Austin High School is hosting this year’s Big Nine Music Festival on Friday.

This event is the culmination of hours of hard work and preparation from each of the participating schools’ top performing choir, band and orchestra. In addition, top musicians have been selected from each school to rehearse together to prepare special music for the select orchestra, select choir and select band. This festival brings more than 1,500 student musicians together to perform for each other and clinicians to showcase the musical talent of the students in the Big Nine Conference.

The Big Nine Festival began in the spring of 1933 in Austin and has been held every year except 1943 when the war and fuel rationing prevented the festival. It is the oldest festival of its kind in the country, and many other music festivals have been patterned after the Big Nine. It is always held the first Friday in May at a rotating host school.

The Big Nine boasts that it has maintained top quality bands, choirs and orchestras from every school in the conference in the midst of tight budgets. This is largely because of the tremendous administrative and community support.

The daytime performances begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 2:45 p.m. with a break for lunch. The orchestras will perform at the AHS Packer Gym, the bands in AHS Knowlton Auditorium and the choirs at St. Olaf Lutheran Church sanctuary. The clinicians for the day are Timothy Diem from the University of Minnesota, band; Steven Amundson of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., orchestra; and choral clinician, Timothy Sawyer, Northwestern College, St. Paul. Daytime performances are free and the public is welcome to come and listen.

The Grand Finale Concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the AHS Packer Gym. Tickets for this event are $6 for adults and $4 for students and seniors and may be purchased at the door or ahead of time at the AHS Cashier. The concert will begin with a combined performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” conducted by retired AHS orchestra director, Sue Radloff. What follows in the concert is always an amazing performance by the select orchestra, select band and select choir. The concert will conclude with a moving combined band, choir and orchestral performance of “America the Beautiful.”

Singing in the Select Choir from Austin are Sigin Ojulu, Olivia Hernandez, Samantha Kinnear, Leah Lumley, Nate Riley, Jacob Whalen, Dan Collier, Ryan Rasell, Will Darling, Ryan Meyer, Michael King, Jeff Davis, Mary Bissen, Dayna Jondal, Maggie Craven and Kristien Iverson. Select Band members are Abby Thompson, Julia Wagner, Sarah Ivanca, Hanna Middlebrook, Alex Knoll, Luke Bennett and Jordan Bentley. Select Orchestra members include Amanda Mattick, Kira Potach, Alyssa Schroeder, Victoria Torkelson, Garth Strobel, Kayla VandeZande, Ben Bachmeier, Jacob Larson, Kelsey Fleming, Courtney Fleming, David Koser, Ingrid Baudler and Kalle Akkerman.