By Tim Leeds
Music will fill Havre Middle School and Havre High School this weekend while Havre hosts the District 7 Band and Choir Festival.
More than 1000 students from 15 Hi-Line schools will be participating. The schools range from Browning and Valier to Harlem, from Sunburst to Big Sandy, covering a huge range of the Hi-Line.
The Band and Choir Festival will begin at 8 a.m. on Friday and the solo and ensemble festival at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
On Friday, the choirs will perform at the middle school assembly room and the bands will perform at the high school auditorium. All performances will be at the high school auditorium on Saturday.
Events at festival are open to the public. Programs will be available for purchase at the performances.
The students will perform for an adjudicator, who will give comments on and rate their performance to help with future improvement. The ratings are in five categories, ranging from one for superior to five for poor.
Ron Coons, band instructor at the high school, said this is not a competitive event.
"Everyone could get a superior or everyone could get a five, although very rarely do we get a five," he said. "It's not one where we pick a winner or a loser."
A solo or ensemble that earns a superior rating on Saturday qualifies to continue on to the State Solo and Ensemble Festival which will be held in Helena on the first weekend in May.
Coons said this is only held for solos and ensembles because of the difficulty in organizing and holding a state-wide full band and choir festival.
