Essentially, an honor band is an ensemble that is made up of individuals from different high schools (in this case, from the Tri-State area of Northern Kentucky, Eastern Indiana, and Southern Ohio), all coming together for a shared purpose of music-making.
There really is no application...students are nominated for participation by their band director.
In general, we are looking for wind band instrumentation. That means, most of the woodwind instruments, most of the brass instruments, percussion instruments, and harp, string bass, and piano. Any high school student in the states of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio is eligible to be nominated.
No. Any 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grader in the states mentioned above is eligible.
We select students based on a number of factors, including director rank, seniority, previous participation in honor bands, and of course, instrumental need. If you are not a senior, and you don't get selected this year, we encourage you to try again!
If you are home-schooled and want to participate in the Symposium, we can arrange for a brief video audition that substitutes for the band director recommendation.
The cost for this year's Symposium is $75. It includes a t-shirt, Saturday lunch, and contributes toward the cost of sheet music and our guest conductors.
This year's Symposium runs from Friday, 16 August to Sunday, 18 August 2026.
All events take place on the campus of Northern Kentucky University, at the Fine Arts building, also known as SOTA (School of the Arts). Performances take place at Greaves Hall, which is attached to the SOTA building.
Except for large percussion items (bass drum, timpani, chimes, etc.), you will need to bring your own instruments. We will provide you with sheet music for the performance, but you should bring music for your seating audition.
We do not provide any form of transportation. I encourage you to speak with your band or orchestra director...in the past, directors have brought students to campus on buses, although you can also be dropped off by a parent or drive yourself if you have a car.
Except for the Saturday lunch, meals are not provided and you will need to provide your own.
For the concert, you will want to wear concert attire. For more information, see the Symposium Information page (near the bottom).
We typically will have a photographer taking pictures on the Saturday of the event, and the Sunday Finale concert is recorded. Recordings are placed in a Google Drive for participants to download at their own leisure.
Students are placed into one of two ensembles (Wind Symphony or Wind Orchestra) based on the strength of their audition.
Please contact Dr. Nikk Pilato, Director of Bands, and he will answer your question if he is able to.
