Courtesy photo
Eight Lincoln County High School students participated in the annual Tri-State High School Band Symposium at Utah State University.
By Jessica Truman
On Dec. 1 and 2, Lincoln County High School received the honor of sending eight kids up to Utah State University to participate in the annual Tri-State High School Band Symposium.
To even be nominated for this event, they had to compete with their classmates for one of the available spots. There were over 140 kids at the honor band from Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. On Friday morning, they all auditioned for a spot in one of two bands: The Wind Ensemble (the higher of the two) and the Symphony Band.
Out of the eight students from Lincoln County, four were in the upper band: Jessica Truman (clarinet); Derrek Anderson (euphonium); Auston Marshall (trumpet); and Ashlee Decker (trumpet). There were also four students who made it into the Symphony Band: Lincoln Frehner (French horn and section leader); David Conahan (tenor saxophone); Hayden Showell (tuba); and Ayden Miller (trombone).
After auditions early Friday morning, the students spent the rest of the day learning and practicing songs they were seeing for the first time. The students started early again on Saturday morning, then held a concert in Diane’s Concert Hall that afternoon.
The Wind Ensemble had the opportunity to work with an internationally-known conductor and composer Robert Sheldon. He has conducted across the United States and all around the world, including Japan, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, Australia, and China. The Wind Ensemble was given the honor of playing two compositions that he wrote.
The Symphony Band was directed by guest conductor Matthew Inkster, whose performances have taken him across the US.
The students were able to learn a lot from both conductors. They also proved to themselves and others that they were able to compete and hold their own against students from much larger schools. The Lincoln County Music Program is proud to showcase these talented students and would like to thank them for their dedication to the performing arts.
