Former Campbellsville University professor Dr. David McCullough to return to lead CU Honors Band Festival

CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY (02/24/2014)(readMedia)-- Campbellsville University is hosting 80 musicians Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27 and 28, in a CU Honors Band Festival featuring "talented and remarkable" student musicians throughout Kentucky, according to Jennifer Tinnell, director of bands and instructor in music at Campbellsville University.

Tinnell said high school band directors across Kentucky were invited in November 2013 to nominate their strongest musicians to be a part of the event, and over 140 students were nominated from 11 different Kentucky high schools.

Eighty students will participate in the two-day event that will culminate in an Honors Band Festival Concert with the band under the baton of Dr. David McCullough, founding director of the CU Marching Band who has served as chair of the music and theater departments at the University of North Alabama since leaving CU in 2008.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28 in Ransdell Chapel at 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville. Admission is free and open to the public.

The public is also invited to a free CU Concert Band performance at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, also in the chapel.

McCullough and his wife, Marlow, live in Florence, Ala. Mrs. McCullough is a professor in the math department also at UNA; she previously taught at CU.

McCullough is a native of Montgomery, Ala. and holds the bachelor of science and master of education degrees in music education from Auburn University (1974, 1975), the master of music degree in music performance (horn) from Florida State University (1980), and the doctoral of musical arts degree in music performance (horn) from the University of Georgia (1990).

Participating students and their band directors will arrive on campus shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27 where they will register, audition for chair placement and receive further instruction about the evening's rehearsal.

The selected students will begin rehearsals mid-afternoon on Thursday where they will join forces to prepare for the Friday night concert after only a few short rehearsals.

"We want to offer these students a top-notch experience by bringing in Dr. McCullough as our conductor/clinician to work with them and prepare this program," Tinnell said.

Tinnell, who played under McCullough at CU, said McCullough is a "top-notch musician and teacher" and is "one of the most knowledgeable conductors in the business."

McCullough was band director at CU from 1991 to 2008 when he went to the University of North Alabama.

McCullough started the CU Tiger Marching Band program in fall 1992 with 35 students. "The instrumental music program at CU continued to grow in number and in quality," Tinnell said after the beginning program.

She said the band climbed to around 90 in number in some years and "the quality of all the instrumental ensembles became stronger under his baton."

Tinnell said, "The School of Music and the instrumental music program at Campbellsville University has earned the reputation of being one of the strongest in the state."

All degree programs offered by the Campbellsville University School of Music are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) and the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award certificates, associate, bachelors, and masters degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1865 Southern Lane Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call (404) 679-4500.

McCullough will lead the students during the one and a half day Honors Band Festival with about 10 hours of rehearsal in preparation for the concert. On Thursday night, Feb. 27, also in Ransdell Chapel, the students, as well as the public, will attend the CU Concert Band program at 8 o'clock.

Tinnell and Russell Thompson, assistant director of bands and instructor in music, conduct the CU Concert Band; this will be their first concert series of the semester. The concert band will feature works by Francis McBeth, Claude T. Smith, Morten Lauredson, John Phillip Sousa and Ron Nelson. The program will finish in under an hour.

"We invite you to attend and support these students and their contribution to the arts," Tinnell said. "Music communicates with performers and audiences alike in a way that cannot be spoken with a spoken language," she said.

For more information about the School of Music contact (270) 789-5237 or music@campbellsville.edu.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.

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Posted Monday February 24, 2014 at 03:42 pm by Campbellsville University
Last Updated Thursday February 27, 2014 at 07:58 am