JANFEST "JanFest” (pioneering band invitational established in 1950) is a three-day event for high school band musicians. Students are nominated for participation by their director by way of this website early in the academic year after receiving the JanFest announcement. UGA Bands staff selects students to participate based on the order of the director’s submission, the instrumentation need of the festival bands, and the reported musical achievements of each student. Typical festival attendance is approximately 1000 students from 130 schools.Directors and other adult chaperones accompany students to Athens for the event. MidFEST "MidFest" (established 1990) is a three-day event for middle school band musicians. Students are nominated for participation by their director by way of this website early in the academic year after receiving the MidFest announcement in the mail. MidFest staff selects students to participate based on the order of the director’s submission, the instrumentation need of the festival bands, and the reported musical achievements of each student. Typical festival attendance is approximately 1000 students from 130 schools. SATURDAY PROGRAM For Midfest and Janfest information, please choose from the "Festivals" dropdown menu. The University of Georgia Bands hosts two of the largest and finest festivals of their kind: Midfest in December and Janfest in January (always the weekend before the GMEA Convention). These festivals provide exciting musical enrichment for students from Georgia and throughout the Southeast and include performance in an honor band or clinic band, concerts by our UGA Ensembles and guest bands selected through a competitive audition process, masterclasses by the stellar UGA applied instrumental faculty, and clinics by nationally renown guest artists. During the summer, the Hugh Hodgson School of Music hosts four summer experiences. The Summer Music Camp provides musical enrichment through large ensemble performance, private lessons, and daily masterclasses with the UGA faculty. The Summer Music Institute is intended to provide a taste of what being a music major at a large school of music is like with a week of immersion. The broad array of activities include performance in a select wind ensemble, chamber orchestra or chamber choir, performance in a chamber ensemble, history and theory, music electives such as conducting and composition, and roundtable panel discussions on topics such as applying to and auditioning to become a music major and career opportunities. Acceptance is highly competitive through recorded audition. The Summer Marching Band Camp is an intensive experience where students can choose to focus on the areas of drum major, marching percussion, color guard or band leadership. The camp is staged with award-winning specialists in each area including instructional staff from The University of Georgia Redcoat Band and from DCI. UGA Clarinet Professor D. Ray McClellan co-hosts the Clarinet Academy of America. Admission is open to college-age clarinetists, professionals, teachers and a limited number of advanced high school students.
