Special events staged in music performances
High School
Honors Band
gives concert
The Fine Arts Department, Divi
sion of Music, sponsored three
special events in 1984-85 as part of
a busy year-long schedule involv
ing Chowan students, area high
school musicians, and the com
munity.
Two 110-member All Roanoke-
Chowan Honors Bands, represen
ting seven area junior and senior
high schools, presented concerts as
the climax of two-day workshops in
February.
Top Band Members
Professor of Music Bob Brown,
the coordinator, said the musicians
rehearsed two full days under
guest conductors.
The honors bands were formed
of the top band members from:
Northampton East, Northampton
West, Murfreesboro, Ridgecroft,
Ahoskie, Bertie and Gates.
Band Festival
A second attraction, held in May,
featured performances from five
schools during the annual High
School Band Festival. A highlight
was a concert by the Rocky Mount
Senior High School Band, con
sidered by coordinator Bob Brown
as one of the finest in the South.
The event that attracts the most
high school musicians is the Mar
ching Band Festival during
Homecoming. The 1964 Festival
brought 10 North Carolina and
Virginia bands to Chowan Stadium
with Bertie selected as Band of the
Day. Oscar Smith of Chesapeake,
Va. was winner of its division.
Choir Concerts
Chowan’s own musical groups,
the choir and stage band, also
make a number of appearances
both on and off campus. They
presented joint concerts in
December and at Spring Festival
in McDowell Columns. The choir,
directed by Dr. James Chamblee,
Fine Arts Department chairman,
offers a taped program of
Christmans music on Dec. 25 on
WITN-TV, Washington.
The Touring Choir sang at seven
churches in central and western
North Carolina during its Spring
Tour in May. Chamblee is the
director and Mrs. Barbara Gosnell
the accompanist.
Stage Band Performs
The Chowan Stage Band,
directed by Brown, plays at the
Ahoskie Junior Miss program and
at other occasions in the communi
ty and area.
During July, The Fine Arts
Department, with Chamblee serv
ing as coordinator, sponsors the
“Summer Strings on the Meher-
rin” music camp, the only one in
the country specializing in
chamber music for children and
youth.
The Division of Music is also ac
tive throughout the year sponsor
ing concerts in Daniel Recital Hall
by visiting artists and music facul
ty members.
Above, Professor Bob Brown leods o group of college and area
high school musicians in the Helms Center.
The Fine Arts Department's Division of Music assists the college
v\/ith special music and programs throughout the academic year.
'Strings on Meherrin' workshop held
The tenth annual Chowan Col
lege Summer Strings on the
Meherrin music camp is
celebrating a decade of service to
young musicians with a "con
siderable increase in enrollment
.over last year.”
Dr. James Chamblee, camp
coordinator and chairman of
Chowan’s Fine Arts Department,
said 32 young people, ages 10-16,
and five faculty members are in at
tendance. Of the 32 campers, 24 are
staying the full three weeks. The
camp ends Aug. 3.
Adding an international flavor to
the music camp are violinists
Patrick Helmer of Geneva,
Switzerland and Birte Kuck of
Oldenburg, West Germany, who
attended last year. Patrick’s
father is ending a year’s study in
the School of Public Health at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. He works for the
World Health Organization helping
countries solve their water pollu
tion problems, Patrick said.
'After the camp ends, Birte will
spend a week in Ithaca, N.Y.
visiting a friend.
Chamblee and the camp’s direc
tor, Dr. Paul Topper of Greenville,
said the emphasis on chamber
music and techniques makes the
camp unique. Topper, associate
professor of stringed instruments
at East Carolina University, said
the students officially practice
seven hours daily, Monday through
Friday. But he said they put in ad
ditional hours on their own.
Chamber music is a primary ac
tivity. All campers study and per
form two chamber works each
week under daily faculty supervi
sion, Chamblee noted.
Topper said the students devote
many hours to fundamentals of
technique. “Under a master
College opens Aug. 22
Chowan College’s faculty and staff will meet for the
President’s Annual Banquet Aug. 22 to begin a three-
day workshop leading to the opening of the college’s
138th year.
The featured speaker at the banquet is John
Henley, president of the North Carolina Association of
Independent Colleges and Universities in Raleigh.
Freshmen and transfer students will arrive Sun
day, Aug. 25. They will be welcomed by President
Bruce E. Whitaker in McDowell Columns Turner
Auditorium at 7 p.m. Meetings with faculty advisers
will foUow.
Returning students will meet with their advisers on
Monday as freshmen continue their orientation.
Registration is scheduled for Tuesday in Marks
Hall with classes beginning Wednesday, Aug. 28.
Convocation is Monday, Sept. 2 in the Helms
Center. Other fall semester special events include
Founders Day, Oct. 9; Homecoming and Fall Festival
of Marching Bands, Oct. 19; Parent’s Day, Nov. 2;
Campus Evangelism Week, Nov. 4-8. Thanksgiving
holidays will be Nov. 26 to Dec. 2.
Final exams will be given Dec. 13-19 followed by
Christmas holidays. The spring semester will open
Jan. 15.
teacher, the students’ technical
command erf their instrument is ex
panded by means -of creatively
organized group sessions” he
stated.
All students participate in a str
ing orchestra with daily rehearsals
and sectionals plus faculty super
vised practice periods. Topper ex
plained. They present weekly con
certs open to the public.
Chamblee f>ointed out that the
program includes recreational op
portunities in volleyball, tennis
swimming and off campus ac
tivities.
Although some of the campers
are as young as 10, none are begin
ners. Birte Kuck has been playing
for 11 years. “I enjoy this music
camp very much and plan to
return,” she noted. Patrick
Helmer of Switzerland said he
would like to return also. “It’s a lot
of fun,” he declared. Two other
campers are from New York and
Charlotte; most are from eastern
North Carolina.
“With such a concentration on
playing and learning techniques,
the campers flourish in their ap
preciation for and ability to play
music. The camp is strikingly suc
cessful in building confidence, bet
ter techniques, better musician
ship, and a love of chamber music
in young musicians,” Chamblee
explained.
The Chowanion, July, 1985—PAGE THIRTEEN