Sam Houston State University will be hosting the 33rd Annual Marching Band Festival on October 17th at Bowers Stadium. Different high school bands from all over Texas will be competing.
Dr. Matthew McInturf, director of Sam Houston State bands, talked about the high schools participating in the competition and how rewarding it is to see just how talented these students are.
“People who attend the event will see outstanding performances by a variety of excellent high school bands,” McInturf said. “Texas is the strongest state in the union for public school music and these students and teachers are committed to excellence. It is always remarkable to see how well these outstanding young people perform.”
Dr. McInturf talked about the wide variety of music genres that can be seen at the competition including jazz, classical, and current popular genres.
SHSU has been working hard to prepare for this event. McInturf talked about what the students and faculty members of the School of Music have been doing to help.
“We are doing all the logistics and advertising,” McInturf said. “We have to mobilize an army of student workers who will guide the participants through the event. We also have to arrange for critique, video, hotel accommodations and food.”
McInturf talked about how hosting this event is an honor to SHSU and attending Texas bands. He talked about what a big event this is for our university to not only host but to also experience.
“It provides an educational performance venue for the public schools and an opportunity for our students to see the process,” McInturf said. “Incidentally, it is also the single largest recruiting event held on the SHSU campus. All the studies show that music students in public schools are high academic achievers and most of them do not major in music. We are giving many bright and talented young people an introduction to SHSU.”
The judging criteria is based on “competence in marching, music performance and general effect, which is really the musical effectiveness of the total performance,” McInturf said. “There are also adduction captions for the percussion and the color guard.”
The marching contest will give some of the best bands in the state the opportunity to showcase all of the hard work they have done.
“Texas Bands rehearse up to eight hours per week outside of the school day,” McInturf said. “The best programs invest in a curriculum of substantial music education that generally begins in fifth or sixth grade and continues through high school.”
The marching contest will take place this Saturday. The entry charge for students is $15.