Spring Break
Marching to the beat of a different drum
High school marching bands to participate in Marshall's three-day music-making festival
Jodee Hammond
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Life
Marshall's Department of Music will march to a different beat this weekend as the annual Marshall University Festival Band comes to campus.
The festival is a three-day music-making experience in which high school students from West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky are nominated by their band directors to participate in.
"This is a unique opportunity because the high school students will have the chance to be in a very large ensemble," said Ben Miller, assistant band director and percussion instructor.
Miller said the festival begins with each student auditioning for one of three bands, the John Marshall band, the Thundering Herd band and the Marco's Marauder Band. The students are then placed in a band of approximately 100 students at their same skill level to rehearse for Saturday's performance.
"It's a really good opportunity for the high schoolers to get outside of their normal areas," said Jenna Palmer, senior social studies education major from Bridgeport and member of the honorary band group, Kappa Kappa Psi. "It gives them a challenge to play something at our level."
"In addition to the new experience, they will have the chance to spend hours working with a new band director, someone whom they are not used to," Miller said. "Sometimes the band director back home has one way of doing things, and so now the students will have an experience of doing things a second way - just get a different outlook of doing things."
Miller said the students will also have an opportunity to attend a master class where they receive specific instruction on their instrument.
"In this master class, the students will have the chance to better themselves on their particular instrument by being taught by an expert or one of our faculty members," Miller said. "It's like a class music lesson."
"It helps, especially upcoming juniors who are thinking about going into music and seniors, to give them the chance to work to where they need to be in order to come here as a freshman," Palmer said.
The festival is a three-day music-making experience in which high school students from West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky are nominated by their band directors to participate in.
"This is a unique opportunity because the high school students will have the chance to be in a very large ensemble," said Ben Miller, assistant band director and percussion instructor.
Miller said the festival begins with each student auditioning for one of three bands, the John Marshall band, the Thundering Herd band and the Marco's Marauder Band. The students are then placed in a band of approximately 100 students at their same skill level to rehearse for Saturday's performance.
"It's a really good opportunity for the high schoolers to get outside of their normal areas," said Jenna Palmer, senior social studies education major from Bridgeport and member of the honorary band group, Kappa Kappa Psi. "It gives them a challenge to play something at our level."
"In addition to the new experience, they will have the chance to spend hours working with a new band director, someone whom they are not used to," Miller said. "Sometimes the band director back home has one way of doing things, and so now the students will have an experience of doing things a second way - just get a different outlook of doing things."
Miller said the students will also have an opportunity to attend a master class where they receive specific instruction on their instrument.
"In this master class, the students will have the chance to better themselves on their particular instrument by being taught by an expert or one of our faculty members," Miller said. "It's like a class music lesson."
"It helps, especially upcoming juniors who are thinking about going into music and seniors, to give them the chance to work to where they need to be in order to come here as a freshman," Palmer said.
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