Wisconsin Concert Band Association

NEED TO RENEW YOUR WCBA MEMBER?

LOOKING TO BECOME A FIRST-TIME MEMBER?

Scan the QR code or go tour website link:

https://wisconsincba.org/

The Wisconsin Concert Band Association is proud to announce a series of new awards to be

presented at the annual WCBA Convention. The awards will be presented for the first time at

the 39th WCBA Convention in Whitewater, WI on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Please take the

time to read the descriptions of these awards and nominate worthy individuals. Click the

below link to access the nomination form. Nominations are due by November 15, 2024.

AWARDS

Harvard Erdman Lifetime Achievement Award:

Established in 2024, this award was named for one of the founders of WCBA, Harvard Erdman,

who served for many years as the secretary of WCBA. Harv was the director of bands at

Wautoma High School. This award does not have to be awarded every year but is to be reserved

for individuals of outstanding merit. CRITERIA: Candidate must be a current or former resident

of Wisconsin who has demonstrated a commitment to instrumental music through teaching,

conducting, or service to the art and who has made outstanding contributions to instrumental

music in Wisconsin.

Dr. Edgar P. Thiessen Distinguished Service Award:

Established in 2024, and named in honor of Dr. Edgar P. Thiessen, a founding member of WCBA.

Edgar Thiessen was the director of bands at Lakeland College and Silver Lake College. He was

also the conductor of the Kiel Municipal Band. CRITERIA: Candidate must be an individual

whose contributions to the organization are exemplary and/or go beyond the normal services

provided for the operation of Wisconsin Concert Band Association.

Outstanding Young Band Director Award:

Established in 2024, this award honors teachers with ten or fewer years of experience.

CRITERIA: Candidate must be a current WCBA member who exhibits characteristics of a master

teacher, including enthusiasm, energy, musicianship, student rapport, and professionalism; who

has made a considerable impact on the size, quality of performance, festival involvement, and

visibility of the program; and who has made a commitment to the community through civic

band organizations, youth activities, or civic service organizations.

Outstanding Band Director Award:

Established in 2024, to recognize significant contributions as a school band director. CRITERIA:

Candidate must be a current WCBA member with a minimum of ten years of experience who

exhibits characteristics of a master teacher of students within grades 5 – 12.

The Wisconsin Concert Band Association is proud to sponsor a number of awards for students and parents. These awards are available free to WCBA members and can be obtained from the WCBA Awards Chairperson. Please use the link below to request awards.

UW-Whitewater - January 16-19, 2025

Please click the link below to register!

We are proud to announce that our conductor for the 2025 Intercollegiate Honors Band to be composer Erica Svanoe. The group will be debuting Svanoe’s WCBA Commision piece, Bolerobot. If you would like to donate to the consortium, please contact Ryan Waldhart or myself.

The Intercollegiate Band will rehearse on evening of Thursday, January 16, and the day Friday, January 17, 2025 at the UW-Whitewater Campus. The group will perform at 9:00 pm Friday evening.

The program for the concert will be:

Outdoor Overture by Aaron Copland

Vulnerable Joy by Jodie Blackshaw

Over the Blue & Green by Clare Howard

Bolerobot by Erika Svanoe (premiere)

Prestissimo by Karl L. King

Applications will be sent to directors the first week of September and will be available on the WCBA website under the Intercollegiate Band. Applications are due Friday, October 11, 2024.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob Doersam

WCBA Intercollegiate Honors Band

Alex Kaminsky will conduct the 2025 WCBA All-State Band. (Bio Below)

The fee for the experience is $135. This includes all meals, one night of housing, a t-shirt, fees for the conductor, etc.

Please consider having your top musicians apply for this activity. This year, there are two links. One for student applications and one for band director information. You only need to fill out the band director information form once:

2025 WCBA All-State Band Application

2025 WCBA All-State Band Director Information Form

Timeline for the Year

October 13 Applications are due

November 1 The roster is posted, and the directors are notified by email

November 15 The music and forms are available to the directors

December 2 Payments and forms Due by Mail

January 17-18 Event at UW-Whitewater

Alexander Kaminsky was appointed Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at VanderCook College of Music in 2019 after a highly successful tenure at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. Before that, Kaminsky led the band programs at Buchholz High School, Lincoln High School, Auburndale High School, and Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School, all of which excelled under his direction. He holds degrees from the University of Florida and Indiana University, is active as an adjudicator, and is in demand as a guest conductor/clinician across the country.

Throughout his 30-year career as a high school band director, Kaminsky’s ensembles consistently earned Superior ratings at all levels of evaluation. In addition to earning straight Superior ratings at the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) State Concert Band Assessment for an unprecedented 21 years (the last 11 years with both his first and second bands), he is the only director in the history of the FBA to have had three concert bands from one school earn straight Superior ratings at State. He achieved this three times (2009, 2018, and 2019).

Kaminsky’s high school bands performed at the Midwest Clinic (2005, 2009, 2014, and 2018), ABA National Convention (2014), CBDNA/NBA Southern Division Conference (2004 and 2014), FMEA State Conference (2014), Music for All National Concert Band Festival (2002 and 2012), and the National Wind Band Festival at Carnegie Hall (2009 and 2018). In 2018, the Stoneman Douglas Wind Symphony was named a Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors winner as one of only ten 6A bands in the nation. His marching bands consistently placed in the Florida Marching Band State Championship Finals, winning several FMBC State Championships (including 4 of his last 6 years as a high school band director), as well as being named a finalist band at BOA regional competitions.

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great start to their school year. We wanted to reach out to give you some information about the 2025 WCBA All-State Junior Band!

First, Katie Prihoda has taken over the duties of WCBA President, we would like to introduce ourselves as the new co-chairs for the WCBA All-State Junior Band. First, from the Wausau School District, we have Jacob Jorstad. Working with Jacob is Ryan Waldhart from West Salem Middle School. Jacob worked closely with Katie at this year’s convention in Whitewater and Ryan has been with the WCBA over his 25-year career. Thank you to Katie for continuing the strong tradition of the ASJB, and best wishes in your leadership role! For the next two years while Katie is President, please contact either one of us (Jacob or Ryan) with any questions or concerns about the ASJB.

Next, we are excited for the 2025 WCBA All-State Junior Band! Directors have consistently nominated their best students for this ensemble and we invite you to do the same again this year. This year’s group will be conducted by Kati Seiter, a music educator in Oregon, WI. If you have never had students participate in the All-State Junior Band, don’t hesitate to nominate them for this great event!

The fee for this year will remain at $45 per student.

T-Shirts are now included in this price. Please ask students about their T-Shirt size at the beginning of the school year. This will make the nomination process a lot easier!

PLEASE NOTE…NOMINATIONS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED VIA FORM BELOW (also found on our website)

Please take the time to nominate three or four of your best students for our all-state group. The nomination form must be completed no later than October 13th…Deadlines will be enforced without exception. PRIOR to nominating students, please make sure that students ARE able to attend the honor band. Please also note that we also have one form for directors to fill out (instead of having to enter director info multiple times 🙂 )

TIMELINE:

September 1 through October 13: directors enter nominations via website

November 1: rosters posted and directors notified via email

November 15: music and forms available to directors

December 2: payments and forms due to Ryan via US Mail

January 18 : All-State Junior Band at UW-Whitewater

It is expected that directors register for the convention…please watch for convention registration information.

REPERTOIRE:

Above and Beyond James Swearingen

Carpathia William Owens

Bazaar Randall Standridge

Alpine Meadow Cait Nishimura

Drive Mark Williams

If you have questions please get in touch with Ryan or Jacob at jjorstad@wausauschools.org 715-261-0725 ext.35500 (Horace Mann) or waldhart.ryan@wsalem.k12.wi.us (608)-786-2090. See you in January!

Jacob Jorstad and Ryan Waldhart, All-State Junior Band Co-Chairs

We are excited to have 9 participants thus far, in our partnership between WCBA and composer, Erika Svanoe. We are excited to have the 2025 WCBA Intercollegiate All-State Band premiere this coming January at UW-Whitewater. We still have spots available on the consortium for only $250. Reserve your spot by filling out the short form below. Here are some details:

The consortium is an original work for wind band with a difficulty level of approximately grade 4-5, with a minimum duration of 6 minutes. The subject matter of the piece will based on the title concept “Bolérobot.” It will utilize the melody of Ravel’s Boléro, which enters the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2025. Conceptually, the piece will follow the story of our robot in a pinocchio type journey as they/it strives to become more human. It will start with motivic pieces of the melody at the beginning stated in repetitive patterns, and will gradually form into a full statement of Ravel’s melody as our robot self actualizes near the end of the piece.