FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Thays
Phone: 608-850-3566
Web: wsmamusic.org
WSMA High School State Honors 2025 Kicks Off!
NOTE TO MEDIA: To identify students selected for the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project in your circulation area, please refer to the student roster (pdf). Schools and cities are listed in zip code order for easy reference.
WAUNAKEE, Wis. (June 2, 2025) – Some of Wisconsin’s finest young musicians are about to meet up for what could be the most rewarding musical experience of their lifetime – the 2025 Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) High School State Honors Music Project, which kicks off with a summer camp in June.
The WSMA High School State Honors Music Project is designed to provide musically accomplished students with the opportunity to rehearse and perform with some of the nation’s finest conductors in a professional and highly disciplined setting.
“The summer camp challenges students to rehearse at their musical best, so that they can practice effectively for October’s performance. It’s inspiring to see their transformation from the beginning to the end of camp and then again at the concert. The camaraderie they achieve together truly celebrates the reach of music education statewide,” said Erica Ruppert, WSMA program director.
More than 1,300 students in grades 9, 10 and 11 auditioned for 430 positions in the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project ensembles. The auditions were held in seven sites across the state this past February.
The students selected to participate in the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project will meet for the first time during the summer camp at UW-Eau Claire as follows: June 14-17, Orchestra, Treble Choir and Jazz Ensemble; June 18-21, Band and Mixed Choir. All Honors students reconvene in Madison in late October to perform in conjunction with the annual Wisconsin State Music Conference. The Honors concerts celebrate the remarkable achievements of our musical youth and are open to the public.
The 2025 WSMA High School State Honors Project conductors are:
| Band | Shanti Simon, Director of Bands, University of Colorado (Boulder, CO) |
| Orchestra | Daniel Sommerville, Professor of Music Emeritus, Wheaton College’s Conservatory of Music (Wheaton, IL) |
| Jazz Ensemble | Michael Dease, Professor of Jazz Trombone, Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI) |
| Mixed Choir | Mariana Farah, Director of Choral Studies, Mead Witter School of Music (Madison, WI) |
| Treble Choir | Kari Adams, Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education, University of Missouri (Columbia, MO) |
For more information about WSMA or its programs, go to wsmamusic.org.
# # #
Founded in 1932, Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) is a non-profit service organization with more than 1,000 member public and private schools. Students from member schools are eligible to participate in WSMA programs, such as District and State Solo & Ensemble Festivals, Concert Festivals, State Honors Music Project, State Marching Band Championships and Student Composition Project. WSMA is governed by a board of directors made up of superintendents, principals and other officers from all over the state. WSMA believes music is a basic human need and that all children have the right to experience all that music offers them.
