Youth Honors Concert Band

Founded in 1989, the Youth Honors Band is an enriching opportunity for student musicians in grades 6-8. After the initial audition by video submission, selected band students meet for two rehearsals, the last culminating with a concert and reception at Seton Hill University’s Performing Arts Center. 

Audition videos are due by Thanksgiving Holiday break (check audition form for date) and rehearsals take place in January. The concert is part of the day of the last rehearsal and tickets can be obtained online or by contacting the Performing Arts Center Box Office at BoxOffice@setonhill.edu. There is a fee of $10 to audition and a fee of $70 to participate if selected for the band. Information on fees, schedules, and policies can be found on the audition application.

Visit the Forms and Documents page to download the list of required solos and to access the audition form.

We are excited to welcome Professor Emerita of Music at Seton Hill University and Founder of the Youth Honors Program, Kathleen M. Campbell, as our Youth Honors Concert Band Guest Conductor for the 2026-2027 Ensemble!

Professor Campbell served for 41 years as educator, performing artist, and conductor at Seton Hill. She was the founder of the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds, a wind and percussion performance and educational organization consisting of professional musicians from southwestern Pennsylvania and music students from Seton Hill University and served as its music director and conductor from 1985 - 2008.  In addition, she was the founding director of the Seton Hill University Community Arts Program Youth Honors Band, which has served middle school music students for nearly 40 years.

An active member of the National Association for Music Education, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and the Westmoreland County Music Educators Association, Ms. Campbell also served on the Arts in Education committee of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust from 1998-2008.  In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the profession of music education in Pennsylvania, Professor Campbell was inducted into the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Hall of Fame in 2024.

Kathleen Campbell is a graduate of Seton Hill University and holds a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music where she was assistant director of bands under Dr. Terrence Milligan. 

From 1991-95 and 2013-2017, Ms. Campbell served as Chair of the Music Department at Seton Hill University and from 1994-96, served as Music Director and Conductor of the Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, she guest conducted numerous honors bands at the local, state, and national levels and served as an active clinician and adjudicator in the tri-state area.  Ms. Campbell continues to teach saxophone and perform as a free-lance musician. 

Ms. Campbell was the recipient of the "Lifetime Achievement in the Arts" award given by the Greensburg Area Cultural Council (now the Westmoreland Cultural Trust) and was also awarded the CASE “Professor of the Year” at Seton Hill University.  For her retirement, friends and family of Seton Hill University and the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds commissioned Dr. Timothy Mahr to create a concert band composition in her honor.  As described in the composer’s program notes, “the Latin title Liberalitatis Celebranda can be paraphrased as meaning a generosity of spirit needing to be celebrated.”

In her retirement, Professor Emerita Kathleen Campbell now serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, where she participates in the Strategic and Artistic Planning initiatives and chairs the Education Committee.