MSU Band Staff Welcome High School Musicians to Honor Clinic

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) — More than 200 high school musicians from throughout the region will participate Thursday-Saturday [Jan. 29-31] in Mississippi State’s 63rd annual University Honor Band Clinic.

The campus event began in the early 1950s as a new materials clinic and was among only a few such university-based programs in the U.S. In the original format, band directors were invited to hear performances of newly published music to consider for their organizations.

“It’s a privilege for us to host this clinic each year and have some of the best student musicians from the Southeast in attendance,” said Elva Kaye Lance, MSU director of bands. “We hope that their experiences on our campus will lead them to become members of the Famous Maroon Band one day.”

Participants in this year’s clinic were selected from more than 300 who auditioned in late November and early December. Those selected met specific criteria in musicianship, technique and tone quality.

Free and open to all, their clinic performances in the McComas Hall main theater will include:

— Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Honor Jazz Band and Honor Percussion Ensemble;

— Friday, 7:30 p.m., MSU Wind Ensemble; and

— Saturday, 12:30 p.m., Honor Band final concert.

Lance, also an instructor of music, said “every clinic like this has its own unique events,” adding that “the honor band jazz and ensemble and percussion ensemble are those experiences.”

By working with associate bands director Cliff Taylor and percussion studies director Jason Baker, visiting students have the opportunity to “participate in highly selective, small groups that help make the honor band experience even better,” Lance said.

Baker and Taylor are associate professors in the MSU music department. Joining them will be visiting clinicians Gary Barton, Anthony J. Maiello and Regina Raney.

Barton teaches at the Baker Sixth Grade Campus in LaPorte, Texas, where he also works with all aspects of the middle school and high school band programs. In addition to the Lone Star State, his 28 years’ teaching experience has included positions in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Barton previously served as an adjunct instructor of euphonium and tuba at Arkansas State University and is a veteran faculty member of the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic for High School Students. He is past president of the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra and East Central Mississippi Band Directors associations.

Maiello is associate director for development and professor in the School of Music at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In addition to conducting the GMU Repertory Orchestra and teaching graduate- and undergraduate-level courses, he regularly leads music festivals, adjudicate ensembles and present clinics, lectures and workshops throughout North America, Mexico, the Bahamas and Europe. He also served last April as a special guest during MSU’s 2014 Legends and Mentors Week.

“Professor Maiello was so popular last spring with our Legends and Mentors event, and it’s great for us to have him back on our campus for the honor band clinic,” Lance said, adding that she and the staff also look forward to Barton’s and Raney’s contributions.

Raney is now in her seventh year as the band director at Cedar Ridge Middle School in Decatur, Alabama. Also in Mississippi’s neighboring state, she taught for three years at Russellville High School, seven years at Phil Campbell High School and one year at Oneonta City High School.

A nationally certified music educator, she is a member of the Alabama Music Educators, National Band and Alabama Educators associations, among other professional organizations.

Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the MSU music department currently offers a bachelor’s degree in music education, with specific majors in instrumental music, vocal music, piano and guitar, and a bachelor of arts in music. For complete details, visit www.music.msstate.edu, facebook.com/pages/Mississippi-State-University-Department-of-Music/227362148042 and twitter.com/mstatemusic.

Additional information about the 2015 honor band clinic may be obtained by telephoning 662-325-2713 or visiting www.msuband.msstate.edu. Lance also may be reached directly at eklance@colled.msstate.edu.

Learn more about Mississippi’s flagship research university at www.msstate.edu.

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