CU Boulder High School Honor Band Festival

Middle School Honor Band concert

 

Bands

Community engagement

 

Welcome to the Middle School Honor Band at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!

Our goal is to enhance the opportunity students receive in their school band program by allowing them to meet and perform with other students. Participants benefit from master classes with College of Music faculty. After two days of rehearsal, students present a full-length concert to highlight their growth and development.

Feb. 21-22, 2025

Audition materials for the 2025 CU Boulder Honor Band will be posted here in fall 2024. All rehearsals and performances will take place at the University of Colorado Boulder. Check-in will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, with rehearsals and the CU Boulder band concert that evening. The Middle School Honor Band will rehearse from approximately 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, and will perform a concert in Macky Auditorium that evening.

2024 schedule

2024 Middle School Honor Band results

Audition results and feedback will be communicated to students by Dec. 8, 2023. 

2024 MSHB roster
2024 MSHB alternates

Auditions

Audition deadline: All audition submissions must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.

Notifications of acceptance, as well as audition feedback, will be emailed to directors by Dec. 8, 2023. Music will be emailed to directors by mid-January 2024. If selected, students will be expected to attend all scheduled rehearsals and activities, including attending the Friday evening CU Boulder Wind Symphony + Symphonic Band concert. Parents are responsibile for transportation, lodging and supervision during Honor Band weekend.

Audition materials

2024 CU Boulder Middle School Honor Band audition materials

Audition process

Auditions are online only. Middle school students are required to record a video file of their audition and to submit that file as an unlisted YouTube link on the application form. Please see the link below for more information.

New audition submission guidelines

Step 1: Prepare to record your audition

  1. Prepare the requirements for your instrument. Practice stating your name, grade, school and instrument, and performing the scales and etudes in the order you will record them. 
  2. No metronome is allowed for audition recordings.
  3. Gather the materials you need to record your audition. For best results, make recordings using a high-quality microphone. 

Step 2: Record your audition

  1. Record all parts of your audition (scales + excerpts) in one continuous take. Do not record parts of your audition separately and then splice them together. Students should submit one unedited video file.
  2. Do not alter the audition recording in any way.
  3. Upload your audition to YouTube as an unlisted video (see the link above for more information). Title your video in this format: lastname_firstname_instrument.

Step 3: Submit your audition

All students must submit their audition via the online registration form (see links below). Note: There is a separate form for each instrument.  

Step 4: Submit your audition fee

  1. The audition fee is $25 per audition submission (i.e., students auditioning on two instruments would pay $50 total). Whoever is paying the student’s audition fee (directors and parents, please connect with one another to determine this for yourselves), submit your payment via this portal. If you require a pay-by-check option, email MSHonorBand@colorado.edu.
  2. Once registration has closed, we will notify directors whose students submitted auditions, including student names and instruments, and what their payment status is. Unpaid auditions will not be scored.

Questions? Email MSHonorBand@colorado.edu.