It’s going to be quite a week for musicians in Morton, Ill., near Peoria. First, the Boston String Quartet is coming there to give two performances, one with the junior high orchestra and one with the high school orchestra, Thursday and Saturday. And in between, the marching band has a special homegrown finale waiting for those who attend Friday night’s football game. Let me explain.
Coming off a Class 1A-3A championship at the Illini Marching Band Festival and its ninth consecutive Class 2A title at Illinois State University, both on Saturday, the Morton High School Marching Band will end their home football performance season at a game Friday. The band will pay tribute to US soldiers for their sacrifice and service with their field show entitled, “The Road to Home,” the Peoria Journal-Star reports.
Performances at noon Saturday for Bands of America at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis and then again on Oct 26 at the Downers Grove Music Bowl in the western suburbs of Chicago will actually be the final performances they give this season in competition, but what will make their performance special at the football game is the local touch: The band will include a local military family, the Woods, as their special guests. Brian Wood, who’s married and has three children, served in Afghanistan and is now in the Army National Guard.
His and his family’s dedication will cap off the band’s more universal theme of service: While he’s serving his country, Mr Wood’s family home is being built by Habitat for Humanity, the paper reported.
Morton High School, which hosts the Boston String Quartet for two performances this week, brings a marching band, the one that performed last year at the NFL game between the Packers and Rams in St Louis and certainly has more than its fair share of trophies and awards, to a halftime performance in a game against the Little Giants from Canton High School. The band is directed by Jeff Neavor, with assistance from Craig Fitzpatrick, who also composed some of the original music for the show. The band will bring, to their final home performance, Brian Wood, who served in Afghanistan and whose family home is being built by Habitat for Humanity, which, like the military, is one of this nation’s great volunteer corps. The band’s show is appropriately entitled, “The Road to Home,” and the theme pays tribute to US soldiers, past and present.