IBA Junior All-State Band

Junior All-State Band

The 18th Annual Junior All-State Band Festival will be held Thursday - Saturday, January 15, 16 and 17, 2026 at the Indiana Music Education Association Professional Development Conference in Fort Wayne. The finale concert will be featured on Saturday, January 18 at the conference. This will be an exciting opportunity for 100 outstanding students in grades seven through nine. Selected students will participate in a musical experience that your most talented musicians will never forget! Questions may be directed to the event coordinators: Katy Briel, band director at Clark-Pleasant Middle School and Jim Tewell, band director at Custer Baker Intermediate School.

Application / Audition

Directors begin the application / audition process by registering for the Junior All-State event and receiving a computer-generated event code for their school. Outstanding musicians, who are students of IBA members, in grades 7, 8 or 9 are eligible for the Junior All-State Band. The student must be a member in good standing of his/her school’s band program throughout the school year. The Junior All-State audition will consist of two excerpts to be recorded and uploaded online with the student application. The recording may not be electronically edited. The application/upload link will open Saturday, October 24 and close at 11:59 PM EST on Friday, November 14. A $15 audition fee must be paid individually online via PayPal. No late entries will be accepted! We ask that students not audition if they cannot make a commitment to attend the entire Junior All-State Band event and participate in 100% of the event activities. The student application and recording upload must be completed at the same time. Do not start an application until the recordings are ready. The links below will open on Saturday, October 24, 2025.

Director / School Registration	Student Application / Recording Upload

Audition Requirements

All students auditioning pay a $15.00 entry fee per instrument and are required to record two musical excerpts for upload (MP3 or M4A). Students who would like to audition on flute and piccolo pay one audition fee and include a piccolo excerpt. For percussionists there is one snare drum excerpt and one keyboard excerpt. The excerpts for all instruments are chosen to discriminate between the very finest players at this age level and to rank the players within each section of the band. Students auditioning may not always be able to play every excerpt perfectly at the tempo indicated. Student applications and recordings are submitted online at the same time.

2026 Audition Excepts The following links will open on Monday, September 15, 2025.

Flute only	Flute & Piccolo	Oboe
Bassoon	Clarinet	Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone	Tenor Saxophone	Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet	Horn	Trombone & Euphonium BC
Euphonium TC	Tuba	Percussion
All Excerpts

Recording Instructions

The audition recordings must be submitted with the application. Be sure to follow all of the instructions below. A computer with a microphone or a digital recorder may be used. No specific recording software is required. The recordings must be MP3 or M4A files and be less than 10MB in size each. It will probably take several attempts before the best work on each excerpt is recorded. Upload only the final (best) recording. Each excerpt must be recorded in “one take,” meaning digital editing is not allowed to piece together sections of an excerpt from multiple recording attempts. Any audition deemed to be electronically edited will be disqualified.

DO NOT say a name or school on any recording. All auditions will be assigned a number and listened to “blind” by the selection committee. It is recommended that directors and/or private teachers listen to the recordings before the application / recording-upload process is started.

Making the Recording:

Record in a quiet place with no distracting noises.
Do some test recordings to determine the best microphone placement.
Record the 1st excerpt. Select the best recording to upload.
Record the 2nd excerpt. Select the best recording to upload.
Flute students who also want to audition on piccolo record the piccolo excerpt. Select the best recording to upload.

Selection

A selection committee will review the auditions using a “blind” format. Student recordings will be assigned a number and the listener will not know the student’s name or school. Selection of the Junior All-State Band personnel will be based on an audition score of like instruments adjudicated by the JASB selection committee. Selections are based solely on the recording; previous participation is not considered. The list of selected personnel will be posted on the IBA website in early December. Selected students will receive an email with an online registration link. Music and materials will be mailed to directors of selected students by December 1.

Registration

Registration begins Thursday, January 15 at 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM at the Grand Wayne Convention Center (Anthony Wayne Ballroom B) located at 120 West Jefferson Blvd., Fort Wayne, with the first rehearsal beginning at 7:00 PM. The concert is on Saturday, January 17 in the Embassy Theater in downtown Ft. Wayne. The students will be dismissed to parents following the concert. Students participating are required to attend all events (100% of every rehearsal) during the festival. Students unable to make that commitment should not audition. Students / schools provide their own transportation to Ft. Wayne. IBA members may to volunteer help as chaperone/staff members (sectionals, etc.).

Cost

Once members are selected, there will be a $235 registration fee assessed per Junior All-State Band member to cover meals, music, guest conductor, concert venue, two nights of lodging and a concert recording. Selected student must complete the online registration form and pay the fee no later than Friday, December 19. Housing will be in quad rooms at the Courtyard by Marriott at the Grand Wayne Center. All participants must stay at the hotel as part of the group. Students will be chaperoned by participating band director volunteers.

Conductor

Carol Brittin Chambers, Composer in Residence at Texas Lutheran University, is the 2026 IBA Junior All-State Band guest conductor. You may learn more about Mrs. Chambers using this link.

Junior All-State Photos

Performing Arts Photography by Bateman

Junior All-State Band Members 2009 - Present / Excel Spreadsheet

Junior All-State Conductors & Programs 2009 - Present