MHS Jazz Band and Mastersingers to Perform at Disney
As a delightful and delectable diversion, you could not get much better than Saturday’s Songs, Sweets & Savories at the Belgrade Community Center for All Seasons, which is one reason it serves as the primary fundraiser for the music department’s upcoming trip to Disney World.
The event featured both the Messalonskee Jazz Band and Mastersingers, the two ensembles that will be making the journey to Florida in March to perform and participate in a workshop with music professionals.
Band director Andy Forster said the benefit of the trip is twofold. “The workshop is important,” he said, “because you get to have a really high quality workshop with people who are active in the performance industry, and Disney is all about performance…I also think it’s great for the kids to get out of their hometown – or even to get out the state – to see other things.”
Those other things typically are other music groups and performers as well as the fun of the Disney World theme parks, Forster said.
Apart from the excitement of the trip itself, Forster said such opportunities traditionally have led to greater musical growth for the students in the music department’s various ensembles.
“In years that we are traveling,” he said, “we end up performing a lot more in the ensembles because we are performing in various events and fundraising things that we might not do in a year when we aren’t traveling, which really brings the groups up to maybe a slightly higher performance standard.”