The brass section of a school band with a band leader in the foreground

Concert Band Festival

This festival invites high school concert bands from across Oregon and Washington to participate. It's a great way to meet fellow musicians, practice, and further train for live performances. Everyone receives feedback from judges. Participants can choose to receive comments or ratings using the Oregon Band Directors Association Band Evaluation System (OBDA). Participating bands also have the option to engage 30-minute clinics or sight-readings — just like in League and State Championship competitions.

We hope to see you there!

Festival Information

This year’s festival will be held Friday, March 15, 2024. Registration is full, and we are no longer accepting new applications. However we encourage interested participants to reach out about next year's festival!

2024 Festival Details

Our Concert Band Festival is a state-qualifying invitational event, allowing schools with the required scores to submit their performance for consideration in the tape pool for the OSAA State Band Championship. Please note that this festival is not a competition against other schools. There will be no winner at the end of the day. This is a chance for your band to perform in our concert hall with OBDA-Certified Adjudicators in a supportive environment. Following your band’s performance, you have the choice between receiving a 30-minute clinic or practice sight-reading as it is done at your League and State Festivals.

Each band will receive a high-quality digital recording of their performance as well as recorded and written comments from our adjudicators. These will be sent to you via email the day after the festival.

Participants are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. We schedule all "first" bands and then fill in available time slots with "second" and “third” bands based on the date of their application. “Second” and “third” bands will be accepted only if space is available. 

Email questions to Danielle Davey, Director of Bands

Download the Stage Setup Form

2024 Concert Band Festival Schedule

Case Storage is in the Town and Gown Annex, formerly known as the Jazz Café. Please see performance and warmup session listed below. We encourage you to stay and watch performances by your fellow musicians! 

*Corbett High School may warm up in the College Theatre

Time Warm Up
AC2138 - Choir Room
Performance
College Theatre
Clinic/Sightreading
AC2102 - Band Room
8 a.m. *Corbett HS (3A)
8:30 a.m. Centennial HS (5A) Corbett HS (3A)
9 a.m. Gresham HS (6A) Centennial HS (5A) Corbett HS (3A) - Clinic
9:30 a.m. Westside Christian (3A) Gresham HS (6A) Centennial HS (5A - Clinic
10 a.m. St. Helens (4A) Westside Christian (3A) Gresham HS (6A) - Clinic
10:30 a.m. Tualatin HS (6A) St. Helens HS (4A) Westside Christian (3A) - Sightreading
11 a.m. David Douglas HS (6A) Tualatin HS (6A) St. Helens HS (4A) - Sightreading
11:30 a.m. MHCC Wind Ensemble David Douglas HS (6A) Tualatin HS (6A) - Clinic
12 p.m. MHCC Wind Ensemble Performance 12:15 - 12:30 p.m. David Douglas HS (6A) - Sightreading
12:30 p.m. Scappoose HS (4A) Lunch
1 p.m. Beaverton HS (6A Scappoose HS (4A)
1:30 p.m. Westview HS (6A) Beaverton HS (6A) Scappoose HS (4A) - Sightreading
2 p.m. Sandy HS (6A) Westview HS (6A) Beaverton HS (6A) - Clinic
2:30 p.m. Rex Putnam HS (5A) Sandy HS (6A) Westview HS (6A) - Clinic
3 p.m. Rex Putnam HS (5A) Rex Putnam HS (5A) Sandy HS (6A) - Clinic
3:30 p.m. Lakeridge (6A) Rex Putnam HS (5A) - Sightreading
4 p.m. Lakeridge (6A) - Sightreading

 

Profile images of Lundahl, Protzman, Bell, and Stai

Meet Our 2024 Adjudicators

Jennifer Bell is the Band Director at Whiteaker Middle School. She has been teaching for 21 years. Before coming to the Salem Keizer School District, she taught in Grants Pass, Oregon, at North Middle School for one year. Jennifer has taught for 15 years at the middle school level and seven years at the high school level. Her bands always get top ratings, and they have been chosen to perform at the OMEA Conference. They have also achieved success at the 6A state championships. Jennifer contributes to her field by being a judge, clinician, honor band director, and by managing festivals and the Salem Keizer Honor Band.

Jennifer earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from the University of Oregon. She was nominated for Music Educator of the Year by the Oregon Symphony Association in Salem in 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2014. Jennifer is the President of OBDA, a member of Phi Beta Mu International Band Director Honorary Fraternity, OMEA, NAfME, and has joyfully devoted ten years to the OMEA conference planning team.

Dr. Christine Lundahl is a talented conductor with lots of experience working with different music groups. She recently moved to Southern California and is now the Associate Director of Instrumental Studies at La Sierra University. She conducts the Symphony Orchestra and helps out with the Wind Ensemble and Golden Eagle Pep Band. Dr. Lundahl also teaches trumpet and is often asked to be a guest conductor, judge, and clinician.

Before coming to La Sierra, she lived in Ashland, Oregon, where she directed the bands at Southern Oregon University and led the Rogue Valley Symphonic Band. She also conducted the Ashland City Band. Under her leadership, the SOU Wind Ensemble became well-known in the state and was invited to perform at the Oregon Music Educators Association Conference. Dr. Lundahl loves working with young musicians and revived a successful high school honor band program. She worked with many schools across the country and supported young conductors by giving them time to practice.

Dr. Lundahl earned a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in Wind Band Conducting from the University of Michigan, studying with the famous conductor Michael Haithcock. Her research and writings focus on diverse music programs and music education in Title 1 public schools. She also holds a Master of Music (MM) in Instrumental Conducting from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Music Education (BME) from Florida State University.

Before her time at La Sierra, Dr. Lundahl worked for four years as the Director of Bands at Liberty High School in Kissimmee and two years as the Director of Band and Orchestra at Westridge Middle School in Orlando, Florida. She's an active performer too, playing trumpet with several musical groups, including the Rogue Valley Symphony, Southern Oregon Jazz Orchestra, Florida Wind Band, Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, Hollingsworth Winds, and the Brass Band of Central Florida.

Mr. Brant Stai

Edward F. Protzman is the Director of Bands and a teacher of music at Portland State University in Portland, OR. Before working at Portland State, he had a successful career as a high school band director. He directed bands at William Mason High School in Mason, Ohio, Blue Valley Southwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas, and Central Bucks West High School in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Bands directed by Protzman have performed at big events like the Music for All National Concert Band Festival and the State Professional Development Conferences of music education associations in Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Ohio. The William Mason High School Wind Symphony, under his leadership, had a special concert at the 2022 Midwest Band and Orchestra International Conference in Chicago, Illinois. In 2021 and 2022, the William Mason Wind Symphony was recognized as a winner in the National Wind Band Honors Program sponsored by the Foundation for Music Education. Protzman's bands have also performed in various places in the United States and abroad, including the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, Avery Fisher Hall in Manhattan, New York, The Verizon Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, California, and the Beijing People's Liberation Army Opera House in Beijing, China.

Protzman's education includes a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, a Master's of Music in Wind Conducting Degree from West Chester University in West Chester, PA, and an Artist's Diploma in Wind Conducting from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. He is a member of several music associations, including the National Association for Music Education, the Oregon Music Educators Association, the Oregon Band Directors Association, the National Band Association, the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and the American School Band Directors Association.

Brant Stai has been the Direct of Bands at Sherwood High School since 2013. He leads various groups like the Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Bowmen Band (for freshmen), and the Jazz I Ensemble. In addition to this, he organizes chamber music ensembles, manages jazz combos, directs the Basketball Band, and helps with the design team for the Sherwood Marching Band.

Mr. Stai finished his master's in Music Education in 2008 from the American Band College in Ashland, Oregon. He earned his bachelor's degree in Music Education in 2003 and got his teaching credentials in 2004 from the University of Oregon. He is part of the Oregon Music Education Association, the Oregon Band Directors Association, the National Band Association, and Phi Beta Mu. From 2017 to 2020, he served as President on the executive board of the Northwest Association for the Performing Arts and then as Past President from 2021 to 2022. In 2015, the Portland Youth Philharmonic selected him for the Mary Dodge outstanding music educator award. In 2022, he received a Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association for his work with the Sherwood High School Wind Ensemble.

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