Russellville junior selected for Louisville honor band

RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. – A Russellville High School junior is heading to Louisville for a special honor.

According to a release, Aliza Wilson, a junior French horn player of RHS, was selected as a member of the Louisville Youth Wind Symphony.

Under the direction of Dr. Amy Acklin, the LYWS will begin its inaugural season in January 2025 as the premiere honor wind band in surrounding Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio areas.

The release says the purpose of the band is to bring “artistry-level musical experiences for advanced woodwind, brass and percussion high school students.”

The LYWS will not only perform Grade 5 and 6 collegiate and professional level repertoire, it will also work with masterworks and new music for full band and chamber ensemble.

Auditions for LYWS are reportedly high competitive, with more than 220 applications from Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

The final roster represents 83 young artists from 23 schools in Kentucky and Indiana.

Wilson has played French horn for seven years under the direction of Trevor Caldwell and is a horn student of Joseph Demko. She has performed on French horn in multiple honors bands, including KMEA 3rd District All-District Band (2022-2024), WKU Honors Band (2023-2024), and Murray State Quad-State Band (2022-2024) and played piano in the 2024 WKU Jazz Honors Band.

Additionally, the release says Wilson plays French horn in the RHS Panther Concert Band, synth in the RHS Marching Panther Band, piano in the RHS Jazz Band and mellophone in the RHS Pep Band.

The 2025 LYWS season will culminate with a public concert on May 11, 2025, featuring composer-in-residence John Mackey’s Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band. To learn more about the program, click here.