Submitted photo

The Scioto County High School Honors Band rehearses with Matt Smith, from Wheelersburg High School, directing. The Honors Band will perform Tuesday at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.

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By RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY

PDT Staff Writer

The best high school musicians and singers will present at the 70th Annual Scioto County Honors Music Festival on Tuesday at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts in Portsmouth.

Music teachers and students from Clay, East, Green, Minford, New Boston, Northwest, Notre Dame, Oak Hill, Portsmouth, South Webster, Valley, West and Wheelersburg are participating in this year’s Music Festival. Dr. Milton Allen, of The Ohio State University, will be conducting 62 members of the Honors Band. Charles Snyder, director and conductor of the All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir, will be conducting 88 members of the Honors Choir.

Allen is the Associate Director of Bands and Visiting Associate Professor of Music at The Ohio State University where his duties include conducting the OSU Symphonic Band and teaching courses in undergraduate instrumental conducting.

A 17-year veteran of the public school rehearsal room, Allen’s practical approach to both music education and conducting has taken him throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom as a clinician and guest conductor. He is also the author of “Music, Artistry and Education: A Journey Towards Musical Growth and Enlightenment,” recently released by Hal Leonard/Meredith Music Publications.

Snyder is the director of music at The Presbyterian Church in Coshocton, Ohio, where he has been a member of the staff since 1977. He is the founder and conductor of the Coshocton Community Choir, the Coshocton Children’s Choir, and the Coshocton Youth Chorale. He has also been a member of the voice faculty at Muskingum University, in New Concord, Ohio.

Snyder received his musical training at Capital University, and he was chosen as the director and conductor of the 200-voice All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir.

During the evening, two students — one band and one choir — will be awarded scholarships to attend a college or university to study music. The event is being coordinated by Sharee Price of the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center and is sponsored by the Richard D. Marting Foundation, Scioto Foundation, Southern Ohio Medical Center, General Electric Peebles Test Operation, Portsmouth Rotary Club, Portsmouth Area Arts Council, and the Portsmouth Kiwanis Club.

The 55 member Junior High Honors Band, under the direction of Brent Hunt, will perform first beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, with three musical selections. They will be followed by the High School Band and Chorus at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is $5, and tickets will be sold in the lobby prior to the event. One ticket will admit audience members to both the junior high and high school performances.

Ryan Scott Ottney can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or rottney@heartlandpublications.com.