Prairie View A&M University News

Marching Storm Band to be Featured in Honda Battle Of the Bands First-Ever DVD

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

In front of a sold out crowd of music lovers, supporters and fans in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, the Prairie View A&M University marching band and the Black Foxes dance team, performed in the invitational Honda Battle of the Bands competition on Jan. 27.  The band was one of two universities representing the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

The Marching Storm, along with 2,000 plus other talented college performers will be featured on the first-ever Honda Battle of the Bands DVD, which will be produced and released by Honda.  Proceeds from the DVD sales will benefit each school’s music program.

“I’m very proud of our students and they should be proud of their performance.  Our students went to get things done. They practiced on their own and gave 110 percent to get the performance done and to represent the university well,” stated Marching Storm Director, George Edwards, affectionately know to students as “Prof. Edwards”.

“I want the university at-large to know that they should be proud of the Marching Storm,” adds Edwards.

With their original thunderous sound and explosive routines, the “Marching Storm” performed Earth, Wind and Fire’s “Can’t Let Go”, “Spend My Life with You” recorded by Eric Benet and Tamia, “Conga” by Gloria Estefan and a variety of other popular R&B and pop tunes.

This year, marks the fifth anniversary of the Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase, which is the largest and only national scholarship program which showcases the pageantry, heritage and showmanship of black college bands.  Bands were invited to participate in the showcase based on online voting tabulations from the Honda Battle of the Bands website, a Honda selection committee and a team of both college and university band directors and presidents.

For participating in the showcase, each of the selected 10 bands will receive travel expenses and $11,000 for band scholarships.

Participating colleges and universities in the Honda Battle of the Bands include:

•    Prairie View A&M University and Alabama State University, representing the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC);

•    Virginia State University and North Carolina Central University, representing the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA);

•    Bethune-Cookman College and Norfolk State University, representing the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC);

•    Clark-Atlanta University and Albany State University, representing the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC); and

•    Langston University and Central State University, both independents.

For more information concerning the Honda Battle of the Bands, please visit www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com.

 

About Prairie View A&M University:
Ranked No. 27 on Black Enterprise magazine’s 2006 list of “Top 50 Colleges and Universities for African-Americans” Prairie View A&M University was founded in 1876 and is the second-oldest public institution of higher education in Texas.  With an established reputation for producing engineers, nurses and educators, PVAMU offers baccalaureate degrees in 50 academic majors, 37 master’s degrees and four doctoral degree programs through nine colleges and schools.  A member of the Texas A&M University System, the university is dedicated to fulfilling its land-grant mission of achieving excellence in teaching, research and service. During the university’s 130-year history, nearly 48,000 academic degrees have been awarded.  For more information regarding PVAMU, visit www.pvamu.edu.