Local student chosen for 2017 Lions All-State Band
Published 9:25 pm Thursday, December 8, 2016
Local student chosen for 2017 Lions All-State Band
Alex Lambert was selected recently as Sardis Rotary Club’s Student of the Month. Shown at the Rotary Club’s meeting last week were (from left) Dottie Merritt, Jerry Gant, Alex Lambert and Carla Gant.
The Panolian photo by John Howell
Alex Lambert has been playing trombone for seven years.
South Panola High School band students (from left) Damien Cooper, Carly Coleman and Alex Lambert made it through the first round of auditions for the Mississippi Lions All-State Band. All three returned for a second round, with Lambert chosen for the band. The Lions All-State Band is composed of the top high school musicians in the state and only a small percentage of students who make it to the final round are included in the band.
Photo provided
By Rita Howell
For the first time since 2012, South Panola High School will have a representative in the elite Mississippi Lions All-State Band.
Trombonist Alex Lambert, a senior, was selected following a rigorous audition process for which he has prepared for the past eight months.
“I tried out last year and didn’t make it,” he said. “So I started working on my music last spring to try out again this year.”
Alex learned November 19 that he’d been chosen for the approximately 100-member band which will represent Mississippi at the Lions International Convention in Chicago this summer. It’s the 100th annual convention for the Lions. The Mississippi Lions All-State Band will march in a parade to celebrate the centennial.
The Mississippi All-State Band holds the incredible record of having been named Lions International first place band 31 times, including the past four years. Last year the band claimed the championship in Fukuoka, Japan, where the Lions International convention was held.
The last SPHS student who made the cut was George Money, in 2012. Before that, Caroline Flint was a member of the 2009 All-State Band which traveled to Washington, D.C. to perform.
This weekend Alex will be in Natchez to meet the other band members and directors and rehearse for their first concert.
This summer, the band members will meet at Holmes Community College for a week of rehearsals as they prepare for the trip to Chicago. The big parade is July 1.
At South Panola, Alex is a member of the Jazz Band, the Basketball Band, and Tri-M music honorary. He belongs to the National Technical Honor Society, Beta Club, DECA, and works after school in the South Panola School District IT department.
Recently he was named Student of the Month by the Sardis Rotary Club.
His parents are Carla and Jerry Gant.
