Boise State Bands is pleased to host the 2025 edition of its All-Star Honor Band, February 7-8, 2025.
We welcome two outstanding musicians and educators with a wealth of knowledge, experience, and a litany of their own program success stories. Our conductor for the honor band is Dr. R. Mark Heidel, director of bands at the University of Iowa.
Nominations and Registration
Nominations are to be made by school band directors and school band directors only. If you are a student interested in being nominated, please let your director know!Â
- December 5, 2024: Nominations Due
- January 24, 2025: Chair Placement Auditions and Rehearsal*
- February 7-8, 2025: Honor Band Rehearsals and Performance
*This date is required for participating students who live within 150 miles of the 83725 zip code. Alternate arrangements will be made for chair placements for students who live 151 miles or farther.
- A fully detailed schedule of events will be included with student acceptance notifications.
- A $30.00 per student participation fee will be due to Boise State after acceptance notifications and before January 24, 2025.
Each school may nominate multiple members from their home concert band. Acceptance will be based on criteria from the nomination form ranked among musicians of like instruments (flutists compared to flutists; trombonists compared to trombonists, etc.).
Honor Band Clinician
Dr. Richard Mark Heidel
Richard Mark Heidel is Director of Bands and Professor of Music in the School of Music at the University of Iowa, where he conducts the Iowa Symphony Band, teaches graduate courses in conducting and wind literature, guides the graduate wind conducting program, and oversees all aspects of the University of Iowa band program.
Ensembles under Dr. Heidel’s direction have performed at national, regional, and state conferences, including those of the American Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Wisconsin Music Educators Association, Illinois Music Educators Association, and National Band Association-Wisconsin Chapter. He has also led multiple concert tours to the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as throughout the Midwest and East Coast.
A native of Texas, Heidel holds a Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Conducting from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, as well as a Doctor of Education in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His principal teachers include James F. Keene, James Sudduth, Gary Smith, Keith Bearden, Donald Schleicher, John Grashel, Eunice Boardman, Richard Tolley, and Michael Ewald. Prior to his appointment to the University of Iowa faculty in 2008, Dr. Heidel served as Director of Bands at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, and as a teaching assistant in the School of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to his university teaching experiences, Heidel taught in Texas for nine years, serving as Director of Bands at Muleshoe High School, Levelland High School, and Monterey High School in Lubbock.
Dr. Heidel has presented clinics and workshops at state music conferences and universities in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, and he has appeared as guest conductor and clinician in more than 35 states, Washington, D.C., and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, with additional engagements in Ireland, Vietnam, and Austria.
Dr. Heidel has held leadership positions within numerous professional organizations, including the National Band Association, American Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, and Big Ten Band Directors Association. His list of more than 30 publications includes articles in the National Band Association Journal, Teaching Music, Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, and Iowa Music Educator.