The Vandegrift band has been chosen by the John Philip Sousa Foundation to be the 2020 recipient of the Sudler Flag of Honor. It is the first time that a high school from Leander ISD has been a recipient.

The Sudler Flag of Honor is an international award recognizing high school band programs of outstanding musical excellence, for which the goal is “to identify, recognize and honor high school band programs internationally that have demonstrated particularly significant high standards of excellence in concert activities over a period of several years.”

“It is an award honoring a collective of years of students and achievements. To say it plainly…  it’s a really big deal,” said Mike Howard, director of bands at VHS.

The award is named for Louis and Virginia Sudler, two patrons of the arts in Chicago who provided the endowment to recognize outstanding high school and university bands. 

The award is all encompassing and consideration required a large committee to review three years of concert recordings (2018-2020), convention performances, marching band honors, individual All-Region/All-State student achievements, solo competition participation, community impact and references from at least three nationally renowned conductors.