PEORIA — Back in the fall, Uni had a record number of musicians selected for the Illinois Music Educators Association's all-district group: 27 students in all (15 high schoolers, 12 subfreshmen).

Out of that already elite group, three will be participating later this week in the IMEA's most prestigious annual event, the All-State Conference in Peoria.

Senior Daniel Borup (bass I) has been selected to sing in the all-state honors chorus, and junior Elizabeth Russell (soprano II) will join the all-state chorus. Also chosen was senior Karen Han (oboe) for all-state orchestra (she will find out later this week whether she made the honors group).

This is Borup's second year as an all-state honoree, and the first for Russell and Han.

"It's great to meet people from the different schools who are all really interested in music," Borup said. "They're all really good so the performances are great."

Music teacher Rick Murphy will accompany the students to the conference, which will take place Wednesday through Saturday at the Peoria Civic Center.

The annual conference draws students from all over Illinois and features performances by six different groups: all-state and honors chorus, orchestra, and band.

For the chorus, students are chosen from their original auditions in October, and the best juniors and seniors attend the conference. They know going in which chorus they belong to, all-state or honors.

For orchestra and band, the sophomores, juniors, and seniors selected for the conference must audition on their first day in order to be placed in the honors groups.

During their stay in Peoria, the groups will go through a series of intense practices totaling more than 16 hours. The conference will culminate in a series of concerts on the last day.

This was Russell's first audition, and she said she wasn't expecting to get into the all-state group.

"Mr. Murphy just gave me a high-five and said, 'You're into all-state!,' and I didn't even know what that meant."

Although this is Han's first year as an all-state musician, this was her second as an all-district honoree. She's enjoyed performing at the district festivals the past two years.

"It's a really fun experience, or at least I really enjoyed it both times that I went," she said. "All the kids there are really into music. … It’s good to be in that kind of environment."

All three of the selected students have devoted much of their lives to music. Borup is in the chorus here at Uni, as well as the Madrigals. He sings in his church choir and plays violin. Han is involved in the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra, and Russell is also in the school's chorus and Madrigals.

As they get ready to leave for the conference they are all very excited, although Borup says, "I don’t look forward to waking up at 6 in the morning on Saturday."

But once he does, he and the other participants will spend the morning preparing for an extraordinary array of musical performances. Here is the schedule:

ALL-STATE CONCERT — 1 p.m. Saturday, Carver Arena, Peoria Civic Center

All-State Orchestra

• Repertoire
• Conductor: William LaRue Jones, University of Iowa, Iowa City

All-State Chorus

• Repertoire
• Conductor: Tim Fredstrom, Illinois State University, Normal

All-State Band

• Repertoire
• Conductor: David Morrison, Prospect High School (retired), Mt. Prospect, Ill.

HONORS CONCERT — 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Carver Arena, Peoria Civic Center

Honors Band

• Repertoire
• Conductor: Mark Camphouse, George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.

Honors Chorus

• Repertoire
• Conductor: Joseph Miller, Westminster Choir College, Rider University, Princeton, N.J.

Honors Orchestra

• Repertoire
• Conductor: Donald Schleicher, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The Saturday concerts are open to the public. General admission is $5. Tickets are available in advance from the Peoria Civic Center box office or at the door. Tickets are valid for both concerts.