Conducted by Jerry Junkin, The University of Texas at Austin Wind Ensemble has firmly established itself as one of America's elite wind
bands. Active in the area of commissioning new music for the
repertoire, since 1988 the group has offered world premiere
performances of works by composers such as John Corigliano, Michael
Daugherty, Donald Grantham, David Maslanka, and Dan Welcher.
One of the guiding principles of the Wind Ensemble is contact with
the leading musical minds of the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries, resulting in recent residencies by such notable musicians
as Samuel Adler, Daniel Godfrey, Anthony Iannaccone, William Kraft,
David Maslanka, Thea Musgrave, Stephen Stucky, Joan Tower, Chinary
Ung, and Pulitzer Prize winners Michael Colgrass, Jacob Druckman,
John Harbison, Karel Husa, Gunther Schuller, John Corigliano and
Joseph Schwantner. Graduates of the Wind Ensemble hold major
positions in each of the Washington-based military bands and major
symphony orchestras throughout the world, in addition to those
serving as noted teachers and conductors.
The Wind Ensemble made its European debut at the Fifth Conference of
the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Manchester,
England in 1991, and its New York debut at Carnegie Hall in February
1998. National appearances by the Wind Ensemble include the 1995,
1999 and 2005 National Conferences of the College Band Directors
National Association and the 1996, 2000 and 2009 American Bandmasters
Association. Regional appearances include the 1989 Regional
Conference of the College Band Directors National Association in
Waco, Texas and five appearances at the Convention-Clinic of the
Texas Music Educators Association (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006).
The University of Texas Wind Ensemble debuted at the Napa Valley
Festival del Sole during the summer of 2007 and maintains a
relationship with IMG Artists. They appeared in concerts at major
venues in England, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and Spain during
a seventeen day tour in July of 2008.
The UT Wind Ensemble records for the Reference, Klavier and Naxos
labels. Their CD "Bells for Stokowski" was named one of the Best
Classical CD's of 2004 by The New York Times.
How to Join
Membership in The University of Texas Wind Ensemble is determined via auditions which are open to all qualified students at The University. These auditions take place the first week of classes of each fall term, and are heard by the conductors and the appropriate applied music Professor.
Each audition is seven minutes in length. Students are requested to perform solo material of their choice which demonstrates both the technical and expressive qualities of their performance, not to exceed four minutes in length. Students are also required to prepare a set of excerpts available for download beginning Aug. 1st.
Audition excerpts are available online. Audition signup sheets will be posted outside of the Wind Ensemble Office (MBE 2.402) beginning Aug. 15th. Please be sure to sign up for an audition time. For the spring term, auditions are held on an as-needed basis during the first week of December.