On Thursday, 105 high school students from 12 area high schools will travel to Baker University, not for an official campus tour, but a full day honor band festival and performance. These students, recommended for the festival by their own conductors, will participate in the 18th annual Baker Honors Band Festival, featuring a day full of auditions and rehearsals.

There will also be a special guest conductor, Michael Eckerty. Eckerty is the associate professor of music and director of instrumental music at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Along with his conducting resumé, he has performed bassoon in the Des Moines Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet and St. Joseph symphony.

Director of Bands Frank Perez will be working with the band during the festival. Students will have a chance to learn from him and other faculty in the music department.

“Maybe I can say something funny or insightful that will peak their interest and make them want to come here,” Perez said. “They will have a musical experience that adds to what they are getting at high school, but also shows them what their possibilities are, and hopefully they will want to come here.”

During a mid-day break, students will meet with admissions to discover Baker audition dates, how to apply, and available scholarships. Perez said the festival is a two-fold experience for students: a great musical event and a great recruiting tool for the university.

“We do it for recruiting and to give high school students another musical experience where they can play music they won’t normally play in high school,” Perez said. “Some schools come from small music programs where they maybe wouldn’t get a chance to play some of the bigger, harder pieces.”

The evening performance, which will be free of charge, begins at 7 p.m. in Rice Auditorium with three pieces from the Baker University Symphonic Winds. Selections for the concert range from pieces from the British television show Dr. Who, marches, romantic ballads, opera, and conclude with a Kansas classic, “Home on the Range.”

Perez said that students not planning on attending should think twice. Although it is a learning opportunity for high school students, it can also help broaden horizons for students already enrolled at Baker.

“We are a liberal arts institution. What we want to do is provide students a broad learning experience, and get them to experience stuff they normally wouldn’t get to experience,” Perez said. “For traditional concerts we would love to see more students come out. They are supporting their fellow students and it would give us a good audience. They get to listen to music they normally wouldn’t listen to and maybe learn a little bit about it.”