High schools host District Music Festival

Area music lovers have the opportunity to hear the complete spectrum of Northwest Montana high school music-making as Flathead and Glacier high schools host the 2013 District No. 1 Music Festival today through Saturday.

About 1,500 student musicians from Libby, Troy, Lincoln County, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Polson, Bigfork, Glacier and Flathead high schools will participate in the three-day event.

The festival includes two separate divisions, a district-only event for bands, orchestras and choirs, and a state-qualifying event for solos and ensembles. An ensemble is any group of two to 20 musicians.

Forty bands, orchestras and choirs from the nine schools will perform today and Friday at Flathead High School — bands and orchestras in the auditorium, and choirs in the choir room. The solos and ensembles start at Flathead High Friday morning, and then move to Glacier High School Friday evening and Saturday. At Glacier, jazz bands and combos perform in room F126, while vocal ensembles sing in the performance hall.

Qualified music specialists have been hired to listen to and judge each performance. They provide verbal and written comments to help each entry improve.

They also rate each entry as follows: 1 (superior), 2 (excellent), 3 (good), 4 (fair), or 5 (poor). 

Solos and ensembles receiving a superior rating qualify to attend the State Solo and Ensemble Festival, which will be in Helena May 4 and 5. There is no state-level festival for the bands, orchestras and choirs.

The public is invited to attend all festival events. The schedule for the larger groups is listed below. 

Schedules of the instrumental and vocal solos and ensembles will be available at each performing site.