Festival of Winds
The 17th Annual Festival of Winds | February 13-15, 2025
Contact Dr. Brett Keating at brett.keating@csupueblo.edu or Ms. Amanda Burk at amanda.burk@csupueblo.edu for more information.
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General Information
The CSU Pueblo Festival of Winds has continued to grow in size and participation from the very beginning. Starting with just one honor band in 2009, the Festival has expanded to include four directors recommended honor bands by its sixth year, with more than 360 high school students representing high schools across Colorado and neighboring states.
The philosophy of the festival is based on the idea that band directors from all high schools know who their deserving students are. Therefore, we leave it up to the high school band directors to recommend up to 15 students for participation. All directors who submit names are ensured to have at least two students selected for participation, with a small caveat that if only one or two students are recommended, they might not be selected depending on instrumentation needs and age of students.
Selected students are then given performance materials to prepare for their audition, which takes place at the start of the festival. Those students who rate highest in the audition process are placed in one of two Wind Orchestra. Students who are not selected for the Wind Orchestra are placed in one of two Symphonic Bands, which are equally weighted in ability based on audition results.
However, this is not just a University Honor Band weekend. This Festival of Winds enriches the experience for all students through small group rehearsals and masterclasses with our CSU Pueblo applied faculty and all participants enjoy a weekend concert series. Past performances have included the Fountain Creek Brass Band, The United States Air Force Academy Band, a CSU Pueblo Faculty Recital, and performances by the University Wind Ensemble.
Each year, the Festival of Winds also brings in notable national and international guest clinicians to conduct each of the honor bands.
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Payment Information
To pay with card: call Chad Beery, CSU Pueblo Music Department Administrative Assistant, at 719-549-2809To pay with check: make check payable to CSU Pueblo -FoWaddress envelope as:CSU Pueblo Department of MusicAttn:Chad Beery2200 Bonforte BlvdPueblo, CO, 81001
Meet the February 2025 Honor Band Conductors
John Lynch
John Lynch is a leading international wind conductor and a dual citizen of the United States and Australia. He is currently the Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He was formerly Director of Bands at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Georgia and the University of Kansas, and Associate Director of Bands at Northwestern University. He is the founder and artistic director of Sydney’s professional chamber orchestra: Verbrugghen Ensemble, and was the conductor of Chicago’s Northshore Concert Band, the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony, and founder of the Greater New York Wind Symphony and the KU/Kansas City Youth Wind Symphony.
Dr. Lynch has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia including the national conferences of CBDNA, ABA and nafme, WASBE, the Australian National Band and Orchestra Conference, Midwest, and Interlochen. A passionate advocate for new music he has commissioned, recorded, and premiered works from around the globe with a focus on diversity. He is a recording artist with Naxos and Klavier Records. Dr. Lynch is the recipient of the American Prize, the Georgia Creative Research Medal, the Stanbury Award for outstanding teaching and conducting, and a Northwestern University Searle Fellow for Teaching Excellence. He holds degrees from Indiana University, the Eastman School of Music and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Michael Mapp
Dr. Mapp is an Associate Professor of music and Director of Bands at New Mexico State University. He comes to NMSU from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas where he also served as Director of Bands. In addition, he has served as the conductor for the Kansas City Civc Orchestra and as Guest Conductor for the Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City.
Bands under his direction have performed at numerous state, regional, and national conferences and venues, including the Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA) state convention and the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) national convention.
He has been an invited presenter on multiple occasions for the KMEA state convention and for CBDNA at the regional and national conventions.
He has served as the College Faculty Representative for the Kansas Bandmasters Association and the Kansas State Chair for the National Band Association.
Michael holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from the University of Kansas, a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from Wichita State University, and a Bachelor of Music Education from New Mexico State University where he was an Honors Graduate and a Crimson Scholar.
Dr. Melissa Sawyer
D.M.A University of Kansas; M.M. New Mexico State University; B.M.E. University of Oklahoma
Dr. Melissa Sawyer is Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Kansas, where she assists with the Marching Jayhawks and teaches within the School of Music. She also serves as Assistant Director of Midwestern Music Camp at KU.
Sawyer is a native of Edmond, Oklahoma and has taught middle school, high school, and collegiate band programs in Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, and Kansas. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Arts in Wind Conducting from New Mexico State University. Sawyer served as the Assistant Director of Bands at New Mexico State University where she was Assistant Director of the Pride of New Mexico Marching Band and Symphonic Band. Completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting at the University of Kansas, she served as the Director of Athletic Bands/Assistant Professor of Music at Benedictine College where she directed all athletic bands, conducted the Symphonic Band, and served as Music Education Coordinator.
