Encore Youth Programs

Audition Requirements: Youth Wind Ensemble

• All auditions will take place in person in the band room at Freedom High School.

• Currently accepting auditions for: Piccolo, Flute, Oboe/English Horn, Bassoon, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Bari Saxophone, Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba, Percussion, String Bass, Piano

  9/10 All-State Audition Music

• Audition Instructions:

  • Woodwind: FBA 2026 All-State Concert Band Audition Requirements

  • Brass & Percussion: FBA 2026 All-State Concert Band Audition Requirements

Audition Requirements: Youth BIG BAND

• All auditions will take place in person in the band room at Freedom High School.

• Currently accepting auditions for: Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Bari Saxophone, Trombone, Bass Trombone, Trumpet, Guitar, Drumset, Vibraphone, Piano, Bass

• Auditioners should reference the provided Etudes and Accompaniment materials. Please click here for audition materials.

• All auditions for Youth Big Band will include sightreading.

  • For Drums Auditioners:

    • Play their complete etude, and then demonstrate:

      • 36 bars of swing (blues form, tempo is 120) (12 bars of time/comping, then 12 of solo, then 12 of time/comping)

      • 16 bars of jazz funk/rock (tempo is 92)

      • 16 bars of Samba (tempo is 108 for half note)

  • For Guitar, Bass, and Piano Auditioners:

    • Play the first 32 measures of their respective Etude - the form is a Bb rhythm change. Then, comp/walk the next chorus (32 bars). 

    • Auditioners may then choose to improvise (improvisation is optional) over the next chorus (32 measures).

  • For Winds Auditioners:

    • Play the first 32 measures of their respective Etude.

    • Etudes should be played with the accompaniment track found here.

    • They may choose to improvise (improvisation is optional) over the next chorus, which is 32 measures of rhythm changes in Bb.

    • Wind players may substitute this requirement with the FBA All-State Swing Etude if they prefer.

DR. MICHAEL ANTMANN - 2025/2026 YOUTH BIG BAND DIRECTOR

Michael Antmann is in his 24th year as a music educator, and his ninth as band director at Freedom High School. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education from Florida State University and a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Central Florida. Prior to his current position, he served as the Music Resource Teacher for Orange County Public Schools and as band director at Bridgewater Middle School in Winter Garden, Florida, and Swift Creek Middle School in Tallahassee, Florida.

Ensembles under Dr. Antmann’s direction have earned performance invitations including the University of Georgia Middle School Band Festival (2004), the CBDNA/NBA Southern Division Conference (2006, 2024), the UCF Music for All Regional Concert Band Festival (2019, 2022), and the Florida Music Education Association (FMEA) conference (2011, 2014, 2022). He has been awarded five Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association, the FBA “Tom Bishop Award”, the “Oliver Hobbs Award,” Teacher of the Year, and the 2010 and 2018 OCPS/Kessler Grand Bohemian Excellence in Teaching Fine Arts Awards. He was also a national semi-finalist for the 2019 and 2020 Grammy Music Educator Awards.

Dr. Antmann is an active member of both FMEA and the Florida Bandmasters Association, serving in multiple leadership roles. He is an instructor at and co-founder of the Florida Band Director Workshop in Titusville, which is an intensive and interactive workshop focused on conceptual teaching and band pedagogy. He is active as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, and has presented sessions at state and national conferences.

DR. JO JOSSIM – 2025/2026 YOUTH WIND ENSEMBLE DIRECTOR

A native of Florida, Dr. Jossim is a graduate of Sandalwood High School (1978) in Jacksonville and received her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from the University of South Florida (1983). Continuing her education, she earned a master’s degree in oboe performance from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver (1985). Upon completion of her degree, she was appointed interim conductor of the Lamont Symphony Orchestra. While in Denver, she became the Music Director/Conductor of the Broomfield Civic Orchestra and the Golden Youth Symphony. In addition to her orchestral activities, she also taught middle school band at Sinclair Middle School and general elementary music in the Cherry Creek and Englewood Public School Systems, also in the Denver area. In 1991, she returned home to Jacksonville, Florida, where she was Director of Music at Bishop Kenny High School. Her teaching duties included concert band, marching band, choir, music theory, and general music. Under her direction, the concert band received Superior ratings for the first time in the history of the school. Following her high school teaching, she entered The Florida State University, where she earned a Ph.D. in Music Education (1999).

Dr. Jossim has served as Director of Bands, Instrumental Studies, and Professor of Music at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, since 1999. Throughout this time Dr. Jossim has conducted the Florida Southern College Symphony Band, Florida Southern College Symphony Orchestra and served as Head of the Music Education program teaching courses in conducting, music education, supervising music interns, woodwind quintet, brass quintet, studio oboe, faculty advisor for NAfME as well as the Director of the MOCS Pep Band. She was also the founder and director of the Florida Southern College Middle School Band Symposium, and Conductor of the Florida Southern College Summer Band Camp. Her bands have performed at State Conferences, and she maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States.

In addition to her responsibilities at Florida Southern College, she was also co-founder/conductor of the Lakeland based Hollingsworth Winds Concert Band and past president of the Florida College Music Educators Association. she is Chair of Commissioning for Phi Beta Mu, Omega Chapter and New Music Selection Committee member for the Florida Bandmaster’s Association.

She has held memberships in numerous professional and honorary organizations, including Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, Delta Omicron, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors Association, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Beta Mu.

She has been awarded the “Outstanding Contributor Award for Band” by Phi Beta Mu, Omega Chapter, the Wade Outstanding Teacher Award at Florida Southern College, and, most recently, inducted into the Florida Bandmasters Roll of Distinction.