MVNU to host OMEA District 10 Honor Bands

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Mount Vernon Nazarene University will host the 2025 Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) District 10 middle school and high school honors bands for a day of education and performance on Saturday, Dec.6. The event will feature over 200 young musicians from Ashland, Coshocton, Delaware, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morrow and Richland counties and nearly 60 participating schools.

The day includes a morning of instruction for both bands and will culminate with a final concert at 3:30 p.m. in the R.R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.

To be eligible for the OMEA Honors Band, students must be nominated by their director. High school students must also submit an audition featuring scales and an etude excerpt. Those chosen also participate in a rehearsal the week prior to the performance.

This year’s District 10 Honors Bands event will feature guest clinician Scott A. Jones, a professor of music, associate director of bands, and director of the Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise at The Ohio State University in Columbus. His primary teaching responsibilities include conducting the Symphonic Band and leading the undergraduate conducting curriculum. Interdisciplinary partnerships are frequent in Jones’ teaching and creative work. Collaborative partners with ensembles under his direction have included visual artists, composers, folk artists, literary arts, digital media, dancers and choral ensembles. Jones is also an active guest conductor with engagements that regularly include all-state and honor bands, as well as international opportunities throughout Asia.

Dr. Ishbah Cox will serve as clinician for the middle school band. Dr. Cox is a conductor, educator and arranger with more than 20 years of university and public-school experience. He is currently the director of wind ensembles at Capital University and previously served as director of bands at Olentangy Orange High School in Lewis Center. Prior to that, he was an associate professor of bands at Purdue University, where he conducted multiple wind bands and served as one of the assistant directors for the marching band. Dr. Cox holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Auburn University, a master’s degree in music performance from the University of Alabama, and a Doctor of Arts in wind conducting with a secondary specialization in euphonium performance from Ball State University.

For more on the MVNU Music Department, visit mvnu.edu/music.