Apply to march in the 2019 Holiday Bowl with the Youth in Music Honor Band. Plus Youth in Music announces 2018 YIMMY Awards and scholarship winners. Rosemount wins 12th championship.
Imagine being from a small Midwestern high school marching band and having the opportunity to perform at a highly visible college football halftime show and parade. Youth in Music (YIM), which hosts an annual marching band championship in Minneapolis, is making this dream a reality for up to 300 students.
The Youth in Music Honor Band will perform in the Holiday Bowl halftime show, America’s Largest Balloon Parade, and the Battle of the Bands Field Show Competition in San Diego in December 2019. The students will also have some free time to explore Sea World and other attractions.
The event could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young musicians and encourage them to continue performing after they graduate from high school. “These events could really change lives and motivate people to keep up with music,” says Brent Turner, YIM president. “We’re excited to do these things with our band kids.”
Interested high school sophomores and juniors should register for auditions by March 1. If selected, students will pay about $2,000 for the trip.
In October, YIM honored Keith Johnson and Gary Swanson as recipients of the Butch Dufault Memorial YIMMY, a lifetime achievement award in music education and marching arts teaching and designing. They have been inducted into the YIMMY Hall of Fame.
Johnson served for 35 years as the band director at Litchfield (Minnesota) High School and has been Litchfield’s mayor since 2011.
At Irondale High School in New Brighton, Minnesota, Swanson has directed the color guards and visual programs since the mid-1980s. He also worked with the Minnesota Brass and Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps as well as taught performers as part of the 1992 Super Bowl halftime show.
YIM also gave scholarships to seven high school seniors.
Rosemount (Minnesota) High School received the 2018 Youth in Music grand championship, its 12th in the event’s 14-year history.
