Canfield Middle School band to play at Washington festival

CANFIELD -- Members of the Canfield Middle School Symphonic Band will perform in front of one of the nation's most famous landmarks to celebrate the Declaration of Independence later this month.
The band is one of 50 invited to perform at Washington D.C.'s official festival for the 225-year-old Declaration. The invitation to represent Ohio was prompted by the band's performance at the Ohio Music Educators Association state conference in Cleveland last year.
"It is pretty prestigious," said James Volenik, the band leader.
On March 21, 108 pupils will embark on a chartered bus for the three-day trip, which will include sightseeing in Washington D.C. and Baltimore. The 68 seventh-graders in the group will play March 23 at the Lincoln Monument, and the entire band will put on a program of patriotic music at The Soldiers' and Airmen's' Home later in that day.
Band members raised money for the trip, which will cost about $35,000, from donations and magazine sales, Volenik said.