The annual Big Nine Music Festival was Friday at Red Wing High School. According to a press release, the event was the culmination of hours of hard work and preparation from each of the participating schools’ top-performing choirs, bands and orchestras.

In addition, top musicians have been selected from each school to rehearse together to prepare special music for the select orchestra, select choir and select band.

The festival brought over 2,000 student musicians together to perform for each other and clinicians to showcase the musical talent of the students in the Big Nine Conference.

It was the 85th annual Big Nine Festival. The festival originally began in spring 1933 in Austin and has taken place every year except 1943, when World War II and fuel rationing prevented the festival.

It is the oldest festival of its kind in the country and many other music festivals have been patterned after the Big Nine. It is held the last Friday in April at a rotating host school.

The Big Nine boasts that it has maintained top quality bands, choirs and orchestras from every school in the conference in the midst of tight budgets. This is largely due to administrative and community support. The 12 schools in the Big Nine include Albert Lea, Austin, Faribault, Mankato West and East, Northfield, Owatonna, Red Wing, Winona and Mayo, John Marshall and Century from Rochester.

The daytime performances began at 8:15 a.m. and continued until 3:15 p.m., with a break for lunch. The bands  performed in the auditorium, the orchestras in the gymnasium and the choirs at First Lutheran Church’s sanctuary. The clinicians for the day were, John Stewart, band clinician from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; Steven Amundson, director of orchestras at St Olaf College; and choral clinician Frank Watkins, professor at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Albert Lea High School’s choir, conducted by Diane Heaney, sang at 9:15 a.m. at the church. The ALHS band, conducted by Suzanne Mauer, played at 10:45 a.m.; and the symphony orchestra, conducted by Rebekah Crissinger,  performed at 2:15 p.m., both at the high school.

The concert always showcases a performance by the select orchestra, select band and select choir. The concert concluded with a combined band, choir and orchestral performance of “America the Beautiful.”

Singing in the select choir from Albert Lea were:

Heather Wirkus

Bethany Tennis

Natalie Weiland

Alexis Tasker

Justine Nelson

Liana Schallock

Alexis Pesch

Kelsey Villarreal

Jack Buendorf

Ryan Nelson

Matt Palmer

Brayden Boettcher

Travis Nemec

Logan Petersen

Aaron Zogg

Landon Kirchner

Noah Iverson

Playing in the select orchestra were:

Morgan Phillips

Anna Bordewick

Emily Wangen

Kenzie Kenyon

Brayden Boettcher

Jens Lange

Terri Wolfe

Sara Kabrud

Select band members were:

Alana Skarstad

Madeline Phillips

Anna Boettcher

Rachel Wangen

Darren Guildner

Jonah Walker

Benjamin Seavey

Natalie Day

William Kreun

Olivia Stensrud

Jarrod Guildner

The grand finale concert was at 7:30 p.m. in the Red Wing High School gymnasium. Tickets for the event were $7 for adults and $5 for students.