UMass Welcomes Over 400 High School Stars for Annual Honor Band Concert

Source: UMass News & Media

The UMass Amherst Department of Music and Dance will host hundreds of talented high school musicians from over 70 schools on Saturday, February 15 for the 39th Annual High School Honor Band.

This annual program provides hundreds of New England’s finest wind and percussion students the opportunity to rehearse and perform wind band literature of the highest caliber while learning from UMass faculty and world-renowned guest conductors or composers. Department Chair and Wind Ensemble Conductor Matt Westgate, UMass Symphony Band Conductor Lindsay Bronnenkant, and Minuteman Marching Band and UMass Concert Band Director Timothy T. Anderson will each work with students throughout the day, and will conduct three bands in a concert that evening at 7:00 p.m. in Tillis Hall at the Bromery Fine Arts Center. 

Joining them will be this year’s guest composer and conductor, Dr. Erika Svanoe, known for her lyrical melodies, nods to classic literature, and musical deconstruction, humor, and pastiche. Her works have been performed internationally by school, university, community, and professional bands. Her first major work, The Haunted Carousel, won the 2014 NBA Young Band Composition Contest. 

As a conductor, Svanoe has held residencies with the USAF Heritage of America Band, the Atlanta Freedom Bands, and numerous universities. She has held collegiate appointments at Augsburg University, Bemidji State University, and the University of New Hampshire, and is active as a guest conductor and clinician, appearing with high school, university, and festival ensembles across the United States.

The Honor Band schedule for students will also feature masterclasses with UMass faculty, a concert with the UMass Wind Ensemble, and a forum to interact with UMass music students. The concert in the evening, which will feature performances of works by Svanoe and others, will take place at 7:00 p.m. in Tillis Hall and is free and open to the public.