2022 VT Honor Band

The Twenty-second Annual Virginia Tech Honor Band will take place Friday, January 21 through Sunday, January 23, 2022. The weekend will culminate with a performance in the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre within the Virginia Tech Moss Arts Center on Sunday, January 23, at 1:00 p.m. This concert is free and open to the public.

Approximately four hundred students from eight states are selected based on nominations from their band director. Student-musicians will spend the weekend in rehearsals, clinics, and performances on the Virginia Tech campus. Bands will be conducted by:

Dr. Derek Shapiro, Director of Bands, Virginia Tech
Dr. Emmett O'Leary, Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music Education, Virginia Tech
Dr. Jack Eaddy, Director of Athletic Bands, Western Carolina University
Dr. Adam Fontana, Assistant Professor of Music-Large Ensembles, SUNY-New Paltz

Information - Dawn Sechrist

Congrats again on being selected for VT Honor Band! I have already given all of you your audition materials. Please make sure you are practicing over break!

Please note that you have to submit your vaccination card as well as your video recorded audition before January 10. I will allow you to use class time the 1st week of school to complete your audition (you can video yourself in the auditorium since it will give you nice acoustics). If you want to do this on your own, you may but please let me know!

Find attached a preliminary schedule. I will take you there and back on Friday, January 21, but you are on your own to get there and back on Saturday and Sunday. You guys will have to decide if you want to participate in the BreakZONE social event or get home early (rehearsal ends at 5pm, breakzone stuff ends at 7pm). I will be there to see your concerts on Sunday.

Don't forget to put your registration fee in the red box! Let me know if you have any questions!

Mrs. Sechrist

Covid Information - VT

Now for the new information, all related to Covid. We know that the Omicron variant is raging through communities right now so in order to host a safe event we are instituting the following:

In addition to anyone on campus needing to be vaccinated and showing proof, all participants must also show proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of stepping foot on campus. This is a new VT policy going into effect and though it most certainly will cause a number of kids to withdraw, it will also increase the safety of the event significantly. Booking a test has been challenging so we recommend students book now to get a date within January 19–21. These tests are free across the country so with planning this should be possible.
Due to this requirement and the inevitability of students testing positive or getting sick, we are not sending out invoices until after the festival. This gives you the flexibility to withdraw students leading up to the event without worrying about money. This also means that we need you to go into the honor band app and update who is attending and who isn't as often as necessary.
Any audience members that attend the honor band concert on Sunday, January 23 in the Moss Arts Center must also show proof of vaccination. We are working on live streaming the concert for people that would like to watch but cannot provide proof of vaccination. We will provide information when we get closer to the event.

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