Junior High Honor Band Festival

This Event Will Take Place on Tuesday, February 25, 2025

I am writing to inform you of an event in which I sincerely hope you can participate. On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the University of Minnesota, Duluth Department of Music will be hosting its 58th Annual Junior High Honor Band Festival. The Junior High Honor Bands are composed predominantly of outstanding seventh, eighth and ninth grade students from the area. Students selected to participate will receive confirmation of their acceptance into this festival by February 17, 2025. The day will begin at 8:30 am and will culminate in a free concert presented at 4:00 pm in the Marshall Performing Arts Center by the Junior High Honor Bands.

We are planning on two bands this year. The Gold Band and Maroon Band. The Gold Band will be conducted by Dr. Giovani Briguente, Director of Bands at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina and The Maroon Band will be conducted by Michael Hintzman, Director of Bands at Northwestern High School in Maple, Wisconsin.

Please Read!

Here is an important note regarding the philosophy of this festival. The purpose of this festival is to give the best students in your program a chance to participate in an ensemble that not only performs well but provides the students an opportunity to learn more about music and hopefully inspire them to become more excited about music. While we want bands that play well at the concert, we are more concerned about what your students learn while they are here at UMD. The level of performance does not always reflect what has been learned. Having said that, I would like you to consider the following when you are nominating your students;

  1. Nominate only those who you know have achieved a level of skill beyond beginner level.

  2. Please nominate students who have good attitudes and want to learn.

  3. Please nominate students who want to work hard.

  4. Nominate those who will appreciate the opportunity you/we are providing them and want to take their experiences back home to help improve your program.

The nomination process will be the same as in past years. First, please nominate your finest students for the Gold Band. Those students who are nominated for the Gold Band but not accepted will be placed in the Maroon Band. You should nominate students who you know are not ready for the Gold Band on the Maroon Band nomination sheet. I’m sure you will nominate only those students you know are deserving of this honor and are willing to come to work hard and learn. Also, please nominate only those students who you know are interested in coming and will be able to come if selected.

How to Nominate:

Online Nomination Form

This year we are requesting that all nominations for the Junior High Honor Band be done online at our UMD Bands website. You may nominate as many students as you like using this form. Use one form per student. We would appreciate this very much!

Entry Deadline: Monday, February 10, 2025 

Acceptance Notification: Monday, February 17, 2025 

To allow us time to form a balanced instrumentation of excellent ability, please complete the online nomination form by Monday, February 10, 2025. We will notify you by Monday, February 17 as to which of your students will represent your school. No music will be sent out to you this year. We will pick appropriate music that can be learned in the given amount of rehearsal time. Although we are not always able to use all of the nominees in the honor band, all of your applicants are welcome as “listening and learning” participants in the festival. We look forward to hearing from you. A registration fee of $10.00 per accepted student will be charged in order to help defray expenses (music, postage, student help, printing, etc.). We wish you the best of luck as you continue your school year. If we can provide you with any services or support, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark Whitlock

Professor of Music, Director of Bands

University of Minnesota Duluth

(218) 726-6124 (office)

[email protected]