The North Dakota State College of Science Concert Band and Concert Choir will perform in the College’s spring concert at 7:30 p.m. on April 6 in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center on the NDSCS campus in Wahpeton. The concert is free and open to the public.

Following the concert, the performance groups will embark on a tour in New York City from April 7-12. Funding for the trip is provided by the students and by private donations. No college dollars will be used, and donations are still being accepted to help students pay for meals during the tour.

“This is a big step for NDSCS,” said Poyzer. “We strive to offer the four-year college experience in a two-year setting, and this is part of that complete education.”

On the tour, the Concert Band, under the direction of Dr. Adam Hollingsworth, will play on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid, which is now docked in the Hudson River and includes the Space Shuttle Enterprise on its deck. The band will also perform in a combined event with the Concert Choir at Thomas Paine Park. The choir, under the direction of Bryan Poyzer, will have the opportunity to sing at the Statue of Liberty and tour Ellis Island.

The April 6 concert at NDSCS will feature many of the songs the Concert Band and Concert Choir will perform while on tour. The music selections will have a patriotic theme.

“These are still the kids of the September 11th era and they need a chance to view the memorials and see first-hand how music helps in the healing process and brings people together,” said Poyzer.

Other sites on the tour will include the newly constructed Freedom Towers, Broadway shows, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza, St. Paul’s and St. Patrick’s Cathedrals, and attempting to be seen on TV during filming of NBC’s Today Show on the morning of April 11.

The North Dakota State College of Science Performing Arts Department will present its spring play, School House Rock Live! Jr., at 7:00 p.m. on March 28 and 29 in the Bremer Bank Theatre in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center on the NDSCS campus in Wahpeton. Admission at the door is $5 for adults, and $1 for students (with an ID).

See NDSCS students perform “Conjunction Junction”, “I’m Just a Bill” and many other songs from the award-winning Saturday morning cartoon on which the play is based.

School House Rock Live! Jr., originally conceived and directed by Scott Ferguson, is based on the book by Scott Ferguson, Kyle Hall and George Keating, with music and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Kathy Mandry, George Newall and Tom Yohe. The play is presented through special arrangement with Music Theater International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.

The North Dakota State College of Science Band and Choir Festival will be held on Monday, February 29, 2016 at the Bremer Bank Theatre in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center on the Wahpeton campus at 7:30 p.m.

The festival will feature band and choir ensembles from NDSCS, Wahpeton High School and Breckenridge High School.

Under the direction of guest conductor Dr. Kyle Mack, the combined bands will perform a total of four pieces. Mack has been a member of the North Dakota State University faculty since 1993 and currently teaches applied trombone/euphonium, conducting and music education classes in addition to directing the Jazz Studies program.

The combined choirs are also set to perform four pieces under the direction of guest conductor Matthew Endreson. Endreson currently serves as the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School Choral Director and is in his fourteenth year in music education.

The festival is free and open to the public. Free-will donations will be accepted following the performance in the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center lobby.