Every Winter season Neuqua Valley holds its iconic Crystal Concert which lasts a total of 80 minutes with almost every band, orchestra, and chorus class at Neuqua. This masterful concert brings music students together throughout the department and helps them build meaningful and lasting connections with each other. 

Not only does the Crystal Concert bring the music department closer, it also brings people from all over to the school’s doors. Sophomore Hugo Hinze, a member of one of Neuqua’s many choirs, is participating in a foreign exchange program that relocated him from his home of Germany to Naperville. He has actively participated in music all his life and describes how music is here versus in Germany. Hugo mentions how there were no performing music classes at his school, only one extracurricular orchestra, and even just one concert per year. The exchange agency asked him what he wanted in a school, and he explained how he wanted to continue his music career. They ended up picking the perfect school for him. Neuqua has won multiple grammys in the past, and Hugo is humbled to be a part of a program this grand. Following the Crystal Concert, Hugo described how “The music program is pretty cool. [He] knew it was going to be big, but [he] didn’t know that it would be this big.” He is saddened by the fact that he will have to leave this great music program, but he is also excited to return home at the start of the second semester.