Honors Music Festival

Event Description | Dates and Staff | Teacher Application | Audition Materials

The DoDDS Honors Music Festival has existed for over twenty years. The 2003 Festival will be the twentieth consecutive year DoDDS students have had the opportunity to perform in the beautiful Regentenbau Concert Hall, Bad Kissingen, Germany. The conductors are music teachers from DoDDS-Europe high schools. Students performing in the Honors Band and Chorus Festival are selected from audition recordings for their exceptional musical abilities. They prepare the music with their teachers and then join together for three days of intensive rehearsals with their peers from schools throughout Europe

Event Description

Honors Band and Choir Festival is a 4 day activity for 140 musically talented students to showcase those talents by practicing and performing on one of the worlds great concert halls. The objectives of this activity are to provide a forum for talented students to improve their skills by working on challenging music with other talented students as well as preparing for and presenting a formal quality concert for the German community.

A Board of Directors composed of a Music Director, a Choir Director, a Band Director, and a Host Nation Liaison governs this activity. These individuals, under the direction of the project officer, are responsible for the governance of the activity. They meet annually in October to plan the festival and select the music that will be studied by the students and performed. These individuals, along with the project officer, select from formal applications, the 12 individuals who will serve as staff members and will be working with the students as conductors and hotel chaperones.

The students file a written application along with an audition tape. In January an Adjudication Task Group meets composed of the Board of Directors and the Conductors who review the applications and auditions tapes. Using a strict set of criteria the selections for Honors Band and Choir are made. There are over 600 applications for 140 slots to this activity.

The students are billeted in hotels outside Bad Kissingen and bussed to the Regentenbau for rehearsals. Evening activities include rehearsals as well as a talent show. An evening concert on the last day is presented and open to the general public. Most of the costs for this activity are covered by DoDDS-Europe. The students pay approximately 250.00 EUR, which covers their hotel, meals, banquet, a CD and Video of the concert, and gifts. The DoDDS-Europe office performs all of those functions necessary to support this activity to include the arrangement of and chairing all planning meetings, appointment of all staff, all communications, transportation arrangements, contracting, site arrangements, monitoring and administrating of the activity, and all follow-up activities.

Event Dates

Board of Directors

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Teacher Application

Teachers may apply to be a member of the Board of Directors, conductors, or fesitival assistants. Applications must be received in the DoDDS-Europe Office by May 21, 2002. Teacher Application

Student Audtion Material

Student audition materials will be announce in October 2002