Megan Navarro
BUDA — Johnson High School (JHS) will send its 60-member wind ensemble to the Music for All National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana, in March 2026.
Started in 1992, the concert band component of the overall Music for All National Festival, presented by Yamaha, has been at the forefront of music education student-centered experiences in the band world. Leaders in the profession participate in the evaluation of each ensemble and are available for pre-performance clinics and networking opportunities, according to the festival's website. Bands will be paired with a composer of their chosen piece prior to and, following their performance, will receive an extended educational clinic.
For the first time in the school’s history, and within Hays CISD, JHS was selected among 52 high school and middle school ensembles — including concert bands, orchestras and percussion ensembles — from 14 states to participate in the festival. In order to be considered, the groups must submit two pieces of concert repertoire and the festival recommends a certain level of difficulty, so JHS chose two of its major pieces from its University Interscholastic League (UIL) concert band program and sent them in May for consideration.
According to Joni Perez, JHS band director, they have been working really hard this past school year to develop the students on their individual instruments and ensemble skills during the concert season. The band is excited to be featured in the spring as a concert ensemble, which they hope will bring more representation to what they do outside of the marching contests and football games in the fall.
“The community sees the band program in that way often. This is another facet of being in the band program and being a great musician, [which] is learning how to perform on stage as a concert ensemble and so, this will give them that opportunity to go in and do that on a national stage in front of a really appreciative audience,” Perez said.
The band director continued, stating that it’s an acknowledgment of the growth and improvement in the high level of performing that the students are doing throughout the entire school year.
“A lot of the real work on an instrument takes place during concert season. Getting the students to make concert season important and value it like they do marching season is a big deal and it's not always the easiest thing to do because concert band doesn't have the spectacle that marching band does. It's not supported by a football game or pep rallies or uniforms and fancy costumes. So, it's really easy for some to consider marching band more important or more valuable,” she said. “The fact that our students have committed themselves throughout the spring on their instruments and during concert season [and] the fact that we got invited is a testament to them making the year round participation important … I think that's really important for Moe & Gene Johnson [High School] to be recognized as an organization that is strong in both of those areas and not just marching.”
Before traveling to Indiana, the band will be preparing for the 40-minute concert that they will be performing, which is longer than what their traditional UIL concert program would be. They will also have clinics and rehearsals, either in-person or over Zoom, with either composers of some of the pieces they will be performing or with specified clinicians from across the country.
Normally, the band would not start preparing for its UIL program until January, Perez said, but, in this instance, the wind ensemble will start preparing the music as soon as football season is done.
“We have yet to pick the music — that's coming around the corner — but I'm excited. I'm excited about the kids getting to perform more music than what they do at UIL. For UIL, you pick three pieces and you work on those three pieces for three or four months. That's just what you do,” Perez said. “With this festival, we're going to get to learn two additional pieces, which is a great thing because that's just allowing the students to do more of what they enjoy doing, which is play their instruments and play music. We'll have a little bit more time to put that together since we're going to start preparing later this fall.”
The JHS band is also heading to St. Louis, Missouri, in October for a Bands of America marching contest and they have had fundraisers to help support that trip. For the Music for All National Concert Band Festival, March 26-28, 2026, Perez said the directors are going to be looking at how they can help students and parents raise money to afford the trip and would welcome any individual or business in the community who wants to help sponsor or develop effective ways to fundraise, so that all the students can fully participate.
More information about the festival can be found at festival.musicforall.org/concertband. To learn more about the JHS band, visit www.johnsonbands.com.
