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27th Annual Music For All National Festival, March 15-17, 2018 @musicforall
Clowes Memorial Hall, one of the host venues during the Music For All National Festival.
AroundIndy.com staff photo, (c) 2017, all rights reserved.
Press Release
Music for All
INDIANAPOLIS (February 14, 2018) – Outstanding music ensembles and student musicians from across the country will gather in Indianapolis for the 27th Annual Music for All National Festival, presented by Yamaha, on March 15-17, 2018, to present concerts and participate in music education workshops at top venues throughout Indianapolis.
This year marks the premiere of the National Choir Festival as part of the Music for All National Festival, with 12 exceptional choirs from across the country participating. With the debut of choral performances, the Festival now encompasses all of the major ensembles of a traditional school music program.
The 2018 Music for All National Festival will feature more than 70 high school and middle school ensembles. Indianapolis’ own New World Youth Symphony Orchestra will also perform. The Festival is comprised of the National Concert Band Festival, Orchestra America National Festival, Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival, Chamber Music National Festival, and the inaugural National Choir Festival, as well as three national Honor Ensembles: the Honor Band of America, the Honor Jazz Band of America, and the Honor Orchestra of America.
Saturday afternoon will feature a special mass choir concert with all of the Festival singers performing as the Music for All National Choir under the direction of Music for All Artistic Choral Director, Henry Leck, and Guest Conductor, Rollo Dilworth. The National Mass Treble and Mixed Choirs, as well as the Ball State University Orchestra will perform alongside them. This concert is at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 17, in Hilbert Circle Theatre. Admission is free, general admission seating.
High school and middle school ensembles were selected to perform at the Festival by recorded audition. Concerts will take place at Clowes Memorial Hall, Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts at Butler University, Indiana Historical Society, Hilbert Circle Theatre, Warren Performing Arts Center, and St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. Renowned music educators will evaluate the selected ensembles’ performances in addition to their participation in professional master classes and special networking events. Invited concert bands, orchestras, choirs, percussion ensembles, and honor ensemble members participating in the 2018 Festival come from 32 states including: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The Festival week kicks off with the Indianapolis School Music Festival on Wednesday, March 14, hosted by Broad Ripple High School. Music for All is committed to school music in its hometown of Indianapolis and provides evaluators, clinicians, and support for this Festival for bands, choirs, and orchestra from Indianapolis Public Schools.
In its 27th year, the Festival continues to expand and thrive as an annual program of Music for All, one of the nation’s largest and most influential organizations in support of music education. “The non-competitive atmosphere of the festival provides a place for growth, cooperative encouragement, and mutual respect,” says Debbie Laferty Asbill, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Music for All. “The ensembles are free to stretch themselves, reach for new heights, and strive for innovation, growth, and excellence. The Music for All National Festival is a key pillar of how we advocate for music education in schools by shining a national spotlight on the levels of excellence being achieved by young musicians.”
Festival Honor Ensembles
Three honor ensembles bring student musicians from different schools across the nation, selected by audition to rehearse and perform together.
The Honor Orchestra of America and Jazz Band of America will perform a shared concert at 8 p.m. Friday, March 16, in Clowes Memorial Hall. Larry J. Livingston, Chairman of the Conducting Department of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, will conduct the Honor Orchestra of America. The Jazz Band of America will be directed by Jeff Rupert, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Florida, with guest artist Sean Jones on trumpet and Vandoren Emerging Artist jazz winner David Milazzo on saxophone. Tickets for the Jazz Band of America and Honor Orchestra of America concert are $15 and can be ordered in advance at cloweshall.org, musicforall.org, or Ticketmaster.com.
The Honor Orchestra of America will also perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 17, in the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts at Butler University. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, senior citizens, and groups of 10 or more. They can be ordered in advance at cloweshall.org, musicforall.org, Ticketmaster.com, or purchased at the Clowes Hall ticket office.
The Honor Band of America will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at Clowes Memorial Hall, conducted by Dr. Scott Weiss, Director of Bands at the University of South Carolina. Tickets range from $22 to $35 for the Honor Band of America Concert at Clowes Memorial Hall, and are available at cloweshall.org, musicforall.org, and Ticketmaster.com.
Chamber Music Concert
The Music for All Chamber Music Concert will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 17 at the Christel De Haan Fine Arts Center at the University of Indianapolis. The concert will feature the classical winners Ryan Toher, clarinet, and Julian Velasco, saxophone, from the Vandoren Emerging Artists Competition and the Yamaha Performing Artist, Rex Richardson. The Vandoren Emerging Artists Competition awards classical and jazz clarinetists and saxophonists between the ages of 18 to 23. The winners have the opportunity to perform at the National Festival and travel to Paris to meet representatives from Vandoren. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased directly at uindyarts.universitytickets.com.
National Concert Band Festival Tickets
Tickets for the invited concert band performances of the National Concert Band Festival at Clowes Hall, Thursday through Saturday, March 15-17, range from $6 to $20 and can be ordered in advance at cloweshall.org, musicforall.org, Ticketmaster.com, or can be purchased at the Clowes Hall ticket office.
Orchestra America National Festival
Tickets for the individual orchestra performances of the Orchestra America National Festival at Hilbert Circle Theatre, Thursday evening, March 15 and Saturday morning, March 17 are $15 for both sessions, and can be ordered in advanced or purchased at the ticket office or on their website www.indianapolissymphony.org.
Free Admission Events
Music for All is offering free admission to several concert events within the Festival. The free admission events include:
National Concert Band Festival – Invited Ensembles
Thursday, March 15
6:00 p.m. – 9:15 p.m.
Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts, Butler University
Friday, March 16
8:30 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts, Butler University
Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival
Thursday, March 15
4:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Warren Performing Arts Center
Friday, March 16
8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Warren Performing Arts Center
National Choir Festival
Friday, March 16
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
Chamber Music National Festival
Friday, March 16
8:30 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Indiana Historical Society
Middle School National Music Festival
Saturday, March 17
8:00 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts, Butler University
A full schedule of Festival ensemble concerts, times and locations is available at www.musicforall.org/festival, or for more information call 800-848-BAND (2263).
Bands of America Grand Nationals, Nov. 13-16
By Erin Fortune
Music For All
http://musicforall.org/
Outstanding high school marching bands from 19 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin will compete in one of the nation’s most prominent marching band championships, Music for All’s Bands of America Grand National Championships, presented by Yamaha, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN, November 13-16, 2013.
The championship event will feature 91 high school marching bands in the preliminary competition. Nine Center Township schools will kick off the event Nov. 13 with the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament. A panel of nationally recognized music educators and marching arts experts will evaluate each competing band in the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament Wednesday and the Grand National Championships Thursday through Saturday. Thirty bands from Thursday and Friday’s preliminary competition will advance to Saturday’s Semi-Finals. The top 12 scoring bands on Saturday will move on to the evening Finals competition, where the Grand National Champion will be named.
“Bands of America Championships are a program of Music for All, which has a mission to create, provide and expand positively life-changing experiences through music for all,” according to Eric L. Martin, President and CEO of Music for All. “Active participation in music and arts is a vital part of a meaningful educational experience. The thousands of students who will perform at this championship showcase the dedication, teamwork and mastery required and fostered through music and arts education.”
Schedule
The Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament begins on Wednesday Nov. 13 at 6:30 p.m. with the National Anthem performed by the Indianapolis Children’s Choir and will conclude at 9:15 p.m. with the awards ceremony. The Grand National Championships preliminary competition begins on Thursday Nov. 14 at 11:30 a.m. and will conclude at 11:30 p.m. The preliminary competition resumes on Friday Nov. 15 at 8:00 a.m. and concludes at 9:00 p.m. Gates will open for the Semi-Finals competition on Saturday, Nov.16 at 7:00 a.m. with performances beginning at approximately 8:00 a.m. and will conclude at 5:00 p.m. Gates open for the Finals competition on Saturday Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. with performances beginning at 8:00 p.m. All times are tentative pending the final schedule of performing bands. Current times will be listed at http://musicforall.org/.
Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament Nov. 13
The four-day event begins as nine Center Township marching bands perform in the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament, presented by Yamaha, from 6:45 p.m.-9:00 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium. The marching bands from Arsenal Technical High School, Broad Ripple Magnet High School, Crispus Attucks High School, Emmerich Manual High School, John Marshall Community High School, Key Learning Community, Northwest High School, Shortridge Magnet High School and Washington Community High School will compete in the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament.
D.J. Mic P will return as emcee. Spirit judges will award the most spirited, enthusiastic school with the Spirit Award and a $1,000 scholarship for the school’s band program. Tickets are available FREE in advance of the event from any of the bands participating in the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament or at the Ticket Office during the Wednesday evening event for $5.
Music for All is hosting the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament as part of Grand Nationals, giving the Indianapolis school marching band members the opportunity to perform in a professional stadium at no cost to the schools. The tournament is one of the many ways Music for All supports music education in Indianapolis Public Schools.
Nine Indiana bands compete in this national competition
Nine Indiana bands, including Avon High School, Ben Davis High School, Carmel High School, Castle High School, Center Grove High School, Lake Central High School, Lawrence Central High School, Monrovia High School and Western High School will compete in the Grand National Championships. Carmel High School, the 2012 BOA Grand National Champions will return to defend their title.
Special Events
Three college bands will perform in exhibition: Marian University on Wednesday evening at the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament, Marian University again Friday afternoon, the Missouri State University Marching Band on Friday evening, and the Purdue University Marching Band on Saturday afternoon.
Friday evening’s festivities will include the presentation of the Patrick John Hughes Parent/Booster Award, a national award honoring an outstanding band parent and supporter and named in honor of Louisville resident Patrick John Hughes, co-author with his son Patrick Henry of “I Am Potential.” The Hughes family has been featured on ESPN, ABC World News Tonight and NPR’s All Things Considered for their inspirational family story, and they were also on ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover.
Ticket information
Tickets are still available for the Grand National Championships at Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster by phone and at the Lucas Oil Stadium ticket office. Tickets for the four days of events range from $5 to $115. See all ticket prices at http://www.musicforall.org.
Children ages 10 and under are free for general admission seats.
Sponsorship Information
Music for All’s efforts are supported through sponsorships, including current partnerships with National Presenting Sponsor Yamaha Corporation of America; Title Sponsor of Texas Championships, Texas Dairy Queen®; Official Uniform Sponsor Fred J. Miller, Inc.; Official Music Store of BOA’s Grand National Championships Paige’s Music and Chops Percussion; Official Performance Equipment Sponsor Wenger Corporation; Official Student Travel Partner Music Travel Consultants; Corporate Sponsors Visit Indy and the City of Indianapolis, Vic Firth Company and Zildjian; Strategic Advocacy Partner, NAMM; Associate Sponsors DANSR, Delivra, Remo, Inc., SmartMusic, The Woodwind & Brasswind and Director’s Showcase International; and fall Supporting Sponsors Purdue University and Marian University, Marching Show Concepts and Center X Productions. Music for All is also supported by the Indiana Arts Commission, Arts Council of Indianapolis, the Ball Brothers Foundation, George and Frances Ball Foundation, Lilly Endowment Inc., Arthur Jordan Foundation, The D’Addario Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
About Music for All
Music for All (MFA) is one of the nation’s largest and most influential organizations in support of active music-making. Since 1975, MFA, through its Bands of America and Orchestra America programs, has been a destination and set the standard for scholastic music ensemble performance and music education advocacy. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, MFA’s mission is to create, provide and expand positively life-changing experiences through music for all. MFA’s vision is to be a catalyst to ensure that every child in America has access and opportunity for active music-making in their scholastic environment. MFA’s programs include 20+ annual events, including the Bands of America Grand National Championships and Regional Championships for marching band, the Music for All Summer Symposium camp for students and teachers, the Music for All National Festival for concert bands, orchestra, jazz and percussion ensembles and national honor bands and orchestras.
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