Bernie Powers Band Foundation

04/12/2026

Congratulations to Collin Dyszelski (left) for receiving the Jeff Bogosh Summer Jazz Camp scholarship and Colin Girton (right) for receiving the Marcia Berman Percussion scholarship! 🎶

Both scholarships were presented at Band O Rama.

Learn more about BPBF scholarships at https://www.bpbf.org/scholarships.html

03/11/2026

Just two months ago we unveiled a new and exciting initiative, the BPBF Distinguished Service Awards program, to honor and recognize great people who were a major part of our storied Band history.

Our first inductee of 2026 is Al Auby! Al was a champion of Sound of Sun Prairie as his 3 kids were involved in the program.

In fact, from 1982 through 1990, Al was our head percussion instructor, guiding the section to achieve many awards and recognition, including the Wisconsin Music Educators Conference Community Service Award for Outstanding Service to Community Music and Music Education.

This is just part of Al's story and dedication to the band program.

The Bernie Powers Band Foundation is proud to recognize Al Auby with this Distinguished Service award for all he did to help others through our band program. Al was a true hero and we thank you.

Read Al's full biography on our Foundation website: https://www.bpbf.org/al-auby.html

03/06/2026

Congrats to all artists involved in this incredible project— from musicians to composers to authors! 🧡 Thanks River and Paisley for letting SP Bands be part of your stories 🧡

Alumni, take a few minutes to watch the interviews here: https://www.wmtv15news.com/2026/03/05/sun-prairie-east-west-band-students-prepare-concert-inspired-by-young-storytellers/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQX4MlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFYTkFvdFZwYzBqYkM4TnVrc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjSXehQuAeUI8B1WHpI6ofYOKvF23LrlwpF2ej-UYgMl7HC1fKkGZT57sDNY_aem_7DbUZxFiolJ2hXblHMtk2g

03/05/2026

Don’t miss the SP East and West combined concert tomorrow evening, March 5! 🎼🧡

Meet Paisley! The East Concert Band will bringing Paisley's story "The Milo and Paisley Adventure" to life tomorrow night. A special feeling happens when imagination and story come to life with music. We are incredibly excited to share this with the public tomorrow evening!

03/04/2026

This is incredible and so special! 🧡🎼

SP alumni, we highly recommend coming out to see this joint East and West combined concert on Thursday, March 5. Band students had the opportunity to participate in a highly collaborative and meaningful project with guest artists and composers.

PLUS, don’t miss the SP Bands segment on WMTV 15 News morning show this Thursday!

02/13/2026

It’s a big week for SP Bands students Congrats to musicians who participated in solo night this week, and best of luck to musicians at SP Solo/Ensemble Festival this weekend! 🎶

01/14/2026

Huge congrats to Sound of Sun Prairie! The group has been selected to perform in Philadelphia this summer to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. 🥳

Get Ready! SOSP has been selected to perform in Philadelphia this summer to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of our Independence.

01/13/2026

Our winter scholarship applications are open now through March 6 for current SP Bands students in grades 7-12!

Students, be sure to start your application early. A letter of recommendation from a band teacher is required.
Visit https://www.bpbf.org/scholarships.html for application information.

The scholarships in our winter application window are:
🎺 Jeff Bogosh Summer Jazz Camp Scholarship
🍎 Jock Bogle Music Education Scholarship (for graduating seniors)
🎓 Ken Paris Music Scholarship (for graduating seniors)
​🥁 Marcia Berman Percussion Scholarship
🎶 BPBF H.E.A.R. Scholarship

📷 Pictured are some of last year's scholarship recipients.

01/04/2026

Happy New Year, all!

Last month we unveiled a new and exciting initiative, the BPBF Distinguished Service Awards program, to honor and recognize great people who were a major part of our storied Band history.

Our very first inductee is the one and only Bill Stoker. Bill Stoker was a dad who loved music, marching and helping others.

In 1983 Bill’s son Scott joined the summer marching band and Bill volunteered to help out. Bill had experience in marching and instructing with the Madison drum corps. His valuable knowledge and drive to help us be the best we could be was evident from the start. Bill had two kids go through our program and Bill was with us that entire time.

Thank you Bill for all you did to help our young students grow to be the best they could be during our marching program.

You can learn more about Bill and the difference he made by visiting https://www.bpbf.org/service-awards.html

12/20/2025

We're excited to announce our SP Bands fall scholarship recipients! These students received the Marcia Berman Percussion Scholarship and/or the H.E.A.R. Scholarship awards at the winter band concerts earlier this month. 👏👏👏

Congratulations to:
🎶 Andrew P.
🎶 Noah F.
🎶 Ev O.
🎶 Sarah L.
🎶 Collin L.
🎶 Fiona G.
🎶 Noah I.

12/20/2025

Wishing happy holidays to our community. We hope music will be an important part of the celebrations. ☃️🎶