Badger Concert Band Invitational

April 12, 2024
Hamel Music Center
Cost: $300 per school
No restrictions on group level/ability
Register

Each ensemble will have the opportunity to perform on stage at the Hamel Music Center, plus receive recorded feedback for the full ensemble from guest clinicians Craig Kirchhoff, Elizabeth Jackson Kirchhoff, and Scott Teeple, and sectional feedback from Matthew Koester (woodwind section), Tom Curry (brass section), and Anthony Di Sanza (percussion section).

Each ensemble will also receive a clinic with either Craig Kirchhoff or Elizabeth Jackson Kirchhoff following the performance.

We ask you to schedule your itinerary to include the UW–Madison Wind Ensemble performance at noon. Ensembles are encouraged to hear other performances in the morning or afternoon.

Space is limited.

Guest Clinicians

Craig Kirchhoff

Director of Bands Emeritus, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Craig Kirchhoff is Professor Emeritus of Conducting and Director Emeritus of University Bands at the University of Minnesota where he conducted the University Wind Ensemble and guest conducted in the University Opera Program. Professor Kirchhoff coordinated the graduate program in Wind Ensemble/Band Conducting and guided all aspects of the University of Minnesota wind band program from 1993 to 2015. Born and educated in Wisconsin, Mr. Kirchhoff brings to his position a wide knowledge of both traditional and contemporary literature.

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson Kirchhoff

Eden Prairie HS, MN (retired)

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson Kirchhoff has been active as an instrumental music educator, conductor, and clinician in the United States, Norway, and Canada for over 35 years. She has enjoyed teaching and collaborating with music makers from beginners at the elementary level to highly talented instrumentalists at the university level. Jackson completed a B.A. in Music Education at St. Olaf College, an M.M. in Conducting at Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in Music Education at The Ohio State University. She began teaching at Eden Prairie High School in 1998 where she conducted the Wind Ensemble and founded the EPHS Chamber Winds.

School of Music Faculty

Scott Teeple

Director of Bands

Tony Di Sanza

Professor of Percussion

Tom Curry

Teaching Faculty, Tuba and Euphonium

Matthew Koester

Teaching Faculty, Classical Saxophone

Experience the Hamel Music Center

Hamel Music Center

Located at the busy intersection of University Avenue and Lake Street, the Hamel Music Center, occupies one of the most publicly visible corners of the campus. The warmth of the precast concrete echoes the limestone of the historic and iconic campus buildings, but the forms of the Hamel Music Center reflect the forward-thinking, progressive, Wisconsin Idea. The space, through rhythm and syncopation, is designed to evoke the musical experience as one experiences the architecture through time. The syncopated curtain wall façade of the main entrance invites the public to enter the sheet music.

Mead Witter Foundation Hall

The Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall seats 413 (plus 8 wheelchair access) on the main floor; 153 (plus 2 wheelchair access) in the balcony; and seats 85 on bench seats in a choir loft. Total seat count is 661. A series of coffers—circular, recessed or projecting panels—along the walls also absorb and reflect sound back into the concert hall. Two 50,000 cubic-feet floating concrete reverberation chambers on the second floor, covered in fabric, are installed 30 feet high on each side of the concert hall stage. The chambers absorb sound and reflect it back out into the audience. Motorized curtains can be drawn around the walls to adjust the level of “live” sound in the hall.

Collins Recital Hall

The Collins Recital Hall seats 189 on the main floor (plus 3 wheelchair access) and 104 in the balcony, with an additional three for wheelchair access, to total 299. Warm wooden elements include wooden planking sourced from tribal lands of the Menominee Indians in Wisconsin; wooden “petals” on the lighting “tiaras” suspended from the ceiling; and framed glulam beams (laminated timber of exceptional strength) that support the cement-filled ceiling. The hall’s colorful and dynamic wallpaper was designed by Tandem Press founder and printmaker William Weege, professor emeritus of UW–Madison’s Department of Art.

Information for prospective students

Learn more about our undergraduate admissions process.

We are a community of musicians, scholars, and teachers. Since its beginning in 1895, the School of Music has lived out a commitment to practical and enriching student-centered musical education. Our faculty and staff provide models of academic and artistic leadership, and our students reap the benefits of a dynamic public university and the limitless intellectual and artistic opportunities provided in Madison, Wisconsin.

What we look for in our applicants

Just like the UW–Madison’s general admissions process, the School of Music has a holistic application review. While individual specialties may apply their own criteria, broadly speaking we are looking for qualities such as leadership, community engagement, and success in other areas, in addition to academic excellence and potential for growth and achievement in music. Pre-college musical opportunities and interests vary widely between individual applicants. Musical engagement and drive to excel may be evidenced by a wide range of qualifying experiences. We also consider personal background and potential to contribute to the School of Music community.

Mead Witter School of Music