High School Band & Orchestra

Harmony Honors Festival

Anaheim

March 28, 2025




Teaching Artists: Robert Frelly, Chris Kim, Stanley DeRusha, and Kevin Noe

Featured Conducting Artist:  Allan McMurray

Composer-in-Residence: Arturo Rodriguez

Leadership Expert: Fran Kick

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Perform and Learn in Sunny

  Southern California

Friday, March 28, 2025

Anaheim, California

Famously celebrated as the "City Built on Imagination," Anaheim proudly hosts the Disneyland Resort, a magical destination encompassing both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Beyond these iconic amusement parks, the city offers convenient access to a wide array of exhilarating attractions throughout Orange County and the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area... promising endless fun and adventure for all participating ensembles.



Harmony Honors Festival

Join us at the inaugural Harmony Honors Festival (H2 Festival), a groundbreaking event designed exclusively for instrumental ensembles and focusing on musical growth, innovation, and excellence.  This unique, non-competitive festival encourages collaborative learning and celebrates the musical journey without the pressure of ratings or rankings.


Directors have the freedom to select their own repertoire, fostering creativity and innovation. Participants will benefit from workshops led by esteemed professionals like conductor Allan McMurray, composer Arturo Rodriguez, and leadership expert Fran Kick. Immerse yourself in a day filled with music, collaboration, and transformative experiences at the Harmony Honors Festival!

Festival Inclusions

What Your Group Will Do:

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

01

Festival Performance with Detailed, Full Clinic

Enjoy an evaluated festival performance of your chosen repertoire.  Then, one of our Teaching Artists (Kevin Noe, Chris Kim, Robert Frelly, or Stanley DeRusha) will work with you and your ensemble for a detailed and engaging full clinic based on your performance.


You'll also benefit from detailed, written feedback about your performance from your other evaluators.  And... Remember, this isn't a competition, so feel free to get creative in your programming!

02

Kick the Habit: The Power of Insightful Followers

Every year you work hard to identify the leaders of your program, but do you also cultivate astute followers?


Join us for an enlightening workshop session with leadership expert, Fran Kick, during which we'll explore the benefits of nurturing both exemplary leaders and insightful followers within your ensemble.  It's about more than just leadership; it's also about "followership," and harmonizing every role to foster a "symphony of success!"

03

Pen2Podium Workshop

During this engaging workshop, our composer-in-residence, Arturo Rodriguez, will engage your performers in the creative process and industry of composition from start to finish for film, TV, and the concert stage with some new music you won't want to miss!

04

Conductor's Symposium

While your students are working with Arturo for the Pen2Podium Workshop, you and the other participating conductors will have the opportunity to work with one of the nation's best conducting artists, Allan McMurray, for a very small group conducting seminar.

What Your Group Will Also Get:

FESTIVAL DETAILS

In addition to the Festival Highlights listed above, you and your ensemble will also benefit from:

  • Invaluable insights for you and your ensemble;
  • Observation opportunities (watch other groups perform);
  • Outstanding collaborative experiences;
  • Audio recording of your festival performance;
  • Commemorative, personalized participation plaque; and
  • Memories to last a lifetime!


Meet Your Teaching Artists.

Fran Kick

Leadership Expert

Bio

Arturo Rodriguez

Composer-in-Residence

Bio

Allan McMurray

Featured Conducting Artist

Bio

Kevin Noe

Teaching Artist

Bio

Chris Kim

Teaching Artist

Bio

Robert Frelly

Teaching Artist

Bio

Stanley DeRusha

Teaching Artist

Bio

Festival Rate...

♬ Performer Rate: $125.00 per performer


♬ Directors and Chaperones: Free

Application

Harmony Tours

Sample Itinerary

Day One

  • Travel Day to SoCal
  • Meet your Dedicated Harmony Tours Guide(s)
  • Check into Hotel
  • Inclusive Group Dinner

Day Three

  • Group Breakfast at Hotel
  • Participate in the Harmony Honors Festival - Anaheim
  • Free time to explore Balboa Beach and the Balboa Fun Zone
  • Inclusive Group Dinner

Day Five

  • Group Breakfast at Hotel
  • Travel Home

Day Two

  • Group Breakfast at Hotel
  • Visit GRAMMY Museum
  • Narrated Hollywood Tour or Universal Studios
  • Inclusive Group Dinner on the Santa Monica Pier

Day Four

  • Group Breakfast at Hotel
  • Spend the day visiting both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure
  • Group Dinner at Medieval Times or Pirate's Dinner Adventure or Dinner Cruise with Hornblower

Customize Your Tour

We have a ton of other ideas and options. Contact us to create and customize the perfect tour itinerary for you and your group!

FAQs

Got a question? We’re here to help.

  • Can I have more than one ensemble perform?

    Yes!

  • Is there a set repertoire list?

    Nope.  We encourage you to explore great literature of your choosing.

  • How much is the festival?

    The Festival Only rate is $125.00 per performer, and directors and chaperones are free.

  • Do you have a preferred tour operator?

    Absolutely!  We highly recommend our sister organization, Harmony Tours, for all of your performing arts group tour needs... even if you can't join the Harmony Honors Festival.

  • Are there requirements to participate?

    Ensembles that have achieved a superior rating within the past two years, or who submit a current non-edited recording of their ensemble to our Festival Director are most welcome to participate in the festival.

  • For the performance, what are the evaluation criteria?

    With no ratings or rankings, our esteemed team of evaluators will be able to help each ensemble explore music interpretation, excellence, musicality and musicianship on their continued development and musical journey.


    The evaluators will also include comments on the following rubrics for performance:


    Tone Quality

    • Produce a dark, characteristic tone quality • Produce a focused, controlled sound in all ranges and registers

    • Demonstrate proper use of vibrato

    • Produce a quality sound on percussion instruments through proper technique and choice of equipment

    • Bowing/breath support -Upper range Lower range

    • Produce uniform tonal focus throughout the ensemble


    Intonation

    • Demonstrate careful attention to tuning and pitch processes

    • Understand chordal and harmonic structures

    • Adjust any perceived pitch issues

    • Demonstrate percussion tuning to match the ensemble

    • Listening for pitch adjusting pitch issues

    • Unisons /melodic pitch


    Technique

    • Meet technical demands with precision

    • Demonstrate an understanding of styles of articulation

    • Demonstrate dexterity in performing technical passages

    • Start and stop together, within sections and across the ensemble

    • Finger/bowing precision


    Rhythm

    • Demonstrate control of rhythms

    • Maintain tempo

    • Produce a natural feel to rhythmic passages

    • Demonstrate control in multi-metered passages

    • Vertical alignment Subdivision


    Balance

    • Produce correct balance in all sections of the music

    • Demonstrate balance between inner and outer voices

    • Demonstrate the melodic line as the prevalent voice as required

    • Understand the supportive relationship between the percussion, strings and wind sections


    Musicianship

    • Demonstrate attention to detail

    • Demonstrate the music's expressive features

    • Shaping phrases using dynamics, articulation, and direction

    • Produce effective moods and emotions

    • Demonstrate an understanding of musical style

    • Interpretation