The 60th annual Central Methodist University Band Day will be held this Saturday, October 11, with more than 30 schools from around the state set to compete.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming 34 schools to our 60th Annual CMU Band Day,” said Dr. Melissa Simons, chair of the CMU Fine Arts Division. “This is an exciting day for us as it brings the community, our campus, and thousands of high school students and their families together. We are honored to host this amazing tradition, and hope to continue for the next 60 years.”

The Sound of Central, led by first year director Chuck Moore ,’91, will begin the day leading off the parade at 9:25 a.m., followed by the parade competition immediately after at 9:30. Each band will line up in front of Swinney Conservatory, march downtown to the square on Church Street, turn left at the bandstand, make another left onto Main Street, and conclude their performance at the entrance to CMU at Main and Elm streets.

The field competition at Davis Field is scheduled to begin at noon. Indoor drumline competitions will take place in Puckett Fieldhouse beginning at 10:50 a.m., and color guard competition will be held in the Mark Robb Recreation Center in the turf room with a start time of 11:40 a.m.

There is a $8 dollar gate fee at the field show competition. CMU faculty, staff, and students will be admitted at no charge. Entrance to the drumline and color guard competitions are free.

Participating schools, by class, are listed below:

Class 1 – Brunswick, Glasgow, Heartland Christian Academy, New Franklin, Norborne, North Shelby, and North Harrison;

Class 2 – El Dorado Springs, Eugene, Fayette, Harrisburg, Polo, Salisbury, Stover, and Westran;

Class 3 – Cameron, Fatima, Hallsville, Macon, Owensville, and Richmond;

Class 4 – Eldon, Fulton, Grandview, Hannibal, Kirksville, Marshall, Moberly, Oak Grove, and School of the Osage;

Class 5 – Battle, Ritenour, and Troy Buchanan.

Many of the schools will be led by directors who have attended or are attending Central. Alumni and graduate student directors include Andrew Adams (Glasgow), Daniel Long (Norborne), Kelly Briggs (North Harrison), Nicholas Vick (El Dorado Springs), Kevin Fearn (MME; Harrisburg), Micheal Williams (Salisbury), Ryan Lewis (Hallsville), Kelly Neudecker (MME; Fulton), Mike Fuller (MME; Hannibal), Sara Summers (Marshall), and Heather Armstrong (Moberly).

This year’s parade and field competitions will be available to view on livestreams. The parade competition may be viewed online at: https://www.youtube.com/live/mu6fS89cWvs. The field compeition may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/live/xwNQQHNmuL0.