On Nov. 20, Cal State Fullerton’s University Wind Symphony was announced as the second-place winner of the 2024–25 American Prize for Wind Band/Ensemble Performance. This follows conductor and director Dustin Barr’s second-place American Prize win in Conducting – Band/Wind Ensemble Division for 2024–25. Barr is an associate professor of music at CSUF.
The American Prize in Wind Ensemble/Concert Band Performance recognizes and rewards the best annual performances by concert bands and wind ensembles across the country. Ensembles are adjudicated on their submitted recordings by a panel of professionals from the music field.
In 2021, University Wind Symphony took third place for the American Prize’s Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music. With its two most recent accomplishments, the CSUF Wind Band Area has now received every award it is eligible for by the American Prize organization.
The ensemble’s recent awards and accomplishments include a 2024 invitational performance at the regional College Band Directors National Association in Las Vegas, Nevada; a 2023 invitational performance as headlining collegiate wind band for the California All-State Music Education Conference; and a 2019 performance at the national CBDNA conference, marking the first time CSUF was invited to the national conference in its 60-plus year history.
In 2022, University Wind Symphony, conducted by Barr, released “Effigy,” a musical album composed by Brian Baumbusch. Inspired by the practice of social distancing, the album utilized innovative recording techniques to capture each performer’s individual contribution, in isolation, between August 2020 and July 2021. These recordings were later re-recorded and mixed to produce new music at a time when the recording industry was severely impacted by the pandemic.
Graduates from the Wind Band Area have enjoyed regional and national success in their field. Music alum Eleanor Nuñez was appointed director of bands and orchestras at the prestigious Colburn Community School in Los Angeles while recent graduate Peter Bement was selected as one of five nationwide conductors to participate in the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” Conductors Workshop.
Congratulations to the CSUF Wind Band Area for these prestigious national awards and professional recognition.
See CSUF’s wind ensembles in concert this spring when University Wind Symphony and University Symphonic Winds perform on Feb. 28 and March 1 as part of the Annual Invitational Wind Ensemble Festival on campus in Meng Concert Hall.