2026 Select Honor Band & Choir
You are invited to have your high school band and choir students participate in the 2026 CMEA-Northern Section High School Select Honor Band & Choir. This year’s honor band and choir event will be open to the entire Northern Section, and it will be held on January 30th & 31st, 2026, at Butte College in Oroville, CA. Our honor band conductor this year will be our amazing CMEA Northern Section President, Dr. Jane Brown (see bio below). The honor choir conductor will be announced at a later date. We realize that January and February are busy months for conferences and honor bands, but we hope you can make it this year. Read below about how to participate.
CMEA-Northern Section High School Select Honor Band Coordinators
Ethan Jacobsen - [email protected]
Marco Paim - [email protected]
CMEA-Northern Section High School Select Honor Choir Coordinator
Phebe Cisneros - [email protected]
CMEA-Northern Section High School Select Honor Band Coordinators
Ethan Jacobsen - [email protected]
Marco Paim - [email protected]
CMEA-Northern Section High School Select Honor Choir Coordinator
Phebe Cisneros - [email protected]
Student Selection
We are allowing each high school band & choir director to select a percentage of their students, based on the total number of students that you have in your high school band or choir program. This will make it possible for everyone to select a fair number of students. If your school is planning to participate, please fill out the survey below with your name, school, and total high school band or choir program size. Please do this by October 15th so we can determine numbers and let you start selecting students. Only high school band and choir directors may complete the surveys below. If you are a private music teacher or parent of a homeschooled student, please reach out to us for more details.
After everyone submits their total band and choir numbers to us, we will send out a Google Form for submitting student names. When filling it out, please make sure you know their playing/singing level, t-shirt size preference, and food allergies. Your student selections will be due by December 1st. If you would like to see some of the band music from the past couple of years to help you decide if a student is ready, email Ethan Jacobsen ([email protected]). Costs are $40 per student. This contribution helps pay for lunch, the honor band t-shirt, snacks, the conductor, and other honor band expenses.
Even though auditions will not be required, we hope that directors will choose students who are ready for honor band and honor choir. Additional information about selecting students will be provided at a later date.
Even though auditions will not be required, we hope that directors will choose students who are ready for honor band and honor choir. Additional information about selecting students will be provided at a later date.
2026 High School Select Honor Band Conductor
Dr. JanE Brown
As a native of the arts-loving mountain communities of Northern California, Jane Brown has always had a passion for sharing the finest in music with everyone around her. She earned her Bachelor of Music, magna cum laude, in music curriculum and instruction from Brigham Young University; and a Master of Arts in Music with honors in woodwind performance and conducting from California State University, Chico. After establishing a strong foundation as both a performing professional orchestral musician and music educator, Ms. Brown embarked on her career conducting symphonic music in the Spring of 2001. Most recently, Jane completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from University of Nevada, Las Vegas in May of 2022.
Dr. Brown’s first orchestral appointment was to conduct the Reno Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra. During her four-year tenure there, she worked with more than 300 of Northern Nevada and Northeastern California’s finest young musicians. Under her leadership, this excellent group of students performed professional orchestral literature for over 23,000 people, including its highly acclaimed Young People’s Concerts for children. In the Fall of 2004, Jane was selected to serve as the conductor and musical director of the Reno Pops Orchestra, where she had a profound effect on building every aspect of that ensemble and its audiences into a regional phenomenon.
In April of 2013 she was named as the conductor of the Ruby Mountain Symphony in Elko, Nevada and in July 2013 conducted the Les Misérables run with the Tahoe Players in Reno, Nevada. More recently, she has revitalized the Ruby Mountain Symphony and in 2020, founded a new professional ensemble known for its artistry and joyous music-making: the Northern Nevada String Serenade. Jane has also served as the guest conductor of many honor bands and orchestras, and has frequently served as a music festival adjudicator and clinician in the educational circles of Northeastern California and Northern Nevada.
Her recent pursuits also include studying conducting with such internationally renowned masters as: Gustav Meier, Mark Gibson, Markand Thakar, Diane Wittry, Joseph Gifford, Karolos Trikolidis, Guerassim Voronkov, Victor Yampolsky, Taras Krysa, and—most recently—Jonathan Brett and Alexander Polyanichko. In February of 2014 she was named as a Conducting Fellow with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra with Diane Wittry. In recent years Jane has guest conducted the Serbian Symphony Orchestra in Belgrade, the State Symphony Concert Orchestra of Ukraine in Kyiv, the State Philharmonic of the Republic of Adygea in Maikop, and the State Academic Orchestra of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty; as well as the Chelyabinsk Symphony Orchestra, the Bryansk Governor’s Symphony Orchestra, the Samara Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tolyatti Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of Dagestan State Philharmonic, the Astrakhan Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and the Arkhangelsk State Chamber String Orchestra, and two of the state orchestras in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Dr. Brown is a passionate and energetic conductor who inspires musicians to achieve their highest potential. She is known for her team-building leadership style, her enthusiastic work ethic, and her passion for audience-friendly, thematic, multimedia programming. During her tenure as conductor of the Reno Pops Orchestra and in her work with many other ensembles, she has played a key role in developing several innovative education and outreach programs which have brought inspiration to thousands of audience members and musicians in Northeastern California and Northern Nevada.
Most recently, Dr. Brown has become one of the featured conductors on the London-based SigmArt livestreaming and on-demand multimedia arts online platform. Her work with Sigmart includes livestreaming her guest conducting engagements overseas, as well as her recent performances with the Reno Pops Orchestra.
Dr. Brown’s first orchestral appointment was to conduct the Reno Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra. During her four-year tenure there, she worked with more than 300 of Northern Nevada and Northeastern California’s finest young musicians. Under her leadership, this excellent group of students performed professional orchestral literature for over 23,000 people, including its highly acclaimed Young People’s Concerts for children. In the Fall of 2004, Jane was selected to serve as the conductor and musical director of the Reno Pops Orchestra, where she had a profound effect on building every aspect of that ensemble and its audiences into a regional phenomenon.
In April of 2013 she was named as the conductor of the Ruby Mountain Symphony in Elko, Nevada and in July 2013 conducted the Les Misérables run with the Tahoe Players in Reno, Nevada. More recently, she has revitalized the Ruby Mountain Symphony and in 2020, founded a new professional ensemble known for its artistry and joyous music-making: the Northern Nevada String Serenade. Jane has also served as the guest conductor of many honor bands and orchestras, and has frequently served as a music festival adjudicator and clinician in the educational circles of Northeastern California and Northern Nevada.
Her recent pursuits also include studying conducting with such internationally renowned masters as: Gustav Meier, Mark Gibson, Markand Thakar, Diane Wittry, Joseph Gifford, Karolos Trikolidis, Guerassim Voronkov, Victor Yampolsky, Taras Krysa, and—most recently—Jonathan Brett and Alexander Polyanichko. In February of 2014 she was named as a Conducting Fellow with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra with Diane Wittry. In recent years Jane has guest conducted the Serbian Symphony Orchestra in Belgrade, the State Symphony Concert Orchestra of Ukraine in Kyiv, the State Philharmonic of the Republic of Adygea in Maikop, and the State Academic Orchestra of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty; as well as the Chelyabinsk Symphony Orchestra, the Bryansk Governor’s Symphony Orchestra, the Samara Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tolyatti Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of Dagestan State Philharmonic, the Astrakhan Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and the Arkhangelsk State Chamber String Orchestra, and two of the state orchestras in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Dr. Brown is a passionate and energetic conductor who inspires musicians to achieve their highest potential. She is known for her team-building leadership style, her enthusiastic work ethic, and her passion for audience-friendly, thematic, multimedia programming. During her tenure as conductor of the Reno Pops Orchestra and in her work with many other ensembles, she has played a key role in developing several innovative education and outreach programs which have brought inspiration to thousands of audience members and musicians in Northeastern California and Northern Nevada.
Most recently, Dr. Brown has become one of the featured conductors on the London-based SigmArt livestreaming and on-demand multimedia arts online platform. Her work with Sigmart includes livestreaming her guest conducting engagements overseas, as well as her recent performances with the Reno Pops Orchestra.
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