Arizona State University’s Wind Ensemble wins prestigious national award

The ASU Wind Ensemble is the college/university division winner of the American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble Performance for 2024. Selected from applications from across the United States, the ensemble also won second prize in the college/university (larger programs) category of the American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music.

This is the first time the ASU Wind Bands has won an award in The American Prize competition.

“It is extremely rewarding when you are recognized on a national level for the good work that your students and you are doing,” said Jason Caslor, associate professor and director of bands in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre.      

The American Prize, which is based on submitted recordings, is designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the United States at professional, college/university, community and high school levels. 

Caslor said he applied for the competition with no expectations, but hoped the ensemble would be recognized for all the hard work the students have been doing.

“I am really proud of the recordings we have done over the last couple of years as an ensemble,” said Caslor. “The students sounded terrific and the pieces are virtuosic.”

The two pieces submitted were Kevin Day’s “Concerto for Wind Ensemble,” which was nominated for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music, and Carter Pann's “Double Concerto,” which featured ASU faculty Joshua Gardner on clarinet and Christopher Creviston on saxophone.

Both works were recorded on stage in ASU Gammage by Tempest Recording’s Clarke Rigsby, faculty associate, and produced by Joshua Gardner, associate professor of clarinet.

“The whole journey of creating a recording is in itself an amazing opportunity for the students,” said Caslor. “It is a different mindset for the students. A recording session requires an incredible amount of focus and precision. One wrong note often results in needing to do an additional take, which takes time and increased fatigue. That type of experience is part of the training that we provide for our students here at ASU.”

Caslor said another exciting part of the experience was seeing so many wind band alumni who    were a part of the recording project share the news on their social media platforms. After the award was announced, many commented on social media that “one of the highlights of their time at ASU was getting to play in the ASU wind ensemble and to be a part of the recording.”

“Our best advocates for our program are our students,” said Caslor. “If they are proud of something, especially something like being a part of winning this top prize, it builds a nice sense of community and pride across the program.”

ASU Wind Bands have performed multiple times at national and divisional conventions of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), the American Bandmaster’s Association (ABA), the Music Educators’ National Conference (MENC) and the Midwest International Clinic.

Previous American Prize winners from the School of Music, Dance and Theatre include Jamal Duncan, assistant professor and associate director of ASU Wind Bands, first place for conducting (band/wind ensembles); Brian DeMaris, professor and artistic director of Music, Theatre and Opera, second place for opera conducting three times; and ASU Music Theatre and Opera for musical theatre performance seven times.