The 59th annual Central Methodist University Band Day will be held on October 12, with more than 30 schools from around the state set to compete.
The Sound of Central will begin the day stepping off in exhibition at 9:25 a.m., followed by the parade competition immediately after at 9:30. Each band will line up in front of Swinney Conservatory, march downtown to the square on Church Street, turn left at the bandstand, make another left onto Main Street, and conclude their performance at the entrance to CMU at Main and Elm.
The field competition at Davis Field will begin at noon. Indoor drumline competition will take place in Puckett Fieldhouse beginning at 10:50 a.m., and color guard competition will be held in the Mark Robb Rec Center in the turf room with a start time of 12:30 p.m.
There is a $5 dollar gate fee at the field show competition. CMU faculty, staff and students can enter for no charge. Entrance to the drumline and color guard competitions are free.
Participating schools, by class, are listed below:
Class 1 – North Shelby, North Harrison, Glasgow, Orrick, Brunswick, Heartland Christian Academy, New Franklin, Norborne, and Chamois
Class 2 – Cole Camp, New Bloomfield, Fayette, Putnam County, Salisbury, Crest Ridge, Westran, Smithton, and New Haven
Class 3 – Hallsville, Macon, Hermann, and Bourbon
Class 4 – Fulton, Kirksville, Moberly, Boonville, Marshall, and Mexico
Class 5 – Rittenour
Many of the schools will be led by directors who have attended or are attending Central. Alumni and graduate student directors include Kelly Briggs (North Harrison), Andrew Adams (Glasgow), Jessica Arnold (Cole Camp), Micheal Williams (Salisbury), Ryan Lewis (Hallsville), Heather Armstrong (Moberly), Alec Fields (Boonville), and Michael Watts (Boonville).
This year’s parade and field competitions will be available to view on livestreams, with the parade available here and the field competition here.
“We at Central are looking forward to showing our hospitality to the visitors of Fayette for Band Day,” said Kara Metzger, director of bands. Metzger added that residents of Fayette and others in the area entering and exiting the town may need to plan alternate routes to accommodate the influx of traffic with visitors coming from all around.