To hone their musical abilities, 89 members of Fayetteville-Manlius High School’s band program recently traveled south.

Members of F-M High School’s wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, concert band and jazz band participated in music clinics and competitions as part of the Fiesta-val Invitational in Atlanta, Ga., on March 31 to April 1. The invitational, which takes place in seven United States cities each spring, offers middle and high school students an opportunity to showcase their talent and perform in a professional music hall in front of nationally established judges.

For their overall performances, F-M students earned the Fiesta-val’s grand champion trophy and an award of distinction. All four of F-M’s ensemble and band groups placed first in their respective classes and F-M’s wind ensemble was recognized with a champion trophy for achieving the competition’s top-place numerical score. F-M’s brass, woodwind and rhythm sections were also recognized with individual section awards.

The following F-M students earned solo award medals at the competition:

•Cady Barns, junior – flute, wind ensemble.

•Anna Muench, senior – bass, jazz ensemble.

•Luke Qi, senior – alto saxophone, wind ensemble and jazz ensemble.

•Sophia Snyder, senior – bass clarinet, wind ensemble/soprano sax, jazz band.

•Karen Zhan, senior – clarinet, wind ensemble.

As part of the trip’s cultural experience, students visited the Georgia Aquarium and Centennial Park. They also participated in professional music clinics at Georgia State University.