Please Note: Honors Choir Finalists in the US and Canada will receive their sheet music by mail in December. All other performers (including instrumentalists and choral Finalists in other countries) are expected to download and print their sheet music, which they should bring with them to New York City.

Rehearsal Tracks (Honors Choir Only)
Click the links below to access rehearsal tracks that will assist as you rehearse the program repertoire.

Honors Performance Series Rehearsal Tracks - Instructions and Tips

High School Honors Concert Choir Rehearsal Tracks

High School Honors Treble Choir Rehearsal Tracks

A Reminder for All Ensembles
Finalists are expected to bring a simple, black binder or folder to New York City in which they will keep their music. A simple paper presentation folder, three-ring binder, or similar is acceptable, as are more formal music folders.

Announcing the Program Repertoire

We’re very excited to announce the repertoire for the 2020 Honors Performance Series! Please reference the documents below for a summary of the music Finalists will perform at Carnegie Hall in February. Finalists are encouraged to begin familiarizing themselves with the repertoire in advance of receiving their sheet music and part assignments in December.

Honors Matinee Performance (2:00p) - Instrumental Ensembles

Honors Evening Performance (8:30p) - Choral Ensembles

Tickets to the Honors Performance at Carnegie Hall

Please note that the Finalist package does not include a ticket to the Honors Performance for friends or family members. While each loved one participating in an Honors Family Program receives one Priority Seating ticket to the performance, we recognize that other family and friends may want to purchase individual tickets or sit elsewhere in the hall. Individual, non-priority tickets may be purchased through the Carnegie Hall Box Office. Tickets (as available) will go on sale 60 days before the performance at www.carnegiehall.org/boxoffice. We are unable to accommodate requests for individually purchased tickets to be seated in the Priority Seating section, indicated on the Hall Seating Map to the right.

Instrument Rental Information

Finalists are expected to bring their instruments with them (exclusions: pianos and percussion will be provided). If two instruments are listed on your acceptance letter, please bring both. Music stands and sheet music will be provided. The Honors Performance Series encourages instrumentalists to bring their own instruments to New York. We have found that students perform their best when playing the instrument that they practice with year-round, which helps ensure the quality of the performance. For additional information about traveling with your instrument, as well as a list of instrument rental companies recommended by the Series, please visit www.honorsperformance.org/instruments.

About Your Conductors

Douglas Droste
Conductor, High School Honors String Orchestra
Douglas Droste is the Artistic Director of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and Director of Orchestras at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. He has been called “The People’s Maestro” because of his rapport with MSO musicians, audience members, and presence in the community. At Ball State, Droste conducts the Ball State Symphony Orchestra, opera productions, and oversees the orchestral conducting program. The BSSO was selected to perform at the 2019 College Orchestra Directors Association National Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as the Indiana Music Education Association Conference (2016, 2019), and as the featured orchestra at the Music for All National Choral Festival (2018, 2019).

Droste has guest conducted orchestras across the United States and internationally, including numerous youth and all state orchestras, and has guest conducted at the prestigious Midwest Clinic. In 2014, Droste was invited with jazz violinist Christian Howes on a goodwill cultural exchange by the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. He studied conducting at the Pierre Monteux School, the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, as well as other prominent conducting seminars. His primary conducting mentors include Gary Lewis, Michael Jinbo, and Larry Rachleff. Droste holds degrees from The Ohio State University and Texas Tech University.

Dr. Kenneth Ozzello
Conductor, High School Honors Band
Dr. Kenneth Ozzello is Director of Bands and Professor of Music at The University of Alabama. He holds the Bachelor of Music in Music Education and the Masters of Music in Conducting degrees from West Virginia University, and the Doctorate of Education from The University of Alabama. Dr. Ozzello is the conductor of the Alabama Wind Ensemble, which has performed at numerous national and regional conventions, toured internationally, and recorded several CDs. In 2012, Dr. Ozzello received the Morris Meyer Award recognizing outstanding contributions to student life at The University of Alabama. He has been published in the Teaching Music through Performance in Band series. Dr. Ozzello previously served on the staff of the West Virginia University band program, and as the Director of Bands at Jeannette High School in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. Dr. Ozzello heads the graduate wind conducting program at Alabama, and maintains a busy national schedule of clinics and guest conducting engagements.

Dr. Jeffery Redding
Conductor, High School Honors Concert Choir
Dr. Jeffery Redding, 2019 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year, is past Director of Choral Activities at West Virginia University and currently serves as Director of Choral Activities at West Orange High School in Florida. He has been featured as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Orchestra Hall on numerous occasions. Dr. Redding has conducted several divisional and national ACDA National Honor Choirs, as well as All-State and Honor choirs in more than 25 states. In 2014, he was the only American adjudicator at the International Choral Festival, Verona, Italy. He is a member of ACDA, NAfME, FVA, NATS, and Chorus America. Currently, he is the State R&S Chair for High School Mixed Choir for Florida ACDA, and he was awarded the R. Wayne Hogoboom Distinguished Service Award for dedicated service, leadership, and excellence by the Florida Chapter of ACDA in November 2015. Dr. Redding holds a Ph.D. in Choral Conducting/Music Education and an M.M.E., both from Florida State University, and a B.S. in Music Education from Florida A&M University.

Dr. Tim Seelig
Conductor, High School Honors Treble Choir
Dr. Tim Seelig started his career as a singer, making his European operatic debut at the Staatsoper in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and his solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall. In addition to serving as Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, he continues a busy guest-conducting schedule throughout the U.S. and across the globe. He is Conductor Emeritus of the Turtle Creek Chorale (which he conducted for 20 years), co-founded The Women’s Chorus of Dallas, and taught on the faculty at Southern Methodist University. Dr. Seelig holds four degrees, including the Doctor of Musical Arts and the Diploma from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He has authored seven books and DVDs on choral technique, including several bestsellers. His recordings have been on Billboard Top Ten and iTunes Top Ten classical charts. He additionally holds the distinctions of having conducted the Guinness Book of World Records’ Longest Choral Concert, as well as having been selected as a Community Hero to carry the Olympic torch.

Angela Woo
Conductor, High School Honors Symphony Orchestra
Angela Woo is Director of Instrumental Music and Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica, CA. She holds the degrees Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and Piano Performance, the Master of Education, and the Master of Fine Arts in Conducting from UCLA. She also holds the Master of Arts in Educational Administration from Cal State Northridge. Ms. Woo enjoys an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator with numerous honor groups, conducting symposia, and music festivals throughout the country and internationally. She first earned international acclaim as a conductor in Mexico City and most recently conducted the 2018 State Honours Ensemble Program at the Queensland Conservatorium (Griffith University) in Brisbane, Australia. Ms. Woo was recognized by the Santa Monica Rotary Club as the 2005 Santa Monica-Malibu District Teacher of the Year. She was honored at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic as a 2012 Legion of Honor Laureate by the John Philip Sousa National Foundation.