More than 30 high school bands to play during KU Band Day

More than 30 high school bands from Kansas and Missouri will participate next week in the 67th annual Kansas University Band Day.

The high school bands and the KU Marching Jayhawks will perform in the traditional parade down Massachusetts Street starting at 9 a.m. Sept. 20.

High school bands and KU bands will also perform songs during halftime of the KU-Central Michigan University football game at Memorial Stadium.

The halftime performance will be conducted by Paul Popiel, director of bands; Matthew O. Smith, associate director of bands and director of the Marching Jayhawks; and Sharon Toulouse, assistant director of bands. The performance also will feature guest conductors and former KU band directors Robert Foster and Thomas Stidham.

The halftime performance will feature songs such as “I’m a Jayhawk,” “Stand Up and Cheer,” “Kansas Song,” “Fighting Jayhawk,” and “Patriotic Finale.”

The following school high school bands will participate in the event: Atchison County Community, Fort Scott, Columbus, Girard, Chapman, Baldwin, Free State, Lawrence, Ottawa, Jefferson West, McLouth, Perry-Lecompton, Blue Valley North, Kingman, Norwich, Labette County, Parsons, Marion, Osawatomie, Paola, Nemaha, Chanute, Rock Creek, Pretty Prairie, Hayden, Shawnee Heights, Topeka, Neodesha, Washington, Wyandotte, Jackson County and Ruskin.