Western International Band Clinic - November, 2010

The Loveland High School Wind Symphony has been invited to represent the finest of wind ensembles in the United States at the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle, Washington next school year. This is a tremendous honor and achievement for the Loveland High School Band Program. One high school band in the world is selected to perform at WIBC through a recorded audition. This past year the high school band that was selected to play was Iwakuni High School from Japan. The Loveland High School Wind Symphony invitation to perform at the Western International Band Clinic may be the greatest honor that a music program in the Thompson School District has ever received. We are very excited to represent Loveland, the State of Colorado, and the United States at the Western International Band Clinic in November, 2010.

The Loveland High School Wind Symphony seventy-five minute concert will occur on Friday, November 19, 2010. Although no travel arrangements have been made yet our plan is to fly to Seattle, Washington on Wednesday, November 17. We will rehearse and go sightseeing through Friday afternoon and perform to a packed hall that evening. The students in the LHS Wind Symphony will participate in the WIBC Honor Program Saturday, November 20-22 and return home the night of November 22. The will truly be a life changing experience for everyone involved!

The WIBC Honor Band program is an incredible experience for the students involved. 600 students are selected to participate through a recorded audition process. The 600 students are divided into four honor bands. Every honor band gets to have the experience of working with five guest conductors and a famous soloist. In 2010 the guest conductors include Johan de Meij (famous composer and conductor from the Netherlands), Lowell Grahm (former Commander and Conductor of the United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C.), Tim Rhea (Director of Bands at Texas A&M University), James Swearingen (famous band composer), and Tim Lautzenheiser (President of Attitude Concepts for Today and Educational Director for the Conn-Selmer Company). The guest soloist is Marianne Gedigian, the Professor of Flute at The University of Texas at Austin. Marianne Gedigian has been a regular performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for over a decade, including several seasons as Guest Principal Flute under Seiji Ozawa.

2010 WIBC will be the 32nd Annual WIBC.

The Loveland High School Wind Symphony will be having auditions in April 2010 for the WIBC Wind Symphony performing group. Current eighth grade band students are strongly encouraged to audition.