And the winner is ... Everyone: Band members, their friends and family and plain ol’ music fans.
Richland High School on Saturday evening hosted a band festival that was just for fun, and to raise a little money for the Richland Music Boosters.
Nine high school bands participated.
“This is a festival, not a competition,” boosters President Steve Ettien said. “The kids can be more relaxed. They can play all their music with no time constraints, worrying about judges walking around with a pen marking this off and that off.”
Hundreds of fans attended on the crisp fall evening, clapping along with “Hey Jude” played by the Central High School Marching Band of Martinsburg.
Musical selections ranged from Santana’s “Everybody’s Everything” played by the Meyersdale band to a selection of Sting favorites by the Richland marchers to Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” by Central Cambria.
In the bleachers, Kim Katrancha of Dunlo was proud of her performance this year behind a video camera set up on a tripod. She was filming her daughter, Sara, 17, playing trombone for the Forest Hills Marching Rangers.
“Last year, I zoomed in on the wrong person. I didn’t realize it wasn’t Sara for awhile,” she said.
She never confessed to not knowing her own daughter.
“Mom, why did you keep shooting her,” Sara later would ask.
“I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Finally, I burned an extra disc and gave it to my daughter and said, ‘Here, give this to Miranda. I burned an extra one for her family,’ ’’ Katrancha said.
“Sara doesn’t know to this day.”
Down at ground level, Drum Major Dallas Malzi, 17, was catching some of the other bands from the sidelines.
“I like that we can show off what the school system can do in music,” he said. “The crowd cheers for everyone and you can just feed off that energy.”
The evening wound down with all the bands taking to the field for a stirring version of “God Bless America.”
Richland’s band, chorus and orchestra all will benefit from the profits that go to the music boosters.
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