Dorian Band Festival
February 25-26, 2024
Calling all band directors! Each year we invite band directors to nominate high school band students to attend the Dorian Band Festival. Approximately 500 students are typically accepted to participate in the festival where students are placed in one of four bands: 9/10 Festival Mass Band, 11/12 Festival Mass Band, the select Festival Symphonic Band, as well as the select Festival Jazz Band. In addition to rehearsals, students will have the chance to participate in a private lesson with Luther College faculty. This lesson may serve as a time to work one on one with faculty, an audition to be an outstanding concert soloist, or it may serve as a music scholarship audition for seniors who are interested in attending Luther College. The Luther College Concert Band and Jazz Orchestra perform for the festival participants on Sunday evening, along with our outstanding Dorian Concert Soloists. The four festival bands perform in a Grand Concert on Monday evening.
NEW THIS YEAR:
- We are adding an auditioned Jazz Band in addition to the two mass bands and the select Symphonic Band!Â
- Additionally, our two mass bands will be sorted by grade level. We will have a 9/10 band and an 11/12 band.Â
If you are nominating a senior who is interested in attending Luther, you can sign them up for a scholarship audition during this festival weekend!
Registration will stay open from Wednesday, October 18th until Wednesday, November 29th. This year, we will be able to accept online credit card payments for festival fees, in addition to receiving payments by check and/or cash.Â
Nominations Now Open!
Band Festival Resources
Dorian Band Festival Audition Requirements 2024
- 9/10 Mass Band:Â No Video Audition Requirement. Selection is based on the teacher nomination form.
- 11/12 Mass Band:Â No Video Audition Requirement. Selection is based on the teacher nomination form.
- Symphonic Band:Â Video Audition Required
- Piccolo, flute, clarinet, oboe, all saxophones, bassoon, trumpet, french horn, trombone, euphonium TC, euphonium BC, tuba, double bass (acoustic, upright)
- Video Audition will include:Â
- A 90 second – 2 minute recording of a solo or etude that showcases both lyrical and technical ability of the student. The passage can be no longer than two minutes.
- A chromatic scale featuring the student’s full range on their instrument
- If accepted into the Symphonic Band, we will assign you to a part and the appropriate music will be shared with teachers. From there, an in-person audition on the Sunday of the festival will take place for chair placement. In the case of smaller numbers in a section, the in-person chair placement audition element may be eliminated for certain instruments.
- Submit all videos to: dorian@luther.edu
- Percussion
- Video Audition will include:Â
- Submit two recordings, each one 90 seconds – 2 minutes. One should feature a solo or etude on a keyboard instrument, and the other a solo or etude on a battery instrument. No scales are necessary.
- Additionally, please answer the following questions in your video submission, or send a separate email with the answers to these questions: Do you have any piano experience? If so, how many years? What instrument do you play the most in band (mallets, battery, auxiliary etc.) What solos have you recently performed?
- There will be no in-person audition element for percussion.
- Submit all videos to: dorian@luther.edu
- Piccolo, flute, clarinet, oboe, all saxophones, bassoon, trumpet, french horn, trombone, euphonium TC, euphonium BC, tuba, double bass (acoustic, upright)
- Jazz Band:Â Video Audition Required
- Video Audition will include:
- Play the jazz excerpts specified for the instrument: saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, bass, drum-set. AUDITION EXCERPTS FOUND HERE.Â
- A chromatic scale from the lowest to the highest note that the student can play comfortably. The tempo should be quarter note = 140 BPM, played all slurred ascending and all tongued descending.
- My Romance: Horns: play the melody. Piano: play the melody with appropriate accompaniment (comping). Bass: play a walking bass line with chord realization appropriate to the ballad style. Drum set: play accompaniment to this style. All can embellish the melody and accompaniment.
- (Optional) Improvise on a jazz standard or a blues tune of the student’s choice. The improvisation may be accompanied by a play-along recording. Play first the melody and then take two choruses.
- Submit all videos to: dorian@luther.edu
Please use the 2023 Dorian Band Festival daily schedule as a reference until the 2024 schedule is posted in December, 2024.
Please wait for the roster to be released via email prior to submitting a fees form. Thank you!
This year, we will be able to accept online credit card payments for festival fees, in addition to receiving payments by check and/or cash. Please reach out to dorian@luther.edu if the fees present a financial hardship for your school or students.