The 35th Annual UMass Honor Band Festival continues this year with another outstanding composer-in-residence and a separate day-long track for middle and high school music educators.  This year's guest, Cait Nishimura, is a Canadian composer, songwriter, and music educator based in Toronto, Ontario. Described as having a "refreshing buoyancy", her music uses minimalist patterns, simple yet lush harmonies, and themes that linger in listeners' minds, drawing inspiration from the beauty of the natural world. With a special focus on wind band and choral music, Nishimura strives to present contemporary concert music that is accessible and enjoyable by musicians of all levels. Her work for wind band, Chasing Sunlight, was selected as the winner of the 2017 Canadian Band Association Composition Competition, and has since been added to regional and national wind band syllabi. Nishimura holds undergraduate degrees in music and education from the University of Toronto. Her work is regularly programmed and commissioned by ensembles across North America, where she is in demand as a visiting composer and educator.

High School Honor Bands and the UMass Wind Ensemble will perform. Go to the "Honor Band" section of the website for more info!