The 91st annual Big 9 Music Festival, an event in which schools in southeast Minnesota travel with their top bands, orchestras, and choirs to perform for their peers, was hosted at Mayo on Friday, May 2nd. Originally there were nine schools that participated in the aptly named Big 9 conference, but since its formation in 1928, the conference has grown to include 12 schools: Mayo, Albert Lea, Austin, Faribault, Mankato East, Mankato West, Owatonna, Red Wing, Century, John Marshall, and Winona. Mayo has not hosted the festival since 2013. Big 9 Music has been the longest running high school music festival in the US, only taking time off for World War II and COVID 19.
A tremendous amount of work goes into hosting Big 9; it took hours of preparation, planning, and lots of volunteer work from the teachers and students at the host school. The music department teachers at Mayo—Mrs. Humke, Mr. Cole, and Mrs. Kuisle— spent nearly all of their spare time in the past few months creating spreadsheets, documents, maps, and plans for other schools to follow. They had to rent a church for the choirs to perform, find transportation and bussing between there and the high school, and even figure out how to get food to our guest students and teachers. Choir director Mrs. Humke claims “It was super busy and a bit stressful at times too. There are so many moving parts that we need to think of beyond the music making. Thankfully we have a great team at Mayo to make it happen.” The music teachers would meet every 8th hour to discuss plans, and then even spend up to an extra three hours of their own time working on the festival. The amount of preparation led to a fantastic event where everyone who participated had a wonderful time.
After the Big 9 Home concert, Mrs. Humke and Mr. Cole discuss their ensembles’ performances.
Not only did teachers work hard for this event, but students also put in plenty of time, skill, and preparation to make the festival a success. If the student musicians choose, there is a process to apply for a program called Big 9 Select. These students come from all schools and have extra songs to learn. There is a rehearsal for Select students from all schools participating in Big 9, where they get to practice and learn together with a seasoned clinician. This year the guest directors are Dr. Colleen Chester, Kelly DeMoret, and Dr. Erika Svanoe. Choir student Bela Verma states that she “enjoys the more advanced music we learn compared to the rest of the school year. Mrs. Humke talks about how she doesnt get to be “picky” with choirs on their diction, tone, expression, etc., and I appreciate getting those criticisms when improving on and learning my music.” She and other students in Big 9 have also expressed appreciation for working in a new and different environment than in their usual classroom. Verma claims “Working on a particular set of songs, with a variety of talented individuals, and a director with a completely different style of teaching is very rewarding.”
During their portion of the Big 9 Home Concert, Mayo’s Concert Choir Honors sings “You Are Light.”
The Big 9 Music Festival is an exciting and valuable experience for everyone who participates. Both teachers and students alike get to work and show off their skills for their family and peers, making the festival an important part of the music department’s annual activities!
