Elementary musicians: Learning to soar

Perhaps many of the participants didn’t really understand the significance of being an honor band member.
After all, they are just fifth and sixth graders. But Saturday, when the curtain went up on the “First and Second Year Honor Band,” there in the middle of it were 10 Minneota students.
Several members of the audience expressed the feeling of how good the band sounded for very young people.
They spent the first part of the day practicing, then delivered a concern on Saturday afternoon.
“The year 2013 was the first year we attended this particular festival, which is geared for those band students in their first and second year of band,” said Minneota Band Director John Voit.
This was the first year the event has been held in Wabasso.
Guest director for the Fifth Grade was Richard Owen of Luverne, band director from that community.
Directing the sixth grade was Michael Peterson, director at Fulda High School.
Minneota Director Voit has never directed at this festival, but he did direct a jazz band at a junior high honor band festival in Jackson in 2006.