Hastings Honor Band and Choir
The Hastings College Honor Band and Choir are the longest-running high school music honor ensembles sponsored by a college in Nebraska — and features some of the best high school musical talent throughout the region!
The 61st Annual Honor Band and 53rd Annual Honor Choir will be held January 19-20, 2025, at Hastings College! Student check-in begins at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, January 19, and the concert is 5:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church (621 N. Lincoln Ave., Hastings) on Monday, January 20. The concert is free and open to the public.
Auditions are due Monday, November 25, 2024. Scroll down for details.
Audition materials are submitted through a Google form (requires sign-in), with one form per student audition.
Music teachers: You can complete the form on behalf of your student, but note we require student name, email, address, graduation year and birthday in order to keep data organized in our system. Thank you!
- Band and Choir accepts students in grades 10-12
- Audition deadline is Monday, November 25, 2024
- Honor band and choir auditions can also be used as a Hastings College scholarship audition
Directors for each ensemble are noted below.
Housing/Places to Stay
Congratulations to all students who were accepted to Hastings College Honor Band and Choir! If you are looking for a hotel in Hastings, here are our recommendations.
Questions? Contact Dr. Louie Eckhardt at leckhardt@hastings.edu or 402.461.7371.
Honor Band
The honor band will be led by Dr. Christopher Dobbins, associate professor of music and director of instrumental activities at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. More about Dr. Dobbins.
Auditions are open!
Honor Band Audition Guidelines
Wind and Brass students are asked to record the following:
- Selected portions of a prepared solo or etude (preferably showing contrasting styles),
- Chromatic scale (two octaves when possible).
Percussionists — see the tab below.
Students are encouraged to audition on more than one percussion option.
Percussion Audition Guidelines
Percussion auditions should include at least two of the following:
1) Concert Snare Drum Etude or Solo
- Recommended collections include: Peters, Cirone, and Delécluse.
2) Rudimental Etude or Solo (Snare or Tenors)
- Recommended collections include: Freytag, Keown, Pratt, Wilcoxon, and Tompkins.
3) Keyboard (Marimba, Vibraphone, Xylophone, or Glockenspiel; 2- or 4- mallet; memorization is preferred).
- Recommended composers include: Zivkovic, Goldenberg, Koshinski, Green, J.S. Bach, Davila, Abe, Peters, or Stout.
4) Timpani
- Recommended collections include: Lepak, Vic Firth, Goodman, and Carroll.
5) Hand Percussion (e.g., West African, Brazilian, Cuban, Middle-Eastern) • Recommended collections include: Sampaio, Keita, Spiro, and Velez.
6) Drumset (unaccompanied solo, solo w/track, or demonstration of 3-4 styles)
- Recommended collections include: Houllif and Thompson.
The following links have excellent tips for preparing to have a successful college audition:
- Todd Meehan (Liquidrum)
- Will James
Honor Choir
The honor choir will be led by Dr. Brett Epperson, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities at Hastings College. More about Dr. Epperson.
Auditions are open!
Honor Choir Audition Guidelines
Auditioning for the Hastings College Honor Choir requires preparing TWO singing components.
- The “All-State” Scale for your voice part (B-flat or F major)
- A prepared vocal solo, ideally 2-4 minutes in length. A vocal solo from the classical art song tradition is preferred, but a musical theater solo would also be acceptable
1. Before recording your audition, be sure your recording device is positioned in such a way that it results in a clear, authentic representation of your singing.
2. At the start of the recording, before singing, please let us know who you are by sharing:
a. Your Name (first and last!)
b. Your current year in school (Senior? Junior? Sophomore? Freshman?)
c. Your High School
d. Your Voice Part (SI, SII, AI, AII, TI, TII, BI, BII)
3. Sing the “All-State” Audition Scale that corresponds to your voice type. You may do so with or without the accompanimental recording.
Basses & Altos: B Flat Major
Tenors & Sopranos: F Major
4. Introduce the solo you’re performing: Title and Composer
5. Sing your classical (or musical theater) solo
We look forward to hearing your audition!
