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Blount County high schools to compete, play free concert at Maryville College’s Blount County Band Festival

Feb. 10, 2026

The Clayton Center for the Arts’ Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre will welcome surrounding high school bands for the Blount County Band Festival and Concert next week.

On Tuesday, Feb. 17,  the Eagleton College and Career Academy, Heritage High School, Alcoa High School, William Blount High School and Maryville High School will showcase their students in an impressive display of musicianship. 

Not only will participating students be able to perform on stage, but they will also have the opportunity to watch the other participants perform. 

“The nice thing about this performance is that, because of the size of our recital hall, we can accommodate every band as a member of the audience as they perform,” Dr. Eric Simpson, associate professor of music and director of bands at Maryville College, said. “In most venues, there is simply not room for the bands to listen to each other. The size of the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre allows for all of these bands to hear what they are working on early in the semester.” 

Each band will play one to two selections of music, according to Simpson. The music they have prepared is typically for the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, which occurs in March of each year and is an adjudicated event for high school students.

 The Blount County Band Festival focuses specifically on local schools, rather than drawing from all of East Tennessee, according to Simpson. 

“We have a panel of adjudicators who provide each band with feedback on their performance,” Simpson said. 

The event will take place at 6 p.m. with performances every 30 minutes until 8 p.m. in the Clayton Center for the Arts’ Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre, followed by a reception in the Clayton Center’s William Baxter Lee III Grand Foyer. The event is free and open to the public.

— Written by McKenna Marr ’28

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”