Winthrop professor honored with building dedication at Carowinds

Carowinds, the Fort Mill-area amusement park that straddles the state line, has dedicated a new building to William “Bill” Malambri, Winthrop University’s longtime music professor and director of bands.

The Bill Malambri Performing Arts Center will be used as a warm-up space for musicians participating in Carowinds’ annual Festival of Music, an event for which Malambri has served as a consultant for almost 40 years.

The festival features performances by student bands, orchestras, choruses and show choirs. All are judged by nationally recognized adjudicators. The performers are given feedback and educational advice by the judges.

Carowinds surprised Malambri with the building dedication in June.

Malambri said he is very honored by the dedication. He maintains, however, that his was not the only work which improved the festival.

“The growth of the festival has been a collective effort of a lot of people,” he said Thursday, adding that the adjudication process (at Carowinds) is “as good as anywhere else on the planet.”

Malambri was first asked to judge the festival in 1978 when it was a half-day program and he was a first-year professor at Winthrop. After offering some advice on how to improve the festival, Malambri became a Carowinds’ consultant. He now organizes the festival and selects all the judges.

The festival has grown considerably, lasting 19 days and drawing student music groups from across the Southeast.

Malambri has been a conductor, clinician and consultant around the world, including the Bahamas, the Republic of Korea, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Norway. He has performed with the U.S. Army Band and has been a guest conductor for the International Music Camp and the Russian Admiralty Navy Band, among others.

This story was originally published July 7, 2016 at 7:37 PM with the headline "Winthrop professor honored with building dedication at Carowinds."