The best high school band students from the Chilton County area will converge at Jemison High School this week for the 22nd Annual Chilton County Area Honor Band. The students will practice for two and a half days in preparation for a concert to be performed Saturday, April 10 at 2 p.m. in the JHS auditorium.

The Honor Band is made up of select students from Chilton County High, Isabella, Jemison, Maplesville, Thorsby, Verbena, Marbury and Calera bands.

Proceeds from Saturday’s concert will benefit an Honor Band trip to Atlanta for a concert competition on May 1. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for students and children.

“Two years ago we stretched our county’s borders a little and included Calera High School and Marbury High School,” said Thorsby band director Stephen Pounders. “Both of these schools are so close to Chilton County that the Chilton County Band Directors Association invited them to participate with us. By bringing in two more schools, more students get to participate and we are able to have a more difficult program for the concert.”

Students auditioned for Honor Band at Thorsby High School on Dec. 1 of last year. They were required to perform three chromatically adjacent scales, a prepared piece of music, and read a short excerpt of music. The students are given one minute to look over music they have never seen before and then perform it for a judge.

Pounders said Honor Band programs offer unique opportunities to students across the state.

“Honor bands like this are held all over the state during the spring semester,” he said. “Most colleges offer an honor band to get high school juniors and seniors on their campus as a way of recruiting them to their college. This way, the juniors and seniors get to spend a couple of days on a college campus, eat in their cafeteria, and see if they would like to go to college there.”

The guest conductor and clinician for this year’s Chilton County Area Honor Band will be Dr. Joseph Ardovino from the University of Montevallo.

Pounders invites everyone to cheer on their local high school bands at the concert Saturday.

“Please come out and support the students and band programs of the Chilton County area,” he said.