more inclusive or longer.

“The event will continue to be shaped and molded by the participants,” Tang said, “and future changes may include involving more schools and having the Middle School and High School events occur on different days.”

This festival provided an opportunity for a new type of interaction between students from various schools. “Students often think of kids from other schools as adversaries or competitors in sport,” Richard Austin, a junior at North Shore Country Day, said. “But the Independant School Music Festival allows us to look at each other as fellow musicians. It gives us the unique opportunity to come together to collaborate with other ensembles, learn from each other, and meet new people.”

Parker sophomore Audrey Shadle found that the festival benefited the entire community. “On this day we are not thinking about the things that make us different, what school we go to or where we live,” Shadle said, “but what we have in common, which is our interest in making music.”

The Independent School Music Festival served an urgent purpose beyond the music. “The goal of the event was to bring people together when it is most needed in our lives,” Marks said, “and make something beautiful together.”

In the process of planning this festival, relationships are formed and important questions are asked. “It is this type of work that represents our values as an educational community,” Tang said, “a community where learning is based on relationships and respectful discussions.”