It’s been over 20 years since the Ashland High School Band has had the opportunity to compete at the state band festival, but this year that’s about to change. The Ashland High School band competed at the district band festival on April 13 in Grants Pass, and beat their only competitor, Eagle Point, to win the district championship. The bands were graded by three judges, each on a 100 point scale. 5A bands need to meet a requirement of 70 points from each of the three judges to quality for state. The AHS band did the best it has ever done; they earned a 75, 78, and an 80, putting our band just under the 6A bands that competed that day.

“It’s a big achievement, especially for the upperclassmen,” AHS band teacher Jon Soderberg-Chase said. “They know how far they have come, and they know that they’ve been working towards this since middle school. It’s a great opportunity for our band to play for people outside of Southern Oregon, and I’m very excited about the performance and the amount of work everybody has put in.” The AHS band has been growing by leaps and bounds, and we at the  Rogue News know without a doubt that they will perform exceptionally well at the state competition.