EPHRATA - Two high school band participants will be part of the all-state marching band performing this summer in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Junior Matthew Mortimer and freshman Tate Sircin will march in the July 4 parade in Philadelphia, perform at George Washington's home in Mt. Vernon and tour the nation's capitol. They were nominated by band director Larry Anderson.

The all-state band going east this summer is directed by Brad McDavid, the marching band director at the University of Washington. "He needed more tenor bass line players," Mortimer said, and sent out a letter to band teachers, asking for nominations.

McDavid chose players based on the comments by the band directors, their past marching experience and solo experience, Mortimer said. He plays the tenor saxophone, and "I play the sousaphone," Sircin said.

(For those who don't know musical instruments, a sousaphone is a type of tuba, built to be carried on the shoulder. It's a good fit in a marching band, Sircin said.)

The players got their all-state music recently, and it's a mix of patriotic music (God Bless America), big band standards (American Patrol) and marching band music (Americana).

Marching all depends on the music. "It's all in the tempo, because that's what you have to march to," Mortimer said. "The tempo of the music determines how fast you're moving."

It looks pretty simple, playing music while marching down the street, and in a way it is, Mortimer said. "Once you really get the music down there's not really much else to do."

But it's not so simple that the all-state band can do it without practicing. At Ephrata, "you know everybody in the band," Mortimer said. Not so much with the all-state band.

The participants come from all over the state, big schools, little schools, different playing styles. "Some will have more or less playing experience than you," Mortimer said. So the band will get together for a few practices beginning in May.

It is an exciting opportunity, Sircin said. "I'm looking forward to it."