Combined League Honor Bands
Auditions are due November 22, 2024
(High School and Middle School)
Tickets are will be available for presale. We suggest buying in advance to avoid the line!
February 18th, 2025 at the Union Colony Civic Center – Concert begins at 7:00
High School Clinician- Dr. Jonathan Hinkle- Colorado Mesa University.
2025 High School Honor Band Results: TBA
For those accepted, there is a $30 participation fee to cover costs for the event including a patch to put on your letter jackets.
Please submit your audition files to your director for upload and then complete this short form
Our guest conductor for 2025 will be Dr. Jonathan Hinkle from Colorado Mesa University.
Students will rehearse for one day (February 18th, 2025) and perform a concert that evening in Greeley at the Union Colony Civic Center. The Combined League High School Honor Band will also perform on the same concert. Exact times will be set later, in the past we have started rehearsals at 8am and the concert is at 7pm.
Please contact Doug Farr (dfarr@greeleyschools.org) if you have any concerns or questions.
Middle school Honor Band:
This is an open invitation to any middle school band director and their students in the combined league region. You are invited to join us for a day of music making at the 2025 Combined League Middle School Honor Band on February 18th. Our guest conductor will be Brian Musgrave.
Please open this link and fill out the form to show interest in participating in this year’s event. You will receive a confirmation email and further instructions for nominating students for this year’s event. Nominations will be due by November 15th this year.
Also, please review the names on the email and check for any Middle School Bands that I may have omitted and feel free to forward this onto them. Thank you!
Statement of philosophy: This is a select ensemble comprised of students in 7th and 8th grades from the Northern Colorado region. This group aims to give an enrichment experience to superior young musicians by programming challenging yet appropriate literature.
There is no audition however instrumentation dictates the size of the ensemble. How many students each director is allowed to submit will be based on how many directors would like to participate. Students receive music at least a month ahead and are expected to prepare their individual parts with the assistance of their band director. Students then rehearse for one day to prepare as a full ensemble. Directors are required to attend the full day rehearsal with their students. Each director will help with sectional rehearsals, food, set-up and teardown. Each student will pay a fee that will cover lunch expenses and the cost of our guest conductor. Students clothing for the concert will be the same as their school concert attire.
Nomination procedure: Below you will find the form to submit your Combine League Middle School Honor Band recommendations. PLEASE DO NOT NOTIFY STUDENTS yet until we have all nominations finalized.
We have 26+ schools and directors participating this year! To keep our band a size that will be beneficial to all participants we will start with each director nominating their top 3 students and 1 alternate. If you do not have 3 students that meet the minimum knowledge requirements please nominate those that you do. I will put together the instrumentation and see if we need to pull in any alternates. I will notify you who has been accepted by November 22nd.
Directors are asked to recommend students for this ensemble that meet these minimum knowledge/performance requirements listed below.
Minimum Knowledge/Performance Requirement
Combine League Middle School Honor Band
The following are guidelines for directors to consider when recommending students to participate in the Combine League Middle School Honor Band. Our hope is to insure that the quality of musicians being recommended to this ensemble remains at a high level. Please think about these guidelines when looking to recommend a student for this ensemble.
Students should know and be able to:
Play at least one octave concert F, B-flat, E-flat, and A-flat major scales (with correct fingerings, consistent tone, and correct technique.)
Play a variety of styles of music (at grade level 2) with consistent tone, correct technique, dynamic contrast, correct articulations, and musicality.
Demonstrate rhythmic proficiency with 2/4, ¾, 4/4, 6/8, and cut time. Including whole, half, dotted half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted rhythms. (All rhythms used/introduced in your second year method book).
Demonstrate proper instrument hold, posture, and characteristic tone on their instrument.
Demonstrate strong rehearsal behavior and preparedness.
Percussionists must be strong on both mallet and battery instruments
Questions, please contact Britt Sawyer (Severance Middle School) via email with “CLMSHB” in the subject line. Her contact info is: britt.sawyer@weldre4.org
Thank you,
Britt Sawyer