Greetings from Iowa City! I write this message during the week before classes begin, and the campus and entire Iowa City area are already buzzing with activity. Students have been moving in since the beginning of the month, faculty are busy preparing their classes for the fall semester, and the excitement of a new academic year is definitely building.
Before looking ahead to this year, I want to look in the rearview mirror for a moment. Last year was an incredible year for Iowa Bands. The Symphony Band, Concert Band, and University Band presented a full slate of concerts under the direction of Dr. Eric Bush, Dr. Nick Miller, and DMA conducting students Courtney Ridge, Miles Anglin, and Brandon Halberg. Iowa Brass, Iowa’s Premiere British-style brass band, collaborated with the Symphony Band in November, and the concert was a special experience for the audience and ensemble members alike.
The Band Extravaganza was held on Sunday, December 7 in the Xtream Arena in Coralville before a large, enthusiastic audience. The program included a fun array of performances featuring the Iowa Symphony Band, Johnson County Landmark, Hawkeye Marching Band, Iowa Dance Team and Spirit Squads, and the Iowa City West High School Trojan Marching Band under the direction of Brian Zeglis and Ryan Middleton. The afternoon showcased the talents of several hundred musicians from the University of Iowa and West High School in Iowa City.
More than 200 talented high school students participated in the 2026 Iowa Honor Band on our campus in February, which featured UI alumnus Dr. Andrew Boysen, Jr. as guest conductor and Dr. David Cyzak, UI Visiting Assistant Professor of Oboe, as our featured guest artist. We were also joined for special performances by Angelo Favis, Professor of Guitar at Illinois State University. The weekend included performances by the Symphony Band and Concert Band as well as the Welch and Voxman Honor Bands.
The Symphony Band was a featured invited ensemble at the 2026 College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Conference, hosted by the University of Michigan. Their performance in historic Hill Auditorium on April 9 featured Dr. Eric Bush as guest conductor on Joan Tower’s Fascinating Ribbons and Dr. Kenneth Tse on alto saxophone on Madrid Inspiration by Masanori Katoh. I had the honor of leading the band in a performance of James David’s new and stunning Symphony No. 2 “The Road is Life” and Aaron Perrine’s moving Cathedral of Fountains composed in honor of those who perished or were affected by the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995. The tour to Ann Arbor began with a performance for a welcoming audience at Pleasant Valley High School on Wednesday, April 8. The CBDNA tour was a major success and it was an exciting opportunity for our students to represent the UI School of Music and to perform in one of the most historic university concert halls in the country.
We were proud to host the second annual Iowa Bands Young Artist Competition in the spring 2026. Like last year, the pool of applicants was highly competitive. The first place winner was Camden Neff on alto saxophone from Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School, and the second place winner was David Kissinger on horn from Algona High School in Iowa. The winners were featured on the final spring concerts of the Symphony Band and Concert Band respectively. The Young Artist Competition is an exciting new tradition for Iowa Bands, and I look forward to this year’s competition.
The Symphony Band closed out the year with a performance at the 99th Iowa Bandmasters Association Annual Conference in Des Moines on Friday, May 15. The challenging program featured a wide variety of works by Navarro, Grainger, Ives, Lunde, Biedenbender, and Sousa. I was proud to be joined by guest conductors Dr. Myron Welch, Dr. Eric Bush, and Dr. Nick Miller. The audience in the Iowa Ballroom of the Des Moines Marriott was large and supportive, which made for a memorable experience.
It is clear that last year was truly remarkable for our concert band program, and while certainly busy, this year promises to be more of a normal year. Some upcoming highlights of the year include the 60th celebration of the 1966 U of Iowa Symphony Band Cultural Exchange Tour to Europe and the Soviet Union, which was sponsored by the U.S. State Dept. The concert on November 18 will feature a brief presentation about the special tour in 1966 as well as selected repertoire from that tour performed by the current Iowa Symphony Band. The November program will also feature UI alumnus, David Lang, on Johann de Meij’s UFO Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Orchestra.
The annual Band Extravaganza will be on Sunday, December 6 in the Xtream Arena. In addition to performances by the usual UI groups, we are pleased to be joined by the Linn-Mar High School Marching Lions from Marion and their directors Dan Terrell, Aaron Nuss, and Jen Tiede. This is sure to be an enjoyable afternoon of outstanding entertainment by hundreds of talented university and high school student musicians.
The 2027 Iowa Honor Band in February will feature Dr. Scott Tobias, Director of Bands at West Virginia University, as our guest conductor, and Juan Berríos, Assistant Professor of Horn at the University of Iowa, as our guest artist. I look forward to once again hosting more than 200 high school musicians on our campus for an impactful weekend of master classes with UI faculty, rehearsals, sectionals, showcase concerts by the Symphony Band and Concert Band, and the grand finale concert by the Welch and Voxman Honor Bands.
Of course, there are many other wonderful events scheduled which include the Symphony Band, Concert Band, and University Band, so be sure to visit our website at https://bands.uiowa.edu for a listing of the events and additional program information.
Before closing, it is important to recognize Dr. Myron D. Welch, Director of Bands Emeritus, for recently being elected to membership in the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors. To qualify for the Hall of Fame, a director has to be at least sixty-five years old, retired, and have established a national reputation as a band conductor. He or she must also have made a national impact on the American band movement and should be known as a person of integrity and high personal and professional ethical standards as evidenced through their body of work throughout their career. Dr. Welch joins the ranks of previous recipients including Sousa, Gilmore, Harding, King, Revelli, Paynter, Fennell, Begian, and others. I am proud that Dr. Welch is a member of the Hawkeye band family, and I extend to him sincere congratulations on this wonderful and most appropriate honor!
I am starting my 19th year as Director of Bands at the University of Iowa, and I could not be more proud to lead this historic program and to work with so many wonderful people including Dr. Bush, Dr. Miller, Kathy Ford, the teaching assistants, and students. It is certainly a remarkable team of talented and dedicated Hawkeyes.
I wish you the very best for the upcoming year, and I hope you will join us for a concert or two in person or by live stream. Also, if you are ever in the Voxman Music Building, please stop by for a visit!
Go Hawks!
Richard Mark Heidel
Director of Bands