Their musical talents are that of the highest ability.

Which is why it's only fitting that a group of Northern Lehigh High School students have been chosen to participate in this year's Lehigh County Honors Band Concert.The 56th annual concert will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Southern Lehigh High School. The snow date is Sunday.The Host director this year is Douglas Bolasky, band director, Southern Lehigh High School.The Lehigh County Honors band is comprised of students from the 11 high schools in Lehigh County: Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh, Whitehall, Northwestern Lehigh, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Allentown Central Catholic, Emmaus, Parkland, Dieruff, and William Allen High School.Students are selected to represent their schools by the Lehigh County Band Directors Association in early December, according to David Carroll, Northern Lehigh High School band director.Among the Northern Lehigh students who will participate at this year's festival are seniors Marc Beleno; Abigail Messinger; Jamie Miller; Samantha Miller-Brown; Zach Rex; Zac Schlegel; and Kasey Wayda.The festival concert requires 20 hours of rehearsal by the students and band directors, Carroll said."The purpose of this festival is to promote music education in our schools, showcase the great musical talent that exist in Lehigh County, and to give our band students a unique and enriching instrumental experience which extends beyond the typical concert band settings that exist in most public schools," Carroll said. "I am pleased at the level of preparation all of the students have done to prepare for this year's concert."Selections for this year's concert are: The Star Spangled Banner, Old Scottish Melody (Auld Lang Syne), The Lion King, Toccata, Flight of the Piasa, Foundry, Belgian parachutists, Powerhouse, Sea Songs, March from 1941, and Aquatica.Last year, Northern Lehigh hosted the festival in its middle school auditorium. Prior to that, the last time it hosted the event was back in 2003.