Lynn students participate in all-state Lions concert

LYNN – Two Lynn students participated in the Lions of Massachusetts All-State Band annual concert over the weekend, representing Lynn in a performance that featured 78 students from a number of different high schools across the state.Lynn English High School student Patricia Langenberg and Lynn Classical student Catherine Murray joined fellow high school musicians at the club’s 81st annual convention in West Springfield, where they both played music and participated in the Lion’s annual ceremonious parade.Langenberg, a clarinet player, and Murray, who plays the trumpet, trained for three days with other members of the all-state band, learning six new pieces of competition.The students also participated in the passing of the flags ceremony, presenting the flags of Lionistic nations of the world.Of the 202 countries and geographic areas in which there are Lions Clubs, 45 were carried into the banquet by band members.The students are sponsored by the Lynn and Shoe City Lions chapters, who, with the help of Lynn Public Schools Fine Arts Director Joe Picano, sponsor two band members from Lynn to participate in the concert every year.The Fine Arts Department, which contains both music and art programs in the Lynn Public Schools, is looking at a busy spring beyond the Lions concert beginning with the All City Art Exhibit next Wednesday, May 13.The event will run from 6-8 p.m. with a performance from the string quartet leading off the night.The following Tuesday, May 19, the high school band will be playing at City Hall to open the veterans program and the following day will mark the first performance of the department’s new middle and high school combined orchestra at Breed Middle School.The high school band will again play May 25 in the Veteran’s Day Parade and the elementary school band will play at Lynn English High School at 7 p.m. on May 27. Picano says the all-city concert has been such a hit, he expects the 1,300 person auditorium to be filled to capacity.