ALHS students attend regional honor band

Published 8:33 am Thursday, February 4, 2010

On Jan. 23, four members of the Albert Lea High School Bands attended the Southeast Region Honor Band of the Minnesota Band Directors Association.

Jon Kreun, tenor saxophone, Chelsea Petersen, trumpet, Alison Sipple, trumpet, and Nick Walther, tuba, attended the third annual SEMBDA Honor Band.

Held at Rochester Century High School, the band featured 141 students from 43 schools throughout southeast Minnesota. The day included significant rehearsal time and a short amount of time with volunteer section coaches. The event culminated with a concert held in the Century High School auditorium.

Email newsletter signup

The SEMBDA 6-8 Honor Band was conducted by Dave Mendenhall of Scott Highlands Middle School in Apple Valley. Mendenhall is also a professional jazz bassist in the Twin Cities area.

The SEMBDA 9-10 Honor Band was conducted by Lee Kjesbo of Buffalo. Kjesbo is retired after 35 years of public school teaching. In 2006 he was named “Music Educator of the Year” by the Minnesota Music Educator’s association.