MUSIC FESTIVAL APRIL 4-6; EVENT TO FEATURE BANDS, CHOIRS

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Next week's District Music Festival at Southeast Missouri State University will feature 32 bands and 26 choirs from southeast Missouri area high schools.

The annual event is sponsored by Southeast's Department of Music. Dr. Sterling Cosaboom, chairman of the department, said more than 1,000 high school bands, orchestras, choirs, ensembles and soloists will compete, and the public is invited to any of the recitals free of charge.

"Students who participate in this festival have been preparing for it since the first of the year," Cosaboom said. "They have put many hours of practice into the performance they will give."

The festival will run April 4-6 on campus. Recitals will take place in the University Center, Brandt Music Hall and Academic Auditorium. They will begin at 7:30 a.m. and run throughout the day.

Cosaboom said students will compete for certificates and a chance to move on to the state contest.

Students are judged on performance ability, maturity of sound, repertoire and musicality, Cosaboom said. Judges for the event are selected by the music department include music educators and professional musicians from a multi-state area, he added.

Students will receive a rating ranging from 1-5, 1 being judged as the "finest conceivable performance," Cosaboom said.

Carolyn Strobl, secretary of the department, and Cosaboom are the festival's directors.

Though the festival is not a recruiting tool of the university, Cosaboom said it brings talented musicians to the campus and provides them with an opportunity to see the university and meet with students and faculty.

For more information on the festival, contact Strobl at 651-2141.