SuperSpud

Thirty-two students from Moorhead High School’s wind ensemble and their chaperones will spend spring break in Italy for a weeklong performance tour. The group leaves March 12 and will arrive in Rome on March 13.

The students will perform three concerts during the week, one in Sorrento, another at a historical theater and one at the church of St Paul’s Within the Walls, Rome. Each concert is 45 to 60 minutes and is free and open to the public. Songs they will perform include: “Ascend,” “March Spiritoso,” “Benediction,” “Amen!,” “Danse Bohémien,” “Where Eagles Soar,” “The Marches of John Williams,” “The Beatles: 1964” and “On a Hymn Song of Philip Bliss.”

According to band director Pam Redlinger, each time students engage in a band rehearsal or present a performance, they are communicating in the language of music.

“There will be a language barrier for each audience we perform for in Italy, but we will be able to find common ground through the music we perform,” she said. “The band has been striving for a high level of music making so that our audiences find our performances to be pleasing and entertaining. We also hope to give our audiences a glimpse into the American school band tradition.”

Redlinger said the trip will also teach students about Roman history, Roman architecture, and the Italian language and cuisine. They will gain life lessons in money management, travel security, self-reliance and responsibility.

“The most important thing the students will return home with is a new perspective of their world,” Redlinger said. “Not only will they experience firsthand how to be gracious guests in a different country, but they will also discover some universal qualities of the human race.”

Besides performing the three concerts, the students will tour Capri and visit Pompeii. Other stops includes the Colosseum, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, the National Instrument Museum and the Pantheon.