Wisconsin Concert Band Association
2023 Fall Newsletter
President's Message
Greetings WCBA Colleagues:
It has truly been an honor to serve as the NBA-WC, and now the WCBA president for the past few years. Working with all of you has been an inspiration and source of energy for me. As I enter the final year of my term, I can’t say enough about the dedicated group of individuals on our board of directors. This group has worked diligently to bring our organization through a major transition over the past couple of years, and I really look forward to seeing the growth and new direction that the WCBA is working towards. I want to thank all of YOU (our members) for working with us through this transition. Because of you, our first convention as the WCBA was a huge success. I would like to thank Dr. Devin Otto of UW-Oshkosh one more time for his excellent job as convention host!
This is an exciting time for the WCBA as our convention is moving to UW-Whitewater, and will be hosted by Dr. Glenn Hayes on January 18-21, 2024. Please plan to join us for an amazing weekend. Some highlights of our convention include our fantastic guest conductors:
WCBA Intercollegiate Band - Dr. Carolyn Barber, director
WCBA All-State Band - Dr. Lowell Graham, director
WCBA Junior All-State Band - Jason Rygg, director
In addition to some great All-State performances, we are excited to welcome four guest bands who were selected to perform based on their outstanding recording submissions:
Friday:
LaCrosse Central High School - Jacob Klingbeil, director
Oregon Middle School - Kati Seiter, director
Saturday:
Winneconne High School Concert Band - Stephanie Rahn, director
UW Milwaukee Youth Wind and Percussion Ensembles - Dr. Scott Corley, director
In closing, I want to wish all of you the best for this new school year. Please know that you are surrounded by colleagues and friends who are here to support you. Feel free to reach out to me, or any other board members with questions or ideas. I know your job can be tough, but we have a great network of support through the WCBA. Please invite directors that you know to become a member of this excellent organization. Above all, remember that you don’t just teach band, you teach kids. Enjoy them, support them, love them throughout this school year. I look forward to seeing you soon, either at the convention or at our WMEA conference booth.
Best Regards,
Kristen D. Kirch
Music Educator, Grades 6-12 Band
Chequamegon School District
President, Wisconsin Concert Band Association
Membership
NEED TO RENEW YOUR WCBA MEMBER?
LOOKING TO BECOME A FIRST-TIME MEMBER?
Scan the QR code or go tour website link:
Honors Bands
September 2023 Intercollegiate Honors Band Article
The Intercollegiate Honors Band will be featured on the Friday, January 19, 2024 - 9:00 pm concert at UW-Whitewater. The group of 60 - 70 musicians has featured students from multiple Wisconsin Colleges and Universities. Our 2024 conductor is Dr. Carolyn Barber from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. College directors should be receiving information from me Labor Day week about nominating students via e-mail. Applications can also be found at the WCBA website (https://wisconsincba.org/) The cost for students is $20 and will include the state convention registration.
The program for the college group will be:
Nelson – Sonoran Desert Holiday
Etezady – Against the Rain
Vaughan Williams, arr. Daehn – The Running Set
Maslanka – California
Cross – Looking at the Stars
Respectfully submitted by
Rob Doersam NBA-WC Intercollegiate Honors Band Chair
WCBA All-State Band Update
The 2024 WCBA All State Band will be conducted by Col Lowell Graham, USAF Ret. (Bio Linked Below)
Lowell has submitted the following program for us:
Festival – Clifton Williams
They Hung Their Harps in the Willows – Francis McBeth
Battle Royal – Fred Jewell
Journey Through Orion – Julie Giroux
Satiric Dances – Dello Joio
Fee for the experience is $135. This includes all meals, one night of housing and fees for conductor etc.
Please consider having your top musicians apply for this activity. The link to apply is here:
Timeline for the Year
October 13 Applications Due
November 1 Roster posted and directors notified by email
November 15 Music and Forms Available to Directors
December 1 Payments and forms Due by Mail
January 19-20 Event at UW-Whitewater
All-State Junior Band News
We are excited for the 2024 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 Jason Rygg, a music educator in Sioux Falls, SD. He is an amazing educator, and he is excited to work with our wonderful students. He has a great program put together and the students are going to enjoy working with him. 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.
PLEASE NOTE…NOMINATIONS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED VIA THE WCBA WEBSITE
Please take the time to nominate three or four of your best students for our all-state group. On the WCBA website, click on the link for All State Junior Band and then on “Nominations.” If for any reason you have difficulty with this process, please contact me directly. The nomination form must be completed no later than October 13th…Deadlines will be enforced without exception.
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 1: payments and forms due to me via US Mail
January 20: All-State Junior Band at UW-Whitewater
It is expected that directors register for the convention…please watch for convention registration information.
REPERTOIRE:
Skygazer Fanfare Randall D. Standridge
Celtic Air and Dance No. 2 arr. Michael Sweeney
Awake the Iron Scott Watson
Everybody Loves a March arr. James D. Ployhar
If you have questions please get in touch with me at katherineprihoda@tomah.education
or by phone at (608) 374-7931. See you in January!
Katie Prihoda, All-State Junior Band Chair
Convention Information
2024 Proposals for Clinics
WCBA is accepting proposals for clinics at the 2024 State Convention at UW-Whitewater. Clinics will occur on Friday, January 19 and Saturday, January 20. The link for submitting proposals is under the "Clinics" tab on the WCBA website.
Special Considerations:
All proposals are welcome, although special interest is given to the following topics:
- Repertoire: quality hidden gems within the band library at a variety of difficulty levels
- Building relationships with other staff in your schools (administrative assistants, custodial staff, activities/athletic director, etc)
- New licensure support/mentoring new teachers
- Band after Covid
- Inclusivity in the band program (band for all students)
- Instrumental tips and tricks
- Advocacy
- Small-school band successes
- Panel discussions on topics (listed above or others) as a collaboration with other directors
Please submit all proposals by October 1. Selected clinicians will be contacted by November 1. If you have any questions, please contact Paula Neuzil at paula.neuzil@brf.org.
2024 Convention Guest Bands
Congratulations to the following groups who were selected as guest bands for the 2024 WCBA Convention!
Friday, January 19th
La Crosse Central High School Wind Ensemble
Jacob Klingbeil, conductor
Oregon Middle School 8th Grade Band
Kati Seiter, conductor
Saturday, January 20th
Winneconne High School Concert Band
Stephanie Rahn, conductor
UW-Milwaukee Youth Wind & Percussion Ensembles
Dr. Scott Corley, conductor
2025 Commission Project
Following the success of our 2019 commissioning project with Robert Sheldon, we are working with composer and Wisconsin native Erika Svanoe to add another excellent new work to the wind band repertoire. Bolerobot, will be based on themes from Maurice Ravel’s famous work Boléro. The difficulty level is expected to be a Grade 4+. The premiere performance is planned for our January 2025 concert, performed by the WCBA Intercollegiate Band. Conceptually, the piece will follow the story of our robot in a pinocchio type journey as 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.
We are looking for your band program and/or band booster to be a sponsor of this Wisconsin Concert Band Association Project composed by Wisconsin Native, Erika Svanoe. The fee includes a copy of unpublished parts and your Organization/Name listed on the unpublished score as a member of the “consortium” for this project. Also included will be your Organization/Name in Wisconsin Concert Band Association State Convention Finale Concert Program for the year of the premier, 2025.
Please visit our website at https://wisconsincba.org and click on the COMMISSIONING PROJECT tab for payment details. Upon receipt of credit card payment, you will receive further details as to how you would like your Organization/Name to appear on the score.
Please contact Ryan Waldhart if you prefer to pay by check: waldhart.ryan@wsalem.k12.wi.us
Award Requests
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.