MILTON — Music is in the air at Milton Area Senior High School, which is hosting the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 8 Band Festival through Saturday.
The band is made up of 153 students from more than 35 school districts in nine counties, including Northumberland, Union, Snyder and Montour, according to Brett Hosterman, Milton’s middle and high school band director and the host director for the festival.
“These students are the best of the best at their schools,” Hosterman said. “(The festival) acts as an enrichment to the existing music curriculum they’re getting in school.”
During the two-and-a-half-day event, students will audition for the regional band festival and practice for a Saturday afternoon public concert, which will be held at 2 in the high school, Hosterman said.
About half of the students in the district festival will move on to the regional festival, he said.
For many of the young musicians in attendance, the festival acts as a way for them to hone the skills that they have developed and allows them to be creative, Hosterman said.
“For many of these kids, music is their passion,” he said.
The concert is also a way to showcase those skills, said Devin Householder, director of the band at Athens High School in Bradford County.
“It gives these kids a way to perform in a full band setting and gives them a chance to show off a little bit,” he said.
Householder, who has three students participating in the festival, said he has been to music festivals at Milton High before and enjoys the atmosphere at the school.
“It’s nice,” he said. “You also get to see other band directors and talk with them instead of just seeing them in passing at football games.”
Entertainment
Related Photos
-
Shamokin High School student Shannon Levi plays her Bassoon during the District Band rehearsal on Thursday at the Milton High School. Photos by Robert Inglis/The Daily Item
-
Lewisburg High School student Kate Landis plays her Clarinet during a District Band concert rehearsal on Thursday at the Milton High School
-
Shamokin High School student Joey Deptula plays the bass during Thursday's District Band rehearsal on Thursday at the Milton High School.
-
Benjamin Nesselrodt of Hughesville plays his flute during Thursday's District Band rehearsal at the Milton High School.
Discussion
153 high school musicians gather in Milton for District Band Festival
- Entertainment
-
-
Now Hear This: Wednesday, May 22
Today's top local music picks:
-
Tickets still available for gallery concert
Maestro Stuart Malina and other members of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra will perform in the Ned Smith Gallery
-
'Rockshow' with Wings opens locally Wednesday
“ROCKSHOW,” a film depicting Paul McCartney and Wings on their epic 1975-1976 “Wings Over The World,” is coming to theaters in Hummels Wharf and Camp Hill.
-
Artist's love of craft dates back to Danville school
Her basement is spacious — huge, really — but unlike most it isn’t dark and damp.
-
Now Hear This: Sunday, May 19
Today's top local music picks:
-
Now Hear This: Saturday, May 18
Today's top local music picks:
-
Nashville musician set to rock Millheim
While other kids his age were tuning into cartoons, Kevin Gordon tuned to music, an experience that enthralled the youngster and set him dancing.
-
Now Hear This: Friday, May 17
Today's top local music picks:
-
Now Hear This: Thursday, May 16
Today's top local music picks:
-
Sports documentary by Danville resident to premier at Little Rock Film Festival
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A Danville native will have his second film premier this week at the Little Rock Film Festival.
- More Entertainment Headlines
-
Now Hear This: Wednesday, May 22
