Honor Band
Honor Bands are an opportunity for the most advanced students in our band program to participate with the most advanced students from other schools. The students selected are put together in a concert band that is directed by a well-known music professional. The music selected is designed to both challenge and showcase the talents of the students. Participation in some honor bands is determined by director nomination. Students must demonstrate advanced skills and have a responsible attitude toward their band participation in order to be nominated. Some honor bands require students to audition for admittance. Band students at Williams have three opportunities for participation in honor bands.
The Davenport School District holds an honor band festival in November for their most advanced 6th grade band students. Directors nominate students for this event based on the criteria of skill development and responsibility demonstrated through classroom participation. Once all the participating schools have nominated their students a committee selects students from each school to establish the instrumentation of the band. Students that are selected receive music to prepare on their own, are given one afternoon to rehearse as the Honor Band, and then perform the Festival Concert that same evening.
The Southeast Iowa Bandmasters Association holds its annual SEIBA Honor Band Festival in January. Advanced seventh and eighth grade students have the opportunity to participate in this festival. The students must prepare for a rigorous audition held in early January for acceptance into this band. They will compete for acceptance with students from intermediate schools within the southeast Iowa district. Auditions are held in Fairfield, Iowa, and the Festival concert is held two weeks later at Iowa City West High School. Students interested in trying out for this event must demonstrate preparation by late November in order to have their name registered by the December deadline. If an 8th grade student was recognized at their audition as the best in their audition center besides their acceptance into the SEIBA Honor Band they win a position in the All-Iowa 8th Grade Honor Band that performs in May at the Iowa Bandmasters Association convention in Des Moines.
Advanced 7th and 8th grade Williams’ band students also have the opportunity to be selected to participate in the St. Ambrose Honor Band. No auditions are required for acceptance into this festival. Directors nominate students by listing their musical accomplishments, and a committee from St. Ambrose chooses the students from the participating schools based on these factors to determine the instrumentation of the band. Students accepted will receive their music a month in advance of the festival, rehearse at St. Ambrose the day of the concert, and perform a concert in the evening.
SEIBA Honor Band Information
The Southeast Iowa Bandmasters Association (SEIBA) is an organization of band directors in Iowa that promotes musical activities like: Honor Band Festivals, Solo Festivals, and Contests for Large Groups/Jazz Bands. They hold an Honor Band Festival in January to showcase intermediate and high school students with outstanding skills. The opportunity to participate in the intermediate level Honor Band is available to 7th and 8th grade band students who successfully prepare scales and required etudes, and are chosen through an audition process. We would like you to consider working toward this event as a representative of Williams Intermediate School.
The Williams Band has a long tradition of having students that “go the extra mile”, and then earn the opportunity to participate in special musical events. Some of these past students have even been selected to participate in the IBA 8th Grade Honor Band. Participation in the IBA Honor Band is offered to 8th Grade students that win their SEIBA audition and are declared “best in their audition site.” This select IBA 8th Grade Honor Band performs at the Iowa Bandmasters Convention in Des Moines in May.
Schools are only allowed to nominate a maximum of 15 students to participate in the SEIBA Honor Band auditions. Students from our section of the state prepare for months to develop the skills to qualify for this honor, and the audition process is quite rigorous. Many schools hold pre-auditions to be sure their students are worthy of the challenge before sending the registration fees in before the early December deadline. We would like you to consider auditioning for this event, but want to make sure you don’t have a conflict with either the date of the audition or the concert date. Since there is a registration fee for every student that is scheduled to audition it is important that you check the dates listed below, and consider whether or not you are able to participate in this opportunity. Audition materials will be distributed to you in your lesson after you have told us of your willingness to participate.
The auditions are held in Fairfield, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 5th. Students must check-in at the audition site with their director before 8:30 in the morning. The trip to Fairfield is long drive requiring an early morning departure, and students that audition usually return to the Quad Cities sometime after 5:30. Transportation to the auditions will be by school bus or parent volunteers. Specific information will be distributed later.
SEIBA Honor Band Festival
Auditions are held in Fairfield, Iowa on Saturday, January 5th.
The Honor Band Festival will be held in Iowa City, Iowa on January 19th.