12 For 12 Webinar Series

EDUCA-TAINER Mickey Smith Jr. is a GRAMMY Music Educator Award Recipient that hails from a forgotten community in the Bayou State of Louisiana and now stands on phenomenal stages encouraging educators to SEE THE SOUND & KEEP ON GOING.  Mickey is acclaimed international speaker, saxophonist, author, and master development coach for elementary and middle school band directors as well as a self-management-strategist for educators.  Mickey is committed to encouraging and equipping all educators with the tools to Discover Their Sound of significance and Keep On Going with resilience to create a SOUND180 days of school. Smith specializes in motivational keynotes and transformative professional development training sessions for both corporate and educational clients who are ready to engage, educate, and elevate every audience member to excellence. Whether the message is being shared in a School District, a Conference, In-Person  or Virtually, Smith believes that everyone has a “sound” (a significance) that has the power to resonate with others and create a shift in the thoughts and perspectives of our next and best.  Mickey’s motivational mixture of music & message teaches people how to reach people with consistency, intention, and strategy.

Lennard Holden received his bachelor’s degree in music from Mississippi College, Clinton, MS. He has been the Director of Bands at Southwood High School since 2007. Prior to that, Mr.Holden held a position at Clinton High School in Clinton Mississippi. 

Mr. Holden directs the Freshman Band, Percussion Ensemble, Brass Choir, Woodwind Ensemble, Marching Auxiliaries, The Southwood Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Pep Band, and Marching Band. 

Under his direction at Southwood High School, the band program has grown from 23 members to over 120. Southwood’s band has been recognized for numerous awards and honors. The school’s ensembles have performed in Washington D.C., Houston Texas, Orlando Florida, Memphis Tennessee, Atlanta Georgia and Jackson Mississippi. 

The Southwood Symphonic Wind Ensemble was a feature in USA TODAY in 2015, the group was also chosen as featured artist in the Shreveport Magazine and the Shreveport Times.

The Southwood Symphonic Winds competed in 2019 at the Southern Star Music Festival in Atlanta GA. In a field of 35 other ensembles from across the country, the Symphonic Winds won the title of Grand Champion. 

Mr. Holden is active as a judge and clinician in Louisiana and Mississippi. As a performer, Mr. Holden plays trumpet in the Shreveport Regional Jazz Ensembles, and the Red River Wind Orchestra where he has served as guest Conductor. 

His professional affiliations include NAfME, Louisiana Music Educators Association, the National Band Association, Phi Mu Alpha Music Fraternity, and Minority Band Directors National Association.

MEET THE PRESENTERS:

Eric Jimenez, Assistant Director of Bands/Adjunct Instructor at Prairie View A&M University, has revitalized several band programs throughout the Houston Independent School District. His programs at Sharpstown MS, Hamilton MS, Waltrip HS, Davis HS, & Heights HS Jimenez’ band programs increased both student participation and instrument inventory, as well as earned Division I and “Best in Class” ratings at UIL and numerous other festivals.

He is the recipient of Hamilton Middle School’s Teacher of the Year award in 2012, LULAC- League of United Latin American Citizens- Educator of the Year in 2015, a recipient of the Grammy Educational Award for his work at Davis HS in 2015 and Prairie View A&M’s top 40 under 40 in 2016. He is an active clinician, mentor, and consultant for arts educational programs within the Houston area and across Texas.

Eric is a 2009 graduate of Prairie View A&M University and earned his and his Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Lamar University in 2014. He is currently a Doctoral Music Education Student at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. His professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA), Texas Jazz Educators Association (TJEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity and honorary member Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity.

Justin McLean is currently the Percussion Director/Assistant Director of Bands at Hightower HS and Lake Olympia MS Band in Fort Bend ISD.

Prior to his appointment at Hightower he was the Percussion Director/Associate Director of Bands at Heights High School and former director of bands at Hamilton Middle School. During his time there he has received superior UIL ratings at both middle and high school, developed region band students, and a quality indoor percussion ensemble.

Mr. McLean is a Texas native raised in Rosenberg, Texas a humble community right outside of Houston. Justin’s love of music began at an earlier age and was heavily influenced in church through both gospel and secular artists/musicians. His ambitions propelled him to strive for excellence not only in his personal aspirations, but also in his academic/professional life.

He received a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Prairie View A&M University in 2011 and has had the pleasure of educating and training young musicians as a band director and percussion instructor for the past 9 years in HISD and now Fort Bend ISD. He is also devoted music director and student minister in his local church and currently pursuing an Masters Divinity degree through Reformed Theological Seminary.

MEET THE PRESENTER:

Andy Bower is a music educator, arranger, and producer based in New Orleans, Louisiana.  In addition to his work as an educator, Andy is active as a performer, arranger, and producer throughout the gulf south and his home state of Pennsylvania.  With over a decade of teaching experience, dozens of associated performing groups, and several recording credits, Andy has a diverse presence in the music education field and the music industry.

Andy has been a guest clinician and lecturer at Keystone College, Louisiana State University, Loyola University of New Orleans, and Western Michigan University.  He has also been invited to present at both the National Association for Music Education Convention and the international Midwest Clinic.  Andy was a quarter-finalist for the 2018 Grammy Music Educator Award and is an active member of the National Association for Music Education, Louisiana Music Educators Association, and the Jazz Education Network.

Dr. Brett Landry is Assistant Director of Bands and Percussion at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he serves as instructor/arranger for the Pride of Acadiana drumline, as well as conductor of the UL Concert Band. Prior to 2017, he taught for 3 years at the University of South Carolina, where he served as instructor/arranger for the Carolina Band Drumline. He also served as adjunct instructor of percussion, co-conductor of the USC Percussion Ensembles, and instructor/arranger for the USC Palmetto Pans Steel Band.

In 2016 Brett completed his Doctorate in Percussion Performance at the University of South Carolina under the tutelage of Dr. Scott Herring, where he performed as principal percussionist with the award-winning USC Wind Ensemble and USC Percussion Ensemble. He received his Master’s degree at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and Music Performance from Louisiana State University. He has studied with Dr. Michael Kingan, Dr. Brett Dietz, and Dr. Jack Stamp.

Active as an educator, clinician, and performer throughout the southeast, Brett served as Director of Bands at New Iberia Senior High School from 2005–2010. He has also served as a percussion consultant and clinician at numerous schools in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. As a performer, his commission/recording project for marimba and electronic effect (the “Electric” Marimba) continues to add engaging works to the marimba repertoire. He has also performed as principal timpanist and percussionist with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, as well as section percussionist in the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Augusta, the Acadian Wind Symphony, the Keystone Winds, and other orchestras and performing ensembles throughout the Northeast and Southeast.

Dr. Gustavo Miranda has taught master-classes in renowned universities in Brazil, Panama and the United States. He served as Adjunct Professor to both Southern University of Baton Rouge and McNeese State University. He was the director of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra percussion ensemble as well as an instructor of the Performing Arts Academy at LSU.

As a soloist, Dr. Miranda has performed with the Louisiana State University Symphony as well as with professional orchestras in Brazil, including the Orquestra Sinfonica da Paraiba and Orquestra Sinfonica do Recife. As an Orchestral Percussionist, Dr. Miranda has played in several orchestras in Brazil and the United States including the Orquestra Sinfonica Virtuosi, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony and Baton Rouge Symphony. As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Black Sheep Percussion aLong with percussionist Dr. Joe W. Moore III, Sam Trevathan and Tim Shuster. Dr. Miranda is also a member of the PercSounDuo with the versatile percussionist Ismark Nascimento (Brazil). In addition, he has founded the Dynamic Duo, a duo of percussion and violin with his wife Deborah Ribeiro. Dr. Miranda has published an article with the Percussive Arts Society journal, Percussive Notes. He is committed to teaching and promoting a variety of musical styles to the next generation of young percussionist. He has commissioned several new works for percussion solo with world-renowned composers including David Stock and Liduino Pitombeira.

Dr. Joe W. Moore III currently serves as Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Louisiana at Monroe where he oversees all aspects of percussion studies. Prior to his appointment at ULM, he served on the music faculties at Benedict College, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the University of Texas at Brownsville. Moore holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Central Florida, a Master of Music degree from the University of South Carolina, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a minor in composition from Louisiana State University. His primary percussion teachers include Jeff Moore, Kirk Gay, Scott Herring, Jim Hall, Brett Dietz and Troy Davis. His composition teachers include Jay Batzner, Brett Dietz, and Dinos Constantinides.                                    

Active as a soloist and chamber musician, Moore performs as a member of the Omojo Percussion Duo, the Ninkasi Percussion Group, 2×2 Percussion, and Dead Resonance. Recent performances have included New Music on the Bayou, the Sugarmill Music Festival, the UTRGV Marimba Festival, the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, and the 2018 Percussive Arts Society International Convention.

As a composer, Moore’s works have been performed and heard across the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. Some instances include state music educator conferences, the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. C. Alan Publications, Alea Publishing and Recording, Percussion Music Europe, and Innovative Percussion Publications publish Dr. Moore’s music. He also self-publishes many of his own manuscripts.

Dr. Brian Nozny leads a diversified career as a percussionist, composer, and educator spanning a wide array of musical styles, including classical, jazz, world, and popular genres. As a percussionist, he has performed in an orchestral capacity with many orchestras throughout the country and currently serves as Principal Timpanist with Sinfonia Gulf Coast (Destin, FL). His excursions into chamber music have included collaborations with groups such as the Bravura Percussion Trio, the Copper Street Brass Quintet, the nief-norf project, the Brickhouse Jazz Combo, and currently as a member of JP3 (The John Psathas Percussion Project) and the BRN Duo with his wife, flutist Rachel Nozny.

As a composer, his original works and arrangements are regularly performed throughout the world. Notable ensembles and performers that have premiered Nozny’s compositions include Keith Aleo, the Caixa Trio, the Florida State University Percussion Ensemble, and NEXUS. Brian’s compositions have been published by Bachovich Music Publications, Henmar Press, Innovative Percussion, Row-Loff Productions, and Tapspace Publications, and have been recorded on the Garnet House, Rattle Records, and Resonator Records labels.

Lee Carlson is an adjudicator for Bands of America, Drum Corps International, and winter guard circuits throughout the United States. He was Visual Caption Head for DCI for three years and served an additional two years as one of the Visual Judge Liaisons. Currently, Carlson is serving as the Judge Recruiting and Training coordinator for DCI. He has been on panels for the British Marching Band Championship, Drum Corps Japan, Marching Band Japan, and both winter guard and marching band shows in the Netherlands. He has been drill designer for the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band for the last 31 years. Carlson lives in Palm Springs, California, where he owns and operates his pottery studio.

Mr. Joel L. Denton served as Director of Bands at Ooltewah High School for thirty-seven years. Mr. Denton is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and has completed graduate studies at UT-Chattanooga. Mr. Denton was most recently recognized as a CMA Music Teacher of Excellence in 2018. Under his direction, the Ooltewah Band achieved a national reputation for musical excellence including performances in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013 and 2007, as the only band in the 2011 Disney Christmas Parade on ABC, and in the 2017 Tournament of Roses Parade. The Ooltewah Band was a consistent finalist at Bands of America Regional Championships being awarded multiple class championships and placements, and was a national semi-finalist on multiple occasions with several class placements. The Ooltewah concert bands most recently performed at the Music for All Regional Concert Festival in 2016, the TMEA (TN) State Music Conference in 2014 and 2010, the Smoky Mountain Music Festival in 2011(Grand Concert Division Champions), and multiple other state, regional and national events through the years.

At the 2015 Midwest Clinic, Mr. Denton was awarded the John Phillip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor for his contributions to band. He served as Chairman of Fine Arts at Ooltewah since 1982 and was selected five times as the Ooltewah Teacher of the Year. The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts has thrice honored him. His professional affiliations include National Association for Music Education, Tennessee Music Education Association, East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, Phi Beta Mu, National Band Association, American School Band Director Association, and Tennessee Bandmasters Association.

Mr. Denton currently serves as the Tennessee State Chair for the National Band Association and as a Past President of the Tennessee Bandmasters Association. He has served as the State Legislative Delegate and Advocacy Chair for TMEA and served as a member of the Tennessee Department of Education’s Fine Arts Student Growth Committee. He is active as an adjudicator, clinician, and consultant working with Music for All/Bands of America, Drum Corps International, several universities and state organizations, as well as, many high school bands across the nation. Mr. Denton has presented professional development sessions for school, state MEAs, and professional organizations across the nation including The Midwest Clinic. Mr. Denton is an Educational Clinician for Conn-Selmer and Music for All. Mr. Denton also works with band programs and other organizations on developing leadership and teambuilding skills. Mr. Denton and Kerry, his wife of thirty-seven years, reside in Chattanooga and have two adult children, Alex and Caroline, who are both teachers.

Dr. Kelvin Jones is the Assistant Director of Bands at Louisiana State University.  His responsibilities include conducting the LSU Symphonic Band, teaching undergraduate conducting, Marching Band techniques, working with graduate students, and leading the Sudler-winning, 325-member “Golden Band from Tigerland.”

Bands under Jones’ direction have performed at events on the state and national level, including the Zulu Mardi Gras parade, New Orleans Saints, in Washington DC, Walt Disney World, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship in Atlanta, GA, College Football Playoff (CFP) Peach Bowl and the CFP National Championship games. Under his direction, numerous performances of the LSU Tiger Marching Band have been selected for recognition and viewing at regional and national conferences of the College Band Directors National Association, including the Athletic Band Symposium.

Dr. Jones is an active drill designer and music arranger for high school and university music programs across the country with his arrangements being performed throughout the United States, including the Dallas Winds. As a conductor, Jones has conducted ensembles international and nationally, including Carnegie Hall in New York City. He has worked on new music commissioning projects and has received praise on his interpretations from composers Steven Bryant, Alex Shapiro, Omar Thomas, John Mackey, Anthony Barfield, Ayatey Shabazz, Joshua Hobbs, among others. 

Jones has also served as a consultant for school districts and music programs throughout the country along with presenting at international, national, and state music conferences across the United States. He is published in the Instrumentalist magazine, an active clinician, and has travelled internationally working with music programs in South America (Chile) and with the LSU marching band in Dublin, Ireland. He also serves as a clinician/instructor at the Smith-Walbridge Drum Major Clinic held in Charleston, Illinois working with high school and college drum majors from across the country.

Jones is a former recipient of the Louisiana Music Educators Association’s Young Music Educator of the Year, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra’s Teacher of Distinction, and LSU A.P. Tureaud award recipient for significant contributions to the university. He has received numerous accolades and distinctions for his contributions within the local community from community leaders including the governor and Baton Rouge mayor. A huge advocate and champion for diversity, inclusion, and equal rights, Jones serves as an ambassador for the university through his service and mentorship across various initiatives and contributions throughout campus.

He is the former band director at West Feliciana High School in St. Francisville, Louisiana. At WFHS, he led an active, comprehensive music program that produced numerous award-winning performances at state and national events, including the 2013 United States National Presidential Inauguration Music Festival in Washington DC. He holds degrees in Music from Jackson State University and Louisiana State University. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, Kappa Kappa Psi Fraternity Inc., LSU Black Faculty and Student Caucus, Louisiana Music Educators Association, HBCU Band Directors Consortium, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. He resides in Zachary, LA with his wife Felicia, a registered nurse, and their bundle of joy son, Samuel aka “BJ”.

Tyler Swick is a music teacher, author, and songwriter in Las Vegas, NV where he runs an award-winning elementary music program of 700+ students. Swick is a part of the inaugural Yamaha 40 Under 40 Music Educator class and is the only elementary music teacher in his district to receive the Heart of Education Award. Swick’s lessons and songs can be found on his YouTube channel, Swick’s Classroom, which was featured on PBS. Swick is also an avid supporter of the steel pan community, participating in Pan Rocks events across the United States. He has performed at the Latin Grammys, Panorama, and was featured in an international LG phone commercial. Swick has played alongside Keith Urban, Logic, Mike Portnoy, Bad Bunny, and can be heard on the upcoming video game, “Beyond Good and Evil 2.”

Franklin Willis. For more than a decade, educator, and leader, Franklin Willis has served the students and families of the Metro Nashville Public Schools community. Through music, Willis has educated, mentored, and developed young minds to be forward thinking contributors to society. A servant leader specializing in authentic culturally relevant teaching, empowering student contributions, and developing teachers to reach their full capacity, Willis finds true joy when at the service of others.

As Elementary Music Coach for MNPS, he equips teachers with instructional support and necessary resources to strengthen their professional acumen and enhance their classrooms. This includes shepherding colleagues and teachers through the reality’s students are faced with around equity, inclusion and racism. Through his work, he has developed a passion in the cultivation of musicianship for young minds as every child has musical potential and deserves a music teacher who will see the best in them. Willis believes that music education is a vital tool to teach students about other cultures, create community, and inspire a love for learning. Willis consistently uses his network to provide opportunities for students to utilize their passion for music for all to see. This includes producing music videos and stadium performances at CMA Fest, a four-day music festival in Nashville, TN.

José L. Encarnación leads the jazz improvisation classes, coaches jazz small groups, teaches applied jazz saxophone, and coordinates the jazz performance program at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. He studied saxophone, flute and clarinet at the Free School of Music in San Juan, Puerto Rico, completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated magna cum laude, and received his Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music (including the 2002 Schirmer Prize in Jazz Performance). He previously served as Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone at the Eastman School of Music, Instructor of Saxophone, Latin Jazz Performance Workshop, and Youth Saxology for the Eastman Community School, and as Jazz Ensemble Conductor at the Rochester (NY) School of the Arts.

He has performed jazz, salsa, and Latin music with the Bob Mintzer Big Band, the Dave Rivello Ensemble, Gilberto Santarosa, Roberto Rohena, Bobby Valentin, Domingo Quinones, Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Tito Puente, Danilo Perez, Dave Valentin, Giovanni Hidalgo, Batacumbele, Humberto Ramirez, and David Sanchez. His pops performances include appearances with the Temptations, Dianne Reeves, Natalie Cole, Doc Severinsen, Lou Rawls, New York Voices, Brasilia, Ann Hampton Calloway, and the symphony orchestras of Milwaukee, Rochester, and Green Bay.

Mark Gowman. “Two things have always defined me in my pursuit of a career: I am a musician, and I am a teacher. I would be content to do either, but I am lucky enough to do both. Teaching music is my passion.”

Mark Gowman has worked as a public school instrumental music teacher for two decades. Raised as a classical and lead trumpet player with an additional background in corps-style rudimental drumming, Mark is now also respected as a player and teacher of Irish traditional music. For fifteen years, he has led the Irish music programs at Franklin Middle School in Baltimore County, MD and East Rochester High School in western New York State, and regularly presents workshops on the Irish flute, Irish traditional music, and music education with a focus on folk music pedagogies. These workshops include numerous sessions at the Eastman School of Music, three NYSSMA state conferences, the Music Educators National Conference, and others. He is also one of the founders and directors of the Rogue Music Education Conference, which focuses on methods, ensembles, and approaches to music making that are outside of the standard American music education model.

Mark is also the percussion caption head of the Victor (NY) Marching Blue Devils and director of the 2015 New York State champion Victor Indoor Percussion Ensemble.

Since the mid-1990s Mark has also been active as an amateur website developer and graphic designer, and has recently established Three Thistles Design.

He is a graduate of the University of Michigan (BMus., music education & trumpet performance) and the Eastman School of Music (MA, music education).

Jarritt Sheel. In addition to teaching at Berklee College of Music, Jarritt Ahmed Sheel is a fifth-year doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University in the Music and Music Education Department. As a professional musician, he has toured internationally and worked with hundreds of students in high school band programs throughout Illinois, Florida, and New York. Sheel has taught music courses at the Aspen Award–winning Valencia College, New York University, and has taught collegiate level courses based on critical theory, art history, and democracy in the City University of New York system.

Sheel is a past ensemble director for the Youth Workshop Band as part of the Education Department at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. His research focused on the hip-hop movement (music, culture, and pedagogies) in music education and teacher training. He is a passionate advocate for arts education, a member of the National Association for Music Education’s Innovation Council, and on the board of the Association for Popular Music Education. He is a cofounder of the music resource website Hip-Hop Music Ed and a leader of social media dialogue around #hiphopmusiced.

Sheel is proud to be a son, husband, and father, and when he is not working enjoys time with family and friends.

Doug Stone’s career has involved work as a touring musician, primarily with jazz trumpet legend Maynard Ferguson and his band, the Big Bop Nouveau, as well as with the “world-jazz” group Panoramic, and with a number of ensembles from Chicago, Illinois. His time on the road has taken him to virtually every corner of the United States as well as Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and Canada. As a member of groups at Northern Illinois University, Stone had the opportunity to perform with Frank Foster, Benny Golson, Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath, Rufus Reid, Larry Ridley, and Carl Allen. As a member of the Birch Creek Academy Band he has performed with jazz luminaries Dennis Mackrel, Harold Jones, Derrick Gardner, Tanya Darby, Reggie Thomas, and Clay Jenkins. He spent six years working full-time as a freelance saxophonist and woodwind player, teacher, composer, and arranger in the rich musical environment of Chicago.

Mr. Stone can be heard on recordings from the Sam Craine Quartet, the Dave Hoffman Sextet, the NIU Jazz Ensemble and Jazztet, the Jazz Arranging Syndicate, Birch Creek Academy Big Band, the Ed Breazeale Group, the Ji Young Lee Quartet, the Stuart Mindeman Group, the Ian Torres Big Band, the John Burnett Orchestra, Panoramic, Quintopus, the Rick Holland Little Big Band, the Rich Thompson Quartet and Trio, the Westview Project, the John Nyerges Quintet, the Bob DiBaudo ensemble, the Eric Schmitz Sextet, and the Tom Marko ensemble. Stone has four recordings to his credit as a co-bandleader: Doug Stone/Josiah Williams “The Early Riser”, Stone/Ziemba Duo “In the Zone”, Nick Fryer/Doug Stone “Quartet”, and The Stone/Bratt Big Band “SBBB”.

Stone is also a published arranger and composer (Kendor Music). His compositions and arrangements have been performed by professional, university, and high school level jazz ensembles throughout the United States.

In 2009 Mr. Stone moved to Rochester, New York to pursue a double master’s degree in jazz performance and music education at the Eastman School of Music. He has performed in Rochester with the Dave Rivello Ensemble, the Westview Project, the Gap Mangione Big Band, Quintopus, the John Nyerges Duo and Quartet, Jeff Campbell, Rich Thompson, and other talented local jazz artists. While in western New York, Stone has worked with several noteworthy musicians including George Caldwell, Bobby Militello, Harold Danko, Gene Bertoncini, Bill Dobbins, Mark Ferber, Ike Sturm, Charles Pillow, Allen Vizzutti, and the Mambo Kings.

Since 2009 Mr. Stone has taught private lessons, ensembles, and classes at the Eastman Community Music School (ECMS). He has also served as chair of the ECMS jazz department and has directed the prestigious Eastman Youth Jazz

Orchestra. In 2012 Mr. Stone accepted a position as the director of jazz ensembles at the Rochester School of the Arts (SOTA) in Rochester, New York. He taught several ensembles, classes, and lessons at SOTA.

In the summers Mr. Stone teaches at the Eastman Summer Jazz Studies Program, the Tri-Tone Jazz Camp, has previously served as co-director of the Eastman at Keuka College Jazz Camp, and served as assistant to the director at the Birch Creek Jazz Camp.

Mr. Stone has held teaching positions at The State University of New York at Brockport, the Northern Illinois University Community School of the Arts in DeKalb, IL, and he worked as private saxophone, jazz, and small group instructor at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, IL.

Mr. Stone currently serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Louisiana State University.

Liam Teague is Professor of Music and Head of Steelpan studies at Northern Illinois University (NIU), where he also directs the renowned NIU Steelband. Teague is also the recipient of an NIU Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor Award.

Hailed as the “Paganini of the Steelpan”, his commitment to demonstrating the great musical possibilities of the steelpan has taken him to throughout the world, and he has received many awards from his homeland of Trinidad and Tobago, including the Humming Bird National Award (Silver) and the Ansa McAl Caribbean Award for Excellence.

Teague has won a number of notable competitions such as the Trinidad and Tobago National Steelband Festival Solo Championship and the Saint Louis Symphony Volunteers Association Young Artist Competition. He has also performed with many diverse ensembles which include: National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, Czech National Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Panama National Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Vermeer String Quartet, Avalon String Quartet, Hannaford Street Silver Brass Ensemble, Nexus, Dartmouth Wind Ensemble, Indiana University Symphonic Band, University of Wisconsin-Madison Marching Band, Nutrien Silver Stars Steel Orchestra, and the BpTT Renegades Steel Orchestra.

Teague has appeared in concert with Grammy-Award winning musicians Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Samuels, Zakir Hussain and Dame Evelyn Glennie, and has regularly collaborated with NIU colleagues Robert Chappell(multi-instrumentalist) and Faye Seeman(harp) with whom he co-founded the steelpan and harp duo Pangelic.  

He has also presented and performed at several Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC) and educational institutions across the globe. Liam Teague has served as an adjudicator for many events including the International Pan Ramajay Competition and Virginia Arts Festival- PANorama Caribbean Music Festival.

Many of his compositions and arrangements are published with MaumauMusic, PanPress and RamajayMusic, and he has commissioned outstanding composers to write for the steelpan, including: Michael Colgrass, Jan Bach, Libby Larsen, Andy Akiho, Deborah Fisher Teason, Joey Sellers, Ben Wahlund, Erik Ross, Kevin Bobo, David Gordon, Robert Chappell, Geof Bradfield, Casey Cangelosi, Gustavo Leone, Victor Provost, Etienne Charles, James Gourlay, and Reggie Thomas.

He is steelband director at Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Door County, Wisconsin, and has also taught and performed at the California State University Summer Arts Camp and at the Interlochen Academy for the Performing Arts.

Teague is also the author of a steelpan method for beginners published by the Hal Leonard Corporation, the world’s largest publisher of print music.

Liam Teague has created arrangements for the most celebrated steelband competition in the world, Panorama, for Nutrien Silver Stars Steel Orchestra, Harvard Harps Steel Orchestra, Starlift Steel orchestra, and Skiffle Steel Orchestra. He has many recordings to his credit, including: Hands Like Lightning, For Lack of Better Words, Panoramic:Rhythm Through an Unobstructed View and Open Window.

Arn Chorn-Pond is a musician, survivor of the Cambodian genocide, human rights activist, and founder of Cambodian Living Arts. Born into a family of artists, Arn grew up in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime. Sent to a child labor camp and forced to play propaganda music during that period, Arn escaped to a refugee camp on the Cambodia-Thai border, where he was adopted by Reverend Peter Pond and moved to New Hampshire.

In 1984, Arn became the first Cambodian child soldier to speak publicly about the atrocities that occurred during the Cambodian genocide, in a speech delivered to 10,000 people at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. Arn then cofounded Children of War, an organization that helps young children experiencing trauma from the byproducts of war, child abuse, poverty, racism, and divorce. After studying at Brown University and while attending Providence College, Arn co-founded the Southeast Asian Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America Association in Providence and founded Peace Makers, a US-based gang intervention program for Southeast Asian youths in Providence.

After graduating from Providence College, Arn returned to Cambodia on a mission to find the legacy of his family, who were involved in Cambodian Opera; his music teacher from the time of the Khmer Rouge; and the stars of his early childhood. Instead, he found Cambodia’s few surviving master artists living in poverty.

Arn founded Cambodian Living Arts in 1998 with five inaugural students to learn from Cambodia’s remaining master artists. The organization initially focused on the preservation of endangered performing art forms and rituals. After the Khmer Rouge regime, 90% of Cambodia’s artists did not survive and arts that had been transmitted between generations were in danger of being lost forever.

Over the past two decades, as Cambodia continues to develop and as Cambodia’s arts sector grows, Arn has helped evolve CLA’s work and mission. CLA now offers scholarships, fellowships, and other training opportunities; provides employment opportunities through regular performances and festivals; and facilitates international exchanges, research, and networking for the next generation of talented Cambodians looking to build careers as artists and arts professionals.

Arn remains engaged with the organization’s work, both as spokesperson and in particular with the work of The Khmer Magic Music Bus, a CLA program that brings musical performances and demonstrations to villages and communities around Cambodia that otherwise lack access to performing arts.

Arn Chorn-Pond was one of the first recipients of the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1988, and he received the 1991 Amnesty International Human Rights Award, the 1993 Kohl Foundation International Peace Prize, and the 1996 Spirit of Anne Frank Outstanding Citizen Award. Arn now lives outside of Phnom Penh.

Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras, conductors and artists. Evelyn paved the way for orchestras globally to feature percussion concerti when she played the first percussion concerto in the history of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992.

A leading commissioner of new works, Evelyn has vastly expanded the solo percussion repertoire with more than 200 pieces to her name from many of the world’s most eminent composers. “It’s important that I continue to commission and collaborate with a diverse range of composers whilst recognising the young talent coming through”. Evelyn composes music for film, television, theatre and music library companies and is a double GRAMMY award winner and BAFTA nominee. She regularly provides masterclasses and consultations to inspire the next generation of musicians. The film ‘Touch the Sound’ and her enlightening TED speech remain key testimonies to her innovative approach to sound-creation.

Leading 1000 drummers, Evelyn had the honour of a prominent role in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“Playing at an event like that was proof that music really affects all of us, connecting us in ways that the spoken word cannot”. Evelyn’s solo recordings, which now exceed 40 CDs, are as diverse as her career on-stage. These range from original improvisations, collaborations, percussion concerti and ground-breaking modern solo percussion projects.

Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and now has over 100 international awards to date, including the Polar Music Prize and the Companion of Honour. She was recently appointed the first female President of Help Musicians, only the third person to hold the title since Sir Edward Elgar and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

The Evelyn Glennie Podcast was launched in 2020 featuring popular personalities from the worlds of music, television and academia. The episodes centred around what listening means to different people and its importance in everyday life. Subsequent series are being planned with a wider range of guests.  Evelyn is currently creating The Evelyn Glennie Collection with a vision to open a centre that embodies her mission to Teach the World to Listen. She aims to ‘improve communication and social cohesion by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening as proven in her book ‘Listen World!’. We want to inspire, to create, to engage and to empower.’

Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser began his teaching career at Northern Michigan University. He then moved to the University of Missouri, and from there to New Mexico State University. During that time, Tim developed highly acclaimed groups in both instrumental and vocal music.

Following his tenure in the college band directing world, he spent three years with McCormick’s Enterprises working as Executive Director of Bands of America. In 1981, Tim created Attitude Concepts for Today, Inc., an organization designed to manage the many requests for teacher inservice workshops, student leadership seminars, and convention speaking engagements focusing on the area of effective leadership training. After thirty-plus years of clinic presentations, some three million students have experienced one of his popular sessions.

Tim presently serves as Vice President of Education for Conn-Selmer, Inc. He is a nationally recognized voice touting the importance of arts education for every child.

His books, produced by G.I.A. Publications, Inc., continue to be bestsellers in the educational community. He is also co-author of popular band method, Essential Elements, as well as the Senior Educational Consultant for Hal Leonard, Inc. Tim is also the Senior Educational Advisor for Music for All, and NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants).

He holds degrees from Ball State University and the University of Alabama; in 1995 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the VanderCook College of Music. He continues to teach as an adjunct faculty member at: Ball State University, Indiana-Purdue/Ft. Wayne University, and Butler University. In addition, he is a member of the Midwest Clinic Board of Directors and the Western International Band Clinic/American Band College Board of Directors. He is presently the Chair of the National Association for Music Education Music Honor Society (Tri-M).

Dr. Michael Torregano is a New Orleans-based Jazz pianist and educator who has been in love with music since he was a small child. He has doctorate in Music Education from Boston University. Michael has worked in education for 37 years. He currently holds two positions: Assistant Director of Music Education at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, and he serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Southern University at New Orleans.  He has previously taught in the New Orleans Public Schools, and, served as Director of Bands at Mississippi Valley State University. He has taught esteemed contemporary players like Nicholas Payton and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews.

As part of Michael’s teaching philosophy, he states: “It is important that music educators encourage students to search deep within themselves to grow and express themselves articulately and artistically.” One of the great joys of teaching for Michael is seeing the impact of his teaching on his students that have become music educators and professional musicians.

A pianist since the age of four, Michael is still motivated by music every day of his life. “I always have a different song on my mind from the moment I wake up,” he says, “Sometimes it’s something I know and sometimes it’s a new song that I’ll work on later in the day.” Michael currently leads his own band and recorded 5 CDs.

Andre’ Courville. Praised by Opera News for his “splendid, lush bass-baritone”, André Courville is gaining momentum as a rising star on stages throughout the world. Recent and upcoming seasons bring performances in Italy with Opera di Firenze as Le Grand Prêtre des Mexicains in Fernand Cortez, in France with Opéra National de Bordeaux’s Mozart/DaPonte Trilogy, with the Berkshire Opera Festival as the title role in Don Giovanni, with Houston Grand Opera as Alidoro in La cenerentola and Titurel in Parsifal and in Switzerland as Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda with Oper Zürich.

Highlights of previous seasons include Masetto in Don Giovanni with The Dallas Opera, the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro at Arizona Opera and Karlsruhe’s Badisches Staatstheater in Germany, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Opéra National de Bordeaux, Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Guangzhou Opera House in China, the Marquis in La traviata with the Santa Fe Opera, and a return to the Philadelphia Orchestra as the Jailer in Tosca under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Trained at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, he garnered critical acclaim for performances there of many important roles including Méphistophélès in Faust, Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor.

An equally busy concert performer, he has appeared at Carnegie Hall for numerous seasons since his debut there with Opera Orchestra of New York. Other recent performances include the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the bass solos in Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor at the Spoleto Festival USA, and Bach’s Cantata 150 with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

A Louisiana native, Courville is the recipient of top awards in eight national and international vocal competitions, including First Prize in Los Angeles’s Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition and Top Prize in New York’s Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition.

Joey Joseph, a native of Monroe, Louisiana, has been living and working as a conductor/pianist in New York City for the last 15 years. Broadway orchestra credits include: Frozen, Hello Dolly (with Bette Midler), Waitress, Pippin, and Bring It On:The Musical. Currently he is the assistant conductor/keyboardist for BeetleJuice the Musical on Broadway. National tours include Aida, Hairspray, and The Color Purple.

Greg A. Oden is a sought after composer, conductor, and arranger.  He has performed with Maynard Ferguson, The Cathedrals, The Continental Singers, Tim McGraw, and numerous other performers.  He can be heard on the new Taylor Fife CD In These Fields. Taylor Fife and its music can be heard on ITunes, CDBaby.com, and other music outlets.

Currently, he is the Music Coordinator for the Ouachita Parish School System. His main teaching responsibilities are as the Director of Choral Activities at West Monroe High School. The choral program at West Monroe High School includes around 300 singers and includes from 9^th through 12^th grade. Mr. Oden has conducted choirs in many of the great cathedrals of the world including St. Peter’s (Rome), St. Marks (Venice), St. Francis Basilica (Assisi), Notre Dame (Paris), St. Paul’s (London), and Salzburg Dom (Salzburg). Also, members of the West Monroe Choral program have performed at Carnegie Hall five times with world-renowned conductors John Rutter and Eric Whitacre. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in March of 2016.

A graduate of the Northeast Louisiana University, Mr. Oden has served on the LA-ACDA Board of Directors, President of the North Louisiana Chapter of NATS, District 1 Choral Directors Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.  He served as the LMEA District 1 Director from 2009 – 2020. He currently serves as the LMEA Vocal Chairman. In his 27 years as a member of LMEA, he has served as the District 1 Vocal Chairman for 27 years. He was instrumental in bringing computer aided All State Judging and assisted in All-State Assessment for over 20 years. He has recently been appointed to the Board of LMAA. He is married to Kristen Anderson Oden and is the father of two children, Blake and Morgan.

Kelly Singer. Praised for her “bright soprano” (Opera News), “impressive Praised for her “bright soprano” (Opera News), “impressive artistry”, and “vocal fireworks” (Voce di Meche), Kelly Singer is being hailed as a promising young talent in opera. She has won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Arkansas District three times, placed second in the prestigious Joan T. Ades Vocal Competition, third in the Houston Saengerbund Awards, and was most recently named a 2020 Riverside Opera Vocal Competition Winner.

Select featured solo performances include Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia with the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Home for the Holidays with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the Arkansas Choral Society”, and “vocal fireworks” (Voce di Meche), Kelly Singer is being hailed as a promising young talent in opera. She has won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Arkansas District three times, placed second in the prestigious Joan T. Ades Vocal Competition, third in the Houston Saengerbund Awards, and was most recently named a 2020 Riverside Opera Vocal Competition Winner. Select featured solo performances include Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia with the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Home for the Holidays with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the Arkansas Choral Society.

Arnold Rawls. Tenor Arnold Rawls has delighted audiences with his unique combination of vocal and dramatic skills in performances ranging from art song to opera.  He has been hailed for having a “powerful, clarion-sounding tenor,” a “firm, pliant lyric tenor with ringing high notes,” as well as a “flair for acting.”  His Radamès recently thrilled audiences as he “rose to the occasion”, singing the famous “Celeste Aida” with a creamy tone and a beautiful sense of Italian lyricism. It included a dazzling high B-flat that seemed to ring for an eternity.”  (Omaha World Herald)

​​Recent performances have included  Mr. Rawls singing Calaf in Turandot and Manrico in Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera, Radamès in Aida with Opera Australia (Sydney and Gold Coast) and the Pacific Symphony (Costa Mesa, CA), Don Josè in Carmen with the Bregenzer Festspiele (Austria). 

​Additional highlights  include the role of Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Theater St. Gallen (Switzerland), and as Manrico in Il Trovatore with Opera Australia (Sydney Opera House)  and  the Sacramento Opera where he was praised for his “pliant and super clear tenor.” (San Francisco Classical Voice)  In addition, he has offered recitals at the Goddard Center in Oklahoma as well as the Southern Region of NATS in Arkansas. of Hagenbach in La Wally with Oper St. Gallen (Switzerland) and Dallas Opera and Erik in Die Flegende Höllander also with Oper St. Gallen (Switzerland), Calaf in Turandot with the Bregenzer Festspiele and Pensacola Opera (Florida).

​​​Engagements during the last few seasons include Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at  Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland, San-Lui in Leoni’s L’Oracolo, Roberto in Le Ville and Apollo in Daphne all with Oper Frankfurt, and Manrico in Il Trovatore both for his debut with the Sydney Opera House and with The Metropolitan Opera. 

With the Arizona Opera and Vancouver Opera he portrayed Radamès in Aida, with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Pensacola Opera and Arizona Opera he sang Calaf in Turandot, with Opera Grand Rapids he sang Manrico in Il Trovatore, and he returned to the Bregenzer Festpiele as the title role in Andrea Chénier where The New York Times reported “Chénier, long a cherished role of Italian dramatic tenors, finds a creditable exponent in the American tenor Arnold Rawls, whose voice has an easy flow in midrange yet rang out excitingly in the big, high-lying moments.”

Further highlights include Radamès in Aida with the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria,  Opera Omaha, Florida Grand Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Manioc in Il Trovatore with the Seattle Opera, Bregenzer Festspiele, and Indianapolis Opera, Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Granite State Opera, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Indianapolis Opera, and Canio in Pagliaci with Lyric Opera of Chicago.  He portrayed Erik in Der fliegende Holländer and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Madison Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca with Florida Grand Opera, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera with the Des Moines Metro Opera, Sam in Susannah with Opera Pacific, and sang the leading role of Standing Bear in the World Premiere of Anthony Davis’ Wakonda’s Dream with Opera Omaha.

​​Concert performances include Verdi’s Requiem with the Madison Symphony, Oberlin Conservatory, the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center, and with the Concert-Chor Concordia/Koncertchor Flensbur/Neue Philharmonie Westfalen at the Köln Philharmonie.  He sang the role of San-Lui in Franco Leoni’s L’Oracolo with the Teatro Grattacielo at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, participated in gala concerts with the Abilene Symphony, Opera Omaha, and Las Vegas Philharmonic, sang Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Southwest Florida Symphony, and offered recitals throughout the United States.

He has performed as Manrico in Il Trovatore with Teatro Lirico, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Granite State Opera, Calaf in Turandot with Opera Omaha, Nevada Opera and Mobile Opera, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus with the Nashville Opera.  He portrayed Don Jose in Carmen with the Madison Opera, the Duke in Rigoletto with Teatro Lirico, and Canio in Pagliacci with the Opera Theatre of Highland Park.   He portrayed Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West with the Utah Festival Opera, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Arizona Opera, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, and Alfredo in La Traviata with the Natchez Opera Festival.

​In concert he has sung Manrico in Il Trovatore with the Elmhurst Symphony, Don Jose in Carmen with the DuPage Symphony, and Calaf in Turandot with the Beloit Janesville Symphony.  He was a soloist for Verdi’s Requiem with both the Lake Charles Symphony and Southwest Missouri State University, and for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in San Ramon, California and in St. Charles, Illinois.  His concert repertoire also includes Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Handel’s Messiah, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Schumann’s Requiem, and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.

He is a recent recipient of a major grant from the Olga Forrai Foundation.   Arnold and his family live in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he bases his career.  His vocal journey began at University of Louisiana, Monroe under Metropolitan Opera Soprano Margaret Kalil.

Empowering Female Conductors will be moderated by Dr. LaToya Webb (Auburn University).

LaToya A. Webb, PhD is an Instructor of Music at Auburn University. She is also an Instructor of Undergraduate Instrumental Conducting at Grambling State University. Before her appointment, Dr. Webb served as a graduate teaching assistant and conductor for the Department of Music at Auburn while pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Instrumental Music Education. She also served as a music director and activities/events coordinator for the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools and as band director for Richmond, VA Public Schools.

Dr. Webb holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Norfolk State University. She also earned a second master’s degree from George Mason University, where she studied instrumental conducting with Mark Camphouse, Anthony Maiello, and Dennis Layendecker. Dr. Webb was a conducting recipient of the 2017 CBDNA Mike Moss Diversity Fellowship, studying with Glen Adsit and Edward Cummings at the University of Hartford. She was also a conducting masterclass participant at the 2018 CBDNA/NBA Southern Division Conference, where she studied with Ray Cramer. Dr. Webb has the distinct honor of being the first African American female ever selected by national audition to participate in the 2019 U.S. Army Band Conductors’ Workshop, studying with Michael Haithcock and Colonel Andrew Esch. She also participated in the 2nd annual Midwest Clinic Reynolds Conducting Institute as a conducting fellow, studying with H. Robert Reynolds and Jerry Junkin.

A versatile educator and conductor, Dr. Webb has presented research about instrumental conducting pedagogy and equity gaps in instrumental music at state and national conferences. She is an active guest lecturer and published in the Music Educators Journal and the Teaching Music Magazine. As a passionate advocate for improving educational opportunities through diversity, equity, and inclusion, Dr. Webb organized the first United Sound collegiate program in Alabama at Auburn. United Sound is a national program that provides musical performance experiences for students with special needs through peer mentorship. She is also co-founder of I See You: Affirming Representation is Music, a new organization aimed to affirm the representation of Black, Indigenous, People of Color in all fields of music. Dr. Webb hopes that this organization sheds light on the sometimes challenging experiences and allows BIPOC students to see themselves reflected in professional music occupations.

Dr. Webb’s professional affiliations include the Gamma Beta Phi Society, Golden Key International Honour Society, the National Association for Music Education, Alabama Music Educators Association, the College Band Directors National Association, Women Band Directors International, Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Sorority, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Dr. Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin is Director of Wind Band Studies and Assistant Professor of Music. In addition to conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, overseeing the graduate wind conducting program, teaching courses in wind band literature and wind conducting, she oversees all aspects of the concert band programs at Penn State. Her appointment at PSU follows three years as Assistant Director of Bands and Associate Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her tenure at UofSC, Mitchell-Spradlin taught at Valdosta State University as Director of Athletic Bands and was Director of Bands at Chamblee High School in Chamblee, Georgia.

Mitchell-Spradlin has a diverse background as a clinician, adjudicator, educator, and speaker. She is a frequent guest conductor, and has presented regionally at the South Carolina Music Educators Association Conference, nationally at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, internationally at the International Society for the Promotion of Wind Band in Austria, and has served as Tau Beta Sigma’s local and national Women in Music Speaker.

As a proponent of new music, she is engaged in building the wind band medium. She led the consortium and premiere of Aaron Perrine’s Beneath a Canvas of Green for wind ensemble and percussion quartet which was also the source of her doctoral dissertation. Additionally, she is active in a number of premieres and consortiums for new music.

Mitchell-Spradlin serves as the National Vice President of Professional Relations for Tau Beta Sigma: National Honorary Band Sorority. She also holds memberships in Kappa Kappa Psi, the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, and Women Band Directors International.

Dr. Rebecca Phillips is professor of music and director of bands at Colorado State University where she conducts the CSU Wind Symphony and guides all aspects of the band and graduate wind conducting program. Prior to this appointment, she served as the associate director of bands and director of athletic bands at the University of South Carolina where she was responsible for directing the Symphonic Winds Concert Band, “The Mighty Sound of the Southeast” Carolina Marching Band, “Concocktion” Pep Bands, teaching undergraduate instrumental conducting, and directing the Carolina Summer Drum Major Clinic.

Dr. Phillips has served as a guest-conductor, clinician, and performer throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Most recently, she was invited to conduct the Department of Defense 2020 All-Europe High School Honor Band (Frankfurt, Germany). Other guest invitations include conducting the wind band and symphony orchestra for the “2019 Prague Multicultural Music Project” and conducting members of the Prague National Symphony at the inaugural “2017 American Spring Festival” (Prague, Czech Republic.) In 2018, she conducted members of the Des Moines Symphony in a chamber concert for the Iowa Bandmasters Association annual conference. Dr. Phillips regularly conducts collegiate honor bands, all-state bands, and festival bands across the United States, Canada, and Europe and she has been a rehearsal clinician at the Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Conference. Ensembles under her direction have been featured at the 2020 Colorado Music Educators Association Convention, the 2019 American Bandmasters Association National Convention, the 2012 College Band Director’s National Association Southern Division Conference, the 2010 Society of Composers International Conference, and the 2008 North American Saxophone Alliance International Convention.

Dr. Phillips believes in treasuring the traditional wind music of the past as well as promoting cutting edge works of today’s finest composers. She has commissioned and conducted world and consortium premieres of works by several leading composers, including William Bolcomb, James David, John Mackey, John Fitz Rogers, Adam Silverman, Frank Ticheli, and Dana Wilson to name a few. Her conducting performances of David del Tredici’s In Wartime and John Mackey’s Redline Tango are both featured on the nationally distributed Louisiana State University Wind Ensemble compact disc project and the world premiere of John Fitz Rogers Narragansett is featured on the Compact Disc And I Await, featuring Dr. Phillips as guest conductor of the University of South Carolina Wind Ensemble.

As a trombonist, Dr. Phillips’ performances can be found on several internationally distributed recordings. She has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, U.S. Army Band (Pershing’s Own), the Tallahassee Symphony, and the Tampa Bay Opera Orchestra. She has also performed internationally in England, Mexico, the Caribbean, Russia, and Sweden, and has toured as a trombonist with Johnny Mathis and Barry Manilow.

A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Phillips earned her Bachelor’s in Music Education from The Florida State University, Master of Music degrees in conducting and trombone performance from the University of South Florida, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in conducting at Louisiana State University.  She served as a secondary school band director for seven years in Florida, including director of bands at Howard W. Blake Performing Arts High School in Tampa, Florida where she developed an award-winning concert band program. Currently, she is the president of the National Band Association, chair of the Music Education Committee for the College Band Directors National Association and co-chair of the American Bandmasters Association Commissioning Committee.

Dr. Kerry Anne Simon currently serves as the Director of Bands at Mississippi Valley State University. Her responsibilities include teaching Music Theory, Instrumental Music Education, Conducting, Flute, Clarinet, and Saxophone. Additionally, she conducts the Marching and Pep Bands, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, and the Woodwind Ensembles. She also advises the Delta Pi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and the Gamma Eta Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma.

Dr. Simon is a native of Memphis, Tennessee and is a proud graduate of Mississippi Valley State University where she earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree. She went on to receive a Master of Education degree from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, a Master of Music Education degree from Tennessee State University, and a Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University.

Prior to her appointment at MVSU, Dr. Simon taught in the Memphis City School District and on the faculty of Coahoma Community College in Clarksdale, MS. She is an active clinician, adjudicator, consultant, and guest conductor. Her teaching and research interests are focused on music teacher education and retention particularly in low socioeconomic schools.

Dr. Simon is an experienced clarinet player and has served as principal in several organizations. She is affiliated with the following organizations: The National Association for Music Education, Historically Black Colleges & Universities National Band Directors Consortium, College Band Director’s National Association, College Music Society, Society for Research in Music Education, Society for Music Teacher Education, The Mayday Group, Golden Key International Honor Society, Mississippi Bandmasters, Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band Sorority, Incorporated, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.

Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner. Odds were against Cynthia Johnston Turner becoming a musician let alone a professor of music in  higher education. Born in a small rural town in Ontario, Canada, no one in her family played an instrument or sang, although there were rumors that her great paternal grandfather was a mean mandolinist. Cynthia asked for a piano for Christmas when she was 8 years old, and because it was all her parents could afford, she received a toy electric keyboard from which she was pretty much inseparable until she started the ukulele in grade school. When she picked up the clarinet and saxophone in middle school, a love affair and a career were born. 

The first in her family to attend university, Cynthia received her B.Mus and B.Ed  from Queen’s University then immediately left Canada to teach choral music, computers (in French), and physical education in Switzerland. Upon her return, she taught middle school and high school band before completing her Masters in Music Education and Conducting at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. Touring with her ensembles inspired her master’s thesis on the musical and personal transformations that occur on tours, and her D.M.A. thesis at the Eastman School of Music centered on the music of William Kraft, one of this generation’s leading composers. At Eastman, Cynthia was the recipient of the teaching award in conducting. She received the National Leadership in Education Award (Canada), the Excellence in Education Award (Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation), and the Marion Drysdale Leadership Award (also from OSSTF). She is also the recipient of the Donald A. Reick Memorial Award for research with wearable technologies and music pedagogy, grants from the UGA Willson Center for Creative Activities, multiple awards from the UGA career center, and the American Prize for innovative programming with wind bands.

Currently, Cynthia is Director of Bands, Professor of Music, and co-Artistic Director of the Contemporary Music Lab at the Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia. Turner conducts the Hodgson Wind Ensemble, leads the MM and DMA programs in conducting, and oversees the entire band program including the 400+ member Redcoat Marching Band. She is sponsored by Conn-Selmer.

Cynthia continues to actively promote commissions by today’s leading and emerging composers around the world. While Director of Wind Ensembles at Cornell University, her ensemble was invited to perform at the College Band Directors National Association’s Eastern Division Conference in 2007 and 2012, and the Hodgson Wind Ensemble performed at GMEA in 2015 and CBDNA National in Kansas City in 2017. In 2008, the Merrill Presidential Scholars at Cornell recognized Cynthia as an outstanding educator, and in 2009, she was awarded the Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship. Her performances have been praised by such composers as Steven Stucky, William Kraft, Steven Bryant, Omar Thomas, Marc Mellits, Nancy Galbraith, John Mackey, Peter Lane, Eddie Mora Bermudez, Dana Wilson, Roberto Sierra, and Karel Husa.

From January 2006, Cynthia led the Cornell Wind Ensemble on biennial performing and service tours to Costa Rica that included performances across the country, conducting masterclasses with Costa Rican teachers, instrument master classes for Costa Rican musicians, and the donation of over 250 instruments to music schools across the country. She led the Hodgson Wind Ensemble to Panama in January 2016 to teach, perform, and donate instruments.

Cynthia has guest conducted bands and orchestras at several universities and conservatories as well as state honor bands in the United States and abroad. Cynthia has been invited to present her research with teaching and technology, innovative rehearsal techniques, and service-learning and music performance at numerous conferences nationally and internationally. She is published in such journals as Interdisciplinary Humanities, International Journal of the Humanities, Music Educators Journal, NAfME “Teaching Music,” NewMusicUSA.org, Journal of the World Association of Bands and Ensembles, Fanfare Magazine, and Canadian Winds, and has recorded CDs with the Innova and Albany labels. 

Cynthia’s most recent research involves creative placemaking with local hip-hop artists.

Cynthia has served as a board member with WASBE and is an active member of CBDNA, Conductor’s Guild, College Music Society, Humanities Education and Research Association, the National Association for Music Education, the National Band Association, and the American Bandmasters Association. She currently serves on the board of the Western International Band Clinic (WIBC) and faculty at WIBC University. She is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and a National Arts Associate member of Sigma Alpha Iota.

Dr. Scott N. Edgar is Associate Professor of Music, Music Education Chair, and Director of Bands at Lake Forest College. He received his Doctorate of Philosophy in Music Education from the University of Michigan, his Masters degree in Education from the University of Dayton, and his Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree from Bowling Green State University. Prior to his work in higher education he taught K-12 music in Ohio and Michigan. Dr. Edgar is the author of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: The Heart of Teaching Music and is an internationally sought-after clinician on the topic. Dr. Edgar serves as Director of Practice and Research for The Center for Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning. In addition to clinics, he also teaches graduate courses on Musical Social Emotional Learning at VanderCook College of Music. Dr. Edgar is a Music for All Educational Consultant, a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician, and VH1 Save the Music Foundation Educational Consultant. He enjoys grilling, exercising, and spending time with his wife Steph, their son Nathan, and their cats Elsa and Wolfie. 

Robert B. Morrison has a long history as a supporter of music and arts education and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading researchers and advocates for arts education. Mr. Morrison is the founder and CEO of Quadrant Research, the nation’s preeminent arts education data analytics and market research firm. His leadership in research, public policy, and advocacy efforts have led to significant advancements in access to music and arts education programs in America. Mr. Morrison also serves as the Director of Arts Ed NJ. Through his work, New Jersey has emerged as the leading state for arts education in the country.

Mr. Morrison has a deep body of research and policy work and is recognized as a pioneer in statewide arts education status and condition research. In California, his report, The Sound of Silence: The Unprecedented Decline of Music Education in California Public Schools (2004), was one of the catalysts for a $1 billion reinvestment into music and arts education in public schools. In New Jersey, he was the managing partner for the groundbreaking New Jersey Arts Education Census Project, completing the first statewide census for arts education in every school building. As director of the groundbreaking national Arts Education Data Project, he has led similar research projects in Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. These efforts have directly impacted millions of students.

In arts education policy, Mr. Morrison worked with the Governor of Arkansas to mandate music and arts programs for every child attending public school in the state – a policy later replicated by Louisiana. In New Jersey, he worked with the Commissioner of Education to include the arts in the state’s mandatory accountability system leading the state to become the first in the nation to include arts education as part of annual school reporting in 2014.

Before founding Quadrant Research, Mr. Morrison was the founder, and is current Chairman Emeritus, of Music for All. He helped develop and served as the CEO of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, the organization responsible for donating more than $25 million of musical instruments to restore more than 1,200 music programs. Previously, Mr. Morrison was a senior executive for the NAMM – International Music Products Association. As the Executive Director of its American Music Conference, he worked with the late Michael Kamen and Richard Dreyfus to create the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

Mr. Morrison was a founding member of the National Coalition for Music Education and has been recognized for his continuing work with leading national arts organizations to promote the development and implementation of the National Standards for Arts Education. He has also served as the Data Task Force co-chair for State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education and as a member of the boards of the National Creativity Network, Music for All, ArtPride New Jersey, and the New Jersey School Boards Association. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of MakeMusic, Inc. and is a member of the Board of Trustees for both the Berklee College of Music and Little Kids Rock.

Mr. Morrison’s advocacy work has earned him both a Prime-Time EMMY and a Peabody Award. He received an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York for his work nationally to advance music and arts education for all children. Mr. Morrison received the Motherland Award,  the highest honor from the American Red Cross (ARC), for developing the nationwide publi service campaign after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Beyond the Notes: Music Educators Conducting the Social and Emotional Learning Place will be moderated by Dr. Deborah Confredo.

Dr. Deborah Confredo is Professor and Director of the Online MM in Music Education at Temple University. Founder of Temple’s Night Owls Campus/ Community Band and past conductor of the Philadelphia All-City High School Band, her specialties include instrumental rehearsal techniques and teaching methods, assessment, research, music psychology and perception, conducting, wind band literature, community bands, and informal music learning.

She has co-authored the texts The Complete Woodwind Instructor: A Guidebook for the Music Educator and Lessons in Performance (FJH), and is editor of Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks, and Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands. She is lead author for the FJH publication Measures of Success®, a multi-level band method for beginning and intermediate instrumentalists. She developed and is featured in the Measures of Success® Video Practice Buddy Series, an online video tutorial program for developing band musicians. She works in partnership with the bands of ANBIMA Piemonte in Italy towards the continued development of band musicians in schools and communities. Her numerous academic articles are published in journals such as the Journal for Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education (CRME), Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal for Music Teacher Education, Journal of Music Therapy, Music Educators Journal, Journal of Band Research, The Instrumentalist, and Contributions to Music Education, as well as in several state music education journals. A past editor of the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Confredo has also served multiple terms as an editorial board member for that journal as well as the Journal of Research in Music Education. She is currently an editorial board member for the Journal of Band Research. She serves NAfME as chair of the Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education and was program chair for the 2018 NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference.

Dr. Confredo is in demand as conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer. Tau Beta Sigma and the Illinois Music Educators Association have honored her for distinguished service to music and music education. Mansfield University (PA) has recognized her as a distinguished alumnus. She is recipient of the Pennsylvania State University College of Arts and Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award, the Florida State University Faculty Citation for Graduate Alumni Award, and the Temple University Outstanding Faculty Service Award. Confredo plays saxophone in the Lafayette (LA) Concert Band.

Connie McKoy is Marion Stedman Covington Distinguished Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research has been published in numerous professional journals and she has presented at state, regional, national, and international music conferences as a music researcher and clinician. She has served on the editorial committees of The Music Educators Journal, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, and currently serves on the editorial committee for the online journal Qualitative Research in Music Education. In 2017 & 2019, she participated in the Yale Symposium on Music in Schools and contributed to the 2017 symposium document, Declaration on Equity in Music for City Students. She is co-author of Culturally Responsive Teaching in Music Education: From Understanding to Application, published by Routledge. McKoy is a past-president of the North Carolina Music Educators Association and a past-chair of the Society for Music Teacher Education, an affiliated society of the National Association for Music Education.

Allyssa Jones (M.M., Northern Illinois University) is an award-winning musician and educator whose career spans 25 years on stage and in the classroom. A choral educator and presenter, Jones leads sessions on creative leadership, music and literacy, and culturally responsive teaching. Her work as Boston Public Schools’ Program Director for Performing Arts (2012-2017) garnered board seats within national music advocacy organizations, including the NAfME Innovations Council. A Surdna Fellow, her artistic credits include national performances, recordings, and original compositions for theatre and film. Her company, Jones Creative & Consulting, develops music projects that support dialogue, collaboration, and innovation across communities.

Alfred L. Watkins is Co-Founder, Musical Director and Conductor of the Cobb Wind Symphony, an all-adult community band in Marietta, GA. In 2013, he concluded his 37-year career as a high school band director, serving as Director of Bands at Lassiter High School in Marietta, Georgia for 31 years and at Murphy High School in the Atlanta Public Schools for six. Mr. Watkins is a 1976 graduate of Florida A & M University with additional study in Music Education and Conducting at Georgia State University. Concert bands under Watkins’ direction have performed at the Midwest Band Clinic five times, six featured band performances at the Music for All National Festival and four performances at the GMEA In-Service Conference. The Lassiter Percussion Ensemble has performed twice at the Midwest Clinic and once at PASIC. The Lassiter Jazz Ensemble was twice selected as an Honorable Mention in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Band Competition (NYC) and the Lassiter Winter Color Guard was named a two-time Winter Guard International World Champions in 1996 & 1997.

The Lassiter Marching Band was the 1998 and 2002 Bands of America Grand National Champions and also won nine BOA Regional Championships. Under Watkins’ leadership, the marching band also participated in four Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parades (spanning 25 years), three times in the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade (NYC), at halftime shows for the Atlanta Falcons Football Team and Atlanta Hawks Basketball Team, in addition to Opening Day for the Atlanta Braves Baseball Team. During Watkins’ Lassiter tenure, all four (or five) Lassiter concert bands received consecutive Superior Ratings from 1993 until his retirement in 2013, and for the last 23 years, the top two bands earning consistent superior ratings in Grade VI. The band program is one of a few bands in America to have received both the Sudler Flag of Honor for outstanding concert bands and the Sudler Shield for outstanding marching band. Watkins has been a judge for Bands of America, DCI, concert bands, jazz bands and has served as a keynote speaker, clinician and lecturer throughout the country. He has conducted All-State Bands in 20 states and has worked with bands in 38 states.

Mr. Watkins has been selected as a member of the American Bandmasters Association, the Florida A & M University Gallery of Distinguished Alumni, the Georgia Chapter of the Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame and the Bands of America Hall of Fame. Watkins received the Edwin Franko Goldman Award from ASBDA, and in December 2017, he was a recipient with the Midwest Clinic Medal of Honor. He has served as the Guest Conductor of the World Youth Wind Symphony at the Interlochen Arts Camp and recently served as guest conductor of the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” on the West Lawn Concerts at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.  In 2018, Mr. Watkins was selected into the Inaugural Class as a “Midwest Clinic Legend” and currently serves on their Educational Advisory Committee. In 2018, he was the recipient of the Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity’s prestigious Distinguished Service to Music Medal and has recently been selected as the Phi Beta Mu International Band Director Fraternity 2022 International Bandmaster of the Year. He has received 25 Certificates of Excellence from the National Band Association, the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation and the Band World Magazine Legion of Honor Award. Mr. Watkins is Co-Founder, Musical Director and Conductor of the Cobb Wind Symphony (1999), an all-adult community band based in the Metro Atlanta area, which has earned the Sudler Silver Scroll Award. CWS has performed three times at the Southern Division Convention of the C.B.D.N.A./N.B.A., three times at the Midwest Clinic and four times at the GMEA In-Service Conference. At present, Mr. Watkins is one of the few conductors to hold three Sudler Awards (Flag, Shield, Silver Scroll) simultaneously. In 2009 and 2010, two doctoral dissertations were written highlighting his life and centered around his work with the Lassiter Band Program. Currently, Mr. Watkins is a Co-Founder of the Minority Band Director National Association, Inc., an organization charged to serve, promote, celebrate and mentor minority band directors throughout the country. He is currently an Educational Clinician for Conn-Selmer Corporation and Perform America. The $1.5 million Alfred L. Watkins Band Building at Lassiter High School bears his name.

He and his wife for 37 years, Rita, live in Marietta, GA. They have two adult sons:  Christopher, a trumpeter in the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in Washington, D.C. and Jonathan, a businessman in Ventura, CA.

Culturally Responsive Teaching: How to Teach Everybody, Everywhere! is being moderated by Dr. William J. Earvin.