Iowa State will host the 40^th annual Cyclone Honor Band Festival on Friday and Saturday. 

The Honor Band Festival involves bands of achieved high school musicians from around the state performing two separate concerts with guest composers from other universities. 

The Cyclone Honor Band Festival performance will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday at Stephens Auditorium. Tickets range in price from $7 to $10.

This year, Timothy Rhea, director of bands at Texas A&M, and Dustin Seifert, director of bands at Eastern New Mexico University, will lead the high school students in their performances. 

“We have two wonderful conductors and two wonderful teachers coming in to work with these students,” said Michael Golemo, director of bands.

As part of the festival, Golemo and Steven Smyth, associate director of bands, will also conduct a piece. 

The students are divided into two bands. Students who are all-state musicians are automatically placed in the Gold Band. Rhea will conduct the band, which will consist of mostly older students, and the Cardinal Band will be directed by Seifert. Both bands will spend all day Friday and Saturday rehearsing, which will lead to Saturday night’s performance.

Drake Van Roekel, junior in instrumental music education, said the honor band festival is a great opportunity for students. 

“Being able to play in a group with other talented and dedicated musicians is an experience that is unequaled in high school for most musicians,” Van Roekel said. 

Van Roekel is also a member of the ISU Wind Ensemble, which will perform Friday.

Golemo said the event is a great recruiting opportunity for Iowa State. 

Many of the students come from smaller music programs, and the Cyclone Honor Band Festival is an opportunity for them to play with a large group of students, he said. The students get to work with ISU faculty and learn about the program.

“Cyclone Honor Band is a great opportunity for these students to experience what the Iowa State music program offers, while learning from exceptional musicians,” Van Roekel said. 

For more information about the festival, visit the ISU Music Department Web page for the event.