BGSU High School Honor Band

Dr. Michael Knight currently serves as Director of Bands and Lecturer of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. His duties at UWGB include directing the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and teaching courses in conducting and music education. Dr. Knight has also served on the faculties of the University of Delaware, St. Norbert College, Iowa Wesleyan University, and the University of Missouri. His work with the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble is featured on the Bruce Tychinski recording Interplay, highlighting new works for trombone and wind band. Prior to his collegiate teaching career, Dr. Knight taught in the public schools of Missouri. He holds degrees from the University of Missouri, the University of Georgia and the University of Iowa. Dr. Knight has served as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the nation and is a regular contributor to the Teaching Music through Performance in Band textbook series.

Rubén Darío Gómez is the current Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. His responsibilities include teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting as well as leading the SIUE Wind Symphony. He is also the coordinator of the SIUE Bi-State Honor Band Festival. His is also an active participant in the composition studio.

Originally from Colombia, Dr. Gómez earned his DMA degree in wind band conducting and secondary area in composition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as his Master of Music at Middle Tennessee State University, and his Bachelor of Music at Universidad Industrial de Santander (Colombia).

Prior to his appointments in the United States, he taught at two universities in his country for twelve years and worked as a national advisor in the band program for the Ministry of Culture, as well as a music director of his own school of music, Corporación Cultural Mochila Cantora. He has developed a career as a composer, conductor, adjudicator, and pedagogue, that is widely recognized in his country and in many Latin American countries. His pieces have been performed and published in Colombia, Europe and in the U.S. He has conducted bands and orchestras in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and in the United States. Some important awards include: National Music Prize in Composition (Colombia 2012), National Scholarship for Colombians studying abroad (2016), and the American Student Composer Competition held by the Met Winds in Boston (2019). He is a recipient of the Hixon-Lied Fellowship and the F. Pace Woods Scholarship, offered by the Hixon-Lied College of Performing Arts at UNL. He is the current co-director of the Edwardsville Municipal Band and the Associate Director of the Saint Louis Wind Symphony.

Dr. Erika Svanoe (b. 1976) is a conductor and composer for wind band, known for her lyrical melodies, nods to classic literature, musical deconstruction, humor, and pastiche. Her works have been performed by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, the United States Navy Band, the National Concert Band of America, featured at the Midwest Clinic, the American Bandmasters Association National Conference, and the Boston New Music Festival, and on Wisconsin Public Radio, in Bandworld's Top 100, and the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. Her first major work, The Haunted Carousel, won the 2014 NBA Young Band Composition Contest. Her first album, "The Music of Erika Svanoe," was recorded by Andrew Boysen, Jr. and the University of New Hampshire Wind Symphony, and released in 2022.

As a conductor, Dr. Svanoe has held residencies with the Manhattan School of Music, USAF Heritage of America Band, the Atlanta Freedom Bands, and numerous universities. She has held collegiate appointments at Augsburg University, Bemidji State University, and the University of New Hampshire. She is active as a guest conductor and clinician, appearing with high school, university, All-State and festival ensembles across the United States.

She earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from The Ohio State University under Russel C. Mikkelson, where she served as conductor of the OSU Collegiate Winds, assistant conductor of the OSU Wind Symphony, and taught undergraduate conducting classes. Her DMA dissertation included a critical edition of Aaron Copland's El Salón México for wind ensemble. She holds a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.

Her music is published through Alfred Music, G.Schirmer/AMP, and self-published through Swan Maiden Press. She is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). She is also the creator and publisher of Marrying Mr. Darcy, the Pride & Prejudice card game, ​and occasionally advocates and speaks on the topic of arts entrepreneurship, with appearances at the XOXO Festival and in a variety of gaming-related media. Originally from Whitewater, Wisconsin, she currently lives in Menomonie, WI with her husband, designer and graphic novelist Erik Evensen.

Dr. Kenneth Thompson currently serves as professor in the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.  His responsibilities include conducting ensembles in the band area, teaching graduate and undergraduate conducting, repertoire and pedagogy. Additionally, he serves on the conducting staff of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Wu Family Academy where he directs the DSO Civic Wind Symphony and the CYE Philharmonic Orchestra. A graduate of Limestone College (SC) with a double major in music education and trumpet, Thompson received a master's degree in music education and doctorate in conducting from The University of Iowa. Previous professional appointments include Artistic Director and Conductor of the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras and associate conductor of the St. Louis Wind Symphony and Chamber Winds.  He has conducted numerous performances of world premieres, commissions, television and radio broadcasts and critically acclaimed recordings.

With publications in the Journal of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Journal of Band Research, Journal of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors, School Band and Orchestra Magazine, Journal of the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association, The Instrumentalist, Bandmusic PDF Archives and the BCM International Web Archive, Dr. Thompson maintains a reputation as both a scholar and performer.  He has appeared as a guest conductor, lecturer or clinician for the International Society for Music Education, the National Conference of the College Band Directors National Association, the National Conference of the MENC, the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Texas, Virginia, Michigan, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, West Virginia, Ohio and Missouri Music Educators Association conferences, the Missouri Bandmasters conference, the Midwest Composers Symposium and the Iowa Center for New Music.  In demand as a guest conductor and lecturer, Thompson maintains an active schedule with engagements throughout the United States, Canada, Thailand, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and China.

Dr. Thompson is an advocate of new music and expanding the repertoire. Along with commercial recordings receiving votes in the Grammy™ Entry List appearance for Album of the Year; Best Engineered Album, Classical, and Best Orchestral Performance, critics have written the following about Dr. Thompson’s work:

“First impressions matter, and BGSU’s wind symphony makes an overwhelmingly positive one. Unison playing is completely silken, and tone clusters are tuned perfectly. The ensemble playing within sections is remarkable, and the band as a whole is balanced evenly.”

Fanfare Magazine

“the music’s power is certainly enough to make its point on its own, captured in a vital, present recording and played with real grit here”

“an enjoyable disc of imaginative music performed to a professional standard and an auspicious beginning to what should be an intriguing series”

Colin Clarke, Gramophone and International Record Review

“a powerful disc that draws the listener in and never lets go”

Amazon Rating

★★★★★

Application Letter

Nomination Form

Thursday

3-5:00 pm         Arrive and check in*

3-6:30 pm         AUDITIONS

4-6:30 pm         BGSU College Fair /Campus Tours

6:30 pm            Meet in Kobacker Hall and depart for dinner

7:45 pm            Return from Dinner, BGSU Wind Symphony

8 pm                BGSU Wind Symphony Concert

9 pm                All Student Participant Meeting (commuters leave at conclusion)

9:30 pm            Resident Student Transport to Hotel

11 pm               Lights Out

Friday

7:00 am            Breakfast at hotel for residents

7:30 am            Residents leave hotel

8:30 am            REHEARSALS BEGIN

1:00 pm            LUNCH

2:30 pm            Masterclasses/Sessions

3:30 pm            REHEARSALS

6:30 pm            DINNER

8:00 pm            SPECIAL CONCERT: BGSU Jazz Lab Band I

9:15 pm            Resident Student Transport to Hotel/Commuters Released

11:00 pm           Lights Out

Saturday

7:00 am             Breakfast at hotel for residents

7:30 am             Residents leave hotel – check out and bring all belongings

~~WEAR CONCERT ATTIRE!!~~

8:30 am             REHEARSALS BEGIN

11:30 am           Lunch

1:00 pm             Meet in Rehearsal Rooms for final concert preparation; Brown Band on Stage

1:00 pm             FINAL CONCERT

                        1:00     Brown Band

                        1:30     White Band

                        2:00     Orange Band

How do I get nominated for the BGSU High School Honor Band?

All nominations must come from your school director or a private teacher. Your teacher can contact us at bgsubands@bgsu.edu to get the nomination forms.

How will I know if I’m selected?

All communication is done via the email provided for you on the nomination forms. If selected, you and your teacher will receive an email from us with registration and acceptance forms.

What if I’m having trouble returning my acceptance forms?

All forms must be returned electronically. Most smartphones will let you take a picture of the forms and email them as a PDF document. The ‘Notes’ app on an iPhone works well, but GeniusScan is a free app that many people use.

How do I pay to participate and do you offer scholarships?

Unfortunately we are unable to offer scholarships or financial assistance. All payments must be made electronically through our EMarket. The links for that will be in your acceptance materials.

What does it mean when it asks if I will be a resident or commuter?

Resident students are housed in the hotel (see more information below) and commuter students arrive and depart each day for all activities and do not stay in our hotel.

What is included in the price to participate?

Cost of all instruction
BGSU Honor Band Shirt
BGSU Wind Symphony Concert on Thursday night
BGSU Jazz Band Concert on Friday night
Master Class or other professional presentation on Friday
Final concert by all HSHB participants on Saturday afternoon
Dinner (all you can eat) on campus on Thursday
Breakfast at hotel on Friday (resident only)
Morning snack of fruit and water on Friday morning
Lunch (all you can eat) on campus on Friday
Dinner (all you can eat) on campus on Friday
Breakfast at hotel on Saturday (resident only)
Morning snack of fruit and water on Saturday morning
Lunch (all you can eat) on campus on Saturday

What if I will be a resident participant and staying in the hotel?

Students staying in the hotel are considered ‘resident students’, and for the student only the BGSU Band Office make quad-occupancy hotel arrangements. Chartered bus service to/from BGSU to the hotel is provided.

What if my family wants to stay with me for the duration of the event in a hotel?

Sometimes families want to accompany participants. In this case, families would simply make their own hotel accommodations and register as a commuter student. For questions about this, or preferred hotel rates reach out to us directly.

What if I have dietary restrictions? Do I need to bring my own meals?

Our full-service dining facilities can manage any food restriction or dietary need. We will use the information you provide in your acceptance forms to coordinate any meal accommodations needed.

Can I bring my own food and snacks?

For the safety of all participants bringing food and snacks is discouraged. Healthy snacks of fruit and water are provided for all participants each day. There is a special “snack store” available at the hotel for resident students. Please bring cash – small bills preferred – to buy items at the hotel store. Food deliveries are strictly prohibited to the hotel and to the campus. Any DoorDash, UberEats, etc. deliveries will be refused.

Do I need to bring money?

All meals and snacks are provided, so the only reason you might need some cash is if you plan to purchase things in the hotel. Please bring small bills if you plan to purchase from our “snack store” in the hotel.

What should I wear?

The final concert is performed in the BGSU shirt we provide and denim (blue jeans) so you do not need a uniform or ‘dress clothes’. For the event, you should dress comfortably, but know that you will be walking short distances outside to meals, so dressing in layers with a coat is ideal. Most likely what you would normally wear to school is appropriate.

Do I need to audition?

The selection to participate is done through the nominations, but all accepted students take a brief, live audition when arriving on campus for the event. Detailed information about the audition is provided in the acceptance materials.

I still have questions! What should I do?

There is a chance we have not addressed something you need. Please reach out to us directly at bgsubands@bgsu.edu so we may assist you.