The program features Paul Binkley on guitar playing music from his Christmas CD “Do You Hear What I Hear”. Paul is a former Austin Peay music student, spent five years performing with the Grammy Award winning band Alabama, and is currently president of Grand Vista Music, a Nashville-based recording company.

The concert will also showcase members of the APSU Music Department faculty including: singers Tom King, Sharon Mabry, and Gail Robinson-Oturu; pianists Anne Glass and Jeff Wood; violinist Emily Crane; woodwind players Lisa Vanarsdel and Jeanette Zyko; brass players Francis Massinon, Richard Steffen, and Chris Vivio; guitarist Stanley Yates; and percussionists Richard Frey and David Steinquest. Karen Sorenson and Ted Jones from Languages and Literature will provide narration.

Selections from Paul’s recording will include fresh arrangements of holiday favorites such as “O Holy Night”, “Little Drummer Boy”, “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming”, “I Wonder as I Wander”, “Ave Maria”, “Carol of the Bells”, “Silent Night”, and “Away in a Manger”. The program also includes James Taylor’s version of “Some Children See Him” and Michael McDonald’s song “Peace”, and instrumental settings of “Bring a Torch Jeannette, Isabella” and “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”.

Tickets are $5.00 General Admission (APSU students get in free with I.D.) and will be available Monday, December 1, 2008 in the Music Office (MMC 139). For information, contact Norma Jean Smith at 221-7818.

The contest consists of preliminary and finals competitions and will feature performances by 18 high school bands from throughout Tennessee. Local groups involved in the event include Clarksville, Kenwood, Montgomery Central, Northeast and Northwest high schools.

The event is open to the public; tickets are available at the gate. Phi Mu Alpha and Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternities are hosting the event in conjunction with the Governors Own Marching Band.

Richard Frey is interim director of athletic bands. The chairs of the event are Chris Gee of Phi Mu Alpha and Lindsay Snapp of Sigma Alpha Iota, both national music fraternities that emphasize community service and musical outreach.

The Austin Peay State University Governors Own Marching Band is made up of undergraduate students of all majors. The GOMB performs at all home football games at Governors Stadium and select away games. The GOMB is frequently invited to perform in exhibition at high school marching competitions, parades and other events throughout the region.

For more information, contact the Austin Peay State University Department of Music, (931) 221-7818, or go to www.apsu.edu/music.