Join us for The University of Alabama Middle School Honor Band!
The University Bands is proud to announce the Ninth Annual Alabama Middle School Honor Band Festival will be held at the University of Alabama from December 8-9, 2022. The Alabama Honor Band Festival is an event developed for the purpose of recognizing the achievements of exceptional middle school musicians.
THE HONOR BAND
We will select applicants to seat only two Middle School Honor Bands.
December is a busy time of year, and we have adjusted our schedule to have the students finished by 5:00 pm on both days. This helps students not miss any school concerts on those nights.
Application Instructions
- CLICK HERE TO APPLY!
- Deadline to apply is November 7, 2022 @ 11:59 PM
Video Audition (NEW)
- Audition pieces will either be the lyrical or technical etude from this year’s Junior High School Alabama All-State Band audition material
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- Percussion: please play ONLY the etude for each instrument: Mallets, Snare, and Timpani.
Schedule
SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS
Students who are selected to participate must attend all rehearsals, master classes, and performances during the Honor Band Festival. Everyone who applies will be sent an email when the list of students chosen to participate in the 2022 Alabama Middle School Honor Band Festival has been posted to this website.
HOUSING/MEALS/FEES
The Alabama Middle School Honor Band does not provide housing or meals. The high school director should take care of arrangements for housing, supervision, transportation, and meals. For the 2022 Alabama Middle School Honor Band, students chosen to participate will be required to pay a participation fee of $80.00 (non-refundable), which includes admission to all clinics, concerts, participation t-shirt, name tag, and lapel 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. More detailed information will be available to those students selected to participate in the festival.
2022 GUEST CLINICIAN
Mr. William Owens
William Owens (b. 1963) is a native of Gary, Indiana. He is a seasoned music educator and very active as a composer, clinician and conductor throughout the United States and Canada. His compositional style for young ensembles displays a keen, practical approach which has firmly established him as a leader in the field. Since 1993, Mr. Owens has written over 200 commissioned and published works for concert band, string orchestra and small ensemble. His music is performed and appears on required music lists nationally and abroad. Principal commissions include those from the California Band Directors Association, the Iowa Bandmasters Association, the South Plains College (TX) Department of Fine Arts, the College of Charleston (SC) and Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity. Several of his works including The Blue Orchid and Maesong have been recorded and analyzed in educational text by the GIA series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Other works such as Carpathia, Great Wall, The Tahoka Galop and Tudor Sketches have become staples of the young band repertoire.
William is a 1985 graduate of Chicago’s VanderCook College of Music and the recipient of numerous awards and grants for composition. Professional memberships include the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), the Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB) and Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity. He is recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by his alma mater, and a recipient of the Texas Bandmasters Association’s Meritorious Achievement Award.
In January 2014, William formally retired from duty as a band director in Texas after 30 years of service. His spare time interests include sightseeing and reading, particularly motivational material and Presidential biography. A proud Chevrolet Corvette owner/enthusiast, he holds membership with Cowtown Vettes, a non-profit service organization in the Dallas/Fort area. William resides in Fort Worth, TX with his wife and best friend, Georgia.