Honors Band Festival
THANKS FOR A GREAT FESTIVAL IN 2012!
The 47th Annual UWM Honors Band Festival will be held November 22-24. We hope you will plan now to attend!
November 16-18, 2012
November 13, 2012 -- CONCERT TICKET INFORMATION UPDATE FOR UWM HONORS BAND FESTIVAL:
1. Tickets ordered at the time of (on-line) registration will be available in our will-call room, room 280 in the Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts - Sunday, November 18,beginning at 12 noon.
2. For new ticket purchases, please visit the UWM Peck School of the Arts Box Office in the Zelazo Center (1st floor level, south entrance). The box office will be open Friday (11/16) until 5pm, and on Sunday (11/18) starting at 9am.
3. Direct all ticketing and purchase questions to the Peck School of the Arts box office, 414-229-4308.
Nominations and registrations are closed and registrations for Honors Band will open on October 24,2012.
Letters to Directors
High School Director Letter
Middle School Director Letter
General Director Information
If you have any questions, please contact the UWM Bands office at honors-band@uwm.edu or (414) 229-5641.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Bands will host the 46th Annual UWM Honors Band Festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 16 through November 18, 2012 on the UWM campus. The Festival takes place in the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts and in the Music Building of the Arts Center, just west of beautiful Lake Michigan. The festival serves about 600 students in two concurrent programs: one for high school (grades 9-12) and the other for middle school (grades 6-8).
We believe that experiences like the UWM Honors Band Festival help young musicians grow and provide some additional motivation in the early part of the academic year. The festival provides the region's top middle and high school students with an opportunity to work with each other and with nationally recognized wind band conductors. In addition, students participate in master classes with the UWM Department of Music's performance faculty and they have the opportunity to hear performances by many UWM ensembles.
Directors
Directors, we hope that you will consider nominating your finest students to join us for the festival. Nominations will be accepted between September 24 - October 15, 2012.
Parents & Students
Students are nominated for the UWM Honors Band Festival through their school band teachers. To have your child involved, make sure your child's director knows of their interest in the UWM Honors Band Festival! Students who are nominated by their school band director and accepted by the festival selection committee will be notified of their acceptance around October 26, 2012. With their acceptance information, students will receive instructions for accepting the invitation, registering online for the festival, and complete fee information. Student registrations must be received by November 7, 2012.
Tickets for the final festival performances on Sunday, November 18, 2012 will be available for purchase at the time of registration, using the online system. For more information about TICKETS, please contact the Peck School of the Arts box Office, 414-229-4308. The UWM Bands and Festival staffs do not handle ticketing issues directly.
Choose from the following below:
Nominate Your Students - FOR DIRECTORS ONLY
Map & Directions
Registration
Placement Audition
Items to Prepare for your Audition
Lodging
Parking
Meals
Music
Concerts
Recordings
Honor Band Conductors
Hosts
Tentative Schedule
Nominate Your Students
School Band Directors Only
Nominations for the 46th Annual UWM Honors Band Festival will be accepted September 24 - October 15, 2012.
Access Online Nomination System
Map & Directions
Registration
Students who are nominated by their school band teacher and accepted by the festival will be mailed an acceptance packet around October 26, 2012. The mailing will include instructions for registering through the online system and all fee information. Registrations must be received by November 7, 2012, and should be completed online (www.arts.uwm.edu/honorsband) or by telephone (414-229-4308). Registration fee is $70 per student ($66 festival fee + $4 non-refundable service charge), and includes all expenses related to music, instruction, facilities, and concert performances for the student-participant. Students/parents/directors are responsible for the planning and cost of all local transportation needs, meals and lodging/housing.
Placement Audition
All students who participate in the festival will play a short audition upon their arrival to determine their ensemble and/or chair placement.
Items to Prepare for your Audition
Middle & High School Percussion Audition Requirements
Middle School Woodwind & Brass requirements:
Prepare major scales in (your instrument's) keys of C, F, B-flat, G, and D. Not all scales will be performed at the audition, but students should prepare all 5 keys. Students should perform as many octaves as is possible for their own capabilities. Prepare a portion of an etude or solo of a Wisconsin State Music Association (at least Class-B or Class-C) solo totaling no more than 3-4 minutes. Make sure your choice includes contrasting musical elements.
High School Students
The High School level (grades 9-12) UWM Honors Band Audition will determine the student's placement into the Honors Wind Symphony (all top auditions) or one of the the Honors Symphony Band, and the student's chair ranking within that assigned ensemble.
High school students will be scheduled for individual UWM Honors Band audition appointment times. We attempt to schedule students who are located closest to the UW-Milwaukee campus in the earlier times. Please do your best to honor your audition appointment time, which can be found on the personal "Student Pre-Registration Information" slip mailed in your acceptance packet.
High School Woodwind & Brass audition requirements
- Arrive to the Zelazo Center (2419 E. Kenwood Blvd), and register with the on-site registration table at least 20 minutes before your scheduled audition appointment time.
- After completing the on-site registration process, you may proceed to the common warm-up area for all instruments. Report to your audition room a few minutes ahead of your audition appointment time, and perform your audition.
- The audition should only last about 6-7 minutes, and will be evaluated by UWM performance faculty and/or staff.
- You should prepare:
- Major scales (in your instrument's key of C, F, B-flat, G, & D ) for your personal range, or the common practical range of your instrument. Perform multiple octaves all at once. Major scales should be performed in all quarter notes (MM=100). Tongued notes ascending, slurred descending. Of the 5 major scales, you will probably be asked to only perform 2 or 3.
- Chromatic scale for your personal range, or the common practical range of your instrument. Slurred quarter notes (MM=120), both ascending and descending.
- Excerpts from the pdf files posted below should be prepared. While you may not perform all of this material in your audition, it should all be prepared.
- Once your audition is done, you are free through the dinner time (5:30-6:45pm). Audition results will be posted by 6:45 pm in the Bader Hall lobby, and the seating of the ensembles will begin in Bader Concert Hall (Honors Wind Symphony) and Rehearsal Room 280 (Honors Symphonic Band) soon thereafter.
- Have fun and GOOD LUCK! We are glad to host you this weekend!
High school audition excerpts
- Alto Sax
- Bari Sax
- Bass Clarinet
- Bassoon
- Clarinet
- Euphonium
- Flute
- French Horn
- Oboe
- Tenor Sax
- Trombone
- Trumpet
- Tuba
- Percussion
Lodging
Students/parents/directors are responsible for the planning and cost of all local transportation needs, meals and lodging/housing.
Housing can be arranged at local Milwaukee hotels and motels for students who live outside of reasonable commuting distance.
Parking
You are encouraged to use metered street parking or the underground parking garage at the UWM Union. All parking venues are free on Sundays for the performances.
Meals
Various dining options are available in the UWM Student Union. A wide variety of restaurants are within four-block radius of campus. Participating students will not be accompanied by Festival staff to and from meals.
Music/Equipment Needs
All music will be furnished by the UWM Band Department. Students must provide their own pencils, folding music stand, and all other necessary equipment for rehearsals.
Concerts
All of the festival concerts will take place in the Bader Concert Hall of the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts (2419 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwaukee). All seats at all festival concerts are reserved. Tickets may be ordered at the time of registration, or by contacting the Peck School of the Arts box office at (414) 229-4308.
Each middle school ensemble will perform a separate concert on Sunday, November 18, 2012 starting at 1:00 pm. Watch the festival schedule for exact final performance times. The high school concert will begin at 4:00 pm on Sunday, November 18, 2012, and the 4:00 pm program includes a performance by the UWM Wind Ensemble.
Recordings
All final festival concerts will be recorded. A CD for the high school performances and another CD for the middle school performances will be available for purchase online at the time of registration. Students may purchase CDs in advance for $15 per CD; if ordered on the day of the performance, the cost will be $20 per CD.
Honor Band Conductors
Richard Mark Heidel (University of Iowa) - Conductor, High School Honors Wind Symphony
Richard Suk (Ohio University) - Conductor, High School Honors Symphony Band
Christie Aleshire (Grand Forks, ND) - Conductor, North Dakota Middle School Honors Band
Franklin Jennings (Orlando, FL) - Conductor, Florida Middle School Honors Band
Chip De Stefano (Skokie, IL) - Conductor, Illinois Middle School Honors Band
Festival Hosts
JOHN CLIMER – Professor of Music and Director of Bands; Conductor, UWM Wind Ensemble; Music Advisor, UWM Youth Music Ensemble program
SCOTT CORLEY – Senior Lecturer in Music and Assistant Director of Bands; Music Director, UWM Youth Wind Ensembles; Conductor, UWM Symphony Band
Tentative Schedule
The updated and final festival schedule will be included in the acceptance materials for each accepted student. This is the general outline of our festival activities. Students are required to attend all festival activities. (High School students with band programs participating in Milwaukee's Annual Holiday Parade are excused from the Saturday morning activities; please make these arrangements with the UWM Honors Band Festival in advance.)
Friday, November 16, 2012
- 2:45 pm - 5:15 pm: High School Placement Auditions
- 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Middle School Placement Auditions
- 5:15 pm - 6:45 pm: Dinner Break
- 6:45 pm: Audition Results Posted
- 7:00 pm: Seating of Ensembles
- 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm: Rehearsal I
Saturday, November 17, 2012
- 8:30 am - 9:15 am: Middle School Master Classes by UWM Faculty/Staff
- 9:30 am - 11:30 am: Middle School Rehearsal II
- 9:30 am - 10:15 am: High School Master Classes by UWM Faculty/Staff (High School students participating in the Annual Milwaukee Holiday Parade with their school band programs are excused from Saturday morning activities.)
- 10:30 am - 11:30 am: High School Rehearsal II
- 11:30 pm - 12:30 pm: Lunch Break
- 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm: Rehearsal III
- 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm: CONCERT: UWM Symphony Band & Jazz Ensemble
- 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm: Rehearsal IV
- 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner Break
- 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Rehearsal V
Sunday, November 18, 2012
- 9:00 am - 11:00 am: Rehearsal VI
- 11:00 am - 12:30 pm: Lunch/Break until performances begin
- 1:00 pm: Middle School Groups begin performances
- 4:00 pm: UWM Wind Ensemble Performance & High School Honors Bands
- 6:00 pm: Festival Concludes