Express the Music
Celebrating over 20 years in existence, Express the Music invites students in grades 6-12 to discover an orchestral work and respond with prose or poetry inspired by the music. This season, students will explore Joan Tower's Made in America.
How to Participate
Whether your back to school is virtual, blended, or in-person, you can give your students the opportunity to participate in Express the Music with new online modifications for safe, easy access. Participation in this cross-curricular program is free!
Download the Teacher's Guide. Wherever your classes are being held, explore the music and create compositions with your students. Then, submit student entries before the deadline.
The SLSO understands that due to COVID-19 the 2020-2021 school year will be different for each school, and circumstances may change throughout the year. The safety of teachers, students, and SLSO musicians and staff is our top priority. While we are currently planning for the Awards Ceremony to be an in-person event in March 2021, we know the uncertainty of the pandemic may not allow us to do so. Our intent is to move forward with the in-person event until more information is available closer to the event date. Teachers will be notified of any changes in early 2021.
Celebrate our 2020 Express the Music Winners!
This season, more than 2,000 students from 42 schools across the bi-state area participated in Express the Music. 476 compositions were submitted by teachers to the writing competition, and from this group 47 finalists were selected.
Congratulations to the top winners, and to all the 2020 Finalists!
Click on each winner's name to view their entry.
Prose (Junior Division):
First place: Hannah Moon, 8th grade, Wydown Middle School
Second place: Melanie Migneco, 7th grade, Truman Middle School
Third place: Julia DeWeese, 8th grade, Truman Middle School
Prose (Senior Division):
First place: Marian Fonseca, 12th grade, Villa Duchesne
Second place: Betsy Benzinger, 12 grade, Villa Duchesne
Third place: Ava Brouster, 9th grade, Villa Duchesne
Poetry (Junior Division):
First place: Laney Spaulding, 7th grade, Lincoln Middle School
Second place: Claire Fodge, 8th grade, LaSalle Springs Middle School
Third place: Vivian Wang, 7th grade, Wydown Middle School
Poetry (Senior Division):
First place: Zoe DeYoung, 11th grade, Parkway West High School
Second place: Isadora Karathanos, 12th grade, Belleville West High School
Third place: Ally Martin, 11th grade, Parkway West High School
download the FINALIST booklet PDF
