ASHLAND — Students from Ashland High School traveled down to Orlando, Fla. earlier this month to display their musical talents at Disney World.
The 160 students departed Ashland in four buses on April 8 and got back on April 14. There were 20 staff and parents who joined the trip.
Besides some fun in the sun, the students spent their time performing at a recording clinic with staff of Disney’s Imagination Campus. The performance, directed by Kimberly Wolbert, vocal music teacher, was added to a Disney cartoon.
The high school orchestra performed concert selections at Disney Springs Waterside Stage for the general public, under the direction of Stephanie Hanson, orchestra teacher.
The marching band and the high school’s Sweet 16 performed at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Marty Kral, music department chair, and Cameron Dedrick, art teacher, directed the band, while Melissa Merkel, a classroom assistant, directed the Sweet 16.
They also performed the high school’s pep song and “Hang on Sloopy” as they marched down Magic Kingdom’s main street for the gathered crowd.
The high school’s music department has made the trip down to Florida every four years for decades, said Kral, the high school’s music department chair.
“Unfortunately our latest trip was scheduled for March of 2020. Due to the pandemic, of course, we had to delay two years,” he said.
The trip coincided with the school district’s spring break, which spanned April 11-15.
“The AHS Music Department would like to thank the AHS Administration, parents, band boosters, choir boosters and orchestra boosters for their commitment and support of the Fine Arts in Ashland, Ohio,” Kral said in a news release.
