Student musicians converge at Harwood’s Battle of the Bands, Oct. 23
October 16, 2026 | By Waterbury RoundaboutHarwood Union High School’s music program presents the 5th annual Sonic Futures Battle of the Bands on Friday, Oct. 23.
Students handle all roles in the production of the Battle of the Bands competition. File photo by Gordon Miller
The public is invited to the 7 p.m. event in the Harwood auditorium to witness student rock bands, duos and solo artists perform and compete, with the winners chosen for a Youth Music Showcase performance at Higher Ground next spring.
Some 14 bands and musical acts from about a dozen Vermont high schools will be participating in this year’s program.
“This event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for student musicians in Vermont,” said Harwood music teacher Brian Boyes.
Created by Harwood’s Music Department, Sonic Futures is a popular music education project that bookends the school year with performance opportunities for Vermont student musicians and bands. It begins with the October Fall Music Summit and Battle of the Bands and concludes with a Youth Music Showcase in the spring, scheduled at Higher Ground in South Burlington for May 22.
Friday will feature activities during the day leading up to the Battle of the Bands performances and competition. Students in Harwood’s HighlandMedia program will provide production services, including multi-cam livestream, photos and audio recording. Their roles will cover pre-production, show hosting, lighting design, and sound engineering.
The competing student bands and musicians from Central and Northern Vermont will spend an afternoon working with professional Vermont music producers and songwriters, Jer Coons, Paige Thibault and Eric Maier.
The Basement Boys from Winooski High School perform in 2025. Photo by Gordon Miller
Students will attend workshops on topics such as booking gigs with Jeremy Urtz, who works as a booking agent for Higher Ground, songwriting and album production with noted producer-songwriter Jer Coons, and music industry workshops with Andy Gagnon, Stefanie Weigand, and Matt Avery.
At the end of the day, each band leaves with the necessary tools and resources to build out their brand and book future performances.
The educational aspects of the event extend beyond Harwood hosting students and visiting students in the bands. Boyes explained that the event enjoys a strong partnership with UVM’s Music Education program, which sends pre-service music teachers to Harwood to shadow the various professional faculty and help support the event.
“This is an incredibly unique learning opportunity that previously has not been available to Vermont’s future music educators,” Boyes said.
The Battle of the Bands performance program begins at 7 p.m. The winning band will be awarded a full-day professional recording session with Jer Coons at his jer&co studio and mastering by Julia Rangel at Tank Recording Studio. The top three acts will earn a spot to perform at the Sonic Futures Youth Music Showcase at Higher Ground in May.
Here is the 2026 Sonic Futures Battle of The Bands program lineup with schools noted:
The Assembly Band - Harwood Union High School
Golden Pig - Danville High School
MINC - Multiple Vermont high schools
Brian and the Others - Vergennes Union High School
LIMAZÀBB - Milton High School
Glam Cowboys - Harwood
Blabber-Mouth - Middlebury Union High School
L'Appel du Vide - Harwood
Surf Green - Harwood
2nd Balcony Jazz Band - Middlebury Union
The Tones - Spaulding High School
The Voice Cracks - St. Albans Town Educational Center
Will Clark - Harwood
Mollie Mislak - U-32 High School
Tickets at the door are: $5 for students; $10 for adults; $15 per family. In addition to the Harwood Music Program, Sonic Futures sponsors include Mad Taco, Higher Ground and Tank Recording.
The view from the sound board during Battle of the Bands 2025. Photo by Gordon Miller