A member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra for 43 years, Ben Bednar is one of 10 Austin High School graduates who will be inducted into the new AHS Music Hall of Fame next month.
The induction ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Austin Country Club.
"It's a very nice honor," said Bednar, whose love of music began when he was a child. "My whole family...we are all musicians. I just enjoy playing. It has been a big part of my life."
The idea for an AHS Music Hall of Fame was presented last year to the school board by Ken Jensen of Austin, who taught music for Austin Public Schools for 35 years.
Jensen said it has been his dream for more than 10 years to have a glass case featuring pictures of AHS graduates who chose music as their profession and have made an outstanding contribution in the field.
Through extensive research, Jensen already has discovered more than 94 alumni, spanning seven decades, who are or have been professionally involved in music, some dating back to the 1930s.
Jensen said it's time the high school, which already has a hall of fame for athletics and academics, recognize its musicians for their accomplishments.
"We have so many excellent musicians who have come from our school system, and they need to be honored for their hard work and dedication to music," said Jensen. "They are all over the world now, and they are all extremely talented."
The display case with the hall of fame inductees will be placed near the entrance to Knowlton Auditorium, where each inductee's musical path began.
"That's where they started," said Jensen.
Each year, a few more musical alumni will be added to the case, said Jensen.
Each inductee will receive a plaque at the induction ceremony, which is scheduled to be held on the evening of the Big Nine Music Festival in Austin.
The festival on Friday will bring into Austin more than 1,500 top student musicians from Rochester, Mankato, Winona, Faribault, Owatonna and Albert Lea.
The public is invited to attend the musical events, which include a band performance at 8:30 a.m. at Knowlton, an orchestra performance at 10:30 a.m. at Packer Gym and a choir performance at 1:15 p.m. at St. Olaf Lutheran Church. The Grand Finale Concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Packer Gym. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students and seniors and can be purchased at the door.
The Big Nine Festival began in the spring of 1933 in Austin, and has been held every year except 1943 when the war and fuel rationing prevented it. It is the oldest festival of its kind in the country, and many other music festivals have been patterned after it.
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