AUGUSTA -- U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, missed the Washington, D.C., performance of the Hodgkins Middle School band at the Jefferson Memorial.

So she's promised to attend the concert set for 7 p.m. June 6 at Hodgkins, where the 90-member band will show slides of their trip last month to the nation's capital.

Eighth-grader Niki Liyanage-Don, band vice president who plays alto saxophone, described the trip as "phenomenal."

"It was great to see the history of our country and the places we learned about in the book," she said. "It was great."

The band traditionally presents a patriotic-themed concert and show so parents and friends can learn more about the trip and the students' studies.

"It's an interdisciplinary approach to teaching," band director Dwight Tibbetts said. "It brings the whole school together. We're teaching them through music what it takes to be a better citizen."

Augusta Mayor Roger Katz will narrate a piece with the band.

A number of veterans are invited to a day concert that will be primarily for school children.

The 7 p.m. concert is open to the public. It will be taped by students from Capital Area Technical Center and broadcast on the local cable station Channel 7.

Emcee is David Dennett, a historian who is a retired Augusta teacher.

Tibbetts said the learning experience involved essay and photography contests, journal writing, and a history and science component since the group toured the Smithsonian and Mount Vernon, the historic home and gardens of George Washington.

The school's art department is also in-volved.

"Battle Hymn Epic" will open the concert, which also features "America the Beautiful," "God Bless America," a medieval fanfare and other tunes.

The closing song is "Stars and Stripes."

The school's 70-member chorus will perform as well.

"It's nonstop slides, narration and music, like a Ken Burns' approach," Tibbetts said.

"Twenty years ago I saw the Civil War thing on PBS, and it sparked the whole idea of presenting music with all the other senses."

The entire band will perform in sailor outfits for "Anchors Aweigh."

"It will really come together," Niki said. "It will be really nice especially because Susan Collins will be there and our mayor, and the art display and the big balloons streaming down."

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com