Posted by Sean Flynt on 2014-01-06

Samford University will host band and debate students from secondary schools throughout the South this week.

Starting Jan. 9, music students from throughout the South will attend Samford’s annual Honor Band event, an intensive three-day program of auditions, rehearsals, masterclasses and performances. This year's program will feature two Middle School Honor Bands and two High School Honor Bands, each with approximately 100 students. The Honor Bands will represent 42 middle schools and 60 high schools from Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi. One band in each category will be designated the best or "Blue Band."

This year, Honor Band conductor and Samford music professor Jim Smisek will select a Most Outstanding Musician from the High School Blue Band. That student will receive a $2,500 Honor Band Scholarship to be used toward tuition and academic fees for music degree study at Samford.

 

Honor Band students will rehearse and perform in Samford’s Brock Recital Hall and Wright Center Concert Hall, venues that host some of the world’s finest musicians. The program will conclude with a free public concert by the bands in Wright Center at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 11.

 
Follow this link for more information and Honor Band schedules.

Samford University Debate will host more than 200 high school students from throughout the south at the 2014 Bishop Guild Debate Tournament Jan. 10-11. Participants will compete in policy debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate and public forum debate.
Samford’s nationally-recognized tournament is a qualifier for the University of Kentucky’s prestigious Tournament of Champions.

Learn more about Samford’s award-winning debate program here.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.