B-CU band member’s death under investigation

Police await toxicology results after collapse at party

BY PATRICIO G. BALONA, STAFF WRITER (News Journal Online | Source )

 

DAYTONA BEACH — Police are awaiting toxicology test results to determine what killed a Bethune-Cookman University band member who passed out at a weekend house party, a police spokesman said Monday.

Primas Foulks, 23, a junior and mass communications major, was found unresponsive at a Daytona Beach apartment Sunday and declared dead by rescue workers at 1:23 a.m., Daytona Beach police said.

"The manner and cause of death is pending toxicology," said police spokesman Jimmie Flynt.

Foulks, of Charleston, S.C., was a clarinet player and who had been with the Wildcats marching band for four years, said the university’s band director Donovan Wells.

"Not only was he a marching band member. He was also a concert band player," Wells said. "If you ever met him you wouldn’t forget him. That’s the kind of guy he was."

According to a Daytona Beach police report, an intoxicated Foulks showed up at 19-year-old Reshard Mills’ apartment a the Lake Forest Apartments, 600 Jimmy Ann Drive, holding a cup of alcohol. Three other students, Samantha Molborn, 20, and Kesha Anderson, 20, both of Georgia, and Andrew Thurston, 24, of South Daytona, were at the apartment when police arrived early Sunday morning.

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Former Bandsman Donates $500,000 Jackson State’s Sonic Boom of the South

Cortez Bryant, an alumni member of Jackson State University’s Sonic Boom of the South donated half a million dollars to the band during a band banquet honoring Dr. Lewis Liddell.

“The gift is a $500,000 contribution in the name of Dr. Lewis Liddell who was my band director and a former band director for Jackson State for 18 years.  The Sonic Boom of The South shaped me and got me out of the streets of New Orleans.  It gave me an opportunity to expand my education at Jackson State University”, said Bryant.

Bryant a native of New Orleans and Graduate of McMain Senior High School marched for the Sonic Boom in the late 90’s.  He’s currently the manager of International Recording Artists,  Lil Wayne and Drake.

PVAMU: Nationwide Search for New Band Director Underway

 

Prairie View A&M University has launched a nationwide search for the next band director to lead the famed Marching Storm.

The decision to seek a new director is an opportunity for PVAMU’s Marching Storm to enhance its national reputation and set a new standard in university marching bands.

The University’s search is the latest in a number of initiatives adopted to ensure the band, which serves as a window to the University, continues to uphold the legacy of greatness for which it is known. This includes reviewing tryout scheduling, scholarship distribution and various other administrative aspects.
"We appreciate Professor McQueen’s contributions over the past years, and I believe this is the right time to transition our program with new leadership and a new direction," said President George C. Wright. Dr. Wright added, “The goal of this search is to set a new vision for the Marching Storm while ensuring that the band experience is rewarding for student members.”

According to President George C. Wright, the marching band’s new leader will be more than a music educator. The next director will be someone who can shape students both academically and socially while pushing them to higher levels of music performance.

Those interested in the position should contact the Office of Human Resources.

 

Originally Posted on the PV website

http://pvamu.edu/pages/6874.asp?item=148984

Brock has ECSU band marching in new direction

By Rita Frankenberry

Source | The Daily Advance (link)

Elizabeth City State’s newest director of bands wants the Vikings to march in a new direction: toward membership levels the band hasn’t seen since the 1970s.

In 1977, the program had about 150 band members. Since then, the number has fluctuated over the years but has failed to again reach that benchmark. Currently, there are about 60 active band members.

“It’s been inconsistent over the past seven or eight years with membership,” said Tomisha Brock, who was named ECSU’s new director of bands in December. “I think the largest they had in that timeframe was about 80 to 90 members.

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