Local high schoolers participate in Concert Band Invitational at Catawba College
Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 2, 2019
Submitted - Sixty high school students visit Catawba College to participate in the first Concert Band Invitational hosted by the school. The invitational offered opportunities to perform in Keepel Auditorium, meet with music department faculty and tour campus facilities.
Submitted - Sixty high school students visit Catawba College to participate in the first Concert Band Invitational hosted by the school. The invitational offered opportunities to perform in Keepel Auditorium, meet with music department faculty and tour campus facilities.
Sixty high school students participated in Catawba College’s first Concert Band Invitational on April 16, coordinated by Tara Harris with Steve Etters as clinician.
The students, from East Rowan, Salisbury, South Rowan, A.L. Brown, Stanly County, Carson, Davie County, West Rowan, Concord First Assembly Academy, and Lake Norman high schools, performed in Keppel Auditorium with the Catawba Wind Ensemble, met music department faculty and toured the campus.
The students showcased their talents playing “The Walking Frog,” which featured a section of nine trombones; “Celebration;” “Three Folk Song Settings for Band;” and “All the Pretty Little Horses,” for which the students sang part of the piece. They performed “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” with the Catawba Wind Ensemble at the conclusion of the concert.
“This was a wonderful opportunity to get budding musicians to our great campus, show them our facilities, and let them have a little taste of how life at Catawba could be,” said Catawba Professor Tara Harris, director of athletic bands. “We were able to do sectionals with our music staff, where students could get a more personal feel for and from the music faculty.”
High school music directors who attended the invitational with their students received certificates for renewal credit for state licensure.
“Although this is the first Concert Band Invitational that we’ve offered, we would like to make this, and the Marching Band Invitational that we also started this year, an annual event,” said Harris. “We hope to grow the Concert Invitational and be able to have two bands and include freshmen next year. We’re even brainstorming to create a two-day event which would make it even more memorable for the high schoolers.”
The planned date for the Marching Band Invitational is Nov. 16, and dates for the next Concert Band Invitational are April 13 and 14, 2020.
High school students interested in pursuing music in college in either the marching band or concert band should contact Steve Etters, chairman of the Catawba Music Department, at scetters@catawba.edu, or Professor Harris, director of athletic bands, at taharris17@catawba.edu.
