SHAWANO, WI – One the of the state’s most prestigious touring groups will not be on tour this year.
Kids From Wisconsin canceled their summer tour to the schools around the state. The news is devastating to those who worked hard to make the 2020 troupe and that includes Nathan Edwards of Shawano.
“I have been playing since I was in fifth grade, so lots and lots of hours of practice,” he said. “When I first found out, I was bummed.”
Edwards was selected to be part of the woodwinds which means he had to master four different instruments. Edwards plays clarinet and flute as well as alto saxophone and tenor saxophone and needed to showcase his skills during the audition.
“I had to go to Milwaukee for an audition, and I had a 30-minute auction where I had to perform two solos and I had to do some improv on the four different instruments.
He says the instrumentalists have to be talented in multi ways.
“They expect you to be able to play them all at a very high level, so it is a matter of practicing and getting a good tone on all four.”
For this years troupe, Edwards had some clarinet parts.
After the announcement of the tour cancelation due to COVID-19, Edwards received some news that made things a lot better.
“Everyone from this year is going into the troupe next year and they are looking at extending the age limit by a year so everyone can do it again next year.”
All is not lost for this year however, like many things, Kids From Wisconsin is looking to utilize the virtual world.
“We are hoping to do some online rehearsing and maybe still perform at the State Fair if that does not get canceled.”
He says they also are looking at trying to have one virtual pre-recorded performance.
“We are going to have everyone record themselves and we are going to try to put them all together to make a video that we can put out there from this year.”
For Edwards, he says there was one day that he had circled on his calendar for this summer.
“The biggest thing I was looking forward to was playing here at Shawano and seeing all the faces and now I am on the big stage with this group that tours all over Wisconsin.”
Kids From Wisconsin also includes one more Shawano County name. Jerot Ritter is an Assistant Technical Director. He was a former KID.
Nathan Edwards is going into his senior year at Shawano High School. He loves all things music in school. He has played in the pit orchestra for school musicals and has competed all over the country with the school’s jazz band. Nathan was recently asked to be part of the Honor’s Band during the Louisville Jazz Festival. Nathan plans to attend college and pursue a degree in music education. Nathan is very excited to share his love of music with audiences all summer as part of KIDS.
Listen to Nathan Edwards talk about the process and how he took the news of the canceled tour.
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