New York Citys Carnegie Hall is world renowned for hosting the worlds best artists all of whom have considered it an honor and privilege to perform there. In April 2007, the Hall will host the National Invitational Band and Orchestra Festival.
The festival is sponsored by Field Studies International, allowing high school musical groups from across the country to compete using a recorded audition tape. This year, 18 groups have won the coveted opportunity to perform on the stage at Carnegie Hall. Frank Battisti of the New England Conservatory, Craig Kirchhoff of the University of Minnesota, and H. Robert Reynolds of the University of Southern Carlifornia will judge the event, providing recorded comments and a recording of the performance for each musical group. The wind ensemble at Ohio schools Walnut Hills in Cincinnati is one of the 18 groups selected for the final competition at Carnegie Hall.
While most Ohio schools were cutting back on their music programs, the Ohio schools Walnut Hills was maintaining its 11 bands. Kerry Kruze, music teacher at the Ohio schools Walnut Hills, believes that students thrive on the arts. The participants in the wind ensemble...