Honor Music Festival – Feb. 23

Approximately 400 of the best junior and middle high school musicians from dozens of schools will perform in the 65th annual Kern County Honor Music Festival, which is free to the public, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. at Rabobank Convention Center, 1001 Truxtun Avenue in Bakersfield. Each student had to prove themselves in demanding auditions and maintain perfect attendance in three weeks of intense rehearsals.

Guest Band Conductor will be Ed Hughes, former Kern County Superintendent of Schools visual and performing arts coordinator. The Orchestra will be led by Bakersfield City School District Performing Arts Coordinator Mike Stone. Frontier High School Vocal Music Director Forrest Madewell will conduct the choir.

Orchestra selections will include: Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” Bohm’s “Sarabande,” Borge’s “Shalom Chavarine,” and Clark’s “Engines of Resistance.” The Choir will sing: Johnson’s “Cindy,” Butler’s “Agnus Dei,” Robinson’s “In These Delightful Pleasant Groves,” Snyder’s “Durme, Durme,” and Simms’ “Climbin’ Up The Mountain.” The Band will perform: Swearingen’s “Entrance of the Tall Ships,” Ticheli’s “Amen,” O’Loughlin’s “How to Train Your Dragon,” and Fillmore’s “Go Galop.” The combined Band, Choir and Orchestra will perform Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”

The event is presented by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) and Kern County Music Educators Association in cooperation with the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District.