Student Nomination and Selection

We invite high school band directors to nominate student musicians for this exciting experience. The deadline to nominate students is Friday, January 5.

 

Students selected for the Honor Bands must arrive on campus by Thursday, February 5, by 3 PM.  Auditions for the band, part assignment, and chair placement will be held between 3-5 PM.  We use an online application on the Honor Band website to nominate prospective UofM Honor Band members.  Please nominate ONLY those students who will be able to participate if selected.  Students will be selected in the following manner:

1. Complete the online nomination form. Please indicate the ranking order for your students on the form by entering them in the appropriately numbered tabs.  Enter all students at one time before submitting the form. After submitting the form, you will receive a confirmation email with your submitted information.  Letters to directors and student musicians will be emailed to directors shortly after the deadline.  The list of music to be performed and final instructions will be forwarded at that time.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO PAY WHEN NOMINATING STUDENTS.
2. The first student-musician from each school ranked by the high school band director will automatically be selected. Please be careful when nominating percussionists and saxophonists with a ranking of first.  Remember that we will take those students nominated first by you and can accept only a limited number of students in those sections (saxophone and percussion).
3. The student from each school ranked second will probably be selected, depending on the nominated number, musical awards and achievements, and instrumentation needs.
4. Each school's members will be selected to balance instrumentation based on your nomination and their musical honors, awards, and/or achievements.
5. Audition music: Students are asked to prepare a solo or etude that best displays their ability. They may also play the music prepared for their Music Educators Association tryout: All-West, All-Region, All-State, etc.  Students will be asked to perform scales and sightreading along with the prepared selections.  Percussionists should prepare short excerpts on snare, timpani, and keyboard.

Please note: Each student will be charged a $40 participation fee, including dinner on Friday evening and an Honor Band patch.  This amount will be collected in advance with one combined payment from each school after completing student-musician selections.

We hope you will plan to nominate students to participate in the UofM Honor Band Festival.  We look forward to receiving your nominations.

All participants will need to complete a University of Memphis Parental Consent Form to participate.

Conductors

GRAY BAND Dr. Albert Nguyen Gray Band Conductor	BLUE BAND John Burdett Blue Band Conductor	.

Dr. Albert Nguyen

Dr. Albert Nguyen is the Director of Bands at the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, where he also leads the Conducting Area and serves as Executive Director of the Summer at the Scheidt Music Camps. His primary responsibilities include overseeing the University Bands Program, conducting the Wind Ensemble, directing the graduate Wind Conducting Program, and teaching graduate-level courses in wind/band repertoire and rehearsal techniques. 

Under Dr. Nguyen’s leadership, the University of Memphis Wind Ensemble has performed at prestigious events including the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Southern Division Conference, the Tennessee Music Education Association (TNMEA) All-State Conference, and international venues in Austria and Italy. He is a sought-after conductor and clinician, having worked with ensembles across the United States, including All-State Bands in Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Texas. His presentations on leadership, conducting, and rehearsal strategies have been featured at the Midwest Clinic and numerous music educator conferences nationwide. 

Dr. Nguyen began his professional career as Director of Bands at Morrilton High School in Morrilton, Arkansas. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Arkansas Tech University and both his Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Wind Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin. 

In recognition of his excellence in teaching, creative activity, and service, Dr. Nguyen has been honored with the Pearl Wales Professorship and the First Tennessee Professorship at the University of Memphis. He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Beta Mu, and the American Bandmasters Association, and currently serves on the Diversity Committee for the College Band Directors National Association. 

John Burdett

Dr. John Burdett is an Associate Professor in the Azusa Pacific University School of Music where he serves as Director of Music Education and Wind Ensemble conductor.  His duties include facilitating the music education program, and teaching graduate students pursuing the Master of Music in Conducting and the Master of Music in Music Education degrees. Under his leadership, the APU Wind Ensemble have presented acclaimed performances at the 2018 California All State Music Education Conference and Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association conference and been part of commissioning notable composers including Bill Connor, Dana Wilson, James Stephenson, David Biedenbender, Gary Kuo and John Mackey. Their recording of choral compositions set for wind band by Sir John Rutter, Z. Randall Stroope and Kevin Memley, have been utilized by music publishers such as TRN and Imagine Publishing as source recordings for conductors and teachers throughout the world.  As a leading member of the California Wind Band Commission Consortium, the Wind Ensemble commissioned and premiered RISE by acclaimed contemporary composer Adam Schoenberg.

Dr. Burdett completed music education and conducting degrees at Azusa Pacific University and California State University, Los Angeles before earning the Doctorate of Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he served as a teaching assistant in the Music Education and Band Divisions. In addition to his dissertation research into the experiences of students with hearing loss in instrumental music, John’s research interests include the performance practice of symphonic compositions with South and Central American stylistic influences, the psychosocial components of conducting, the democratization of decision making in large concert ensembles, and increasing accessibility to music education for marginalized student populations. He is fortunate to have had extensive conducting study with Dr. Abel Ramirez, Prof. James F. Keene, and Dr. Roby George, in addition to masterclass study with Donald Hunsberger, Col. Timothy Foley and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Dr. Burdett conducts, performs on saxophone, and records throughout the Los Angeles area and has toured in the United States and Japan with a variety of classical, jazz and commercial ensembles. He has published and presented his research at European and American conferences, including the International Society for Music Education, Spirituality and Music Education, and California Music Educators Association and contributed to the Peter Lang (Oxford) series. Dr. Burdett has conducted regional and state honor bands and orchestras in Texas and California, andserves as lead adjudicator with the Music Center of Los Angeles Spotlight Awards Classical Instrumental Division.    

In his efforts to support the pursuits of instrumental music teachers and their students, Dr. Burdett co-founded both the California Wind Band Commission Consortium and the Arcadia Music and Arts Symposium and serves on the SCSBOA Festival Adjudication committee. Most importantly, after dedicating 25 years to developing student musicians, Dr. Burdett takes pride in seeing his former students serve as professional teachers and conductors, from the elementary to the professional level in California and around the world.