USA Concert Honor Band Festival
About the Honor Band
We welcome students in grades 9-12 to apply for the University of South Alabama Concert Honor Band to be held Friday, February 6, 2025 - Saturday, February 7, 2026 on the campus of the University of South Alabama!
Hosted in the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center, students will experience a rewarding weekend of music-making! This year's concert honor band will be conducted by nationally recognized conductor and music educator, Professor Stephen W. Pratt, Director of Bands Emeritus at Indiana University. The finale concert will be held in the Laidlaw Performing Ars Center Recital Hall on Saturday evening, February 7, 2026.
Application Process
Students currently in grades 9-12 can apply online beginning Monday, December 1, 2025 through an application link on this page. Students should apply for themselves for consideration. Each student will be required to submit a short audition video that will determine acceptance and seating placement.
Applications will be accepted through Monday, January 12, 2026.
Once the application process is closed, Final acceptance will be posted to this website on Friday, January 16, 2026.
Video Audition Materials
Audition materials will consist of the following:
Woodwinds, Brass, & String Bass: 2026 Alabama All-State High School Lyrical Etude (all). Recordings must be video and a link to the video should be submitted on the application. The link should be publicly viewable so that it can be evaluated.
Percussion: 2026 Alabama All-State High School Snare and High School Mallet Etude. Each recording must be video and a link to the videos should be sumbitted on the application. The links should be publicly viewable so that they can be evaluated.
Piano: A two minute video recording of a concert etude, movement of a sonata, concerto, or similar material. The materials is the applicant's choice but should best demonstrate their technical and lyrical skils on the instrument.
2026 Alabama All-State High School Requirements
Concert Honor Band Festival Features
• Instruction by nationally recognized clinicians and masterclasses by USA faculty
• Concert Honor Band Medal
• Concert Honor Band T-shirt
• Finale Concert
Costs
There is no cost to apply for the University of South Alabama Concert Honor Band. Students who are selected for this event will pay a $50.00 registration fee. This registration fee covers the costs of all features and activities.
Tentative Schedule of Events
University of South Alabama
2026 Concert Honor Band Festival
Schedule of Events - Updated 12/1/25
Friday, February 6, 2026
8:00 AM -8:30 AM - Registration Open (Lobby of the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center)
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM - Welcome Meeting
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM - Sectionals
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM - Break
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM - USA Wind Ensemble Host Concert
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM - Lunch on Own
2:00 PM - 5:00PM - Full Ensemble Rehearsal (Recital Hall Stage)
5:00PM - 6:30PM - Dinner on Own
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM - Full Ensemble Rehearsal (Recital Hall Stage)
9:30 PM - Rehearsal complete
- Students must depart for hotels or local residences.
- Chaperones and Band Directors in attendance are responsible for students.
- Secure areas will be made available for storage of instruments.
Saturday, February 7, 2026
8:15 AM - Laidlaw Performing Arts Center open for students wishing to warm-up or practice
8:55 AM - All student participants should be seated in their ensemble, warming up
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Rehearsal (Recital Hall Stage)
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM - Lunch Break (on your own)
1:30 PM - 4:00 PM - Rehearsal (Recital Hall Stage)
4:00 PM - Break
6:00 PM - Finale Concert (Laidlaw Recital Hall) – FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC!
Professor Stephen W. Pratt - Director of Bands Emeritus at Indiana University
Stephen W. Pratt was a member of the IU Jacobs School of Music faculty from 1984 to
2018 and currently is Professor of Music Emeritus. From 2005 to 2018 he was Professor
of Music (Wind Conducting) and Director of Bands, personally conducting the internationally
renowned Indiana University Wind Ensemble. In addition to his administrative responsibilities
as department chair and service on many Jacobs School of Music and Bloomington campus
committees, he taught graduate conducting and wind band history in the Wind Conducting
program. His appearances with the Indiana University Wind Ensemble over the years
included a showcase concert at the New York Wind Ensemble Festival in Carnegie Hall,
the CBDNA national conventions in Nashville, Tennessee, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, as
well as a CBDNA divisional convention in Normal, Illinois, the Music Educators National
Conference (now NAFME) national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the American
Bandmasters Association national convention in Indianapolis.
After he succeeded his mentor and colleague, Ray Cramer, as conductor, the IU Wind Ensemble presented premieres or commission premieres of a number of works, including compositions by Samuel Adler, James Beckel, Robert Beaser, Kevin Bobo, William Bolcom, Steven Bryant, David DeBoor Canfield, Chia-Ying Chang, Eric Ewazen, David Dzubay, Don Freund, David Maslanka, Cindy McTee, Michael Mower, André Previn, James Primosch, Joel Puckett, Andrew Rindfleisch, Chris Rutkowski, Michael Schelle, James Stephenson, John Stevens, Kevin Walczyk, David Ward- Steinman, Dana Wilson, and Gregory Youtz.
He was the conductor of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra from 1995-2000, leading the ensemble successfully through its 30th Anniversary season. During his tenure the orchestra expanded in size, premiered several compositions, and helped open its new concert home, the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre. Guest artists with Pratt and the BSO included, among others, Corey Cerovsek, Leonard Hokanson, Howard Klug, Dominic Spera, John Winninger, Diane Rivera, Deanna Hahn Little, Sara Caswell, and the Bloomington Chamber Singers. A founding member of the Bloomington Pops Orchestra, he also appeared as a guest soloist and a guest conductor several times.
Prior to his appointment to the IU faculty in 1984, he taught for several years in the public schools of Sturgis, Michigan, taking his Sturgis HS Symphony Band to a number of convention and festival performances. In 1993, he was a national recipient of The Distinguished Service to Music Medal awarded by Kappa Kappa Psi, the national collegiate band honorary organization. In 1998, he was honored with the Outstanding Bandmaster Award by the Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Mu. In 2001, he was honored with the Outstanding University Music Educator Award, given by the Indiana Music Educators Association. In 2014, he was awarded the James B. Calvert Outstanding Music Educator Award. In 2017, he received The Paula A. Crider Outstanding Band Director Award from the national council of Tau Beta Sigma, and in 2018 he received the Outstanding Hoosier Musician award from the Indiana Music Education Association.
Professor Pratt is in constant demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator of bands and orchestras across the nation. He is a member of the American Bandmasters Association, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the National Association for Music Education (MENC)/IMEA, Phi Beta Mu, and the Indiana Bandmasters Association. He has served as president of the Big Ten Band Directors Association, the Indiana Bandmasters Association, and the North Central Division of the College Band Directors National Association. His graduate conducting students (MM, DM, PhD) hold prominent positions at some of the leading colleges and universities in the United States and internationally, as well as at outstanding high schools and academies.
He holds degrees from Indiana University and The University of Michigan. Recordings of his ensembles include many performances available from online sources, as well as CDs made with the IU Marching Hundred, the Bloomington Oratorio Orchestra, the Bloomington Pops Orchestra, recordings from convention appearances and a compilation CD released by Mark Records of the IU Wind Ensemble in 2018 – Live! From the Jacobs School of Music.
He is married to Darlene, a clarinetist and former band teacher/conductor who holds two degrees from the Jacobs School of Music and is a former president of the IU School of Music Alumni Association. They have two children, Abigail and Nathan, both of whom are honors graduates of the IU Jacobs School of Music.