Bands to perform festival program Sunday

Donations
for uniforms
accepted at door
The Cairo High School Concert Band and Symphony Band are busy preparing for next week’s Georgia Music Educators Association’s Large Group Performance Evaluation, commonly referred to as festival.
The two bands, under the direction of John Scanling, will perform a prefestival concert this Sunday at the Cairo High School auditorium beginning at 2:30 p.m.
The concert will allow the community to hear the two bands’ festival program in advance of the actual competition to be held here next week.
The CHS Concert Band, which is made up primarily of ninth and 10th graders, will perform Karl King’s “Valley Forge March”; “In Heavens Air” by Samuel Hazo; and “Novo Lenio,” also by Hazo.
The CHS Symphony Band, comprised mainly of 11th and 12th graders, will perform Henry Filmore’s “The Klaxon”; “The Witch and The Saint” by Steven Reineke; and “A Festival Prelude” by Alred Reed.
The Symphony Band will also perform “They Led My Lord Away,” arranged by Fred J. Allen, under the direction of Syrupmaker Drum Major Rebecca Roberts.
There is no admission charged for the prefestival concert, but CHS Band Boosters will be at the doors accepting donations for a concert uniform fund drive. The band is approximately $20,000 short of having enough money to purchase new concert uniform jackets and donations of any size would be appreciated.
According to Band Boosters President Jeffrey Cape, it costs $210 to fully outfit a band member with a concert uniform.
“We have had tremendous support for our uniform fund drive, but we still have a way to go. We would appreciate any and all donations, no matter how large or small,” Cape said.
Both bands will perform their festival program before LGPE adjudicators next Thursday, March 10. The Concert Band will perform at 11:30 a.m. and the Symphony Band will perform at 6 p.m. The two bands will also be judged on their performance of sight-reading selections next Thursday.
The festival performance is open to the public, but Director Scanling says that once a band begins its festival program presentation, patrons should wait to enter the auditorium until the performance is completed.