Illinois (album) - Personnel

Personnel

• Sufjan Stevens – acoustic guitar; piano; Wurlitzer; bass guitar; drums; electric guitar; oboe; alto saxophone; flute; banjo; glockenspiel; accordion; vibraphone; alto, sorpanino, soprano, and tenor recorders; Casiotone MT-70; sleigh bells; shaker; tambourine; triangle; electronic organ; vocals; arrangement; engineering; recording; production
• Julianne Carney – violin
• Alan Douches – mastering at West West Side Music, Tenafly, New Jersey
• Jon Galloway – remixing on "Chicago" (To String Remix)
• Marla Hansen – viola
• The Illinoisemaker Choir – backing vocals and clapping on "The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!'", "Chicago", "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts", "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!", and "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders"

• Tom Eaton
• Jennifer Hoover
• Katrina Kerns
• Beccy Lock
• Tara McDonnell

• Maria Bella Jeffers – cello
• Katrina Kerns – backing vocals on "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois", "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!", "Jacksonville", "Prairie Fire That Wanders About", "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!", "The Seer's Tower", "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders", and "The Avalanche"
• James McAlister – drums, drum engineering
• Craig Montoro – trumpet, backing vocals on "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!"
• Rob Moose – violin
• Matt Morgan – backing vocals on "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!"
• Daniel and Elin Smith – backing vocals and clapping on "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!"
• Divya Srinivasan – artwork
• Shara Worden – backing vocals on "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois", "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!", "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", "Casimir Pulaski Day", "Prairie Fire That Wanders About", "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!", "The Seer's Tower", "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders", and "The Avalanche"