CARSON, CA (Monday, April 10, 2006) - The Battle of the High School Marching Bands, presented by The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation, named eight finalists to compete on Saturday, November 18, 2006 in the third annual headline event.  Joining defending champion Louisiana Leadership Institute High School from Baton Rouge, La. are seven high school marching bands from across the nation; three hail locally from Los Angeles.

Los Angeles high school finalists include three returning high schools from the 2005 competition - Alain Locke High School (Los Angeles, Calif.), Crenshaw High School (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Inglewood High School (Inglewood, Calif.).

Other finalists named include F.L. Schlagle High School (Kansas City, Kan.), Heritage High School (Newport News, Va.), Percy L. Julian High School (Chicago, Ill.), 2004 winners Redan High School (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and 2005 defending champion Louisiana Leadership Institute High School (Baton Rouge, La.). 

Special guest speaker for the event includes Afeni Shakur, mother of rap music's all-time top-selling artist Tupac Shakur (\"2Pac\").  Shakur is a nationally-renowned youth and community rights advocate and founder of Amaru Entertainment, Inc., a record label, film production and clothing and jewelry company.  She is the founder and CEO of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF) and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (TASCA), continuing her son's dreams of encouraging the success of today's young artists. 

\"I cannot think of a more worthy cause than The Home Depot Center's Battle of the High School Barching Bands and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.  In a country where the arts are steadily declining in importance in our educational system, this non-profit event encourages the preservation and improvement of our schools' music departments,\" says Shakur.  \"Tupac changed the world with the power of his music, and it was the Baltimore School for the Arts which provided my son with the outlet he needed to express himself freely.  The Home Depot Center and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation offer that same chance to artists of the future.\" 

More than 100 high school marching bands applied to compete in the 2006 Battle of the High School Marching Bands, which in 2005 raised more than $100,000 for The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. 

On Saturday, November 18, the eight finalists will battle it out \"Southern Show Style\" in the 27,000-seat soccer stadium at The Home Depot Center in front of thousands of fans, and a panel of celebrity and music industry executives for the grand prize of $10,000 to purchase new instruments or uniforms, plus new marching shoes from Drillmasters Corp.

About the VH1 Save The Music Foundation

Since VH1 Save The Music was created in 1997, more than $30 million worth of new musical instruments has been donated to 1,200 public schools in 80 cities, improving the lives of more than 700,000 children. VH1 Save The Music's many honors include the Governors' Award (a special Emmy Award), the George Foster Peabody Award for broadcast and cable excellence, and many Beacon Awards.

 

About the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (TASCA)

The Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (TASCA), located in Atlanta, Ga., was conceived by Afeni Shakur as a way of carrying her late son's dreams and legacy.  When completed, it will serve as a comprehensive arts and community center that will house a performing arts school for youths from all backgrounds, a museum featuring rare and personal memorabilia from Tupac Shakur's life and career, a Peace Garden and reflective area (which opened in Summer 1995), an art gallery displaying the students' works and a 400-seat screening room and community center, which will also double as a theater for the school's plays and productions.  Most importantly, it will provide opportunities for young artists the world over wishing to pursue careers in the arts, as well as coping skills they will be able to utilize throughout their lives.  TASCA is being completed by the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF) as its principal sponsor, with the aid of corporate and fan donations.

About The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation

The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation was established to provide financial and in-kind support for educational, recreational and social service programs which improve the lives of young people in the Greater Southern California region.  The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation has given more than $400,000 to youth organizations since The Home Depot Center opened in 2003.

About The Home Depot Center

The Home Depot Center is southern California's home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes.  The $150 million privately financed facility was developed and is operated by AEG on a 125-acre site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez (CSUDH) Hills in Carson, California.  The Home Depot Center features a 13,000-seat tennis stadium, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, rugby, lacrosse and other athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 10,000-seat facility for track & field, the ADT Event Center (a 2,450-seat indoor velodrome for cycling) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The Home Depot Center is home to three professional sports teams - Major League Soccer's 2005 MLS and U.S. Open Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy; Club Deportivo (CD) Chivas USA; and Major League Lacrosse's (MLL) Los Angeles Riptide.  Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also home of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) USA Tennis High Performance Training Center as well as the national team training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF).  The David Beckham Academy for youth soccer, Andre Agassi's Safe Passage All-Stars at-risk youth tennis program and the nationally recognized Athletes' Performance training center for elite and professional athletes are all based at The Home Depot Center.  The Home Depot Center has additionally been designated official training sites for USA Cycling, USA Track & Field and the USTA.  For more information, please visit www.homedepotcenter.com.

Contact
Alison Groendal,
The Home Depot Center Communications
(310) 630-2032