Winds ensemble to kick off band clinic

Back by popular demand, the Savannah River Winds ensemble plans to again dazzle audience members in an opening performance for the Georgia Music Educators Association District 10 Honor Band Clinic.

The performance will be held at 6:45 p.m. Thursday at West Acres Baptist Church, 555 Gibbs Road in Evans. David Shaffer, of the University of Miami at Ohio, will be the guest composer and conductor.

Admission is free.

"The neat part of this concert is that we are actually premiering a piece of music called Eternal Voices, in memory of Bill Brunkow, the owner of Brunkow's Musical Instruments and Repairs in Augusta," said Reid Hall, band director at Evans High School.

"The concert is sort of like a kick-off for the weekend for the 300 honor band students from Columbia, Richmond, Burke, McDuffie and Oglethorpe counties. You name it, it's all in this area."

After the performance, Hall said, pupils will begin their clinic rehearsals at West Acres and at Evans Middle and Evans High schools, where they will be divided into three groups, according to their level of expertise, and rehearse for two days. At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, the pupils will perform at West Acres.

Savannah River Winds was established in 2001 by Richard D. Brasco, a former Evans High School band director, and Lou Cefus. The group, whose members join by invitation or audition, is made up of university professors, professional musicians, band directors, and college students from Georgia and South Carolina.

The ensemble's performances include Columbia County's Memorial Day celebration, North Augusta's Living Heritage Park concert series and the Hopelands Gardens concert series in Aiken.