SDSU Honor Band Festival
We invite high school students from throughout the region (South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and North Dakota) to apply to participate in the ninth annual Honor Band Festival on Feb. 19-20, 2027. The SDSU Honor Band Festival is designed to be an exceptional honor band experience for talented students and is sure to be a memorable time for all those involved!
The nomination form will open in fall 2026.
Highlights from the 2026 festival will include:
- The opportunity to rehearse and perform in SDSU’s newly expanded Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.
- Workshops and masterclasses with the faculty of the School of Performing Arts.
- Scholarship audition opportunities for high school seniors.
- A side-by-side performance with members of the SDSU Wind Symphony.
- The chance to make music with the most talented student musicians from a multistate radius.
Students who play the following instruments are invited to apply: piccolo, flute, oboe, bassoon, B-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, French horn, trumpet, tenor trombone, bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, string bass and percussion (mallet, battery/auxiliary and timpani). String bass and piano auditions will also be considered, depending on repertoire selected by the conductors.
There is no application fee! Students selected to the group will be charged a $40 participation fee (payable either by the individual student or their school). Student participants are responsible for securing their own accommodations and transportation for the duration of the festival; however, select meals will be provided.
Upon receiving a nomination, students will be invited to submit a short audition recording on their instrument to include:
Woodwinds, brass, piano and string bass
- Two major scales of the student’s choosing (multiple octaves where appropriate).
- Selection from a prepared solo or étude (30-60 seconds) of the student's choosing.
Percussion
- Selections from prepared solos/etudes (30-60 seconds) of the student's choosing for all three of the following:
- Timpani
- Snare drum
- Keyboard percussion (marimba, vibraphone or xylophone)
Director nominations are due by Friday, Nov. 6, 2026.
Student auditions are due by Monday, Nov. 23, 2026.
Selected students will be notified by Friday, Dec. 11, 2026.
Honor Wind Ensemble Conductor 2027
Jason H. Nam is associate professor of music in bands at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he directs the Concert Band and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in instrumental conducting, administration of school bands and wind literature.
Nam earned a Doctor of Music in Wind Conducting degree from the Jacobs School, where he studied with Stephen W. Pratt. Nam also earned an M.M. in Conducting and a B.M. in Music Education from the University of Redlands, where he studied with Eddie R. Smith.
Prior to his graduate degree work, Nam served as a lecturer in the Department of Music at California State University, San Bernardino and as director of bands at La Colina Junior High School and San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California. More recently, he has served as a faculty member, ensemble conductor and director of the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic.
Nam keeps a busy schedule as a conductor, adjudicator and clinician across the United States and North America. He was named a national finalist for The American Prize in Conducting (Band/Wind Ensemble division) in 2017.
His IU Concert Band was invited to perform at the 2020 College Band Directors National Association North Central Conference in Chicago, Illinois.
Nam served as resident music director of the Bloomington-based Southern Indiana Wind Ensemble from 2016 to 2021, performing widely throughout Indiana and as an invited ensemble at the Ohio Music Educators Professional Development Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2020.
He has been published in the Journal of the National Band Association and the American Bandmasters Association’s Journal of Band ĢƵ. Nam’s research interests include the music of William Bolcom, the wind chamber music of Igor Stravinsky, the historical development of the wind band repertoire in the twentieth century, and effective rehearsal methodologies for conductors.
Nam currently serves on the national selection committee for the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest and holds professional memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, Conductors Guild, Indiana Music Education Association, and Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society. He is also a member of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity of America.
Festival Band Conductor 2026
Dr. Anna Scott (Assistant Director of University Bands) recently earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting from Arizona State University (ASU), where she studied with Dr. Jason Caslor, Professor James Hudson, and Dr. Jamal Duncan. She is an active guest conductor, saxophonist, clinician and adjudicator. Prior to ASU, Anna was the saxophone instructor at Morningside University and the instrument methods instructor at Western Iowa Tech Community College.
A native of Chester, South Dakota, Anna has served in the South Dakota Army National Guard since 2007. A soldier in the “Governor’s Own 147th Army Band,” Anna is currently the principal saxophonist in the concert band and tenor saxophonist in the music performance team, SGT Rock. Increasingly in demand as an adjudicator, Anna has extensive experience as a public school music educator, having taught beginner through high school band. A versatile educator, Anna has worked with bands in marching, concert, and jazz settings, and adjudicated multiple solo/ensemble festivals. Guest conducting engagements have included AMEA All-Region Festival Bands in Prescott and Mesa, AZ, and the Middle School All-City Honor Band in Sioux City, IA.
As a saxophonist, Anna has toured throughout the United States, performed in Suriname, South America, and was selected to perform in the “Neue Eutiner Festspiele” summer Opera Festival in Eutin, Germany. She has shared the stage with The Temptations, was part of a world premiere performance in Carnegie Hall with the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble, and directed show choir band at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.
Anna earned a Master of Music with an emphasis in Saxophone Performance from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Music Education from ĢƵ.
Outside of music, Anna enjoys powerlifting, building Lego sets and spending time with her mini goldendoodle, Rey.
