Iowa State’s band department will explore new territories this weekend by combining its sound with that of some of the best high school musicians in the Midwest.

The Cyclone Honor Bands will perform on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Stephens Auditorium.

Friday night’s concert will feature both the Marian Catholic High School Band from Chicago Heights, Ill., and the Iowa State Wind Ensemble.

The Marian band is known as one of the top high school bands in the nation, with a reputation of excellence in both marching and concert performance.

The band has received three Illinois and four Chicago Heights proclamations and was the recipient of a joint Illinois House and Senate proclamation in 1990.

Iowa State’s Wind Ensemble will follow, performing selections ranging from “Epiphianies” by Ron Nelson to Floyd Werle’s “Concerto No.1 for Trumpet and Band.”

Band members are particularly excited about the performance of the “Concerto No.1 for Trumpet and Band”, a work originally written for Doc Severinson and the U.S. Air Force Band.

Jared Wacker, a trumpet player and music education major at ISU, describes the piece as “a cross between jazz and legitimate music.”

“It takes an extremely good trumpet player to play that piece”, Wacker said.

The difficult trumpet solos will be performed by James Bovinette, professor of trumpet at Iowa State.

The music will continue Saturday night with three different honor bands set to perform.

The Cyclone Honor Bands, directed by conductors from different Iowa high schools, comprise a select group of Iowa high school students.

The White Band will be under the direction of Gary Hill, the Gold Band under the direction of Jim Stombres and the Cardinal Band under the direction Mark Whitlock.

Students playing in these bands are among the best high school musicians in the state of Iowa.

Of 1,800 applicants, only 470 were chosen.

Band members were chosen from 99 different Iowa schools

Admission on Friday night will be free, with tickets for Saturday’s performance set at $4.50 and $3.50 for students.