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Honor Band: Middle and High School
On this page:
- About the Honor Band Festival
- 2026 Information Letter to Students/Parents/Directors
- 2026 Honor Band Conductors
- Student Nomination Form
- Student Audition Videos (Upload here)
- Registration and Fee
- Waiver (upload here)
- Festival Music
- Concert Programs
- Parking
- Hotel Accommodations
- Honor Band Scholarship Winners
- Honor Band Conductors Archive
- Photo Galleries
About the Honor Band Festival
February 12–14, 2026
The Wright State University Honor Band Festival is an event hosted at Wright State University that includes two high school concert bands, a middle school concert band, a high school jazz band, and a day of professional development for band directors. Participating students will work with two conductors, play in side-by-side rehearsals with Wright State music faculty and music majors, attend masterclasses given by Wright State faculty, and perform a concert on the Saturday of the festival.
The professional development day will include six hours of workshops and clinics given by the honor band conductors and Wright State faculty.
The weekend also includes an opportunity for participating high school seniors to audition for acceptance into the Wright State School of Fine and Performing Arts. In addition, a music scholarship will be awarded to one auditioning senior at the Saturday concert.
2026 Letter to Students/Parents/Directors
Information Letter to Directors, Parents, and Students (PDF)
2026 Honor Band Conductors
Dr. Frank Tracz is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Kansas State University. He earned his B.M.E. from The Ohio State University, the M.M. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. He has public school teaching experience in Wisconsin and Ohio and has also served as Assistant Director of bands at Syracuse University and Director of bands at Morehead State University. Dr. Tracz has served as an adjudicator, clinician, speaker in various schools and conferences and has conducted All-State and Honor bands across the United States as well as in Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand.
At Kansas State he directs the Wind Ensemble and the Marching Band, teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting, advisor the Band Ambassadors, and administers and guides all aspects of a large BIG XII comprehensive band program. Ensembles under his direction have been invited to perform at numerous State conferences, MENC, two CBDNA regional conferences, The Larry Sutherland Wind band Festival at Fresno State, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. The marching band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy in 2015. The Wind Ensemble also performed at the International Convention of the American Bandmasters Association in 2019 in Loveland, CO.
Dr. Tracz is on the faculty of the Conn-Selmer Institute, adjunct faculty of the American Band College, past member of the Music Education Journal Editorial Board, contributor to the Teaching Music Through performance In Band series, and was recently appointed Chair of the Sudler Trophy Project of the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His honors include the Stamey Award for outstanding teaching, Kansas Bandmasters Outstanding Director award, Wildcat Pride Alumni Association award, the Tau Beta Sigma Paula Crider Outstanding Band Director award, named a Lowell Mason Fellow, and Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Fraternity. He has also received the Conn- Selmer Institute Hall of Fame award, the Kansas State Professorial Performance award, and was elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.
He has also directly or indirectly raised over 5 million dollars for the construction of the West Stadium Band Hall.
Dr. Tracz is married to Geralyn, and has three daughters, Jessica Tracz Kelly, Kelley Tracz, and Carly Tracz Morris, and one grandson, Caden Tracz Kelly!
Robert Meunier is Director of Bands and Professor of Percussion at Drake University where he is the conductor of the wind symphony and director of percussion studies. He is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. Meunier has appeared in thirty-one states, China, Sweden, Canada, and in Mexico, where he has been an artist/conductor in residence at the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica, and at the Academia de Musica Escuela de Musica Ollin Yoliztli in Mexico City.
He is a contributing author to eleven volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Teaching Music Through Performing Marches, and Teaching Music Through Jazz Performance. In addition to his duties at Drake, Meunier is affiliated with the Des Moines Symphony Academy as the conductor of the Des Moines Youth Wind Ensemble Meunier and the Drake University Wind Symphony have released nine professional recordings through Mark Custom Recording, many of which have received Grammy Nomination eligibility status in the Best Classical Music category and have received excellent reviews in Bandworld. They have performed for the College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Conference (2000, 2008, 2012), the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference (1999, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2019), the North American Saxophone Alliance, and have toured extensively throughout the Midwest.
Recordings by the Drake Wind Symphony are featured regularly on public radio stations throughout the United States and are available on all major digital media outlets. A member of the percussion section of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra for over thirty years, Meunier has experiences in orchestral, jazz, show, solo performance, and recording. He includes Don Rickles, Robert Goulet, the Smothers Brothers, Red Skelton, Roger Williams, the Temptations, and many others among his numerous professional performance credits. Meunier is a past-president of the Iowa Bandmasters Association, past-president of the South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association, and past-president of the Iowa Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. He is a member of the American Bandmasters Association (elected 2014), the College Band Directors National Association, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society, and an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in music education from the University of Mary, a Master of Music in percussion performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has pursued doctoral studies in wind conducting at the University of North Texas where he was a student of Eugene Migliaro Corporon and Dennis Fisher. Meunier has been honored by Drake as a recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher of the Year, and as a nominee for the university’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year. He is the recipient of the 2019 Iowa Bandmasters Association Karl King-Active Distinguished Service Award.
Kyle Freesen is the Director of Bands and Music Department Chair at Loveland High School in Loveland, Colorado. At LHS he teaches the Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, the Crimson Regiment Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble I, Jazz Ensemble II, and Chamber Ensembles. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Western Illinois University and a Master of Music Degree in Wind Conducting from Wright State University.
Many of the ensembles under Mr. Freesen’s direction have received superior ratings. Most recently in 2015, the LHS Wind Symphony performed at CMEA State Conference. Since his appointment, the Crimson Regiment Marching Band placed in the top 3 in CBA State Marching Finals and was in the top 5 at the BOA St. George Regional (regional class champions). The LHS Wind Symphony earned numerous Superior with Distinction ratings at CBA State Concert Band Festival. The LHS Wind Symphony also placed at the Dallas Wind Band Invitational.
Mr. Freesen is currently serving the Colorado Bandmaster’s Association as a member of the Marching Committee. He has presented at the OMEA and IMEA State Conventions as well as been a guest speaker at University of Northern Colorado and Wright State University. He is recognized as a Conn-Selmer VIP Educator. Mr. Freesen is a member of the National Association for Music Education, Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi, National Band Association, and the Colorado Bandmasters Association.
Eric Lechliter is an in-demand professional musician, arranger and educator based in Cincinnati, OH. As an active trumpet player, he plays frequently around the greater Cincinnati area. He has shared the stage with international recording artists including Jeff Hamilton, Conrad Herwig, John Fedchock, Chris Vadala, Greg Gisbert, Terell Stafford, Byron Stripling, Bobby Broom, Barry Ries, Alex Norris, The Four Tops and the Temptations to name a few.
As an arranger/composer, his music has been performed by several Tri-State groups of varying genres, including the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Schoolhouse Symphony. His big band music has been performed by many local ensembles in addition to international performances in Brazil, England and Norway.
In 2016, he founded The Original Farm League Big Band, an ensemble dedicated to performing original music by living Cincinnati-based composers. In 2019, he began work as the Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. In 2022, CCJO released its first album We Are the CCJO, which is comprised entirely of Eric’s original compositions and arrangements.
In addition to his playing and writing career he has maintained a busy schedule as a Jazz clinician, professor and private teacher. From 2017-2022 he led the Xavier Jazz Orchestra as an adjunct professor at Xavier University in Norwood, OH. Currently, Eric teaches as an adjunct instructor in the Jazz, Commercial Music Production and Preparatory departments at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Eric received a Bachelor’s degree in music education with a Jazz specialization in 2015, and a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies in 2024, both from CCM.
Jessica Sneeringer is a graduate of The Ohio State University earning Bachelor’s Degrees in both Music Education and Trombone Performance as well as a Masters Degree in Music Education. Jessica is currently in her 26th year of teaching, this being her 21st year as the Director of Bands at Columbus Academy in Gahanna, Ohio as well as the Chair of the Performing Arts Department and the Dixon Art Chair Award Recipient. Since 2012, Jessica has been the conductor of the Athena Brass Band and is honored to have had the opportunity to conduct the band at the 2021 Midwest Clinic as well as the IWBC 2024 Conference in Japan and the RNCM Festival of Brass in the UK, January 2025.
Throughout her career, Jessica has been a clinician, adjudicator, and coach for several outstanding groups. She is currently on staff at Jazz Arts Group (Columbus) as the director of the Columbus Youth Jazz Ensemble as well as the director of the Columbus Community Jazz Band. A freelance trombonist Jessica plays lead with the Springfield Symphony Jazz Orchestra (under the direction of Todd Stoll) and occasionally with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. She has also performed with the 1999 Disney Collegiate All-Star Band (lead), Athena Brass Band (bass), Monarch Brass (bass), Johnny Mathis, The Who, and a variety of other ensembles. Jessica is a member of the Phi Beta Mu Bandmasters Fraternity, the American School Band Directors Association, and the Women Band Director’s International.
Student Nomination Form
Music Directors and Private Teachers may nominate up to 8 students for each of the bands indicated below. The deadline for nominations is Monday, December 8, 2025.
Student Audition Videos (Upload Here)
Concert Bands
Selected students must audition for band placement by preparing a 1-2 minute video of a self-chosen solo/etude/band piece that demonstrates both technical and lyrical styles (percussion display both snare drum and keyboard percussion). This video must be uploaded to the link shown below by the deadline, Tuesday, January 13, 2026. Students will be notified of their band placement shortly after. Those who do not submit a video or miss the deadline may be placed in the second ensemble.
Jazz Ensembles
Selected students must audition for band placement by preparing a 2-3 minute video performing the provided excerpts. The acceptance email will include specific excerpts for your instrument and further instructions. Students will be able to demonstrate different styles, improvisation, and lead playing ability. This video must be uploaded to the link shown below by the deadline, Tuesday, January 13, 2026. Students will be notified of their band placement shortly after.
- Upload your audition video
- Title your file as Instrument_First name_Last name; for example Clarinet_Jane_Doe
- Title your file as Instrument_First name_Last name; for example Clarinet_Jane_Doe
Festival Music
Download your music here once you have received your acceptance and assignments.
Registration and Fee for Honor Band
Please pay the registration fee only if you have been notified that you are accepted for the Honor Band.
Waiver Form
- All participants must download and complete the waiver form (PDF).
- upload/drop your completed waiver.
The Wright State Honor Band Concerts will have both in-person and live-streaming options for friends and family members.
Live streaming will be available on our Facebook page.
2026 Honor Band Concert Programs
- Wind Symphony (PDF)
- Symphonic Band (PDF)
- Middle School Band (PDF)
- Jazz Ensemble (PDF)
Parking
Directions, Parking, and Accessibility
Hotel Accommodations
Any hotel reservations must be made by the director or student’s guardians. Preferred Hotels offering discount rates for February 12–15 during the Festival:
- Tru Hotel by Hilton: Rate: $104 per night, plus tax; includes breakfast
- Courtyard by Marriott: Rate: $116.00 per night, plus tax. Click here for special Honor Band Weekend rate: Book your group rate for WSU Honor Band
- View Local Hotel Rates.
Honor Band Scholarship Winners
2025
- Rey Hurley, Jenera, OH, Trombone
2024
- Josh Fryer, Mason, OH, Trumpet
2023
- Lily Rindler, New Bremen, OH, Trumpet
2022
- Elijah Grubb, Kettering, OH, Tuba
- Abigail Larson, Bellbrook, OH, Clarinet
2019
- Kylie Bayless, Wilmington, OH, Trombone
Honor Band Conductors Archive
2025
- Colonel Don Schofield; Commander and Conductor of The United States Air Force Band, Washington DC
- Dr. Carolyn Barberr; Universiity of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE
- Matt Matthews; Colony High School, CA
- Dr. Matt Warner; Rapid Run Middle School, OH
- Vinnie Marshall; Wright State University, OH
2024
- Amy Acklin; University of Louisville, KY
- Catherine Keener Abner; Valley View High School, OH
- Josclynn Garrison; Mount St. Joseph University, OH
- Dr. Sarah Herbert; Western Kentucky University, KY
2023
- Alfred Watkins; Lassiter High School, GA (emeritus)
- Matthew Spradlin; Wilmington High School, OH
- Heather Marsh-Myers; Beavercreek High School, OH
- Matt Frost; Beavercreek High School, OH
2022
- Richard Saucedeo; Carmel High School, IN (emeritus)
- Kyle Young; Carmel High School, IN
- Dr. Matthew Warner; Rapid Run Middle School – Cincinnati, OH
2019
- Dr. Clifford N. Towner; Georgia College, GA
- John Seaton; Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, NV
- Ben Streitenberger; Washington Court House Middle School, OH
