According to Tyrone Area High School band instructor, Kris Laird, last year was a record year for Tyrone students attending District Band, with 11, but this year, that record improved.
After completing auditions at Hyndman High School in late November, 12 students secured a spot in the 2005 Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Association District Band.
Students selected are: seniors Alicia Rodriguez – clarinet, Doug Conrad – tenor sax, Elizabeth Kreckel –trombone and Bill Hartsock – tuba; juniors Jean Keller – oboe, Tim Stibitz – alto sax, Zach Zolten – trombone, and Zac Yeaton – baritone, and sophomores Jenna Dillon – clarinet, Amber Davis – alto clarinet, Allyson Detwiler – contra alto clarinet and Philip Kreckel – tuba.
Among these students, TAHS holds three first chair spots with Conrad, Davis and Yeaton and two second chairs with Detwiler and Hartsock.
According to Laird, this year’s festival will be held at Greater Johnstown High School and will feature Quincy Hilliard as the guest conductor.
Hilliard is the composer in residence and professor of music at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. He is well-known for his compositions for wind band and is a highly commissioned composer including his work for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and a score for the documentary film, The Texas Rangers.
The students completed an audition on Wednesday, January 12, with hopes to advance to the regional level scheduled for February at Central Cambria.
The rest of the festival will include rehearsals with the guest conductor, a guest concert featuring the “Jazz in Your Face” big band based in the Johnstown area and a public concert at the Johnstown High School auditorium on Saturday, January 15 at 1:30 p.m.
