For the seventh consecutive year, area high school marching bands will converge on the Catawba College campus in October for a marching band competition. The Catawba Pride Marching Band Classic, formerly the Lord Salisbury Marching Band Classic, begins at 1 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m. on Saturday, October 13 in Catawba's Shuford Stadium.
Again this year, students who are members of one of the competing bands have an opportunity to enter a Catawba Pride Scholarship contest. The contest offers the students an opportunity at one of six annual scholarships if they apply and are accepted at Catawba and accepted as a member of the Catawba Pride, the college's marching band.
The contest offers one (1) top scholarship award of $2,500, one $2,000 scholarship award, two (2) $1,750 scholarships awards; and two (2) $1,500 scholarship awards. All of these auditioned scholarships are renewable for as long as the student recipient remains in good standing throughout their studies at Catawba. Winners will be announced Oct. 13 during the Final Awards Ceremony at the Catawba Pride Marching Band Classic.
The marching band competition is organized and run by the Catawba College Chapter 1002 of the National Association for Music Educators (NAFME) and sponsored in partnership with the Carolina's Medical Center – Northeast, the Rowan County Sherriff's Office, and High Note Music, as well as many other community sponsors and volunteers. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 6-12. Concessions will be available including pizza, burgers, soft drinks, bottled water, popcorn and other items will be on sale throughout the event. Programs containing information about each band and t-shirts with the names of all bands competing will also be available.
;Piedmont High School was the winner of the 2011 Catawba Pride Marching Band Classic cup and will be back to defend its title at the 2012 event. Other bands registered to compete include: North Stanly, North Davidson, West Davidson, Central Davidson, A.L. Brown, Davie, Salisbury, Independence, William Hough, Marvin Ridge, Sun Valley and Weddington high schools.
All high school bands will compete in a Preliminary Competition, beginning at 1p.m. with the top scoring bands moving onto the Finals Competition that is slated to begin at approximately 7 p.m. In both tiers of competition, the bands will have a 30-minute warm-up period prior to their performance. Each band will be given recorded critiques by a panel of professional band educators.
In addition to the high school bands in competition, the Northern Guilford Middle School Marching Band will offer an exhibition field performance during the break just before Preliminary Awards are presented. The Catawba Pride Marching Band will present its own exhibition field performance just prior to the Final Awards presentation.
Band directors may register a band to participate in the competition by printing the registration form and returning it to Dr. Steve Etters, Catawba College Salisbury, NC 28144 by October 5th. For more details, contact Dr. Etters in the Catawba College Department of Music at (704) 637-4476.
RELATED CONTENT:
Catawba Pride Classic Marching Band Competition
Catawba PRIDE Marching Band and Other Ensembles
