Wando High band earns international award

MOUNT PLEASANT — The Wando High School concert band is one of the best in the world, and two recent honors validate the group's reputation for excellence.

The East Cooper ensemble is one of two that will receive the Sudler Flag of Honor, an international award from the John Philip Sousa Foundation that recognizes bands demonstrating outstanding quality over several years.

The award is comparable to an Olympic gold medal in the world of high school bands, and only select groups are invited to apply for the honor, which requires bands to submit seven years' worth of programs and music.

The Wando High band also earned a prestigious invitation earlier this school year to play at the Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra clinic for musicians and music educators. It's the largest conference of its kind, and band programs of the highest caliber are invited to perform. More than 80 bands submitted audition tapes, and the Wando High group was among six chosen to perform.

Read more in Thursday's edition of The Post and Courier.