WORTHINGTON -- It isn't often local concert-goers are treated to a polished, 150-piece band performing the national anthem, so Monday night's free concert at Memorial Auditorium should be music to their ears.
When the guest musicians of North Dakota State University's Gold Star Concert Band join with Worthington High School's 97-member Trojan Concert Band for the show's finale, "The Star Spangled Banner," spectators will be on their feet.
"Of course, with the national anthem, that's guaranteed, but with the combined bands, it's going to be very stirring," assured Jon Loy, director of the Worthington High School (WHS) band program.
Loy said Worthington is fortunate to be selected as a stop on the NDSU band's spring concert tour, as the group is en route to a music convention in Kansas City, Mo.
"I've taken high school musicians to the Festival of Bands at NDSU over the past few years, and NDSU has a rich band tradition," Loy said. "This free concert is a great opportunity for both our music students and the community to enjoy what they have to offer."
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It's also a second chance for the public to hear the Trojan Concert Band's contest pieces for which they received three superior ratings on March 5 at the Region IIAA State Large Group Instrumental Contest in Waseca.
"The judges there, as well as directors of other groups, remarked on our band's energy and professionalism," Loy noted. "The students played with a lot of passion and skill."
Those qualities will be on display Monday night as the Trojan band performs "Masque" by W. Francis McBeth, "Hymn and Fantasia," arranged by Elliot Del Borgo, and "Follow the River" by James Swearingen, complementing the NDSU band's performance.
Conducted by Dr. Warren D. Olfert, the NDSU Gold Star Concert Band is a select group that was founded as a military band for the university's ROTC program. The band takes its name from the many superior ratings earned during annual ROTC federal inspections.
Another NDSU musical offering, also free and open to the public, is scheduled for March 16, when the NDSU concert choir (of which WHS choir director Joseph Osowski is an alumnus) will perform an exchange concert with the WHS Trojan and concert choirs at 1:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.
The choirs' large group contest is Monday afternoon in Marshall, while the WHS orchestra also participated in the contest at Waseca, scoring similarly well. Playing a movement from Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and "Declarations" by Jeffrey Bishop, the orchestra, directed by Melanie Loy, was rated excellent by two judges and superior by one.
"It's a busy season for the music students," Loy affirmed. "And it doesn't slow down until after the all-district orchestra concert here on March 20, the Lamberton Jazz Festival on March 27 and the Region IIAA Solo Ensemble Concert (in Mankato) on March 30."
"Our music students have worked very hard this year, and I'm delighted at how far the concert band in particular has come," Loy continued. "They're playing with so much heart, and that's really gratifying."
