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The Big 9 Conference is excited to host this year’s Big Nine Music Festival on Friday. The festival will be hosted by Mankato East.  

This event is the culmination of hours of hard work and preparation from each of the participating schools’ top performing choir, band and orchestra. In addition, talented musicians have been selected from each school to rehearse together to prepare special music for the select orchestra, select choir and select band. This festival brings 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.

The Big Nine Festival began in the spring of 1933 in Austin and has been held every year except 1943 when the war and fuel rationing prevented the festival and 2019-2020 due to the global pandemic. It is the oldest festival of its kind in the country, and many other music festivals have been patterned after the Big Nine.  

The daytime performances at Mankato East High School will begin at 8:15 a.m. and continue until 3:15 p.m. with a break for lunch. The bands will perform at the East gymnasium, the orchestras at the East auditorium, and the choirs off campus at Christ the King Lutheran Church. The clinicians for the day are Dr. Emily Threinen of the University of Minnesota, band; Steven Amundson, formerly of St. Olaf College, orchestra; and choral clinician, Dr. Dwight Jilek of Bemidji State University.

Daytime performances are free, and the public is welcome to come and listen. The Albert Lea Symphony Orchestra will perform at 9:15 a.m. at East High School auditorium.  The ALHS Concert Choir will sing at 11:45 a.m. at Christ the King Church (222 Pfau St.) The Albert Lea Concert Band will perform at 2:15 p.m. in East gym.

The grand finale concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Mankato East gymnasium. Tickets for this event are $8 for adults and $5 for students and are available at the door. The concert will begin with a combined performance of the “Star Spangled Banner,” followed by the select orchestra, select band and select choir.  The concert will conclude with a combined band, choir and orchestral performance of “America the Beautiful.”  

Singing in the select choir from Albert Lea are Marissa Martinez, Lara Westrum, Hattie Nelson, Hannah Willner, Ava Cunningham, Joey Maiden, Kailey Boettcher, Cydney Pathammavong, Colby Banks, Jal Thoat, Luke Wangsness, Evan Musick, Logan Strom, Cody Laskowske, Jameson Wildman and Corrin Calderon.  Select band members are Angel Hernandez, Anahi Castillo Lazaro, Ruby Mykkanen, Maria Flores, Michelle Lino Lopez, Erika Saindon, Maxx Richards, Jose Magdaleno Garcia, Trenton Mikels, William Isaacson and Alexander Schmidt. Albert Lea select orchestra members are Alyssa Schmidt, Landon Anthony, Matthew Ramirez, Alyssa Jensen, Hannah Barclay, River DePoppe, Henry Hershey and Hannah Veldman.