The Danville High School band and choir are headed to St. Louis for spring break.
"We're going to play at the Ball Park Village, which is right down from the Arch," band director Steve Butcher told the Mount Vernon News. "We're going to a Broadway show. We're going to tour the city pretty much, tour the Arch."
It's a good experience for the students to perform in front of a different audience, Butcher said, particularly for some students who rarely travel out of state.
The band and choir take trips every other year, raising funds to help defer the expense, Butcher said.
"We've done several fundraisers, so there is only a small cost to the students," he said.
One of the fundraisers is a discount card program. Supporters can purchase a card for $10, entitling them to discounts at area business such as Don Leo's Market, Subway, Danville Outdoors and others through Feb. 28, 2023.
The spring break trips have varied in location across the country.
"We've done from Chicago to Washington, D.C. to West Virginia," he said. "I was looking at a travel magazine that we get for teachers and happened to see St. Louis."
A planned trip to Florida in 2020 had to be canceled because of COVID-19.
"It's nice to get back to normal and to go out and perform for people again outside of our community," the band director said.
The experience of performing music is a valuable development opportunity in other areas of life outside the concert hall, Butcher said.
"Music involves skills that are necessary for all kinds of other academic areas," he said.
