Staff Report

Band students from up and down the I-55 corridor and beyond were on the Senatobia campus of Northwest Mississippi Community College for the annual I-55 Band Clinic on Feb. 1 and 2. Northwest’s Fine Arts Department has hosted the annual event for over 30 years, according to John Ungurait, director of bands.

Dr. Michael Heindl, president of Northwest welcomed the students who were then treated to concert performances by Northwest’s Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble and a percussion duet.

“We were hosting this event when I was a student here,” Ungurait said. “It’s a wonderful recruiting tool for our band program and a great privilege for our groups to perform for area directors and students.”

Area junior high and high school band directors selected students to participate in the event. The students auditioned for placement in one of the three honor bands. “There are two high school and one junior high school honor bands who perform at a concert for parents at the end of the clinic,” Ungurait said. The honor bands are usually conducted by college and out-of-district directors.

This year students from 18 schools participated in the event. “There were nearly 300 junior high and high school students on the campus this weekend. It was a wonderful event,” Ungurait said.

For more information on Northwest’s instrumental band program, contact Ungurait at 562-3335 or email jbungurait@northwestms.edu.