Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Nearly 400 high school musicians from Mississippi and surrounding states will be at Mississippi State Jan. 23-26 for the university's 55th annual Honor Band Clinic.
Begun in 1953 by former music department head Thomas West, the program is among the oldest and largest of its kind in the Southeast. To attend, visiting students must have successfully completed an audition.
"While on campus, they will take part in rehearsals and activities designed to give them some of the best experiences a university-level honor band clinic can provide," said MSU Bands director Elva Kaye Lance.
In addition to three concert bands--including the highly selective Honor Wind Symphony--the event will feature an honor jazz band and honor percussion ensemble, which Lance said are unique to the MSU clinic. Music faculty members Cliff Taylor and Jason Baker will direct the latter groups, respectively.
Visiting clinicians will include Robert Foster of the University of Kansas, along with John Cooper of Decatur's Austin High School and Sallie White of Hoover High School, both in Alabama.
"This is among our largest recruiting events of the year, and we are excited to be holding it in our new practice facility that opened last semester," Lance said. "We also are especially pleased to have the Community College All-Star Band joining us for the week's activities."
Free to all, the clinic's four public performances include:
--Thursday, the 24th, 6:30 p.m., Honor Jazz Band and Percussion Ensemble Concert, McComas Hall main theater;
--Friday, the 25th, 8 p.m., host concert by MSU Wind Ensemble, McComas main theater;
--Saturday, the 26th, 10 a.m., Mississippi Community College All-Star Band concert, McComas main theater; and
--Saturday, 1 p.m., grand finale with the three concert bands, Lee Hall auditorium.
For more information, contact the band office at 662-325-2713.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.