St. Olaf Festival of Bands

St. Olaf Festival of Bands

The St. Olaf Festival of Bands has enjoyed a long, successful history of bringing together outstanding high school musicians to prepare and share a program with nationally-acclaimed artists. An exciting and intense day of rehearsals culminates with performances by the Festival Band, the St. Olaf Band, and the Norseman Band. It promises to be a stimulating day for students and teachers alike.

We expect the next Festival of Bands to take place during the 2026–27 academic year, though dates are subject to change. Updates will be posted here as they become available.

At St. Olaf, music sings and plays its way into our lives every day. It’s not just music majors who participate in our ensembles, it’s one third of the entire student body. Click here for more information about music at St. Olaf!

Nominations closed on October 3. Please refer to the email (sent October 15) from bandfestival@stolaf.edu for a list of accepted students and important instructions on how to officially register them for the event. If you did not receive this email, please contact bandfestival@stolaf.edu.

There is a participation fee of $15 per individual to register for the event, which will include lunch from Stav Hall (ranked in the top-ten college cafeterias in the country by The Princeton Review!), along with an admissions info session. Directors are invited to a complimentary luncheon in Buntrock Commons to connect, exchange ideas, and enjoy good company.

To help students prepare for our limited rehearsal time together, we encourage everyone to use these practice recordings to get familiar with the music in advance:

COPLEY: Halcyon Hearts
University of South Carolina Symphonic Winds (audio only): youtu.be/ZPifCsX-JSw
LaGuardia High School Wind Symphony: youtu.be/06EKGt92UGk

FRANK TICHELI: Rest
All South Honor Band (Frank Ticheli conducting): youtu.be/3C9m27E7XQs
Dallas Wind Symphony (audio only): youtu.be/IYt_SWNHZJY
Northshore Concert Band (audio only): youtu.be/0_ZN71hUBSA
Choral version with Georgia State University Singers (Frank Ticheli conducting): youtu.be/mC2vYfVUNTI

TRAVIS J. CROSS: Things That Never Were
Eagan (Minn.) High School premiere performance (audio only): theodoremusic.com/audio/thingsthatneverwere.mp3

Interlacing lived experiences with innate passion, Henry L. Dorn is a nationally recognized music composer/conductor renowned for his energizing rhythm, syntax versatility, and passion for creating storytelling sounds with larger picture meanings. Dr. Dorn’s compositions encompass intimate narratives often told from the lens of being a musician and African American. He is passionate about developing immersive experiences while setting an example of his life signature — the path may not always be smooth or clear, but it will always be worth it. His works have earned him recognition and performances by distinguished ensembles across the country, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Music from Copland House, JACK Quartet, the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet, Aizuri Quartet, Argento Ensemble, and the Dallas Wind Symphony.

Dr. Dorn is assistant professor of conducting and composition at St. Olaf College and is conductor of the award-winning St. Olaf Band. Prior to St. Olaf College, Dr. Dorn worked as an assistant director of the Memphis Area Youth Wind Ensemble and formerly served as director to the Nu Chamber Collective. He has also worked with musicians of the United States Army Field Band, the United States Air Force Band, and has guest conducted the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.”

“Conducting the St. Olaf Band is always one of the most energizing experiences. I push them, and they push me. There’s no greater joy than the interaction I get with students, and finding those special ‘aha’ moments with them in the classroom or during rehearsal.”

As a composer, Dr. Dorn has earned several accolades. He was an Inaugural Future of Music Faculty Fellow with the Cleveland Institute of Music and an ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award recipient. He is a past participant in The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute, American Composers Orchestra EarShot, JACK Quartet’s JACK Studio, and Copland House CULTIVATE. He was in residence at MacDowell in summer 2023.

Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, Dr. Dorn’s ardency toward composing sparked at an early age while he was surrounded by blues and the sounds of his father’s vinyl records collection. He earned a bachelor of music in composition from the University of Memphis, a master of music in composition and Wind Conducting from Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, a doctor of musical arts (DMA) in conducting and a DMA in composition from Michigan State University. He his primary conducting teachers have been Kevin L. Sedatole, Harlan D. Parker, and Kraig Alan Williams. He studied composition with David Biedenbender, Ricardo Lorenz, Alexis Bacon, Oscar Bettison, Kamran Ince, and Jack Cooper, among several others.

Travis J. Cross (he/him) serves as professor of music and director of bands at UCLA,
where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and leads the graduate wind conducting program.
He chaired the music department from 2018–2023 and was associate dean for academic mentoring and opportunity during the initial years of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Cross has conducted the UCLA Wind Ensemble at the California All-State Music
Education Conference and College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Division conference and prepared the band for centenary performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

During five years as wind ensemble conductor at Virginia Tech, Cross led students in
performances at the Virginia Music Educators Association conference, Kennedy Center,
and Carnegie Hall and developed the Virginia Tech Band Directors Institute into a major
conducting workshop.

Cross earned doctor and master of music degrees in conducting from Northwestern University and the bachelor of music degree cum laude in vocal and instrumental music education from St. Olaf College. His principal teachers were Mallory Thompson and Timothy Mahr. Prior to graduate study, he taught for four years at Edina (Minn.) High School, where he conducted two concert bands and led the marching band program.

Cross wrote a chapter for volume four of Composers on Composing for Band
and contributed to The Horizon Leans Forward: Stories of Courage, Strength, and Triumph of Underrepresented Communities in the Wind Band Field and The Future of the Wind Band: Philosopher and Practitioner in Dialog, all available from GIA Publications. His
more than 20 original compositions and arrangements are published by Boosey &
Hawkes, Daehn Publications/C.L. Barnhouse, and Theodore Music.

Cross has appeared as a guest conductor, composer, and clinician in nearly 40 states; internationally in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates; as featured band clinician at the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention; and on several occasions at the Music for All National Festival and Midwest Clinic. He has engagements in California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, China, and Singapore during the 2024–25 season. Cross is a member of the Council of Korean Americans and a Yamaha Master Educator.

Michael Buck, PhD is an adjunct associate professor of music and director of the Norseman Band at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Prior to St. Olaf, Dr. Buck held higher education posts serving multiple roles including coordinator of music education, director of nands, director of orchestra, jazz ensemble director, instrumental music education professor and chamber music coach at The College of St. Scholastica and Augsburg University.

Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Buck served over twenty years as a K-12 instrumental music educator in Minnesota and in two overseas American international schools in the Middle East and South Asia. His specialized areas of study include assessment/evaluation, teaching/learning pedagogy, brain research on music, and music technology.

Dr. Buck has presented peer-reviewed research projects and workshops in local, regional, national and international settings. His work includes appearances at the International Symposium of Assessment in Music Education (ISAME), the International Society for Music Education/European Association for Music in Schools (ISME/EAS), Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA), the South Asia International Schools Association (SAISA), the College Music Society/Association for Technology in Music Instruction (CMS/ATMI), the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA), the Minnesota Band Directors Association (MBDA) and the Perpich Center for the Arts.

An active band and orchestra clinician throughout the upper midwest, Dr. Buck has led numerous festivals and workshops, and is a frequent guest conductor of regional and conference festivals.

Dr. Buck’s leadership roles include chair of the Minnesota chapter of the College Band Directors National Association (MN CBDNA), MMEA Band Vice President, MMEA All-State Band and Orchestra section coach and Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony section coach (GTCYS).

Dr. Buck holds degrees from The University of Southern Mississippi, VanderCook College of Music and St. Olaf College in music education and conducting.