Mission+of+the+Current+Festival+System

Steve Luxbacher (District 3): Before we even begin discussing the process of "revamping" the festival system, we need to agree as a State Board about just what is the reason that we host these honors festivals. If we are to substantiate why we do this to administrators, parents, etc. across the state, we need to develop a state-wide philosophy for the purpose of these festivals. Once we do this, we can discuss format for selecting students, length of festivals, budget, etc...

From our members: We do this to expand the musical education of our students that participate. Working with some of the top conductors in their field and on the masterworks of music literature is invaluable to our kids.
 * More to the concerts that just the final performance
 * The intrinsic value - the feeling of accomplishment, meeting others who value the same things you do, forming professional relationships with the guest conductors, the "honor" of being in the ensemble.
 * Allowing our best students who may be in a smaller music program to perform in a fully staffed ensemble and work on music that is of a higher level than they might get at home.