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Community Corner

CAROL'S CORNER: Norcross HS Band to Perform in JanFest at UGA

This year 12 members of the NHS band, along with their director as special guest conductor, participate in the 61st Annual JanFest at UGA.

With bands from all over the Southeast and over 1,000 students attending, Norcross High School is proud to be sending 12 students and their director Rudy Gilbert to the UGA JanFest in Athens, GA. The participating students from Norcross are: Tony Shu, Kristen Knowles, Kasandra Woo, Brannon Booth, Emma D'Agostino, John Valentine, Parker Buntin, Dale Rivera and Jack Turner.

When I asked Rudy Gilbert, the NHS band director, why this conference is profitable for his students he said that “It’s a great opportunity for the students to experience other conductors and music that they might not play at their home school. It’s world class."

The activities at JanFest go like this: The 12 band members from Norcross begin by auditioning in front of UGA faculty professors to determine which band they will be placed in during the four-day clinic. There are three honors bands and five festival bands. For the remainder of the time they attend either concerts preformed by guest bands or master classes specific to their instrument. After that come rehearsals galore: about 15 hours worth. The culmination of the event, packed to standing room only by parents and friends, is a four-hour concert on Sunday in which all eight bands preform. 

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Norcross is not only proud of its band members selected to attend but also of Gilbert who was invited by Dr. John Lynch of UGA to conduct one of the clinic bands. Gilbert told me that he “considers it a great honor to be invited to conduct.” He is the only in-state band director conducting. He jokingly said that “he’s the only one without a Dr. or Lt. Governor in front of his name.”

The UGA JanFest provides a unique opportunity for our hometown students. It will no doubt encourage them musically and personally as well. Congratulations to the NHS band. 

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