Valarie Huffman

A love of music and a gift for playing multiple instruments earned a Fairmont State University junior the opportunity to play with eight Nashville recording artists as part of the staff band of the Wheeling Jamboree.

Herbert Baker of Fairmont, the son of the late Chuck West and the late Paula Baker of Fairmont, graduated from East Fairmont High School in 2011.

Named by NBCs ProFootball Talk as “the best small collegiate band in the United States,” the Fairmont State University Marching Band will present its annual Stadium Review Concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in Colebank Hall.

The Monongahela Chamber Winds Concert, directed by Dr. Valarie Huffman of the Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts, will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27.

The concert will take place at the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center, which serves Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Fairmont State University Marching Band Stadium Review Concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, at Colebank Hall Gym. Admission to the event is free and open to the public.

The Fairmont State University Marching Band continues to grow, but band members need your help to look as good as they sound. First impressions matter, and the band wants to “Dress to Impress.”

The Fairmont State Alumni Association, Office of Institutional Advancement, the Fairmont State Foundation, the FSU Department of Music, the FSU Marching Band and the Fairmont State Band Alumni Association are inviting the community to participate in a fund drive to purchase new band uniforms.

Jingles, jangles, rhymes, The Hunkitchy Man, The Greedy Old Fat Man, Marigold and more -- you’ll find them all in “Mountain Mother Goose,” an operetta for young audiences.

The production, presented by the Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts, the Town and Gown Youth Company and the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center, will be on stage in the Wallman Hall Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 8 and 9, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 10. Following each performance will be a reception to meet the composer and the cast at the Folklife Center. Tickets are $12 and are available by calling (304) 367-4240.

The Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts will present five spring concerts. Admission is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Dr. Valarie Huffman and Matthew Schoonmaker, the Fairmont State University Wind Ensemble will present the  Mid-Winter Concert:  “Around the World in 80 Minutes or Less…” at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 8, in Wallman Hall Theatre.

 The Fairmont State University Department of Music will present three free musical performances in December.

The Fairmont State University Wind Ensemble will present an unusual concert, “Things That Go Bump in the Night,” conducted by Valarie Huffman and Matthew Schoonmaker,on Wednesday, March 9, at 8 p.m. in Wallman Hall Theatre on the main campus.