Co-Lin concert band performs in Chicago

Published 9:08 pm Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Copiah-Lincoln Community College’s Concert Band recently performed at the 10th annual Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival in Chicago.

The festival welcomed only four bands from across the nation to perform at the annual event held in Studebaker Theater. Other bands invited were the University of Nebraska at Omaha Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Parkway High School Wind Symphony and Avon Lake High School Symphonic Band. The performance featured works by Grainger, Séjourné, Jenkins and other prominent composers.

Prior to the performance, students participated in a band clinic session with Mallory Thompson, director of bands and coordinator of the conducting program at Northwestern University in Chicago.

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“We are thrilled that our concert band had the incredible opportunity to participate in a festival of this magnitude,” said Co-Lin President Jane Hulon. “Many of our students traveled to Chicago for the first time, creating life-long memories while strengthening their skills as musicians. As a college, we aim to provide unique opportunities for students to thrive. We are very appreciative to the many supporters, donors and the Co-Lin Foundation for helping make this trip possible.”

Percy Grainger is known as a pianist and a composer of piano music. Grainger also composed literature for winds, with an emphasis on saxophone. He wrote a series of “Hillsongs,” arranged many Scottish folk songs and is best known for his wind band masterpiece “Lincolnshire Posy,” based on a collection of folksongs he collected in Lincolnshire, England.