WCU TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
BAND COMPETITION SET FOR OCT. 21

The marching bands from Tuscola High School of Waynesville (above) and Brevard High School (below) compete in WCU's Tournament of Champions.

Twenty-four top high school marching bands from four states will assemble for Western Carolina University's sixth annual Tournament of Champions, an invitational competition hosted by Western's Pride of the Mountains Marching Band at E.J. Whitmire Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The high school musicians will be competing for various awards, including the prestigious Chancellor's Award Trophy, a large glass traveling trophy that is presented to the grand champion band.

“The Tournament of Champions has become a showcase for outstanding bands from throughout the Southeast. We try to produce a first-class event that puts high school musicians and their teachers in a much-deserved spotlight,” said Bob Buckner, WCU marching band director. “This is an event where bands attend to measure themselves against the current standards of the activity. By hiring a skilled adjudication panel from across the United States, we are able to bring a tremendous amount of knowledge to our competing bands.”

The competition will consist of two sessions. Preliminaries will begin at 8:45 a.m. and continue through the day. By 4:15 p.m., the class champions will be announced and the evening's finalists selected. Doors for the final competition open at 6 p.m.

By late afternoon, the crowd is expected to grow to 10,000 people.

Western's Pride of the Mountains Marching Band will perform twice in exhibition during the event and will present its 2006 field show, “Get This Party Started.”

Participating N.C. bands (and towns where located) are Owen (Black Mountain), Brevard, Pisgah (Canton), Green Hope (Cary), Olympic (Charlotte), Northwest Cabarrus (Concord), C.E. Jordan (Durham), Franklin, Orange County (Hillsborough), North Lincoln (Lincolnton), Forest Hills (Marshville), Robbinsville, Smoky Mountain (Sylva), Tuscola (Waynesville) and North Buncombe (Weaverville).

Georgia high schools participating are Kennesaw Mountain (Kennesaw) and Peachtree Ridge (Suwannee).

In addition to last year's grand champion of Wando High School from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina high schools participating are Lexington, Northwestern (Rock Hill), Dorman (Roebuck) and Spartanburg.

Tennessee high schools participating are Science Hill (Johnson City) and Dobyns-Bennett (Kingsport).

Tickets are $8 per session. If tickets for the preliminaries and the finals are bought before 4 p.m., the finals ticket only cost $5.

For more information, call (828) 227-2259 or click on http://prideofthemountains.wcu.edu .