From Staff Reports

Education@csmediatexas

That Wylie Band of Wy­lie High School hosts 22 area high school marching bands Saturday, Oct. 14, at the eighth annual Wylie Marching Invita­tional.

The competition, which starts at 10 a.m., at Wylie Stadi­um, is a tune-up for University Interscholastic League marching con­tests to be held the follow­ing week­end. Wylie Independent School Dis­trict will host the district UIL contest Satur­day, Oct. 21.

As the host for the contest this weekend, WHS musicians will not be compet­ing but will perform their on-field routine in a 10 p.m. exhi­bition of their routine entitled “The Minor Fall, the Major Lift,” which are words from the song “Hallelujah” from the musical Shrek, WHS Band Di­rector Todd Dixon said.

Dixon noted that band stu­dents helped develop this year’s competition program that features stationary panels that start by depicting nega­tive things in life and prog­ress through positives. Out of 300 students in the band pro­gram, 250 take the field during marching season.

Wylie East High School performs at 12:15 p.m.

The competition is open to marching bands from all UIL classifications that compete against each other. Advancing to the finals, slated to start at 7 p.m., will be bands of all sizes judged as the top during the day in music and visual per­formance. Color guards and percussion sections will be judged as part of their bands.

Bands taking part in the invitational are Sunnyvale, Braswell, Me­lissa, John Horn, Man­sfield Lega­cy, Sachse, Midlothian, Plano West, Wylie East, Denison, Lovejoy, Lone Star, Lake Highlands, Summit, Rockwall, McKin­ney North, Allen, McKinney, North Mesquite, McKinney Boyd, J.J. Pearce and Lake Ridge.

Admission to the event, which one of the main band fundraisers, is $10 for students and adults, with preschool children admitted free. The ad­mission fee is good for all day and wristbands will be issued if attendees need to leave and return.

That Wylie Band is sched­uled to compete Oct. 28 in the Duncanville Marching In­vitational and Nov. 4-5 in the Bands of America Super Re­gional Marching Contest at the

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