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Manta band to skip Guam music festival
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Posted on Jan 27 2012
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
Saipan Southern High School’s Manta Ray Band will miss this year’s Tumon Bay Music Festival after the group decided to skip the competition due to lack of funds.
Will DeWitt, the band’s conductor and music director, said the students themselves decided to forego the Guam competition to save for their upcoming trip to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The group needs to raise $300,000 for their London trip.
“Generally, the cost of joining the Tumon Bay is $30,000 so we elected to save that money for our Olympic trip,” DeWitt told Saipan Tribune.
He assured, though, that the band will return to the Guam competition in 2013.
Although the band itself will skip the competition, at least 10 soloists, most of them pianists, will still compete in the Guam festival, which is slated from March 2 to 10.
The band has been participating in the Tumon Bay Music Festival for three years (2008, 2009, and 2011) and has been its champion for the same number of years. The band skipped the event in 2010 so it could participate in the New York music festival where it took home a silver medal.
So far, the group has raised close to $100,000 for their Olympic trip, DeWitt said. He is optimistic that they can raise the needed amount before August.
The school plans to send 50-member contingency and 10 chaperons to London. The London Olympic Games will be held on July 27 to Aug. 12, 2012.
The Manta Ray Band performed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
