Honor Band/Region Band/All-State

District Honor Band, South Georgia Region Honor Band, and All-State Band

What Are These Bands?

• District Honor Band is made up of middle school band students from all over the Middle Georgia area.  Our district consists of 21 counties.  The students prepare an audition (tutoring starts in September), and auditions are on Saturday, December 6th at Feagin Mill MS in Warner Robins.  The Honor Band participants are selected based on their audition scores.  The Honor Band clinic is held in February in Milledgeville, and the students will be directed by a top notch director that we bring in from outside our area.  It is a huge accomplishment and an enriching experience for the students.

• South Georgia Region Honor Band is a more select group in that it involves most of the southern half of the state, all the way down to places like Savannah and Valdosta.  Participation in this group is based on the District Honor Band scores and also the separate Region Honor Band audition.  

• All-State Band involves all students in the state of Georgia and is the most elite honor group due to the level of difficulty to be selected.  BMS has had several students participate at All-State, and any student who is interested in auditioning must take private lessons.  

Dates for the Events:

• District Honor Band

  • • Auditions are Saturday, December 6th at Feagin Mill Middle School in Warner Robins

    • The event is Friday-Saturday, February 6-7, 2026 at Baldwin County High School in Milledgeville

• South Georgia Region Honor Band

  • • Students must meet the designated cutoff score at District Honor Band auditions to be able to try out for Region Band.  If the score is met, the student must submit a recording of the All-State Lyrical and Technical Etudes.  Ms. Williams and Ms. Barnett will help with this.

    • Region Band is currently set for Thursday (leave after school)-Saturday, April 9-11, 2026 in Valdosta.  Dates are subject to change at this point, and the location in Valdosta is TBD.

• All-State Band

  • • To advance to the All-State Band audition, the students must meet the designated cutoff score at District Honor Band auditions.

    • If the score is met, All-State auditions are on Saturday, January 10 ,2026, and the location is Union Grove Middle School in McDonough.  Parents are responsible for transporting students to this audition as we will be judging auditions.

    • All-State Band is Thursday-Saturday, March 5-7, 2026 at the Classic Center in Athens, GA.  Parents will be responsible for taking their students to this event.  Ms. Williams will send information regarding lodging and schedule.

Requirements:  Links (coming soon) are provided below for the Scales and Etudes.  Please visit our Google Classroom page for recordings of the etudes.  

District Honor Band:

• Woodwind and Brass Instruments

  • • • The four All-State scales--No longer have to be memorized!!!!!

      • Chromatic Scale--No longer has to be memorized!!!!!

      • All-State Lyrical Etude--does NOT need to be memorized

      • Short sight-reading example

• Percussion

  • • • The four All-State scales on Mallets--Two octaves and no longer has to be memorized!!!!!

      • Chromatic Scale--2 octaves starting on C

      • All-State snare drum etude (MS Snare)

      • All-State timpani etude (MS Timpani)

      • All-State mallet etude (MS Mallet)

      • Sight-Reading for snare, mallets, and timpani

South Georgia Region Honor Band

• Students must meet the minimum score at District Honor Band auditions.  These scores are out of 100 possible points.

  • • Flute/Alto Saxophone--85

    • Oboe/Tenor Sax/Bari Sax/Trumpet--80

    • Clarinet/Oboe/Tenor Sax/Bari Sax/Trumpet--75

    • Bassoon/Bass Clarinet/French Horn/Trombone/Baritone/Tuba--70

    • Percussion--Out of the 3 auditions (Snare/Mallets/Timpani), two scores must be 80 or higher, and the third must be at least 70.

• Students who qualify will have to make and submit a recording of them playing the All-State Lyrical and Technical etudes.  Ms. Williams and Ms. Barnett will help with this process.

All-State Band

• Like Region Band, students must meet the minimum score at District Honor Band auditions.  The minimum scores for All-State are as follows:

  • • Flute/Clarinet/Alto Saxophone--85

    • Oboe/Tenor Sax/Bari Sax/Trumpet--80

    • Bassoon/Bass Clarinet/French Horn/Trombone/Baritone/Tuba--75

    • Percussion must make 80 or higher in all three categories of auditions.

• Students who qualify must perform the Lyrical and Technical etudes and perform one sight-reading example.  They do not have to play the scales again.