21 years.
This is how long West Orchestra instructor, Kim Boehm, has been involved in Orchestra.
Boehm first got involved in the fourth grade as a viola player.
As the years went on, she gradually got more involved in Orchestra.
“I was once a cello player in fifth-grade orchestra, and then a bass player in seventh-grade orchestra, and 10 years later, I was student teaching here,” Boehm explained.
Boehm has been working as the orchestra teacher for the last five years at Normal Community West High School.
In addition to Boehm, Danny Boy is the student teacher for the orchestra classes this year.
When Boehm first started teaching a Normal West, she was allowed to make the Hauntcert her own.
She recalls some key advice she received from a veteran instructor as she has worked to organize this Hauntcert for the past five years.
“Lance Meadows, who’s a retired band director, would always remind me: [I] don’t have to do it the same way it’s been done. [I] can create [my] own experience,” Boehm explained.
The 2025 Hauntcert is Thursday, October 30. The first concert starts at 6 p.m. with trick or treating, starting before, at 5:15. The second performance starts at 7:30 p.m. with trick or treating, starting at 7:00.
The Hauntcert is a family-friendly event that invites everyone to be involved with not only the concert but also welcoming families to the trunk or treating.
The planning takes months on end, and many different decisions are made with other staff.
“We picked music in June or July. So this actually starts as soon as the previous school year ends. Mrs. Siebenthal from Normal Community, and I get together over the summer.
“The biggest challenge each year is selecting the music that everyone can feel successful at,” she added.
Even with all of the planning, the Hauntcert is consistently a time for everyone to come together, have fun and feel more a part of something bigger.
“I’m very excited to see all the orchestras together– every student from each orchestra combine on stage for them to feel that feeling of community, of, ‘like, oh, we’re not alone,’ even within concert orchestra, symphony orchestra, or chamber orchestra, to feel that you’re part of a bigger picture is gonna feel amazing,” Boy noted of the experience.
Like Boy, Boehm and her orchestra students are excited to come together as a community.
With all orchestras combining, everyone must be able to work together to create something everyone can feel proud of.
The theme that has been decided this year for the Hauntcert is “Halloween Heist.”
Prior to the annual event, the Normal West Social Committee has organized a staff bonding event, equipped with crafts, a complimentary dinner, and plenty of Normal West staff camaraderie prior to trick-or-treating and attending the concert.
