Area High School Bands to March at WT’s First Prairie Thunder Invitational

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — The Prairie Thunder Band Program at West Texas A&M University will host its first marching band invitational Sept. 23.

Eight high school bands will perform in front a panel of respected judges ahead of the UIL Region 1 regional marching contest set for Oct. 17.

The Prairie Thunder Marching Invitational will begin at 8:50 a.m. Sept. 23 at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium on WT’s Canyon campus.

For most bands, this will be the first competition of the season, said Dr. B.J. Brooks, director of WT’s School of Music and the newly named Prairie Thunder Professor of Band in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities.

“As bands polish their marching programs an outside view of their work, especially in the early phase, is crucial to communicating every detail of performance to the students,” Brooks said. “Marching band is an entertaining, but there is also a competitive aspect. As bands compete all the way to the state level, experts weigh in on what each program can do to refine their presentation.”

Judges will be Trey Burns, associate director of bands at Permian High School in Odessa; JP Gonzales, head band director at Lubbock Cooper High School; and Mack Bibb, retired band director at Lubbock Coronado High School and 2026 inductee in the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame.

Competition schedule is:

• 8:50 a.m.: Claude High School
• 9:15 a.m.: Sunray High School
• 9:40 a.m.: Clarendon High School
• 10:05 a.m.: Panhandle High School
• 10:30 a.m.: Friona High School
• 10:55 a.m.: River Road High School
• 11:20 a.m.: Pampa High School
• 11:45 a.m.: Canyon High School

WT’s Sound of West Texas Marching Band will perform at 12:10 p.m., and awards will be handed out at 12:20 p.m.

The event is open to the public. Admission is free.

The University’s band program was named the Prairie Thunder Band Program following the Aug. 18 announcement of a $3 million gift from the Prairie Thunder Foundation. The gift also established the Prairie Thunder Foundation Corporate Culture Experience endowment in the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business.

About West Texas A&M University

West Texas A&M University is a Regional Research University in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of about 9,000 and offers multiple options for students to graduate and succeed: 65 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 41 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and three doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: West Texas A&M University's Sound of Thunder Marching Band will perform Sept. 23 at the conclusion of the first Prairie Thunder Marching Invitational at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.

—WT—