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 (Photo contributed) Gehlen Catholic senior Elias Niebuhr (left) will take part in the 2009 Northwest Iowa Band Master's Association's Honor Band and Orchestra and senior Emily Hutchins will take part in the 2009 Northwest Iowa Band Master's Association's Orchestra. [Click to enlarge] |
Honor Band will be held this weekend, Saturday, Jan. 10, at Eppley Auditorium at Morningside College in Sioux City.
Honor Orchestra will be held Thursday, Jan. 22, at Dordt College in Sioux Center.
Northwest Iowa is one of three districts in the state whose students have to audition for their district Honor Band. The audition process is similar to All State, as musicians must know their scales and etudes. However, students do not have to prepare a solo. Like All-State, the Honor Band's selection process recognizes those students for their hard work and dedication.
This is the first year in the Honor Orchestra's 10 years that the winds and percussions were selected based upon the student's auditions for Honor Band. Also in the past, the Honor Orchestra's winds and percussions had only been selected from those schools that had an orchestra program. Therefore, this is a first for Gehlen Catholic to have students selected for the Honor Orchestra.
"This is a real privilege for schools like Gehlen Catholic and students like Emily and Elias to be selected for the Honor Orchestra," Gehlen Catholic Instrumental Music Director, Mr. Paul Niebuhr, added. "Both the Honor Band and Honor Orchestra are a terrific opportunity for talented musicians in Northwest Iowa to perform in an All-State type ensemble."
Hutchins is the daughter of John and Pam Hutchins of Le Mars. This is her fourth year to be selected for Honor Band and first year for the Honor Orchestra. After graduation, Hutchins plans to pursue a degree in music performance, marketing nd pre-optometry.
Niebuhr is the son of Paul and Lisa Niebuhr of Kingsley. This is his first year to be selected for the Honor Band and Honor Orchestra. After graduation, Niebuhr plans to pursue a degree in Instrumental music education and Spanish secondary education.
Thirty-two Le Mars Community High School band members will also join with students from 44 area high schools to combine their talents for the 55th annual Northwest Iowa Honor Band Festival. Their picture and information was published in the Dec. 3, 2008, edition of the Daily Sentinel. The The Honor Band Festival will feature two bands of equal size and instrumentation. Conducting this year's festival will be Dr. Scott Weiss and Dr. William Carson.
The Northwest Iowa Bandmasters Association, a group of band directors from 15 Northwest Iowa counties, sponsors the concert. Tickets for the Jan. 10 concert will be available at the door. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.