Band Ensemble: World Strides Heritage Festival
The Leonia High School music department participates in the World Strides Heritage Festival every year. Schools across the country participate in the event at different dates starting in spring. The Heritage Festival is a musical tour group for marching bands, concert bands, jazz bands, orchestras, choirs, and cheer teams. Students travel to well known cities, such asBoston,Anaheim,Atlanta,Chicago,Hawaii,New York City, andWashington, D.C to participate in the musical event. The schools that go on the trips perform for World Strides Heritage Festival judges.
The Leonia High School band ensemble is a collection of students who play percussion, brass, and woodwind instruments and have an interest to further pursue music. Instrumental music students will represent Leonia High School at the World Strides Heritage Festival. They will display their talent as a concert band. Mr. Lawrence Silverman, the program leader of band ensemble and the director of the Heritage Festival trip for Leonia High School, explains, “The band ensemble, specifically the wind and jazz ensemble, travel for the Heritage Festival Tour Group. This year, the band is going to Bostonon March 22nd and will return on March 26th.” Leonia High School will hold auditions for band students in which 75 instrumental musicians will be selected to participate at the Heritage Festival.
The location of the World Strides Heritage Festival varies each year. This year, students will perform inBoston. In recent years, students who participated in the festivals went to different cities in the tri-state area. Sue Kim, a sophomore who has been involved in the high school band for two years, states, “I am part of the wind ensemble, and I play the flute. Auditioning for the World Strides Heritage Festival means a lot of practice for everyone.” Instrumentalists at Leonia High School are busy year-round, preparing for after-school music activities, including Pep Band and other concerts off campus. Leonia High Schoolreceived many awards for its music program, such as best for overall group and individual awards for top rhythm sections and best soloists at the Heritage Festivals. This month, the band ensemble will prepare for auditions to participate at the World Strides Heritage Festival held inBoston.