Eastern Illinois University :: Department of Music

37th Annual HS Honor Band Festival

Saturday, December 7, 2024—8:30am-5:15pm

This year the EIU High School Honor Band Festival will consist of two ensembles.

Both the Audition Video Submision deadline and the Band Director Recommendation is 10:00pm on Monday, November 4th.

Honor Band—Festival Audition Application and Video Link

The EIU HS Honor Band festival will bring approximately 120-150 of the best high school band students around Illinois and Indiana to campus for a day of rehearsals, master classes, a faculty recital, and a culminating concert conducted by the EIU band directors.

To be considered for participation in the honor band festival, students must submit an audition video and an online application. The EIU HS Honor Band Director recommendation form is also required. The video audition procedure is similar to the Illinois All-State audition video submission, and using the same video is encouraged. For those who did not audition for All-State, alternative audition material and submission instructions are below.

All participating students will receive lunch, a t-shirt, and all instruction and materials for only $25/student. All-State and FME participants from the 2023-2024 academic year pay only $10 to participate. All participants and audience members will hear a performance by the EIU Wind Symphony to conclude the day.

Click here to see a schedule for the day.

HS Honor Band Wind Symphony Audition Procedures:

There are two ways for students to audition for the EIU HS Honor Band.

#1 Students must complete a short, online form (linked below). At the end of the form the student will be asked to submit a link to their ILMEA District Festival audition video. If a student would prefer to re-film their video to audition for the festival, that is fine. Simply follow the instructions outlined for the original video submission.
#2 Students who would like to audition for the EIU HS Honor Band but did not audition or prepare the music for the ILMEA band instrument auditions are invited to prepare different audition material. Please click the link for your instrument at the bottom of this page. The link will take you to a packet which contains detailed audition and submission instructions. Essentially, students will prepare 4 major scales, a full range chromatic scale, and a few short excerpts from the standard band repertoire. Lastly, the auditioning student should record their video, upload it to YouTube (instructions are provided in the audition excerpt packet), and complete the short online form (linked below)

You will be asked to copy and paste a YouTube audition link at the end of your application form. Please do not click this link and complete the form until your video is ready to upload.

Honor Band Festival Audition Application and Video Link

Honor Band Festival Director Recommendation

Acceptance and Payment:

All students who auditioned will be notified via e-mail by regarding their acceptance into the groups. Directors of selected students will also be notified via e-mail.

Once students are notified of their participation in the Honor Band Festival, payment should be postmarked by Friday, November 22. If extenuating circumstances arise with regards to the payment deadline, please contact

The cost is $25/student. 2023-2024 All-State and FME participants should pay $10/student. Checks should be made out to "EIU." Please mail payments to:

EIU Band Program, Attn: HS Honor Band Festival, 2620 Doudna, 600 Lincoln Ave., Charleston, IL 61920.