What Is An Honor Band?

(Under construction)

Throughout the school year, there are a number of honor band opportunities available students. Honor bands are an opportunity for students to spend a day in a particularly large ensemble with students from different schools rehearsing new music under the baton of a guest conductor. They can be a great and enriching opportunity to grow as a musician in addition to being fun.

Different honor bands have different methods of selecting students, but my input is a part of all of them; so that I’m sure that any student I should nominate for an honor band would be available as a matter of respect to honor band organizers, please take some time to fill out the form on honor band availability and to mark any dates you’re indicating on your calendar to reserve them. I can’t nominate every student, and a number of factors go into my decision-making for the nominations I do make – and after I nominate things are generally out of my hands – but I’ll try to let all who indicated on a particular date know when selections have been made so the date can be cleared for those not selected.

This table is just to give you a broad idea of the honor bands we participate in – details included in them might change in some ways from year to year. For those selected for an honor band opportunity, always refer to the information Mr. Ehler provides by email or information provided in packets from the honor band hosts as definitive

| Honor Band | Grades | Date 🗓 (2025-2026) | Location | Transportation to honor band | Chair Placements | Concert Admission? | Other Notes | | -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | RVC Honor Band | 7-12 | 11/13/25 | Varies (School within our conference)
West Branch for 2025 | Depart on bus during school day | No | No | | | NEIBA Honor Band | 8-12 (Separate Middle School and High School Bands) | 12/6/25 | Oelwein High School | Meet at school in AM to depart in school vehicle driven by Mr. Ehler | Yes | | | | Marion Honor Band | 6-8 | 1/17/26 | Vernon Middle School | Parents drop off directly at Vernon | Has changed the past few years. Once was…
No chair palcements for 6th grade,
chair placements for 7-8th grade

But none in 2025 | | Zio Johno’s for lunch, and it has been since Mr. Ehler was a student participating in it! | | Young Musicians Honor Band | 5-6 | 2/21/26 | Prairie High School | Parents drop off directly at Prairie | No | | | | Coe Elementary Honor Band | 5-6 | 4/18/26 | Coe College | Parents drop off directly at Coe | | | | | Coe Junior & Senior | 7-12 | 4/12 & 4/19/26 | Coe College | Parents drop off directly at Coe | | | Odd in that it spans two weekends. Participating in it means doing both Saturdays. |

See 🗓 Performance Dates for current dates.

If you have any questions, always feel free to email me: [email protected]