"Top of the Nation" High School Honor Band Festival
2010 Festival Dates: Thursday, February 18th through Saturday, February 20th.
The 2010 guest conductor is Stoney Black, Director of Bands at Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs
2009-2010 Downloadable Forms
The Adams State College "Top of the Nation" Honor Band Festival is one of the longest running honor bands in Colorado, with a tradition dating back over 40 years. The band consists of some of the finest high school instrumental musicians in the Southwest. The event is held over a three-day period, beginning on Thursday morning and culminating in a concert on Saturday afternoon.
Here is what’s new this year:
• Our Honor Band Festival is now being run in conjunction with our Honor Choir Festival. There are several reasons why we are doing this, and hopefully this will provide an improved festival experience for your students. All paperwork and fees are still being handled separately, and each event will have its own schedule.
• The Adams State bands concert will be Friday afternoon instead of Saturday, so the culminating concert will be shorter.
• The Band Festival will be moved up by a few hours, so the report time will be 10am on Thursday and the final concert will be at 12pm on Saturday.
"Top of the Nation" will continue to have two bands. The top band, the Wind Symphony, will require a CD/taped audition and will be primarily conducted by Mr. Black. The second band, the Concert Band, is open by director recommendation (no audition recording required) and will be primarily conducted by Dr. VanValkenburg and other ASC faculty. Students who send audition CD's/tapes for the Wind Symphony but are not accepted will be considered for the Concert Band. Recordings and/or applications must be postmarked by December 4th, 2009. Seating auditions for both groups will be held on-site.
Cost: Student registration is $30 per participant, which will include a t-shirt and CD of the final concert ($30 will be due in January, after acceptance letters are sent out). Transportation, housing, parking costs and meals are the responsibility of the participants. It is suggested that band parent organizations help defer at least some of these costs if possible.
Scheduling: Selected students will need to arrive on the Adams State College campus on February, 18th between 9:00am-10:00am with seating auditions starting at 10:00am and concluding at 12:00pm. The final concert will take place on Saturday, February 20th at 12:00pm, and students should not plan to leave before 1:30pm. Detailed schedules will be available on-line.
Master Classes/Sectionals: In addition to the Honor Bands, there will also be master classes for woodwinds, brass, and percussion involving all Honor Band members. ASC faculty will coach these master classes, which meet in addition to the regular rehearsal schedule.
Graduate Credit for Directors: Directors can receive 1 graduate credit for attending TOTN. In order to receive the full credit, directors will need to accumulate a total of 15 clock hours of observation. Admission and registration can be taken care of with one form that you can fill out while you're here. You can pay by credit card or check made out to Adams State College for the course fees as follows: In-state cost (including all fees): $236.59. Out-of-state cost (including all fees): $593.59. Nothing needs to be arranged or paid for in advance.
Questions? Please contact Dr. Jamie VanValkenburg at jvanvalkenburg@adams.edu or 719-587-7702.