Kings Island Festival of Music - April 25, 2015

     Several of our music students participated in ensembles in an annual competition held at Kings Island.  Festivals of Music, Inc. hosts events across the country to support music education in schools through the sponsorship of a motivational competition format.  Each year, students in our music program look forward to this trip.  In Harmony has gone consistently for over 20 years, and in recent history, the Junior High and Senior High Students have enjoyed the experience as well.  Part of the proceeds from several fund raisers have been set aside to provide financial opportunity for the students to go on the trip during each Spring season.  The cost of the trip was $100.00 this year, and included charter motor coach transportation, ticket into the theme park, and contest entry fees.  Participants in fund raisers during the year have had money set aside into their incentive account maintained by the Music Boosters.

     We competed on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at Loveland MS.  They performed very early in the morning and arrived at Kings Island upon the opening of the park.  Students enjoyed a rainy day at the park until 6:00 PM where they checked in with the directors and attended an awards ceremony.  Parents were invited to make the trip with us and several took advantage of the opportunity.  The directors, Jean and Mike, would like to thank those parents who "adopted" other kids during the day.  This helps us manage expenses and provide the necessary adult supervision while on the trip.

The two high school groups SW Festival Choir and SW Festival Band each received "Good" ratings at the festival and received first place in their respected divisions for their performances.  The band missed the goal of a Superior in their #quest4superior campaign.  But, I feel that they did their personal best even though they missed their mark with the judges!  I want to encourage everyone in the band and choir to push yourselves individually to work harder and expect more from yourself.  The Festival Choir performed well in light of the limited amount of practice time dedicated to the selections they performed!  Our focus has been on getting ready for #showcase2015 and failed to prepare adequately for the festival.  That was my call as director.
     I am entertaining the idea of putting together next year's Festival Ensembles in the fall season to begin working together on literature and performing at events throughout the year culminating with our performance at the Music in the Parks festival.  Ideas related to that concept are welcomed from parents and students in the coming weeks.