Libby to host Northwest A Band Festival

Libby High School will be hosting this year's Class A Northwest Band Festival on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 30-31

The two-day festival will culminate with the festival concert finale at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, in the LHS gymnasium.

The concert is free to the public.

The festival will bring about 185 high school musicians, band directors, chaperones and others to town.

The Northwest Band Festival brings together the bands and their directors from Hamilton, Stevensville, Polson and Libby.

The bands pair up to create two large festival bands.

"They prepare their parts for the selected music back home in their own band rooms and come to the festival ready to have their efforts shaped into a concert performance under the batons of master conductors," said Libby band director Brenda Nagode. "Since there are generally more percussionists in these combined bands than there are written parts to be played, those musicians will divide up into master classes and percussions ensembles. These groups also perform on the final concert."

This year Libby's symphonic band will be paired with Polson. The music they have selected to perform include a Norwegian march "Valdres" by Jonannes Hanssen, a new piece named "Pioneers" by Philip Sparke, and "Music from the Incredibles" arranged by Jay Bocook.

Hamilton will combine with Stevensville. Their selections are John Phillip Sousa's famous "Liberty Bell March," "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls" by Frank Erickson, and another arrangement by Jay Bocook entitled "Blues Brothers Review."

The festival begins at 9:30 a.m. on Monday Morning, Jan. 30. Each band will perform separately its own pre-prepared program for the festival clinicians. The clinicians will act as adjudicators, "district festival style" which means they will listen to the performance while following along in a copy of the conductor's score. They write comments about the band's performance that includes points of criticism as well as words of praise.

The bands review these written comments with their own directors.

"They often have much to learn from the observations of the skilled ears of these master conductors," Nogode said.

The schedule of individual band performances is as follows" 9:30 a.m. Libby, 10 a.m. Stevensville, 10:30 a.m. Polson, 11 a.m. Hamilton.

The remainder of the two days is spent on combined band rehearsals as they prepare for the Tuesday night concert. A representative from Eckroth Music will have a display for the students that will have some of the newest band instruments and supplies for them to explore and try.

This year's guest conductor/clinicians are Dr. Robert LedBetter, associate professor of music at the University of Montana where he is director of percussion studies. Dr. Kevin Griggs, director of athletic bands and assistant director of bands at the University of Montana, where his responsibilities include directing the UM Grizzly Marching Band and Basketball Pep Band, and Dr. Steve Bolstad, director of bands at The University of Montana. His responsibilities include conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds, and administrating the entire band program. He also teaches applied trumpet, conducting, instrumental methods, coaches a number of brass chamber ensembles, and observes the instrumental student teachers. He has held similar positions in Alabama at both The University of Montevallo and Livingston University, and he was the Director of Bands at St. Marys Area High School in St. Marys, Pennsylvania.

"Libby High School is proud to be hosting an event like this that will bring together such incredible talent," Nagode said. "It gives us yet another chance to remind us all that the process of creating music makes us smarter while the sharing of music makes us human."