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Honor Band: Middle and High School
On this page:
- About the Honor Band Festival
- Final Letter to Students/Parents/Directors
- 2025 Honor Band Conductors
- Student Nomination Form
- Student Audition Videos (Upload here)
- Festival Schedule
- Festival Music
- Concert Programs
- Parking
- Registration and Waiver
- Hotel Accommodations
- Honor Band Scholarship Winners
- Honor Band Conductors Archive
- Honor Band Concert Program Archive
- 2020 Honor Band Photo Gallery
- 2022 Honor Band Photo Gallery
About the Honor Band Festival
February 13-15, 2025
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.
2025 Letter to Students/Parents/Directors
2025 Honor Band Conductors
Colonel Don Schofield
Dr. Don Schofield is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he teaches the History of Wind Literature and Applied Conducting. He is also an Active Duty Colonel in the United States Air Force, where he currently serves as the Commander and Conductor of The United States Air Force Band in Washington, DC. Colonel Schofield is responsible for all activities of this 184-member squadron including nearly 1,600 performances each year at locations such as The White House, Arlington National Cemetery, the Kennedy Center, and venues throughout the world for the President of the United States, world leaders, and dignitaries.
Dr. Carolyn Barber
Dr. Carolyn A. Barber is the Ron and Carol Cope Professor of Music and Director of Bands in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Glenn Korff School of Music. She earned a B.M. in horn performance at Northwestern University, an M.M. in horn performance from Yale University, and returned to Northwestern to earn her D.M. in conducting as a student of John P. Paynter and Victor Yampolsky.
Dr. Matt Warner
Dr. Matthew Warner (b. 1978) enjoys a multifaceted career as a music educator, saxophonist/woodwind doubler, conductor, and composer/arranger based in Cincinnati, Ohio. A veteran music educator, Dr. Warner has directed jazz ensembles, concert bands, and orchestras ranging from elementary to university levels. He currently serves as Band and Orchestra Director at Rapid Run Middle School and Adjunct Instructor of Saxophone at Sinclair Community College, and is often selected as a guest artist/clinician for schools and workshops. He performs frequently as a concert soloist, jazz leader or sideman, and in pit orchestras, jazz big bands, concert bands, and symphony/pops orchestras. His compositions have been performed by concert bands and string orchestras at the middle school, high school, university, and community band levels. A Dayton, Ohio native, he earned the BM in Music Education/Music Performance and MH in Music from Wright State University, and the DMA in Music Education from Boston University (Boston, MA).
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 9, 2024.
Student Audition Videos (Upload Here)
- Upload your audition video
- Title your file as Instrument_First name_Last name; for example Clarinet_Jane_Doe
Festival Schedule
Festival Music
Download your music
- Middle School Band Folder (.zip file)
- Jazz Band Folder (.zip file)
- Symphonic Band Folder (.zip file)
- Wind Symphony Folder (.zip file)
Concert Programs
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.
2025 Honor Band Concert Programs
- Wind Symphony (PDF)
- Symphonic Band (PDF)
- Middle School Band (PDF)
- Jazz Ensemble (PDF)
Parking
Directions, Parking, and Accessibility
If you need a parking pass, please email Bill Jobert at william.jobert@wright.edu
Registration and Waiver for Honor Band
Please pay the registration fee only if you have been notified that you are accepted for the Honor Band.
All participants must complete the waiver form (PDF). Download and complete this form and bring it with you to the festival or upload/drop your completed waiver here.
Hotel Accommodations
Any hotel reservations must be made by the director or student’s guardians. You may request university discount rates at the Holiday Inn Dayton/Fairborn or Tru Hotel by Hilton. View Local Hotel Rates.
Honor Band Scholarship Winners
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
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
