Band Festival — Academy Students Visit WWU to Create Music Together

By: Emma Dodds

WWU university relations student writer

The Walla Walla University Department of Music will host the 2023 Band Festival beginning on Feb. 8. The four day event will bring together around 80 students from eight high schools in the Pacific Northwest to collaborate with their peers in a large instrumental setting. 

Visiting high school students will have the opportunity to rehearse and study with Brandon Beck, WWU professor of music. Participants, chosen by the festival’s directors, have been practicing festival repertoire for the past month in preparation to join the larger ensemble. Ensembles will learn and collaborate on a variety of collegiate level repertoire in preparation for a festival concert on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 4 p.m. in the Walla Walla University Church sanctuary. While on campus, the students will also have the opportunity to hear WWU ensembles perform on Friday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. in the sanctuary. 

Students participating in the Band Festival will get to experience campus life at WWU and explore opportunities in the Department of Music. Conducted by Brandon Beck, they will also get a sense of the style and approach to music that WWU professors take. Many former participants in music department festivals remember the event as a key factor in their decision to attend WWU. 

The Band Festival performance is free and open to the public. The University Church is located at 212 SW Fourth St., College Place. To learn more about Department of Music events, visit wallawalla.edu/music.

This story originally appeared on the Walla Walla University webpage and can be found at https://www.wallawalla.edu/news/detail/news/band-festival.