Students are assigned to one of two bands. Blue Band (top band) or Red Band (second band).
Music, along with other important information regarding Honor Band weekend, will be emailed to each selected student’s Band Director in December.
Honor Band weekend is Jan. 23-24, 2026 at the Lied Center at the University of Kansas Campus.
REHEARSALS
All students participating in the KS Sousa Honor Band are expected to attend all rehearsals prior to the performance. Weather-related and illness-related absences will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and at the discretion of the KS Sousa Honor Band Executive Board.
Friday evening – Lied Center
Saturday all day – Lied Center
Concert Saturday afternoon – Lied Center
Students are expected to dress in professional concert attire (white on top, black on bottom) on performance day. Students should arrive in those clothes on Saturday, as there are no changing facilities.
RECORDINGS & COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE ORDERS
PERFORMANCE RECORDINGS
Will be available for purchase. Purchased CDs/downloads will be sent to students through their band director.
COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE
Each participant can purchase a commemorative plaque with their name engraved. Learn more.
2026 Sousa Honor Band Conductors
The BLUE BAND will be led by Carol Brittin-Chambers. Mrs. Chambers is currently the composer and owner of Aspenwood Music and a highly sought-after conductor and clinician. She lives in San Antonio, Texas, where she is also on the music faculty at Texas Lutheran University, teaching composition and serving as Composer in Residence.
Chambers is commissioned each year to compose and arrange works for concert band, marching band, orchestra, and chamber ensembles. Her concert works have been selected to the J.W. Pepper Editor’s Choice List and the Bandworld Top 100 and have been performed at state educator conferences across the country, the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, and other international events. She was named the winner of the 2019 WBDI (Women Band Directors International) Composition Competition and has arranged and orchestrated marching shows for multitudes of high school bands nationwide, as well as The Crossmen Drum Corps. Chambers travels coast-to-coast conducting music ensembles of all ability levels and ages, and she has now joined the Conn Selmer Educational Team as an Educational Clinician.
Chambers has arranged and orchestrated show music for numerous high school marching bands across the country, as well as The Crossmen DrumCorps. High schools include CT Johnson HS, San Antonio, TX (2020 6A State Champion, 2019, 2016, 2011 BOA Grand Nationals Finalist, 2017 BOA San Antonio Super-Regional, Austin, & Midland Champion, 2014 BOA San Antonio Super-Regional & Houston Champion, multi-year State Finalist), Keller HS, TX (2023, 2015 BOA Grand Nationals Finalist, 2017 & multi-year BOA Regional and State Finalist), Broken Arrow Senior High School, OK (2006 BOA Grand Nationals Finals Champion), and Ronald Reagan High School, San Antonio, TX (2005 Bands of America Grand Nationals Semi-Finals Champion), to name a few. In addition to her own shows, she also orchestrates the shows of Aaron Guidry, at www.yataforluda.com.
Before coming to TLU, Chambers taught middle school and high school band and private lessons for many years in the North East Independent School District, San Antonio, TX. She has also consistently performed with groups such as the Mid-Texas and San Antonio Symphonies.
Chambers received a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music Education from Texas Tech University. She studied under Vincent Cichowicz, Will Strieder, John Paynter, Arnold Jacobs, James Sudduth, and Pat Anthony. She and her husband Mark have three children: Catherine, Joshua, and Julia.
The RED BAND will be led by Dr. Ruth Brittin. Ruth Brittin is professor of music education and chair of the Department of Music Education at University of the Pacific. She has been at the Conservatory of Music since 1997.
Brittin has a wide range of responsibilities including teaching undergraduate courses in elementary and secondary music methods, laboratory ensemble for both undergraduates and graduates, research and current issues courses for music education and therapy graduate students, and supervision of student teachers and interns. She also advises the music education majors and has received Pacific’s Faculty Mentor Award.
In addition to performing on French horn, Brittin is an active clinician, conductor and adjudicator for ensembles. She is a published and commissioned composer for band, orchestra and chamber music.
Brittin is currently a member of the Executive Council for the Society for Research in Music Education (a professional organization for music education in the U.S.) and the USA Representative for the International Society for Music Education’s Research Commission. She has served as the chief editor for two journals, the “International Journal of Music Education: Research“ and “Update: Applications of Research in Music Education“ and has served on the editorial boards of the “Journal of Research in Music Education,” “Teaching Music” and “College Music Symposium.” She publishes articles and presents research for the International Society for Music Education, National Association for Music Education and state music education organizations. She has served as distinguished visiting professor at several universities across the country and is the higher education and research representative for California Music Educators Association.
She received her PhD in Education from Florida State University in 1989, the MME from Texas Tech University in 1985, and the BME from Texas Tech University in 1983. She was associate professor and chair of music education at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY from 1989 through 1997.
KS Sousa Honor Band 