The Three Rivers College Music Department is hosting “Music! Just Imagine” for area high school band students March 5, 8, and 9 at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center.
The event held on March 5 was a concert band festival. Eight high school bands attended with a total of 413 students from Poplar Bluff (Concert Band and Wind Ensemble), Puxico, East Carter County, Malden, Woodland, Caruthersville, and Dexter. Each band received a one-hour clinic from Dr. Tim Oliver, Director of Bands and Coordinator of Wind and Percussion Studies at Arkansas State University. The bands presented an evening concert at 7 p.m.
The event helps prepare students for the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) District Music Festival on March 8 and 9, also being held at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center on the Three Rivers campus. “The area directors appreciate performing on the stage where they will be judged,” said William White, Director of Bands at Three Rivers College.
This annual event is sponsored by the Three Rivers College Music Department, in collaboration with Poplar Bluff High School Band Director Stephen Winters and the Southeast Missouri High School Band Directors Association.
On March 8 and 9, the Three Rivers Music Department will host the MSHSAA District Music Festival. Thirteen area high school bands and choirs will perform on the Three Rivers Poplar Bluff campus.
The Large Ensemble Festival on March 8 is a state-level event. The bands and choirs will be performing for ratings in front of 16 adjudicators. A “one rating” for the bands and choirs is the top rating that can be achieved.
The solo and small ensembles will be judged the following day. The solo festival is a district-level event. A “one rating” will qualify the students for the State Music Festival, which will be held in Columbia, Missouri, April 25-27.
Three Rivers Music Professors Cindy and William White are co-managers of the three-day event. “We are expecting 1,649 music students on our campus for the two-day MSHSAA festival. All of our Three Rivers College music students are helping us run the event, which is the largest of this kind on our campus,” said Cindy White. “There are about 20 locations in the state that host District Festivals. We are happy we can offer our facilities for such an important event.”
For more information about the events, call the Three Rivers College Music Department at 573-840-9639.
Three Rivers College is committed to contributing to the quality of life in Southeast Missouri with quality, affordable higher education opportunities and community services that support and encourage the economic, civic, and cultural vitality of the region. For more information about college and workforce programs and upcoming events, visit trcc.edu.
