One dozen bands play at ENMU festival
Oct. 7—Over 1,000 "unique students" on Tuesday filled the Eastern New Mexico University Greyhound Stadium to perform at the university's sixth annual ENMU Green and Silver Classic Marching Band Festival.
The festival has been hosted on the first Tuesday of October every year since 2017, said ENMU Director of Bands Dustin Seifert. Seifert said the festival is put together by the collaboration of the university and the Portales High School bands. It is designed to be an educational experience for high school marching bands throughout the region as they prepare for the year's future competitions.
"It was a fantastic evening for music education on the High Plains. We were all so impressed by the talent, musicianship and dedication exhibited by all of the students and their directors," Seifert said.
He said the event has grown increasingly popular due to the "educational nature" of the festival. Twelve bands signed up for this year's event, the most since the festival began, he said.
Instead of comparing marching bands performances to one another, each band is evaluated by "nationally recognized" music educators, Seifert said. The bands are then given formative commentary and constructive criticism in their musical, marching, general effect and percussion performance.
"It is not a competition, it is a festival that is designed to help these high school students and directors prepare for competition that they have entered in the upcoming month of October," Seifert said.
Tuesday's event showcased a variety of show concepts, themes, props, music and pageantry, Seifert said. He said the festival is not only important in music education, but also hosts a "huge social opportunity" for ENMU and the city of Portales.
2023 ENMU Green & Silver Marching Band Festival Awardees:
Best overall band: Goddard High School, Roswell, NM.
Best in class:
o In class A: Whiteface (Texas) High School
o In class AA: Farwell High School.
o In class AAA: Friona High School
o In class AAAA: Goddard High School
o In class AAAAA: Hobbs High School
Best music performance:
o In class A: Whiteface High School
o In class AA: Farwell High School
o In class AAA: Friona High School
o In class AAAA: Goddard High School
o In class AAAAA: Hobbs High School
Best marching performance:
o In class A: Whiteface High School
o In class AA: Farwell High School
o In class AAA: Friona High School
o In class AAAA: Goddard High School
o In class AAAAA: Hobbs High School
Best general effect:
o In class A: Whiteface High School
o In class AA: Farwell High School
o In class AAA: Friona High School
o In class AAAA: Goddard High School
o In class AAAAA: Hobbs High School
Best percussion:
o In class A: Whiteface High School
o In class AA: Farwell High School
o In class AAA: Friona High School
o In class AAAA: Goddard High School
o In class AAAAA: Hobbs High School
