The future has a nice ring to it

Franklin Area School district hosted hundreds of the region's best-sounding middle school and junior high kids to play at Bandfest.

Steve Johnston, Franklin High's music director said the festival hasn't happened in a couple years due to the pandemic. Judging by the large number crowd of kids on Friday, there was excitement for it to return.

Students arrived early Friday to break into two age groups - grades 6 and 7, and grades 8 and 9. Each band learned a half dozen tunes to perform that evening for the public.

It was the duty of each student to learn the material in advance so they could more easily play with dozens of other students from about 20 other schools.

Under the direction of two music educators, Dr. Jonathan Hemlick, of Slippery Rock University and Dr. Jason Worzbyt of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the two bands worked with each director on three songs apiece.

In the evening the sixth and seventh graders played first. Then about 150 red-shirted musicians and instruments cleared the extended stage to make way for a nearly equal amount of similarly dressed eighth and ninth graders to perform their songs.

The student participants came from the Venango, Forest, Clarion, Jefferson, Armstrong and Indiana counties that comprise Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 3.

"What an honor and privilege it has been to host these wonderful young musicians," Chris Cohlhepp, Franklin High School principal, said in the concerts program. "Festivals such as this offer our students the opportunity to grow not only as musicians but as compassionate, caring, empathic human beings. They learn to come together in a collaborative effort to create with beautiful expression that which can only be communicated through music." 

Below are more photos from the performance Friday evening.
Even more photos can be viewed at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p573571116.