Honor Band

All students who applied to be a part of the Alabama Honor Band should LOG IN to the HONOR BAND WEBSYSTEM and you will find out if you have been selected to participate.  You should then follow the instructions for paying the participation fee.  ALL FEES MUST BE PAID BY JANUARY 16, 2013!  Congratulations to all who have been selected! DOWNLOAD AND PRACTICE YOUR SEATING ETUDE!!!

Students on the attached list have been selected to participate in the 2013 Alabama Honor Band.  If a student has logged in to the system and changed a status from SELECTED to CONFIRMED, your name is listed as CONFIRM on this list.  If you have logged in and changed your status from SELECTED to CONFIRMED and your name isn’t included, please contact Heath Nails in the UA Band Office to update the file.  Thank you!

The Twenty-sixth Annual Alabama High School Honor Festival will be held at the University of Alabama from January 31 through February 3, 2013.  Registration will be open mid-October.  The Alabama Honor Band Festival is an event developed for the purpose of recognizing the achievements of exceptional high school musicians. As in previous years, we will award Alabama Concert Ensemble Participation Scholarships and Million Dollar Band Participation Scholarships. Both music majors and non-music majors are eligible for these awards. We will again award one School of Music Full-Tuition Scholarship (see Scholarship section below), which will be available to a student majoring in music.

The festival weekend includes clinics presented by the faculty of the University of Alabama School of Music and concerts presented by the Alabama Symphonic Band, the Alabama Wind Ensemble and the “SPECTRUM” concert, which features several of our wind and percussion ensembles as well as the 400 member Million Dollar Band. This year, we will present four outstanding high school ensembles in concert, along with the four festival honor bands.

THE HONOR BANDS
This year, we will seat four honor bands at the festival. The Festival Wind Ensemble will be a smaller group made up of the top chair winners. The three Festival Honor Bands will be made up of equal strength musicians. Students will be placed alternately in the festival honor bands. Our staff feels that this provides the best experience for all participants.

2013 CONDUCTORS

Festival Wind Ensemble

Jerry Junkin, Director of Bands, University of Texas at Austin

Clinic Bands

Professor Steve Barnett, Director of Bands
Marshall University, Huntingdon, WV

Professor Mary Land, Director of Bands
Young Harris College, Young Harris, GA

Dr. Deborah Sheldon, Professor of Music Education
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

THE 2013 GUEST ENSEMBLES
The Tara Winds Adult Community Band, Atlanta, GA
John Culvahouse and Andrea Strauss, conductors

Fayette County HS Wind Ensemble, Fayetteville, GA
Dr. Myra Rhoden, conductor

Alpharetta HS Wind Ensemble, Alpharetta, GA
Mr. Mike Walsh, conductor

SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS
Students will be selected by a committee of University of Alabama School of Music faculty. Information included on the student application (resume) and the band director’s recommendation will be the primary criteria used to select participants. In most cases, the student resume and band director recommendation are sole source of information about the students that the selection committee has. Students and directors are encouraged to complete the resume and recommendation in detail and be sure that the required information is available to us prior to the close of registration. Each director who submits a nomination is guaranteed that at least one student from each school will be selected to participate in the festival. A list of students chosen to participate in the 2013 Alabama Honor Band Festival will be posted on this website by December 17, 2012.

HOUSING/MEALS/FEES
The Alabama Honor Band does not provide housing or meals. Arrangements for housing, supervision, transportation and meals should be taken care of by the high school director. For the 2013 Alabama Honor Band, students chosen to participate will be required to pay a participation fee of 75.00, which includes admission to all clinics, concerts and includes a Festival Participation Pin. This participation fee will be due AFTER students have been notified that they have been selected to participate in the Alabama Honor Band. Much more detailed information will be available to those students selected to participate in the festival.

SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
THE ALABAMA HONOR BAND FULL TUITION SCHOLARSHIP
A full tuition scholarship will be awarded at the final Festival Concert on Sunday to a qualified student. This award is based upon a superior level of performing ability as evidenced in the student’s Honor Band placement audition, band rehearsals and the recommendations of the auditioning faculty members and conductors. No additional audition is necessary. The Alabama Honor Band Full Tuition Scholarship pays all tuition and academic fees for four years and is limited to music majors. It does require participation in selected University of Alabama ensembles.

ALABAMA BAND PARTICIPATION SCHOLARSHIPS
These scholarships, in varying amounts, are awarded to incoming students whose standard of performance is commensurate with membership in the University of Alabama concert ensembles (Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Concert Band) and the MILLION DOLLAR BAND who have a sincere interest in outstanding band performance. These awards are based upon a superior level of performing ability as evidenced in the student’s Honor Band placement audition, band rehearsals and the recommendation of the auditioning faculty members and conductors. The Honor Band Chair Placement Audition is used to qualify students for these awards. No additional audition is necessary. These scholarships, in varying amounts, are awarded for the fall semester with the understanding that the student participates in the Million Dollar Band and one of the concert ensembles in the spring. These awards are based on talent and the instrumentation needs of the University Bands, and the awards are renewable for up to four years. These awards are available to qualified students regardless of major.