High School Symphony Wins Big in Prague

The Wind Symphony won big last week while touring Europe during spring break.

Led by band director Jim Hile, the band won the Gold Medal in the Young Prague 2012 Festival in Prague.

According to Alicia Lieberman, who accompanied the students on the trip, the band was asked to attend the festival last summer. The event was first established in 2003 and "is known worldwide as the most popular venue for young people… who have an active interest in music and choir singer," Lieberman wrote in an email to Patch.

In addition to Prague, the symphony's 65 students and 10 chaperones also traveled to Venice, Italy, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Lasko, Vienna and Austria.

Lieberman attributes the band's success to Hile's "supreme dedication and support" as well as the group's "hard work, many early morning practices and extra evening rehearsals have been combined with cultural sessions to introduce students to the new languages they will experience, along with art, architecture and European history of the region."

As when he recently wrote about seeing the symphony perform at the : "These kids are amazing!"

The symphony is scheduled to perform back in Highland Park at 7 p.m. on May 3 at the high school's auditorium.

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