The Winston-Salem State marching band, shown here during the annual homecoming parade in 2019, will appear in “National Battle of the Bands: Salute to HBCU Marching Bands,” a new documentary film about marching bands at historically Black colleges and universities.
The marching bands at Winston-Salem State University and N.C. A&T will be featured this weekend in a new film about bands at historically Black colleges and universities.
“National Battle of the Bands: A Salute to HBCU Marching Bands” will air at 2 p.m. Sunday on WXLV-TV (Channel 45), the area’s ABC affiliate.
The hour-long film will “celebrate and showcase the history, pageantry and prestige of HBCU bands,” according to a news release. It will have band performances, interviews with people involved with these university bands and give a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into producing the elaborate routines.
Michael Magruder, the director of bands at Winston-Salem State, will appear in the film along with WSSU’s Red Sea of Sound and A&T’s Blue and Gold Marching Machine.
The film is produced by Webber Marketing, the Charlotte firm that created the National Battle of the Bands.
The company said nearly 38,000 people attended the inaugural edition of the event, which was held in Houston in 2019. The competition featured performances from eight HBCU marching bands and generated about $88,000 in scholarship monies.
