High Plains Band and Choir Festival
The CSC Music Department will host the 53nd High Plains Band and Choir Honor Festival on February 3-4, 2025. Eligible participants are high school students who have an interest in music, would like to further their musical knowledge, and want to have FUN making music with other students who share the same interest.
Students selected for the High Plains Band and Choir Music Festival participate in two days of rehearsals and activities culminating in a concert at the end of the second day at Chadron State College located in beautiful northwest Nebraska. Ensembles include an Honor Band, Honor Choir (SATB), and a guitar ensemble.
The final concert will begin at 5:00pm MST on Tuesday, February 4 in Memorial Hall Auditorium.
For 2025, we are please to be able to have two guest conductors.
The guest choir conductor is Dr. Alyssa Cossey, Associate Director of Choral Activities at Coastal Carolina University. She maintains a website at: http://www.alyssacossey.com/
The guest band director is Dr. Michael Stewart, Associate Director of Bands at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Here is his faculty page: http://utbands.utk.edu/dr-michael-stewart/
High Plains Festival Schedule Information
Schedules for all the directors and participants will be provided when you check-in to the Festival.
On Monday, February 3, check-in opens at 8am in the main lobby of Memorial Hall. Rehearsal begins at 9am. The Monday rehearsal day ends at 4:45.
At 5pm, the CSC Jazz Ensemble, CSC Vocal Jazz, and the CSC Faculty Jazz Combo will present a performance on the stage in the Memorial Hall auditorium. We hope you will all stay for this concert.
On Tuesday, Feb 4, rehearsal begins at 8:30am. The Honor Choir and Honor Band concert is at 5pm.
High Plains Festival Rosters
2025 HP Honor Band Roster - Jan 2025 Update
Honor Band music will be available online this year. Band directors with students in the Honor Band will be emailed a link and password to download the parts to all the music.
2025 High Plains Honor Choir Roster
High Plains Honor Choir Practice Audio Files
Choir practice files are provided so that you can practice your part and sing along with an audio track.
Registration Forms
We will be using a new registration process this year. Any high school age musician wishing to audition for the High Plains Festival will complete an online registration form and upload an audio file, a video file, or a YouTube link at the time they register.
***CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE HIGH PLAINS HONOR BAND AND CHOIR FESTIVAL*** REGISTRATION IS CLOSED
Audition Submission Fee
There is a fee of $20 for each person who submits an audition.
With our new registration system, we will be able to invoice high schools for the audition fee. Directors do not need to send in a list of the students who submitted auditions. We will include the list of students who submitted auditions with the invoice.
Please submit payments by school check or purchase order only. Make checks payable to: CSC Department of Music.
Mail the payments to: Music Office Administrator, Memorial Hall, Chadron State College, 1000 Main St. Chadron, NE 69337.
Audition deadlines for this year's High Plains Festival is Friday, November 15, 2024.
Audition Materials
Choral Audition
High Plains Choral Excerpt Instructions 2025
High Plains Choral Excerpt 2025
High Plains Choral Practice Audio Files
Band Audition
2025 High Plains Band Audition Score
2025 High Plains Band Audition Woodwinds
2025 High Plains Band Audition Brass
2025 High Plains Band Audition Percussion
Here are videos of Dr. Puzzo performing the two percussion audition videos.
2025 High Plains Snare Drum Etude
2025 High Plains Xylophone Etude
Guitar and Electric Bass Registration
The High Plains Guitar and Electric Bass Ensemble is open to all high school students. There is no audition required to register for Guitar or Electric Bass.
Students are encouraged to submit performance videos of a song or excerpt that they are currently working on, but it is not required for registrations. The videos will be used to help select appropriate music and lessons for the festival.
***CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE HIGH PLAINS HONOR BAND AND CHOIR FESTIVAL*** REGISTRATION IS CLOSED***
