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Neuqua Valley stage is set for Billy Elton to return for benefit concert on March 11

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nvhs
The campus of NVHS is located at 2360 95th Street.

Billy Elton will be making their 5th appearance in the Neuqua Valley High School Auditorium beginning at 7:30PM on Friday, March 11, 2016, to perform a benefit concert. Billy Elton is a band that celebrates the music of Billy Joel and Elton John, and features Reid Spears on piano and lead vocals.

“We are very excited to be returning to Neuqua Valley for another concert,” said Spears. “Although we have been very fortunate to play many wonderful venues, we love being able to return to Neuqua Valley because that is where it all started for us.”

Benefit concert honors memories of NVHS teachers, Tom Schlegel, Dave Scheidecker & Leslie Baumann

As with their previous four appearances at Neuqua Valley, the purpose of the event is to benefit funds created in memory of some fondly remembered Neuqua Valley teachers. The previous concerts have raised $13,350 to benefit the memorial funds of Tom Schlegel and Dave Scheidecker. This year, one more teacher will be remembered – Leslie Baumann, who passed away in 2014 after a battle with cancer. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Leslie Baumann Scholarship Fund.

“It is very special to me that we can add Leslie to our benefit this year,” said Spears. “Leslie was a friend, and she was a big supporter of Billy Elton and of me personally. She passed just a few weeks after our last performance at Neuqua. It is a little bittersweet that she attended our earlier performances, and now we will be remembering her during our next one.”

Tom Schlegel was a physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Neuqua Valley who passed away in 2006 after a year-long battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Dave Scheidecker (“Shy”) was an English teacher, theatre director, and speech coach who also passed away in 2006. Funds from the previous Billy Elton benefits have gone partially to assist the families as well as supporting scholarship funds that bear their names.

Spears remembers, “Julie Schlegel (Tom’s wife) conveyed a story to me several years back that they were trying to decide between two extremely worthy candidates to receive that year’s scholarship, and after the funds came in from our benefit concert, they were able to award it to both students. It was so exciting to hear how we were really making a difference.”

Principal credits teachers as ‘the heart of our school’

Neuqua Valley principal Bob McBride spoke to the legacy of the teachers being remembered and the impact of the benefit concert.

“Often, visitors remark about the beauty of Neuqua Valley’s campus and school with its courtyards, brick, and finished wood,” said McBride. “The heart of our school, however, is found in the people who leave a legacy here every day. Tom Schlegel, Dave Scheidecker, and Leslie Baumann left us too soon, but they all left a legacy and spirit that is part of the soul of Neuqua Valley. The best way to celebrate their lives and continue their legacy is through soulful music, and the Billy Elton concert does just that. Music reminds us that a school is more than a place. It is a spirit of life and sacrifice for others.”

Performance will include Neuqua Valley Symphony Orchestra

For a portion of this year’s concert, Billy Elton will be joined by a special guest – the Neuqua Valley Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Greg Schwaegler. The music department of Neuqua Valley has been twice recognized by the Grammy Foundation as having the nation’s top public high school music program, and has also been named a Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts National School of Distinction in Arts Education.

The Neuqua Valley Symphony Orchestra also performed with Billy Elton in the 2012 benefit concert. “It was such an incredible experience to have them with us once before,” said Spears. “I think all of us in the band were excited to have a real symphony orchestra behind us – that’s a pretty rare thing. And it was such a joy to have one as talented as the NVSO. Greg Schwaegler was so generous to spend the time transcribing all of those orchestral arrangements from the original recordings so that they could even be able to join us, and it was really exciting to hear those arrangements come to life in a live concert. We are really looking forward to having them join us again.”

Tickets are $10, with general admission seating. Tickets may be purchased in advance on the Neuqua Valley music website (www.neuquamusic.org) or at the door.

For more info about Billy Elton, visit www.Billy-Elton.com.

Story submitted by Janet Buglio for Indian Prairie Unit School District 204.

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Indian Prairie School District 204
Indian Prairie School District 204http://ipsdweb.ipsd.org/
Indian Prairie School District 204 serves 29,000 students in Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook, and Plainfield.

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