2021-22 Conference Presenters’ Bios

Dr. Daniel Abrahams is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Arkansas. A native of Massachusetts, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Temple University, a Master of Music degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in music education from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

As a music educator, Dr. Abrahams is the inaugural recipient of the Jupiter Band Instruments Award for Excellence in Teaching Concert Band presented by NAFME: The National Association for Music Education and the 2010 Nebraska VFW Citizenship Educator of the Year.  He has presented seminars at the national meetings of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME); presented a seminar in Critical Pedagogy for Music Education at the Conservatorio Brasiliero de Musica in Rio de Janeiro; presented a seminar on Reciprocal Teaching at the 2nd European Conference on Developmental Psychology of Music, London, England; and presented seminars on Reciprocal Teaching and Informal Learning at the 29th International Society for Music Education World Conference, Beijing, China.

Dr. Abrahams frequently writes about the use of reciprocal teaching, sociotranformative apprenticeship, and learner agency in the music classroom. His article on the impact of reciprocal teaching on the development of musical understanding in high school student members of performing ensembles is published in Visions of Research on Music Education and reprinted in Keith Swanwick’s Music Education: Major Themes (Vol. 3) published by Routledge. His most recent research examined how conducting pedagogy fosters personal and musical agency among beginning instrumental conductors.  Before coming to the University of Arkansas, Dr. Abrahams taught middle and high school instrumental music in the Omaha Public Schools.

Abrahams is a contributing author in Perspectives on Music in Urban Schools published by NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, The Child as Musician, 2nd edition, and the Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy, both published by Oxford University Press.

Dr. Sey Ahn, LMEA’s 2021-22 All-State Orchestra Conductor, is the Director of Ensembles at Illinois Wesleyan University School of Music. A 2015 fellow of the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, Sey Ahn is currently the Director of Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble at Illinois Wesleyan University. Ahn has served as the Guest Conductor in Residence at Diamond Bar High School for over ten years, whose Symphony Orchestra has won numerous national accolades. Ahn is a frequent Evaluator and Clinician at the annual Music for All Festival held in Indianapolis. She has also been the Assistant Conductor of the Music for All Honor Orchestra of America since 2012. Ahn previously held the position of Music Director and Professor of Conducting at the University of California Santa Barbara. Ahn has worked extensively with young musicians in many youth orchestras around the country. She has been invited as a guest conductor of All-State Festivals in states such as Missouri, Louisiana, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Tennessee, Iowa, and Kentucky. Ahn has led orchestral performances in Walt Disney Concert Hall and Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Benedict Music Tent in Aspen, Hilbert Theater in Indianapolis and Alice Tully Hall in New York.

Sey Ahn earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Northwestern University, where she studied piano with Alan Chow and James Giles, and started her conducting studies with Victor Yampolsky. She earned two Master of Music degrees, in piano and orchestral conducting, from the University of Southern California, where she studied piano with Norman Krieger, and conducting with Larry Livingston, She earned a Doctorate in orchestral conducting at the University of Kentucky, where she studied with John Nardolillo, and served as Assistant Conductor to the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and University of Kentucky Opera Theatre.

Melanie Woods Alexander is an elementary music specialist at Rollins Place Elementary School in Zachary, LA. She has taught in the Zachary Community School district for the past fifteen years. She holds both a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University. Melanie is a National Board Certified Teacher in Early/Middle Childhood Music and a member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. She is also a teaching fellow with Louisiana A+ Schools, an organization which promotes arts integration in its member schools throughout Louisiana.

Alison Allerton is Assistant Professor of Music (Associate Director of Choirs and Choral Music Education) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she conducts the Women’s Chorale and Singing Mocs and teaches courses in choral methods and techniques.

Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Allerton spent twelve years as a public school choral music educator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The entire tenure of her public school teaching career was spent in the Greenwich Public Schools in Greenwich, CT, where she was named a recipient of the Greenwich Public Schools Distinguished Teacher Award in 2010 and a recipient of the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award in 2007. Choirs under Dr. Allerton’s direction consistently received superior ratings at festivals and competitions, and in 2011 her 50-voice middle school boys select choir gave an invitational performance at the Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA) State Conference.

Dr. Allerton’s early research interests include the works of Hugo Distler (1908-1942), and her dissertation, entitled “’Leave All That You Have, That You May Take All:’ What Hugo Distler’s Totentanz Reveals About His Life and Music,” won the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize for outstanding research in choral music. In describing her dissertation, committee members wrote, “All aspects of the paper were exemplary: writing style, research, thorough covering of the subject, creative approach to the topic, relevance to the choral art, and a worthy contribution to the field.” Dr. Allerton subsequently received grant funding for a concert project entitled In a Graveyard: A Choral Concert on Death and Remembrance, a multi-media performance experience featuring Totentanz, in honor of the seventy-fifth anniversary of Distler’s death.

Now that she calls East Tennessee home, Dr. Allerton’s more recent research interests include studying Sacred Harp music, including its associations with Southern Appalachia and rural communities, and the recent surge of popularity of Sacred Harp music in concertized choral settings. Dr. Allerton recently presented interest sessions on the topic at the National Conference of the College Music Society in Louisville, KY and at the ACDA Southern Division Conference in Mobile, AL. She was invited to present at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Auckland, New Zealand, which was to take place in July 2020, but it was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

Dr. Allerton has also presented at conferences of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA), Tennessee Music Education Association (TMEA), Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA), and Alabama Music Education Association (AMEA), and has served as a clinician or adjudicator for numerous choral festivals in the Eastern United States.

As a singer, Dr. Allerton has performed in Red Shift, the preeminent professional choir of Baton Rouge, since the ensemble’s founding in 2015. Red Shift has given invitational performances at Louisiana-ACDA, the CMS National Conference, and the ACDA Southern Division Conference.

Dr. Allerton holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University, where she studied with Dr. John Dickson. While at LSU, Dr. Allerton was the graduate assistant conductor for their top choral ensemble, the LSU A Cappella Choir, whom she helped prepare for invitational performances given at Louisiana-ACDA (2014), ACDA Southern Division in Chattanooga (2016), and the Association of British Choral Directors National Convention (2016). Dr. Allerton also holds a Master of Music in Music Education with an emphasis in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Dr. William Weinert, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from James Madison University.

Victoria Qualls Atkins is in her first year as the Executive Director of Chorale des Amis in Lafayette, LA where she conducts multiple choirs ranging from 2nd -12th grade. Additionally, Mrs. Atkins served as Director of Choirs at the LJ Alleman Fine Arts Magnet Academy middle school for 13 years.  Under her direction, the choirs grew to over 250 students, consistently earning superior ratings at both District and State Music Performance Assessments. Her choral ensembles frequently  performed with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and the Lafayette Concert Band, and were selected as a featured choir at the Louisiana ACDA State Conference in 2012.

Mrs. Atkins holds a Bachelor of Vocal Music Education from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she studied choral conducting with Dr. James Haygood, and voice with Mr. Shawn Roy.  As an educator, Mrs. Atkins focuses her instruction on healthy vocal practices and intense passion for both choral and solo singing, and on developing personal integrity within her students.

Mrs. Atkins was honored to be named 2014 Middle School Teacher of the Year by the Lafayette Education Foundation. She serves as a guest director, clinician, and adjudicator for many events throughout Louisiana and is an active member of the American Choral Directors’ Association, Louisiana Music Educators’ Association, and National Association for Music Educators.

Brett Babineaux is currently in his 23rd year of teaching instrumental music.  He received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (formerly USL).  Currently in his 14th year of teaching at Broussard Middle School, he has held similar positions at Lafayette High School, Seventh Ward Elementary, Henry Elementary, and New Iberia Senior High School.   He has served as guest clinicians for various honor bands throughout the state.  In 2016, his band proudly performed in Hawaii for the 75th Pearl Harbor Anniversary.  He also adjudicates various marching band contests and concert band assessments throughout south Louisiana.  Mr. Babineaux’s bands have consistently received superior ratings on all levels of assessment.

Mr. Babineaux currently serves as the President-Elect of the Louisiana Music Educators Association (LMEA) and Past-President of the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association (LMAA) as well as a charter member of this organization.  He also serves as co-chair for the SLBDA District III Honor Band auditions and conference.  His professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, the Louisiana Music Educators Association, the Southwest Louisiana Band Directors Association, and Phi Beta Mu.

Dr. Douglas Bakenhus is the music director and conductor of the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, where he also teaches bassoon, aural skills, and conducting. His music degrees are from the University of Texas at Austin (DMA 2006, B.Music Ed.1983), Texas A&M University-Commerce (M.M. conducting 1985), and he has completed additional graduate courses in conducting and bassoon-performance at the University of Michigan. In addition, Dr. Bakenhus has been the music director of the Northeast Texas Symphony since 2002 and was the music director of the Austin Philharmonic from 2001-2004. He held positions as a college band director at Texas Lutheran University, and the University of Mississippi. Throughout his teaching career, Dr. Bakenhus has remained active as a guest conductor and clinician with honor orchestras in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. He recently made international conducting appearances with the Sinfonietta Bratislava in Slovakia, and the San Pedro Sula City Chamber Orchestra in Honduras.  He has also performed abroad as a bassoonist with the NSU Faculty Woodwind Trio in Canada, Slovakia, England, and the Czech Republic. In addition, he regularly plays in local orchestras including the Shreveport Symphony, Longview Symphony, South Arkansas Symphony, and Texarkana Symphony. In addition, he has participated in the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto and the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN) baroque instrumental program on his baroque bassoon, and has made recent appearances in ensembles such as the Baroque Artists of Shreveport, the Austin Baroque Orchestra, Ars Lyrica of Houston, the Houston Bach Society, and the Mercury Baroque Ensemble of Houston.

Mrs. Annette Blanchard is in her eighteenth year as director of bands at J.B. Martin Middle School. A native of Houma, Louisiana, she attended Nicholls State University receiving a bachelor of instrumental music education degree and is currently working towards a degree in educational leadership with Southeastern Louisiana State University. Now in her twenty-fifth year of teaching, Mrs. Blanchard has taught in the parishes of Terrebonne, Lafourche, and St Charles Parish. Bands under her direction have consistently received accolades at the district, state, and regional levels. She is a member of several professional organizations including the National Association for Music Educators, Louisiana Music Educators Association, District VII Band Directors Association, Sigma Alpha Iota, and a recent member of the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association.

Mrs. Blanchard is genuinely invested in the students at J.B. Martin. She is the Head Sponsor for the Jr. Beta Club, which has won competitions at the district, state, and national levels. Annette has been nominated by her peers for Teacher of the Year, and currently holds several leadership positions at J.B. Martin, St. Charles Parish, and District VII  including committee chair, honor band chair, and department head. She also has a shared enthusiasm for new teachers and is a resident teacher mentor for aspiring music educators as well as a mentor teacher for new teachers within the school.

Outside of school, Mrs. Blanchard enjoys yoga, teaching musical theater, and spending time with her husband, Jerome, and daughter Remi.

Dr. Lauren M. Braud, a native of Gainesville, FL, is an active music educator and freelance performer in the southeastern United States. Lauren plays 4th horn with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and performs with theatres and chamber ensembles throughout the Gulf South. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Brass Performance with a minor in Jazz Studies from Louisiana State University in 2018. Prior to receiving her DMA, Lauren received her Master’s in Music Performance from University of Texas in 2010 and a Bachelor’s in Brass Performance from LSU in 2008. Currently, Lauren is the band director at Our Lady of Mercy School in Baton Rouge. Previously, she was the band director at Live Oak Middle School and assistant band director at the LSU Laboratory School, University High. She resides in Baton Rouge with her husband, Chad, and stepson, Parker.

Troy Breaux is currently the Coordinator of Percussion studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and where he teaches courses in percussion performance and pedagogy in both the classical and jazz areas.  In addition, Mr. Breaux is the artistic director of the UL Lafayette Percussion Ensemble and Steel Drum Band and the World Percussion Ensemble and is the Percussion Caption Supervisor and Arranger for the Louisiana Stars Drum and Bugle Corps.

Prior to his appointment at UL Lafayette, Mr. Breaux served on the faculties at the University of Tennessee and Auburn University where he taught courses in percussion performance and also served as Assistant Director of Bands and Director of Jazz Bands.  From 1993 to 1996 he was the Assistant Director of Bands and Percussion Specialist for the Seguin Independent School District in Seguin, TX.  There he developed a comprehensive percussion curriculum for students in grades six through twelve and the band was a consistent finalist in the Bands of America Southwest regional competition.

As a performer, Mr. Breaux has appeared with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, the Mid-Texas Symphony, and the Los Colinas Symphony, and is a former percussion section leader of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps.  Presently he performs with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Chorale Acadienne and his own group The Lafayette Latin Jazz Project. Mr. Breaux has appeared as a soloist and clinician at universities and percussion festivals throughout the United States and Canada and is a regular adjudicator for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention Marching Percussion Competition.  He can be heard as a featured performer with the University of North Texas Wind Symphony on its Klavier record label recording of Déjà Vu for Percussion Quartet and Wind Ensemble by Michael Colgrass.        

Mr. Breaux is an Artist/Clinician for Pearl/Adams, Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets, Sabian Cymbals and Remo Drum Heads.  His original compositions for percussion are published by Row-Loff Productions and Drop6 Media.

Scott J. Casagrande was Director of Bands at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL and retired in June, 2021 after completing 33 years of teaching in Illinois Public Schools.  He taught high school, middle school and elementary students in suburban, urban and rural settings over the course of his teaching career.  

Mr. Casagrande has received 22 Citation of Excellence Awards from the National Band Association and he has been recognized for excellence by former President Barack Obama, the US Senate, the US House of Representatives, the Illinois Senate, School District 214, Plainfield HS and Stephen Decatur HS.  He has been published many times in The Instrumentalist and the National Band Association Journal and has presented at many state conventions.  He will present two clinics at the 2021 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and was recently presented with the Chicagoland John Paynter Lifetime Achievement Award by Quinlan and Fabish Music, which was voted upon by Chicagoland band directors.

Ensembles under Mr. Casagrande’s direction have performed as a featured ensemble in the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic (Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble).  They were selected to perform in  23 Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festivals, two Illinois Music Educators Association Conventions and four Music for All National Concert Band Festivals. The Hersey Symphonic Band was named the Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festival Honor Band four times and the band program was awarded the Sudler Flag of Honor by the Sousa Foundation, which is an international award “Recognizing High School Concert Bands of Outstanding Musical Excellence”.

In addition, Jazz Ensembles under Mr. Casagrande’s direction were Grand Champions at the Purdue Jazz Festival and the Jazz in the Meadows Festival several times (the two largest jazz competitions in the Midwest).  In addition, the Hersey Marching Huskies were consistent state finalists and Class 4A Champions (2017-2020) during Mr. Casagrande’s tenure,.  The Symphonic Band performed at Carnegie Hall twice, Chicago’s Symphony Center three times, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and several other world-class venues.  Bands under Mr. Casagrande’s direction have performed to large audiences in two tours of Italy (7 concerts) and one tour of the French Riviera (4 concerts) as well as England, Wales, Germany, Austria, Belgium and other areas of France.

 Mr. Casagrande and his wife, Janice, have two daughters, Mary and Julia.

Conductor-teacher Kristina Caswell MacMullen has devoted her career to sharing music and inspiration with students and audiences. Her collaborations with fellow musicians continue to confirm her abiding hope for the future and an unflagging belief in the power of choral music.

Currently, MacMullen serves as an Associate Professor of Choral Conducting at the University of North Texas where she conducts the University Singers, Kalandra, and instructs both undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to her appointment at UNT, Kristina spent eight years on the faculty of The Ohio State University. While at OSU, her interdisciplinary work earned her the Sir William Osler Award for Humanism in Medicine.

MacMullen believes that great potential lies in choral performance and creative communication. She strives to guide her students, as they desire to impact the world they will inherit for the better. Creative projects include interdisciplinary performances addressing human trafficking, the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, play theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, female archetype exploration, American song, civic engagement, and the nature of tears.

As an active adjudicator and clinician, MacMullen has conducted All-State and honors choirs throughout the United States. She has presented and co-presented interest sessions at state, regional, national and international conferences. Recent and upcoming engagements involve students in New Mexico, Michigan, South Carolina, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, and Texas. Her teaching and conducting is featured on the DVD Conducting-Teaching: Real World Strategies for Success published by GIA (2009). Her editions for treble choir are published by Boosey & Hawkes, Musicatus Press, and MusicSpoke.

MacMullen earned both the Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from Michigan State University. She completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Texas Tech University. Kristina has enjoyed a diverse career as a public-school teacher, interacting with students in rural, suburban, and urban settings, elementary through high school. She also sings with the professional ensemble Mirabai.

Nicholas Ciraldo is a leader among his generation of American classical guitarists. At the start of his career, he won awards and reached high levels at the Tredrez-Locquemau International Guitar Competition (France), the Gaetano Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), the GFA Solo Guitar Competition (USA), the Portland International Guitar Competition (USA), and the MTNA Guitar Competition (USA). Ciraldo now pursues numerous solo, chamber, and concerto performances across four continents, now having played in such venues as the United States’ Jordan Hall, Germany’s Berliner Dom, and Brazil’s Teatro José Maria Santos.

Soundboard magazine states that Nicholas Ciraldo’s performances are “without reservations, marvelous…with abundant technique and commitment to the music…one of the best….”  Allmusic.com describes his playing “goes right to the heart of the music, with his precise, active, athletic style.” The Baton Rouge Advocate writes that Ciraldo is “definitely in command….generating a collective gasp of amazement in the audience.” Kansas City’s Journal of the Performing Arts says Ciraldo’s “touch was nimble and delicate, skilled without being flashy. The instrument was a clear extension of the performer, with integrity of sound and performance taking precedence.”

As an avid chamber musician, Nicholas Ciraldo has collaborated with harpist Franziska Huhn, guitarist Eliot Fisk, trumpet player Brian Shaw, violinist Stephen Redfield, and the Quadrivium Guitar Quartet in various chamber music performances. Currently, Dr. Ciraldo performs regularly with flutist Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo, in Duo Cintemani. Their concert venues have included the National Flute Association Convention, the Pelican State Chamber Music Series, the Christ Church of Pensacola, and the Escola da musica e bellas artes do Parana, Brazil. Ciraldo was also a founding member of the multi-genre music trio, the HonkyTonk Philharmonic.

Nicholas Ciraldo has been artist-in-residence at several notable organizations. As a member of the Quadrivium Guitar Quartet, he traveled throughout rural Kentucky under the auspices of New Performing Arts. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Austin Classical guitar has hosted Duo Cintemani. Most recently, Ciraldo taught at the School of Music and Fine Arts in Curitiba, Brazil, the Industrial University of Santander, in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and the University of Costa Rica. He has given numerous lectures and masterclasses throughout North and South America.

Nicholas Ciraldo held diverse positions with several arts organizations. He was Artistic Director of the Boston Classical Guitar Society and Vice President of Austin Classical Guitar. He was co-founder of the Hammer/Nail Project, a collegiate program that links student composers with guitarists and shows how to write for the guitar in the most idiomatic way possible. He was Undergraduate Coordinator as well as Associate Director of the Southern Miss School of Music.

Nicholas Ciraldo earned a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University at Bloomington, where he studied with Ernesto Bitetti. He earned a Master of Music with Honors and Distinction in Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Leisner. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin as a three-year recipient of the “Freeman Fellowship” and student of Adam Holzman. His doctoral research involved the “1928 Manuscript” of the Etudes for Guitar by Heitor Villa-Lobos. He has released three full-length compact-disc recordings.

Nicholas Ciraldo is Full Professor of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music, in Hattiesburg, where he manages the guitar program. He has received several awards and grants, including the College of Arts and Letters’ Creative Activity Award, the Lucas Faculty Excellence Award, and the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Performing Artist Fellowship. His hobbies include audio-video rabbit holes, mechanical watches, archery, running, cooking, and bothering his wife.

Mike Christiansen is Professor Emeritus in the Music Department at Utah State University. He founded the guitar program at USU where he was Director of Guitar Studies for 39 years. In 1994, he was selected as Professor Of The Year at Utah State University. In December of 2012, Mike was selected as a U.S. Carnegie Professor of the Year. In 2013, he was invited to be a TED speaker. He has authored/co-authored over 40 guitar and ukulele instruction books and appears on hundreds of instruction videos.  Mike is currently the co-founder and Director of Curriculum for Consonus Music.

Deborah (Sheldon) Confredo is Professor and Director of the Online MM in Music Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and a 42-year veteran music educator. She is founder of Temple’s Night Owls Campus/Community Band which launched Temple’s community music performance outreach program and is past conductor of the Philadelphia All-City High School Band. Dr. Confredo’s 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. 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. She has been an editorial board member on several professional journals and currently serves as editorial board member for the Journal of Band Research. She is Immediate Past Chair of the Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education (NAfME). Confredo serves on the higher education sub-group of the NAfME Repertory Diversity Task Force and chairs the NAfME Music Teacher Profession Initiative. Although a professor for Temple University, Dr. Confredo resides in Louisiana where she is an active member of the Louisiana Music Educators Association in her work on the LMEA Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the LMEA Professional Development Committee, the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association, and is a contributor to the LMEA 12-for-12 webinar series. In demand as guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer, Tau Beta Sigma, the Illinois Music Educators Association, and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association have honored her for distinguished service to 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 continues to perform as a saxophonist with the Lafayette (LA) Concert Band and the Acadian Wind Symphony.

Shannon Barrett Crumlish teaches general music at Carencro Heights Elementary School in Carencro, Louisiana. She serves students in grades Pre-K through 5.

In addition to her role as her building’s music teacher, she also serves the 40-school Lafayette Parish School System as a member of the district-level trauma team, a group of social workers, counselors, teachers, and administrators who research trauma-informed practices and provide training and resources on implementing these practices to faculty and staff members throughout the district. She also serves as a member of the superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Panel and regularly facilitates professional development sessions within the district. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, with a concentration in K-12 leadership.

An engaging and experienced clinician, Ms. Crumlish is passionate about the power of music to foster empathy and understanding. She believes an essential part of being a teacher is implementing and advocating for equitable and just educational practices while treating students, their families, and all members of the school community with unconditional regard for their dignity.

She holds Bachelor’s degrees in music education and K-12 subject matter education from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, where she studied music composition with Denis DiBlasio, and a Master’s degree in music theory and composition from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she studied with Dr. Quincy C. Hilliard.

Megan Czerwieski is in her 18th year of teaching and her 10th year as the Head Band Director at Red Oak Middle School in Red Oak, TX.  While at ROMS, the band program has grown consistently and now maintains a student membership of over 300 musicians. Under her direction, the Red Oak Honors Band has received consistent Sweepstakes Awards at UIL Concert and Sightreading as well as comments from adjudicators on the high level of musicianship exhibited by her students. The band has been recognized as a National and Commended Winner in the Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors recording project. Under her direction, the ROMS Concert Band (Sub-NV) has also been a consistent Sweepstakes winner.  Mrs. Czerwieski has been recognized as a ROISD Star Teacher for 2018, 2019 and 2021, and was the ROMS Teacher of the Year for the 2017-2018 school year. 

Mrs. Czerwieski holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Baylor University and a master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her professional affiliations include the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association. She is an active clinician and adjudicator.  In her spare time, she serves on the board of directors and plays horn in the Mansfield Wind Symphony and enjoys reading, watching movies, and spending time with her husband John and their rescue dogs, Daphne and Chloe.

Heather Cole Dahl is currently in her 21st year of teaching instrumental music in St. Charles Parish, LA. Ms. Dahl is a native of Houma, LA and received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (formerly USL).  Currently in her third year of teaching at J. B. Martin Middle School in Paradis, Louisiana, she previously taught at Harry Hurst Middle School in Destrehan, LA for 18 years.

Ms. Dahl has been a Winterguard / Colorguard instructor in the state of Louisiana for over 30 years. She is a former member of the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps from Atlanta, GA.  In 2009, Mrs. Dahl had the honor of being chosen as the Harry Hurst Middle School Teacher of the Year. Her Jazz band was chosen to perform for the National Association of School Board Members national conference in 2010.  She has traveled to other states to compete with her Symphonic and Jazz Bands and has won numerous awards.  She previously served as the guest clinician for the St. Mary Parish Jr. High Honor Band, in 2020.  She has also adjudicated sight reading for the district III concert band assessment in Louisiana.  Ms. Dahl’s bands have consistently received superior ratings on the district, state and national levels.

Ms. Dahl’s current affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, the Louisiana Music Educators Association, the District VII Band Director’s Association, Sigma Alpha Iota, and a recent member of Louisiana Music Adjudicator’s Association. 

She is a proud mother of 3 successful children.

Mitchell Davis is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Northwestern State University. Dr. Davis teaches introduction to music education, teaching methods, repertoire for school bands, modern band methods, and research methodology courses. He holds degrees in music education from the University of Maryland (B.M.), Kent State University (M.M.), and Temple University (Ph.D.). Dr. Davis is an instrumental music education specialist. His research interests include educational equity, creative thinking, student-centered music learning, process-oriented ensemble curricula, and life-long music making. He has been published in The Journal for Multicultural Education and The Journal of Band Research. Dr. Davis taught for 9 years in the Prince George’s County public school system in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. While there, he taught elementary, middle, and high school band and orchestra, and directed concert bands, jazz bands, pep bands, marching bands, pit orchestras, string orchestras, and symphony orchestras.

Dr. Davis has received honors from Prince George’s County Public Schools and the Maryland State House of Delegates for excellence in teaching. Dr. Davis also has spent considerable time working with community-based ensembles. He was a conductor of the Temple University Night Owls Campus/ Community Band and the Temple Preparatory Wind Ensemble. Additionally, he is the co-founder and Conductor Emeritus of the Category 5 Wind Ensemble. Dr. Davis has presented practitioner sessions and research at a number of conferences, including those held by the National Association for Music Education and the Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania music educators associations. Dr. Davis is a member of the National Association for Music Education and the Louisiana Music Educators Association. Dr. Davis is an active clinician for school bands and orchestras. In addition to teaching, Dr. Davis is a freelance bassoonist and contrabassoonist.

Jack A. Eaddy, Jr., a native of Orangeburg, SC, is the Director of Athletic Bands at Western Carolina University. Dr. Eaddy serves as Director of the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band and conducts the Symphonic Band in the School of Music. Prior to his appointment at WCU, Dr. Eaddy served as Assistant Director of Bands at McNeese State University and the University of South Carolina, where he assisted with athletic bands, including the Pride of McNeese Marching Band and the Carolina Band, as well as taught music education courses.

Dr. Eaddy earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from the University of North Texas. He holds a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from the University of Georgia, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Florida State University. As Director of Bands at Oak Ridge High School, Dr. Eaddy developed a flourishing program that was recognized throughout the state of Florida for maintaining the highest standards in spite of the challenges that many of its students experienced. Dr. Eaddy received the Florida Music Educators Association Tom Bishop Award that recognizes a director in the state of Florida who has turned a program around, making a positive difference in a short amount of time.

Dr. Eaddy has presented at state and national music conferences, including the Midwest Clinic and CBDNA Southern Division Conference. As a conductor, some of his honors include being a participant in the U.S. Pershing’s Own Army Band’s conducting workshop and receiving 2nd place for the 2020 American Prize in Conducting. Dr. Eaddy is an active drill writer, arranger, adjudicator, and clinician; and was a clinician at the inaugural National HBCU National Band Directors’ Conducting Symposium. Dr. Eaddy has earned a national reputation mentoring music directors and convenes two professional development seminars: Listen Up!!! score study sessions, and the Conductors’ reToolbox, as well as hosts a national podcast, Tales from the Band Room, that focuses on strengthening music education programs in urban communities to have a life-long impact on students. His professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, the College Band Directors National Association, Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha, and Pi Kappa Lambda, Music Honor Society. Dr. Eaddy has contributed to theTeaching Music Through Performance in Band series, published by GIA Music.

Dr. Eaddy and his lovely wife Dr. LaShonda L. Eaddy, a public relations and crisis communications professor, have two beautiful daughters, Jillian and Jordyn.

Dr. William J. Earvin is currently the Educational Support Manager for the Southeast Region at Conn-Selmer, Inc. in the Division of Education. He is also the Director of the HBCU Collective, A Conn-Selmer Community that engages Music Educators associated with the 107 institutions categorized as Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music. Dr. Earvin later pursued his graduate studies at Mississippi Valley State University where he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Education (2006) earned his Doctor of Education degree from Northcentral University specializing in Higher Education Leadership (2019).

Under the baton of Dr. Earvin, ensembles consistently earned Superior and Excellent Ratings at GMEA and LMEA Large Group Performance Evaluations.  The groups have also been selected to perform at numerous regional and national performances.  Dr. Earvin has been honored as an “Outstanding Music Educator” by the Berklee College of Music (2009) and a “Distinguished Music Educator” by the Yale University School of Music (2013).

Dr. Earvin most recently served as the Interim Coordinator of Professional Development for the City of Baker School System, after a successful tenure as Director of Bands at Baker High School in Baker, LA.  At Baker High School, notable performances included the “WorldStrides OnStage” Festival in Dallas, TX, and the Music for All Affiliate – Louisiana Concert Band Invitational in Lafayette, LA. In 2018, the Baker High School Symphonic Band performed in the National Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall.  Dr. Earvin was also recognized as Teacher of the Year at Baker High School in 2018.

Dr. Earvin’s career includes tenures in Higher Education as an Academic Advisor (MDCC) and as an Outreach Recruiter/Advisor for the TRiO Educational Talent Search Program at Southern University (SUBR).  He currently serves as a part-time faculty member for the TRiO Upward Bound Programs at SUBR.  Dr. Earvin recently worked as the Vice President of Education Programs and Development for the Devmusic Company, LLC and is one of the founders of REACH Through Music, Inc. His music business and sales background also include management tenures at Mars Music, Inc. and the RadioShack Corporation.  Dr. Earvin has presented numerous professional development sessions and in-services.  He facilitates workshops in his local school district as well as districts throughout the country.  Notably, he has presented at the Louisiana Association for Student Assistance Programs Conference, The Midwest Clinic and the Music for All Summer Symposium.
 
While maintaining a loving family environment, career goals, and a passion for music and educational research, Dr. Earvin is actively involved in numerous civic and professional organizations; the Louisiana Association for Student Assistance Programs, the Louisiana Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, the National Band Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., a charter member of the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association, and is a member of the Music for All Urban Education and Advocacy in Action Advisory Committees. He is also a founding member of the Minority Band Directors National Association.  In 2020, Dr. Earvin was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi and The Golden Key Honor Societies. He was also selected as the Band Instruction Lead for the Country Music Association Foundation’s United Voices for Music Education initiative. Dr. Earvin and his lovely wife Tamesha are the proud parents of four talented children.

Jessica Fain graduated in 2009 from Northwestern State University with a Bachelor of Music Education Degree. She is currently in her twelfth year teaching and is in her second year as the band director at Bluff Middle School in Ascension Parish. Prior to teaching at Bluff Middle School, Ms. Fain was the band director at Tioga Junior High where she followed many successful band directors and maintained the long-standing success of the program. Ms. Fain’s bands have consistently received Superior and Excellent Ratings at both the District and State levels.

Ms. Fain also served as the Assistant Band Director at Tioga High School where she has helped lead the band to many Superior Ratings during marching season. Her primary responsibilities included instructing the percussion section which consistently received high ratings including Best in Class and Most Outstanding Percussion at a number of competitions.

Ms. Fain was selected by her colleagues as the District II Band Director of the Year (2011), Tioga Junior High Teacher of the Year (2013 & 2016), received the Golden Apple Teacher Award (2015 & 2016) and was named as the Bandmaster of the Year for Louisiana Bandmasters Association (2018).  She has presented at LMEA and was published in the November issue of The Instrumentalist (2018). Ms. Fain has served as an honor band clinician and on adjudication panels for several districts across Louisiana and Texas. She is a member of NAfME, NBA, LMEA, TMEA, Louisiana Bandmasters Association, LMAA, and Phi Beta Mu. Ms. Fain currently serves on the LMEA Board as the District Director for District IV, is also the President-Elect/Secretary for the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association, and the President for Louisiana Band Masters Association.

Gregory Fuller is a Professor of Music and the Director of Choral Activities at The University of Southern Mississippi.  He conducts the Southern Chorale and the Hattiesburg Choral Union, teaches graduate conducting courses, and supervises candidates in the master’s and doctoral conducting program.  Previously, professor Fuller held conducting appointments at The University of Missouri in Columbia and Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa. 

Fuller began musical training at age 3 in the graded choir program administrated by his father, a lifetime church musician.  He was proficient with melodic and rhythmic reading as he began primary grades, trained on piano and strings in elementary school, and added winds and voice in high school.  Throughout his education, Fuller remained active in all areas participating in many genres and ensemble types including orchestra, chamber music, concert choir, concert band, marching band, jazz band, and barbershop.  That diversity helped prepare him for orchestral, wind, or choral settings, as he completed music education credentials in instrumental and vocal music by the age of 22.  At that time, he began graduate work in conducting, and within one year was awarded an appointment as conductor of the Women’s Chorus at the University of Missouri.  Soon after, he began teaching undergraduate choral conducting and was granted the podium of the University of Missouri Concert Choir, a mixed ensemble.  In the spring of 1988, he was chosen to prepare the Missouri University Singers, the top mixed ensemble, for a national MENC convention in Indianapolis as a sabbatical replacement. The next year, Fuller received his first full-time academic appointment as Director of Choral Activities there at Missouri.

Fuller has appeared as a conductor or clinician in 20 different countries and 30 states.  His performance record includes fifteen refereed (blind audition) invitations, including podium appearances at the national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), and the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), along with numerous state and regional convention appearances.  Dr. Fuller has organized and executed over 60 tours, including more than 30 international trips to three continents.  Included in that travel portfolio are many concert tours, study groups, pilgrimages, and four conducting symposiums for his choral graduate students in Estonia, Salt Lake City, Russia, and Sweden.  He has served the Mississippi Chapter of American Choral Directors Association as College and University Chair, Convention Site Coordinator, and President.

Dr. Fuller has also remained active as a conductor in orchestral and wind settings.  To date, he has appeared with professional or university instrumental ensembles on nearly 100 occasions.  He has also become known as a champion of new extended works.  He has conducted national or world premieres of six new extended works in the last decade, including recent performances of Moorland Elegies by Tõnu Kõrvits.  Fuller has helped prepare orchestral choruses for more than 40 important performances, including presentations with the St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, and the outstanding Orchestras and Wind Ensembles at the University of Missouri and the University of Southern Mississippi.  In five seasons as conductor of the Sioux City Municipal Band (formerly the Monahan Post Band, a 100-year tradition), he hosted many successful artists, including internationally acclaimed horn player, Michael Thompson.

Fuller has served a variety of different roles with community choruses and in churches, starting as a graduate assistant with the Choral Union in Columbia, at the University of Missouri, where he eventually premiered Phroheta Lucis, by John Cheetham, a choral-orchestral work commissioned for the University’s Sesquicentennial Gala Concert.  In Sioux City, he quickly expanded the resources, membership, and audience of the Siouxland Master Chorale, culminating in several tours and a short residency in Yamanashi City, Japan, including a performance on Japanese National Public Television.  The Choral Union at Southern Miss is the primary orchestral chorus for The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.  Among regular performances of substantial oratorio, in 2007, they were a partner with the Mississippi Arts Commission presenting state-wide performances honoring important Mississippi composer, William Grant Still.  While in Iowa, Fuller worked closely with the Catholic Diocese of Northwest Iowa in planning and executing music for important Episcopal liturgies.  This included the rededication of the Cathedral of the Epiphany and the ordination of Bishop Daniel DiNardo, now Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of the Galveston-Houston Diocese.  Fuller is currently the choirmaster at Parkway Heights United Methodist in Hattiesburg.

Gregory Fuller grew up and attended public school in historic Jefferson City, state capitol of Missouri.  He attended Oklahoma Baptist University, in Shawnee, then returned to Missouri to complete masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Missouri and remains a loyal Tiger fan.  Among his significant mentors and teachers are James Fuller, James Woodward, Duncan Couch, Michael Cox, Michael Budds, John Cheetham, Nancy Hill Cobb, and Carolyn Hamlin.  He has participated in workshops and master classes with Robert Shaw, Sir David Wilcocks, John Rutter, Jere Lantz, John Paynter, and Col. John R. Bourgeois.

Dr. Bradley Genevro is Director of Bands at the University of Texas at El Paso.  In his duties at UTEP, Dr. Genevro actively oversees all aspects of the Band Program.  Prior to his appointment at UTEP, he served on the faculties of Messiah College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of North Texas.  Dr. Genevro holds the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Wind Conducting from the University of North Texas, where he studied with Eugene Migliaro Corporon.  He earned the Masters of Music Performance and Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he studied with composer and conductor Jack Stamp. Ensembles, under Dr. Genevro’s leadership, have performed multiple times at state, national and international conventions. In addition, his groups have albums released under both the Mark Custom and Klavier Record labels. His recordings have been reviewed in Fanfare Magazine with the following comments: “A superb disc,” “a magnificent statement of the highest professionalism possible from student ensembles.” 

Dr. Genevro maintains a very active schedule as a clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor and recording producer having worked across the US, Australia, Europe, Hong Kong and mainland China. As a recording producer, he has worked with the University of North Texas Wind Symphony, Keystone Wind Ensemble, the University of Georgia Wind Symphony, the Sydney Conservatorium Wind Symphony and a variety of colleges and universities.

Dr. Genevro holds professional memberships in the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, College Band Directors National Association and was elected into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.

Gregory Grabowski is the newly appointed Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities at Stephen F. Austin University where he conducts the SFA Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Grabowski moved to Nacogdoches from central Pennsylvania where he served as Orchestra Director at Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, PA). Under his leadership, the Susquehanna University Orchestra increased in size and prestige and was featured in two nationally broadcast public television performances aired in 2017. Prior to his time in Pennsylvania, Dr. Grabowski completed graduate degrees at the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University, under primary conducting teachers David Itkin and Paul Phillips. Maestro Grabowski has led orchestras including the Bakersfield Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Richardson Symphony, Flower Mound Symphony, Lewisville Lake Symphony, and the Fairbanks Festival Orchestra. He has also studied conducting under Don Schleicher, Nicolás Pasquet, Markand Thakar, Robert Franz, Paul Vermell, Samuel Jones, Harold Farberman, and Leon Botstein.

While residing in Texas, Dr. Grabowski served as interim director of the Flower Mound Symphony Orchestra. He was also the assistant conductor for the Lewisville Lake Symphony, guest conductor with the Richardson Symphony and the Dallas Asian-American Youth Orchestra, and served as graduate assistant conductor at both the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University. Other performance highlights include a benefit performance of the Mozart Requiem, a performance of Shostakovich’s rarely-heard chamber opera, Anti-Formalist Rayok, and a gala concert in the newly opened Winspear Opera House in Dallas with the Meadows Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Grabowski has taught and advocated for music education at every level from elementary school to professional. He began his career in the public schools of Frisco, TX, where he was the Associate Director of Winds and Percussion at Roach Middle School for three years. Since beginning his orchestral career, Dr. Grabowski has conducted youth orchestras, regional honor orchestras, and has been a guest clinician at numerous high schools. He has also been an adjudicator for orchestra and band competitions as well as student solo competitions.

Dr. Grabowski grew up in Edison, New Jersey, where he began his musical studies as a jazz saxophone player and woodwind specialist. He lives in Nacogdoches, TX with his wife, mezzo-soprano Dianna Grabowski, and two sons, Ben and Sam.

Holly Grefe  is in her 23rd year as Director of Choirs at Lafayette High School in Lafayette, Louisiana.  She received her Master’s Degree in Vocal Music Education, emphasis in Choral Conducting, from Florida State University where she studied with Dr. Judy Bowers, Dr. Kevin Fenton, and Dr. André Thomas.  Additionally, under the tutelage of Anne Eisen and Lamar Roberston, she earned Level I & II Kodaly Certificates from McNeese State University.

Over the past 23 years, her students have toured 38 times and have accumulated over 180 District, State and National Awards.  Under her direction, the Lafayette High School Choir has been selected by audition to perform at the 2011 and 2015 LA ACDA State Vocal Conference, as well as the 2016 ACDA Southern Division Conference in Chattanooga, TN.

Ms. Grefe holds the distinct honors of being selected the 2019 Worldstrides National Teacher of the year and the 2013 Lafayette Education Foundation High School Teacher of the Year. She is a member of Louisiana Music Educators Association as well as American Choral Directors Association where she serves as the State High School Repertoire & Standards Chairperson. Ms. Grefe serves as a guest director, clinician, and adjudicator for many events throughout the Southern region.

A native of Louisiana, Gregg Griffin currently serves as a music educator for the diocese of Lafayette at St. Pius Elementary School, where he teaches general music, guitar, and instrumental music. Throughout his career, Mr. Griffin’s bands have earned multiple sweepstakes awards both on the district and state levels.  

Gregg has a passion for the rich cultural and musical styles that Louisiana has to offer. He regularly uses his classroom to instill in his students the same love of Louisiana that he has by inspiring them, providing opportunities for them to participate in ensembles such as Jazz band, and by incorporating Cajun and Zydeco music into the music curriculum. As a current graduate student at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, in the field of Music Education, Gregg is preparing a thesis that focuses on the unique music of Louisiana, specifically in the area of curriculum development.  

During his time at UL Lafayette, Gregg has participated in the university’s zydeco band, Ragin’ Steppers, under the direction of Nathan Williams, Jr., a local zydeco artist who leads the band, Lil Nate & the Zydeco Big Timers. He has also brought his bass playing skills outside of the classroom, playing with some of Louisiana’s greatest musicians, including Wayne Toups.

He currently resides in Vermilion Parish with his wife Kylie, and three girls, Gracie, Anna, and Eleanor.  Gregg and his wife and fellow music educator, Kylie, perform Cajun, Créole, and zydeco music at various local venues and events with their band Poisson Rouge.

Kylie Veazey Griffin is a dedicated professional educator, musician, and cultural advocate who strives to offer students a wholesome educational experience through compassion, empathy, respect, and equality. She is a native of Erath, Louisiana and is the current band director at Erath Middle School. She recently served as teacher of the year at Dozier Elementary in Erath, LA where her bands have received superior ratings at both the district and state levels throughout her teaching career. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2010 and completed her master’s degree at UL Lafayette in 2018 where she was named Richard G. Neiheisel Phi Beta Kappa’s Outstanding Graduate.

During her graduate studies, Kylie performed in the University French Horn Choir and UL Lafayette’s zydeco band, Ragin’ Steppers, under the direction of Nathan Williams Jr. (Lil Nate). In addition, she’s studied with local musicians such as Chad Huval, Brazos Huval, and Megan Brown Constantin. She performed at Festival International and other events on accordion, rubboard, and vocals. She participated in the videoing and recording of the song “Ragin’ Two-Step” for the University’s ESPN commercial. In fulfillment of her degree, Kylie wrote the first accordion method book to use written notation and was a finalist in the 3MT competition for her work. 

After losing her Cajun grandmother, Kylie completed the French immersion program in 2018 at Université Sainte Anne in Novia Scotia, and she enjoys learning and teaching French to her students. She also writes Cajun, Créole, and zydeco music for her and her husband Gregg’s zydeco band, Poisson Rouge, including songs such as La Louisiane, Quoi faire m’a tu fait ça?, Do ya own Thang, and Pauvre T-Bête. Kylie currently resides in Perry with her husband, Gregg Griffin, band director at Saint Pius, and her three daughters, Gracie, Anna, and Eleanor.

Gary W. Hill — Professor of Music and Director of Bands Emeritus at Arizona State University, where he taught from 1999-2019 — is one of the most sought-after guest conductors and clinicians in the wind band field. As a conductor, appearances in more than a dozen countries and throughout the United States have included performances with many professional ensembles, numerous college and university wind bands and orchestras, myriad high school honor bands (including dozens of All-State bands), at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and at World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles’ conferences As a clinician, Hill has presented hundreds of workshops on conducting and rehearsal technique for music teachers of all levels and has worked with thousands of bands and orchestras and their teachers. Professor Hill is currently a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician.

Prior to Hill’s appointment at ASU, he was Director of Bands at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music (1986-99), at Texas A&M University-Commerce, (1982-86), and Associate Director of Bands at the University of Colorado, Boulder (1980-82). He also served as Music Director for the Kansas City Youth Wind Ensemble and for newEar, a professional chamber ensemble devoted to contemporary music. Hill began his teaching career in Michigan, where he was Director of Bands for the Traverse City (1977-80) and West Bloomfield (1974-77) public schools.

High school, university, and professional ensembles under Hill’s direction have given performances for the National Band Association, the Music Educators National Conference (NAfME), the College Band Directors National Association, the American Bandmasters Association, the International Horn Symposium, the National Flute Association, at many state conventions, and throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Performances conducted by him have consistently drawn praise from composers, performing musicians, and critics alike for their insightful, inspired, and cohesive realizations, and for their imaginative programming.  

During Professor Hill’s 39 years as a collegiate conducting teacher, he taught scores of undergraduate and graduate conducting students and served as the primary mentor for 54 MM & DMA wind band conducting majors, 8 who are serving as conductors of US Armed Forces’ ensembles and other professional groups, and 44 who won university teaching positions.

Hill remains passionately involved with research concerning the exploration of biochemical reactions spawned by musical processes, the art and craft of conducting, and the past, present, and future of instrumental music in schools. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles published in music journals (CBDNA Journal, WASBE Journal, Bands of America, National Association of Schools of Music, AMEA Journal, etc.) and in other journals, proceedings, and books, including: the Acoustical Society of America; The Oxford Handbook of Making Music and Leisure; and in the Journal Hormones and Behavior. Hill has discussed his research as a keynote speaker at many regional, national, and international meetings.

Professor Hill is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Bandmasters Association and the College Band Directors National Association, for which he hosted the “Fiftieth Anniversary National Conference” (1991), co-hosted the 2019 biennial national conference, as well as the joint conferences of the North Central and Southwestern Divisions in conjunction with The Society for American Music (1998), served as president of the Southwestern Division (1989-91), and as national president (2003-05).

Michele Hobizal is a retired elementary music teacher who taught for 31 years in Texas. Hobizal earned a BME from Texas State University. She is a past conductor of the Katy ISD District Elementary Honor Choir with performances at the 2007 and 2011 TMEA conventions. She has served two terms as the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Elementary VP. Hobizal is also a Past Elementary VP for the Texas Choral Directors Association (TCDA). She is a cadre member of the Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts (CEDFA), an experienced clinician throughout Texas and was on the 2013 Fine Arts TEKS Review Committee for Kindergarten through 2nd grade music. Hobizal is a very proud Quaver Instructional Coach and Clinician!

Dr. Brandon Houghtalen currently serves as the Associate Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. His responsibilities include conducting the Concert Band, directing the Big Purple Marching Band, teaching music education courses, and directing the horn studio. He previously held conducting positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of New Mexico. In 2018 he founded the On the List Project, a group of teachers that assists states as they work to make their required music lists more inclusive.

Houghtalen maintains an active schedule as a performer and conductor. He serves as the hornist of the Key City Winds woodwind quintet and conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, an intensive summer music program for talented high school students. In 2015, he served as a featured clinician of the First National Band Camp of Guatemala, where he taught conducting, wind instrument pedagogy, and co-directed the first national marching band of Guatemalan students.

He has recently presented sessions at the College Band Directors National Association National Conference and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic on the topic of diversity and inclusivity in repertoire selection. His creative activities include performing, arranging, collaborating with emerging and established composers, and serving as a guest clinician. Recent commissions include works by Cait Nishimura, Catherine Likhuta, JoAnne Harris, Jim Stephenson, and Roger Zare. His research on James Reese Europe and the 369th Infantry Regiment Band led to the creation of new performing editions of The Memphis Blues and The St. Louis Blues, which have been performed throughout the United States.

Houghtalen earned degrees in music education and conducting from the University of Tennessee, University of Colorado, and Arizona State University. His primary conducting teachers were Allan McMurray and Gary Hill. Prior to graduate study he taught in the public schools of Fayette County, Georgia. He is a member of CBDNA, TMEA, TBA, IHS, NBA, and Phi Mu Alpha, and serves on the executive council of the Institute for Composer Diversity.

Aleisa Hudlow attended Northwestern State University where she earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree in 2007 and her Master of Music degree in 2019. She is currently in her fifteenth year teaching and is in her fifth year as the Director of Bands at Natchitoches Central High School.

During her time in Natchitoches Parish, Mrs. Hudlow has worked closely with the district to revive band programs in the area, including two programs she started herself at Marthaville Junior High School and Natchitoches Magnet School. During her tenure, the number of Natchitoches Parish band programs have doubled, which has greatly increased the amount of students with access to music programs. She has also worked closely with other music educators in the area to guide the district in how to improve music education for the parish, which led to new general music programs for elementary schools and new instruments for all music programs.

Prior to teaching in Natchitoches Parish, Mrs. Hudlow taught at Pineville High School, Northshore High School, and for Bellville Independent School District in Bellville, TX. Mrs. Hudlow’s bands have consistently received Superior and Excellent Ratings at both the District and State levels.

In 2020, Mrs. Hudlow was selected by her colleagues as the District II Band Director of the Year. She is a member of NAfME, LMEA, and TMEA. She currently serves as the Music Department Head at Natchitoches Central. Mrs. Hudlow also serves as Past-President for the District II Band Directors Association and serves on the LMEA Board as the District Director for District II.

Dr. Andrew Hunter is the Associate Director of Bands at Director of Athletic Bands at The University of Texas at El Paso. In his duties at UTEP, Dr. Hunter directs the Marching Miners, the Basketball Pep Band, the Symphonic Band, and teaches Conducting. Prior to his appointment at UTEP, Dr. Hunter served on the faculties of the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received the Thomas V. Fraschillo Award for Outstanding Musicianship among faculty, Louisiana College, where he was named Professor of the Year in 2012, and public schools in Louisiana and Georgia. Dr. Hunter holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he studied with Dr. Catherine Rand. He also holds the Master of Music degree from Northwestern State University, and the Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Tennessee.    

Dr. Hunter has worked as a clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Izmir, Turkey, where he presented a seminar on American music and wind band history. His ensembles have performed across the country, most notably in Carnegie Hall in February 2018. He has commissioned numerous new works for wind band by notable composers including Mark Camphouse, John Mackey, Gabriel Musella, Wayne Oquin, Jake Runestad, and Alex Shapiro among others. He holds professional memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the National Association for Music Education, the Texas Music Educators Association, the Texas Bandmasters Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity.

Andrew lives in El Paso, Texas with his wife Victoria Price Hunter and their four children: Allie, Anna Grace, Mercy, and Stephen.

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.

Falon Keith joined CMA and CMA Foundation in 2018. In her current role as CMA Foundation’s Grants & Programs Associate, she oversees charitable efforts for both entities to ensure sound investments are being made into communities nationwide. Falon cultivates relationships with grant recipients, curates programming for music teachers, education advocates and nonprofit leaders, and develops strategic initiatives for the organization. She came from the YMCA of Middle Tennessee where she supported the fundraising efforts of the YMCA’s development team as Philanthropy Administrator. Falon is a native of York, Pennsylvania and graduated from Western Kentucky University with a degree in Public Relations and a minor in Sales where her minor study pushed her towards her passion: selling the importance of worthwhile causes and the organizations who support them.

Carlton Kilpatrick is Assistant Professor of Music in Vocal Music Education at the University of Louisiana Monroe. He teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in music education and conducts Bayou La Belle, an upper-voice ensemble. A native of Florida, Dr. Kilpatrick taught high school chorus in the public schools in Lake City, FL and Altamonte Springs, FL for 15 years. In 2010, his choirs was invited to perform for the Florida Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He was recognized as the Florida Music Education Association’s Secondary Music Educator of the Year in 2018. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Florida and Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Ph.D. in Music Education from the Florida State University. Prior academic appointments include Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Kilpatrick is an active conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. His research has been published in The Choral Journal and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. His research interests include nonverbal communication in conducting and teaching, inclusive practices in music education, and LGBTQIA+ issues in music education. He has presented sessions for music educators throughout the Southeastern United States.

During his teaching career in Florida, Dr. Kilpatrick was engaged in leadership roles with the Florida Music Education Association (FMEA) and Florida Vocal Association (FVA), including services as President of FVA (2016-2017). He continues to be involved in the leadership of the ACDA’s Southern Region as the Performing Choir Chair-elect for the upcoming 2022 conference in Raleigh. Prior leadership roles in the Southern Region include the Application and Ads Chair for the 2020 conference in Mobile, the Honor Choir Chair for the 2016 conference in Chattanooga and the 2014 conference in Jacksonville. He served as the coordinator of the National ACDA High School Honor Choir at the 2017 conference in Minneapolis. He served as the Secretary of the Florida chapter of ACDA from 2008-2015. Dr. Kilpatrick holds memberships in NAfME, ACDA, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Jo Kirk, President and CEO of WeJoySing, Inc nationally known educator and expert in Kodály based early childhood music education and methodology, holds a master’s in music education from the University of Akron and a Kodály Music Education Certificate from Silver Lake College.  She has completed early childhood studies at the Hartt School of Music and the Westminster Choir College. 
 
Her teaching experience spans from the public school to early childhood and Kodály Level I Methodology and Folk Song Research graduate courses at Nebraska Wesleyan University, Colorado State University, Wichita State University, Morehead State University, California State University Long Beach and California State University, Bakersfield. 
 
As an adjunct faculty member of Muskingum College, Mrs. Kirk instructed the elementary music education courses, directed the Muskingum College Children’s Choir, and developed and instructed the Kodály-based early childhood music and movement enrichment program.  Kirk served on the Community Music School faculty at Capital University, provided the early music education training for the Columbus Montessori Teacher Education Program, and is founder, President and CEO of WeJoySing, Inc. studio’s Language of Love” – prenatal program, “Heart Strings”- a parent and early childhood music and movement based education program, “Music & Me” – a music literacy program based on the Kodály methodology for school age children, and individualized Music Therapy programs. 

She maintains an active conference, workshop, and public speaking schedule. She has been a “featured” clinician and speaker for NAfME Eastern Division Conference, the New Jersey, Kansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Ohio, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas Music Educators Associations (NJMEA, KMEA, LMEA, CMEA, OMEA, KMEA, OkMEA & TMEA), the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association (ECMMA), the Organization of American Kodály Educators Association (OAKE), the Midwest Kodaly Music Educators Association (MKMEA), and The Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC).

She has published: “A Kodaly Approach,” Spotlight on Early Childhood Music Education: Selected Articles from State MEA Journals, published by The National Association for Music Education, 2000, and “Super Food for Developing Brains,” Southwestern Musician. February 2020, published by Texas Music Educators Association, and has authored Lullabies to Circle Games-An Early Childhood Music and Movement Curriculum.    She has written PreK lesson plans for HAL LEONARD Publishing’s “Essential Elements Music Class” (EEMC.com) online teacher and interactive resource and will be publishing her WeJoySing Early Childhood Music and Movement Curriculum in the near future!!

Jo and her husband have been married 46 year!!! and live in Grove City, Ohio a southern suburb of Columbus, OH.  Hobbies:  Jo enjoys gardening and SHE LOVES TO FLY…She, as well as her husband, hold their VFR & IFR Pilots licenses and enjoy flying their Grumman Tiger across the US…especially to see their son in Golden, CO and their daughter, Son-in-Love & Grandsons in Missouri and to FLORIDA.

Dr. Jason S. Ladd started teaching at Nicholls State University in August 2015 where he directs the Nicholls Wind Ensemble as well as teaches music education courses and low brass lessons. The wind ensemble has premiered works by Kimberly Archer, Brett William Dietz, and Ben Robichaux as well as performed the Louisiana premiere of Donald Grantham’s Shenandoah. For six years he was director of the Marquette University Symphony Orchestra and Marquette University Symphonic Band as well as co-director of the Marquette University Pep Band. His public school teaching experience includes directing the Symphonic Band and both Jazz Ensembles at Oswego (NY) High School as well as being the band director and facilitator of the afterschool program at the Franklin Magnet School for the Arts in the Syracuse (NY) City School District. 

Dr. Ladd received a Bachelor’s in Music Education and Tuba Performance from the Eastman School of Music, a Master’s in Music Education and a Master’s in Tuba Performance from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in Music Education with a Conducting Emphasis from Florida State University. While at Eastman he was in the inaugural class of the Caroline Filene Shouse Arts Leadership Program, which included an internship with the education department of the Rochester Philharmonic. He has also done volunteer work for the education departments of the Milwaukee Symphony and the Syracuse Symphony. 

He has done presentations at CBDNA’s North-Central Division and Southern Division conferences and will be presenting in Europe for the IGEB Conference next year. Dr. Ladd has served on the advisory board for NAfME’s Music Educator’s Journal and the strategic planning committee of College Orchestra Directors Association. He has also presented for the CODA’s national conference at Northwestern University on the history of the college orchestra as well as at NAfME’s Oklahoma City Symposium on the History of Music Education. He has also done over six sets of preconcert lectures for the Milwaukee Symphony.

As a composer, Dr. Ladd has had readings by the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Cassatt Quartet, Florida State Symphonic Band, and the Eppes Quartet as well as performances by the Eastman School of Music’s Tuba Mirum, the Syracuse University Wind Ensemble, and at the 40th Anniversary of the Potsdam Brass Quintet. He has performed on tuba in the Binghamton Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Monroe Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, and Utica Symphony as well as in the Eastman Wind Ensemble as an undergraduate. Dr. Ladd has also served as an adjunct professor in tuba and euphonium at Syracuse University and as a brass clinician for the DCI World Class Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps. His memberships include the American Federation of Musicians, American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers, College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Pi Kappa Lambda. His guest conducting has included the Wisconsin AllStar College Band and the University of Louisville Symphonic Band.

From the drum set Sherrie leads The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, her quintet FIVE PLAY and co-leads the 3Divas. From Carnegie Hall, she performs with The New York Pops and from celebrated stages everywhere, she is music director and drummer for Broadway star Maurice Hines. Sherrie is also a busy freelance performer and a published composer/arranger.

With her bands Sherrie has performed at many of the world’s most acclaimed music venues and festivals; from Lincoln Center to the Kennedy Center and the Hollywood Bowl, to Jazz Festivals in Germany, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Ireland, England, Croatia, Japan, Vietnam and Israel and beyond. Additionally, DIVA was featured at the 2017 NEA Jazz Master’s Awards Ceremony, the soundtrack for the NBC-Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular; on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, on TCM’s televised broadcast of the 25th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center and NHK Japan’s New York Jazz. The band also co-stars in the award-winning documentary film The Girls in the Band.

Sherrie has received several awards and honors which include a 2014 Ovation award for “Best Music Direction” in Tappin Through Life; the 2009 Mary Lou Williams-Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award, a 2013 State Department grant for FIVE PLAY to tour Vietnam, a tour grant from Arts International, The Kennedy Center Alliance Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Arts, a grant from Meet the Composer, a Doctoral Fellowship from New York University, the New York City Music Educator’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and was twice selected New York University “Music Teacher of the Year.”

As an educator, Sherrie runs a private drum set and percussion studio. She is a clinician for Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Aquarian Drum Heads and Vic Firth Drum Sticks. On a national level, she has served as guest conductor, soloist and adjudicator for many collegiate and high school jazz and All-State festivals. Sherrie created and directs Musical Magic, a hospital outreach program for The Ronald McDonald House – New York. She also teaches drum set at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985 from Binghamton University Sherrie moved to New York City and attended New York University, where she completed a Masters of Arts in Jazz Performance in 1986 and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Jazz Performance/Composition in 2000.

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra’s latest recording DIVA & The Boys (MCG Jazz, 2020) enjoyed 3 weeks at #1 on the Jazz Charts. In 2020 the 3D Jazz Trio released I Love to See You Smile (DIVA Jazz) and Christmas in 3D; And in 2019 FIVE PLAY released “LIVE” at The Firehouse Stage (DIVA Jazz.)

Please visit Sherrie and her bands on their websites and all major social media outlets.

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.

Ginny Medina-Hamilton presently serves as the chairperson of the newly formed Louisiana Advocacy Leadership Force for the Louisiana Music Educators Association. For the last few years, Ginny has attended the NAfME National In-service and the Program Leaders Forum. She has been an active member of LMEA, District VII, and LA-ACDA for over 20 years.

Mrs. Hamilton is presently the principal of her alma mater, Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma. Previously, she served as the Director of Gifted, Talented, and Arts Education for St. Charles Parish Public Schools. Before entering administration, Mrs. Hamilton taught choir, general music, and talented music to students at all levels for 20 years.

She continues to enjoy adjudicating choral and vocal festivals, working as a guest clinician, and watching her children and students perform in musicals and concerts.

Prior to becoming the Assistant Director of Bands at Dorman High School, Mr. Morris served as Assistant Director of Bands at Boiling Springs High School, and previously was the Performing Arts Coordinator for the Laurens County School District & Assistant Band Director for Laurens District 55 High School.   During his career he has served  as the Director of Bands at Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte, N.C., Myrtle Beach High School, as well Chester High School. 

A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Morris holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Winthrop University, a Masters in Music Education K-12 also from Winthrop, and his Ed.S in Administration and Supervision from Converse College.  Mr. Morris studied under the tutelage of renowned conductors and clinicians Dr. William F. Malambri, Dr. Stan Michalski, Dr. Lorrie Crochet, and Dr. B. Michael Williams during his time at Winthrop.  Currently, he is pursuing his Educational Doctorate in Professional Leadership with an emphasis in Music Education. 

Mr. Morris remains active across the country as an adjudicator, presenter, performer, and clinician.   He has presented multiple clinics at the SCMEA annual conference as well as several district professional development conferences.  In November of 2019, Marcus presented a featured session at the National Association for Music Educators Conference in Orlando, Florida.  Most recently he has presented at music educational conferences in  Connecticut, Alabama, and Virginia. He has conducted honor bands in several states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia.  Mr. Morris is a 2017 recipient of the Converse College Lovett Award for Promising Educational Leader, and the 2019 South Carolina Music Educators Association Mentor Award. 

Mr. Morris is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, National Association for Music Educators, South Carolina Music Educators Association, Palmetto State Teacher’s Association, the South Carolina Band Directors Association, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.

Dr. C. Floyd Richmond is a composer, arranger, music educator, church musician, and technology specialist. He has taught in public and private schools and universities since 1980. Over the years he has held positions as music teacher, band director, worship leader, church orchestra director, and choir director. He has served as a full-time member of the music faculty at West Chester University, University of Valley Forge, Houghton College, Texas A & M University at Corpus Christi, and Tarleton State University. He is frequently called upon for presentations at school in-service days, local, state, national and international music conferences and at worship conferences and retreats,

Dr. Richmond is the author or editor of nine course books on music technology, and is the editor and coauthor of Hal Leonard’s Technology Strategies, chapter author for Thompson’s Technology Guide for Music Educators, primary author for Alfred’s Composing Music with Notation, and co-author for Alfred’s Playing Keyboard, and Sequencing. He is also the author of Thomas Nelson’s Audio, Video, and Media in the Ministry. His most recent book is Alfred’s Learning Music With GarageBand on the iPad.

He served over 20 years as the chair of the education and curriculum committee for the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME) and served as their president from 2014 to 2016. He is active with the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI), and has served as their conference chair.

He teaches music technology courses around the country, and in recent years has taught at Ball State University, Boston University, Kent State University, West Chester University, Villanova University, Five Towns College, Central Connecticut University, and University of Valley Forge. He has presented at the MEA conferences of Texas, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Georgia, Michigan, as well as the divisional and national conferences of NAfME.

He is also a songwriter and composer with a number of original worship songs, and often travels as a performing musician playing a variety of styles from classical and jazz to contemporary worship. He played professionally with the Don Phillips Big Band for five years and often plays theater and church productions.

He studied tuba with Barton Cummings and Harvey Phillips and played under gifted band directors, George Shaw, Jerry Evans, Martin Henderson, David Young, Bill Clark, Gene Ayers, and Ray Cramer. He performs publicly on trombone, euphonium, tuba, piano, guitar, and bass.

Stephanie Robertson is in her 16th year of teaching and currently serves as the Director of Choirs, Fine Arts Survey and Music Appreciation Dual Enrollment teacher at Ponchatoula High School. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Southeastern Louisiana University and her Master of Music degree from Kent State University. A firm believer and advocate in music for all Ms. Robertson is committed to helping her students learn, grow, excel, and appreciate music just as her music teachers did for her.

Shana Sampia has been the band director at Carencro Middle School for 12 years, having taught high school for 3-1/2 years prior and taught elementary band during that time as well. She has also recently take the role as the choir director this school year. She serves as a mentor teacher for upcoming music educators and a mentor teacher coach for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette mentor teacher training program. She has served her school as the PBIS Coordinator for 7 years also, assisting with school-wide planning and assisting new staff on classroom management skills.

She graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette from the college of Education as the top graduate in 2006. Ms. Sampia advocates for music education through her role as the Omega A Province Officer of Sigma Alpha Iota, serving the fraternity for 18 years and in this role for 4 years. She also performs with the Lafayette Concert Band and the Acadian Wind Symphony among other professional opportunities. Ms. Sampia is also a cantor and liturgical musician in the Diocese of Lafayette.

In her spare time, Ms. Sampia enjoys crafting, especially crocheting and sewing. She also enjoys comedy, particularly stand-up. She also spends her time volunteering in her community and for school events.

Kelsey Scheuerman Helton is an elementary music specialist in the Houston area. She is the music teacher at Silbernagel Elementary in Dickinson ISD, the music director at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Galveston, Texas, and the art teacher at Fanfare! Lutheran Music Academy. Kelsey is a proud music education graduate of Kansas State University, and holds certifications in mariachi education, World Music Drumming, ESL, Core Subjects and Music. She is a member of NAfME, TBS, P.E.O, ALCM and TMEA. In her free time, Kelsey enjoys traveling and cooking with her husband, writing for West Music’s “Music ConstructED”, crafting and spending time with her dogs and cats.

Dr. Jay Sconyers is the Director of Bands at McNeese State University where he conducts the Wind Symphony, the Pride of McNeese Marching Band, and teaches courses in the Department of Performing Arts.  Previously, Jay served as the assistant director of bands at McNeese.  Prior to his appointment at McNeese, Jay received his doctorate in musical arts in conducting from the University of South Carolina, where he studied with Dr. Scott Weiss, and his masters of music education and bachelors of music education from the University of Georgia, where he studied trumpet with Professor Fred Mills.  Prior to his time in higher education, Jay served as the Director of Bands at Elbert County Comprehensive High School in Elberton, GA. 

Jay has performed in a wide variety of instrumental and choral ensembles, performing throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Vatican, China, and at professional conferences.  Additionally, he has served as an associate producer with the USC Wind Ensemble’s album “Dynasty” on the Summit Label and as a producer and conductor on the McNeese State University Marching Band’s recent CD on the Mark Label.  Jay has been published with GIA Press in the 12th edition of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band as well as an upcoming publication of Arvo Pärt’s Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen for wind ensemble.  Jay has presented at a variety of conferences and clinics around the country including: The College Band Directors National Association Athletic Band Symposium (2021), The College Band Directors Association Southeast Regional Conference (2018, 2020), The College Band Directors National Association National Conference (2017), Georgia Music Educators Conference (2015), The Future Music Educators Colloquium (2017, 2019), The Marching Arts Roundtable (2018, 2019), and at many high schools, colleges, and universities. 

Jay has been heavily involved in the marching band and drum and bugle corps activities.  Jay has served on the instructional staff of the University of Georgia Redcoat Band, University of South Carolina Marching Band, as a brass instructor with several open and world class drum and bugle corps, and is an alumnus of Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps.  Currently, he serves as a brass instructor with the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps.  In addition to his instructional responsibilities in marching band and drum and bugle corps, Jay is an active music arranger, drill designer, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the United States, and his work has been featured by various collegiate and high school marching bands, in features on collegemarching.com, at the 2017 College Band Directors National Association National Conference, at the 2017 Bands of America Grand National Finals, several regional Bands of America events, and as the opening act of the 2018 London New Year’s Day Parade. 

His past and present professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, College Music Educators National Conference, Phi Kappa Phi National Honors Society, Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Mr. Square hails from his hometown of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He began his journey as a band musician in the Band programs of the local public schools, playing trombone, euphonium, and tuba. As a student, he participated in the LMEA District Honor Bands, All-State Band, and the International Student Exchange (ISX) All-American High School Marching Band. After graduating from Ponchatoula HS, Mr. Square attended The United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO). As a cadet, he enjoyed performing (Contrabass bugle) in, and touring with the “Flight of Sound”, the USAFA Cadet Drum and Bugle Corps. After departing the military, he played tuba in the University of Louisiana Lafayette band programs (marching band and wind ensemble). Mr. Square served as Drum Major of the USL “Pride of Acadiana” Marching Band for 2 years. Mr. Square continued to play in the Lafayette Concert Band, Iberia Community Band (conductor), and Northshore Community Band (narrator), as well as annual TubaChristmas and YuleSlide events.

Mr. Square “double majored” in while enrolled at USL (UL-Lafayette), earning degrees as Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology and Bachelor of Music Education. Subsequently, he earned a Masters of Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg). Mr. Square later earned the designation and credentials as a National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Early Adolescent and Young Adult Instrumental Music. During his 32 years of music teaching, he taught public school band at all levels [High Schools: Crowley, Carencro, Northside; Middle School: Scott MS, Meadowbrook MS (Fort Worth TX), Ponchatoula Junior HS]. He served as the Director of the “Pride of Acadiana Marching Band for 4 years. His last teaching post was as the Director of Bands at Ponchatoula HS (7years).

Throughout his band teaching career, Mr. Square’s performing groups established high standards and received consistent superior ratings in marching, concert, and sight-reading assessments. His students always participated in Solo and Small Ensemble events, as he emphasized personal musical growth for all of his students. His students were selected to honor bands at the local, district, state, regional, and national levels. Many of his students went on to join the music education profession as teachers, performers, arrangers, and administrators.

Currently, Mr. Square serves as the Chairman for the Council of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Louisiana Music Educators Association. Also, he is an active charter member of the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association. In his hometown, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Twin Steeples Creative Arts Center, as an actor at Kay Butler Performing Arts Project (Swamplight Theater), and creative producer for “Differently-Abled Performer Productions (DAPP). Returning to the classroom from retirement, Mr. Square is now employed at Ponchatoula Junior High School as a SPED Classroom Academic Interventionist. He is a vocal advocate for social justice for citizens with Autism Spectrum Disorders. He enjoys time with his family, and spends recreational time in his woodworking shop.

Damon Talley serves as Director of Bands and the Paula G. Manship Associate Professor of Conducting at Louisiana State University School of Music, where he oversees all aspects of the LSU Department of Bands, conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches graduate conducting. The nationally recognized Band Department at LSU serves as an integral component of the thriving School of Music. Under his leadership, the Department has established an annual conducting symposium, high school and middle school camps that serve hundreds of students annually, and numerous outreach events for public school educators. The Golden Band From Tigerland has been selected to present at national conferences on multiple occasions, and most recently, the LSU Wind Ensemble performed at the College Band Directors National Association national convention. Dr. Talley is a strong supporter and advocate of music in the public schools. He regularly serves as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States and abroad, including engagements in Germany, Switzerland, England, and Spain.

Prior to his appointment at LSU, Dr. Talley held the position of Director of Bands at Shenandoah Conservatory, where he was responsible for guiding the wind band program, conducting the EDGE New Music Ensemble, and teaching graduate conducting. He has also taught on the faculties at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan. He has recorded on Best Classical Records, and received favorable reviews from publications including Gramophone magazine and the American Record Guide. He has served as producer or associate producer on commercial recordings by the Naxos, Klavier, and Equilibrium, record labels, and is published in the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, distributed by GIA Publications.

As an avid supporter of new music for the wind medium, Dr. Talley has conducted numerous world premier performances and has commissioned composers to write for the wind band. He has won praise for his work by composers such as William Bolcom, Steven Mackey, Kevin Puts, Joseph Schwantner, David Maslanka, Donald Grantham, and Michael Daugherty, among others. He regularly hosts visiting composers of national and international status on the campus of LSU, and is a strong advocate for young composers, often premiering pieces by student composers.

Prior to teaching at the university level, Dr. Talley taught in the public schools in Texas at both the middle school and high school levels. He earned the Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Michigan and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting from The University of Texas. His principal conducting teachers are Jerry Junkin, Michael Haithcock, and H. Robert Reynolds. Dr. Talley is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, and holds professional memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, the Virginia Music Educators Association, and the Louisiana Music Educators Association. He is also and an Educational Consultant and Clinician for the Conn-Selmer Corporation.

Aaron Theall is currently the Director of Bands at DeRidder High School. Aaron is in his 10th year of teaching, all of which he has taught both the DeRidder High School and DeRidder Junior High School bands. In his free time, Aaron enjoys playing in various musical ensembles. Aaron plays french horn in the Lake Charles Community Band, tenor horn in the Calcasieu British Brass Band, baritone saxophone in the Southwest Jazz Ensemble, and rings hand bells and plays french horn in the orchestra at First Baptist Church in DeRidder, Louisiana. Aaron has served as an honor band clinician and marching band judge in the state. Aaron is a 2012 graduate of Louisiana State University where he received a bachelor of music education in instrumental music. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity and Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society. While attending LSU, he was named a Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. He was also recognized in 2013 as a recipient for the Louisiana Music Educators Association’s Outstanding Young Music Teacher Award. He served as the Vice President for the District V Band and Orchestra Director’s Association from 2014-2019. Aaron is currently interim Executive Director for the Louisiana Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. Aaron began his drum corps career with Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps as a member of the mellophone section in 2008 and returned in 2011. In 2014, he joined the instructional staff of the Louisiana Stars Drum and bugle Corps where he became the Assistant Corps Director in 2015 and Corps Director in 2019.

Chris Turner, baritone, is a native of Pascagoula, Mississippi. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Church Music and Vocal Performance, double majoring at the undergraduate level, from Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi. He served as Minister of Music at several prominent churches for 20 plus years including First Baptist Natchez, Mississippi and First Baptist, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While in Baton Rouge, he began doctoral studies at Louisiana State University under the guidance of Robert Grayson, formerly a tenor at the New York City opera, graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance and a minor in Vocal Pedagogy. Dr. Turner did post-doctoral study in Vocal Pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music under the experienced tutelage of Dr. Robert McIver. In addition, he has the privilege through the years of coaching with the late Virginia Botkin and Harold Heiburg of the University of North Texas and with the late international renowned pedagogue Richard Miller of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

After graduation from LSU, he accepted at position at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana where he taught and mentored students on the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels for five years and also serving as voice area coordinator. In addition, he also served on the voice faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana.

Turner is a member of the music faculty at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he teaches applied voice, diction, and literature. Turner’s performance experience in opera and musical theater includes roles such as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart), Silvio in I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo), Maletesta in Don Pasquale (Donizetti), and Figaro in Barber of Seville (Rossini), Neville Craven in The Secret Garden (Burnett), Farmer in The Music Man (Wilson). His oratorio credits include baritone solos in Ein Deutches Requiem (Brahms), The Creation (Haydn), Messiah (Handel), Elijah (Mendelssohn), Mass in G (Schubert), In Terra Pax (Finzi), The Crucifixion (Stainer), St. Matthew Passion (Bach), Requiem (Duruflé), and Christmas Oratorio (Saint-Saëns). 

Dr. Turner has lectured and presented research on various voice pedagogy and literature topics at more than a dozen educational and research conferences in more than ten states in the last 6 years. Examples of topics and areas he has researched and lectured upon include “The Aging Voice”, “The Use and Application of Technology in the Teaching of Voice”, “Vocal Health for the Music Educator,” and “The Performance and Programming of the German Lied.”

His professional affiliations include membership in the Houston Chapter, Texas-Oklahoma Chapter, and National Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Texas Music Educator’s Association, and the Voice Foundation.

Dr. Kenna Veronee, Assistant Professor of Music, joined the faculty at the University of Louisiana Monroe in August of 2017 where she teaches elementary general, secondary instrumental, music for special learners, and general music education courses.  She is also the coordinator of both the undergraduate Bachelor of Music in Music Education and the Master of Music Education degree programs.  Dr. Veronee received the Bachelor of Music Education, Master of Music Education, and Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education from The Florida State University.  Prior to graduate school, Dr. Veronee taught high school band, orchestra, and general music in the central Florida area.  

In addition to teaching, Dr. Veronee is an active researcher.  Her research has been presented national and internationally at the National Association for Music Education Music Research Conference, the Desert Skies Music Symposium on Research in Music Education, the International Symposium for Research in Music Behavior, the International Society for Music Education Conference, the Louisiana Music Educators Association Conference, the Texas Music Educators Association Conference, and the Florida Music Educators Association Conference.  Additionally, her research has been published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Research Perspectives in Music Education, and the Florida Music Director.

Chandler L. Wilson is the Assistant Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Florida State University. His responsibilities with athletic bands include being a part of the creative team behind the Marching Chiefs and FSU’s athletic pep band program, Seminole Sound, which primarily supports the men’s basketball program and the women’s basketball and volleyball programs. As a part of the wind band conducting and music education faculty, Dr. Wilson teaches courses in music education and conducts various concert ensembles. 

A native of Miami, FL, Dr. Wilson attended Florida A&M University (FAMU) where he earned the Bachelor of Science in Music Education. While a student at FAMU, he served as the University Band President and section leader of the saxophones. During his time at FAMU, he was selected as the student arranger and conductor for the marching and symphonic bands and was selected as one of the first student staff members for the “Marching 100”. Dr. Wilson earned the Master of Arts in Wind Band Conducting from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the PhD in Music Education with an emphasis in Wind Band Conducting from Florida State University. 

Many of Dr. Wilson’s compositions have been premiered and performed on the concert band stage with All-County/District Honor Bands and All-State Bands. His works have also been performed at the Music for All National Festival and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. His composition, Legends of the Galaxy (A Cosmic Fanfare), was ranked in the Top 100 band compositions in the American Band College/Band World Magazine/Western International Band Clinic Literature List for 2016 and his most recent work, Suite Forty-Four, was performed at the 2019 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic by the Hikarigaoka Girls’ High School Wind Orchestra.

Prior to his appointment at Florida State University, Dr. Wilson served as Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands at Eastern Michigan University, with previous publicschool experience as director of bands at Hollywood Hills High School and Cooper City High School. Dr. Wilson also served as the associate conductor of the Broward Symphonic Band under Neil Jenkins and the assistant conductor of the Music Ambassadors Europe Music Tour in the summers of 2010 and 2012. Dr. Wilson has studied conducting under the batons of Prof. Richard Clary, Dr. Jack Stamp, Dr. Julian White, Dr. Shelby Chipman, Dr. Roby George, and Maestro Raffaele Ponti.

Dr. Wilson holds professional memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Educators, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Bandmasters Association, National Band Association, Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and is an honorary member “Friend of the Arts” of Sigma Alpha Iota and Tau Beta Sigma. Dr. Wilson is a recipient of the Florida Bandmasters Association “Tom Bishop Award” and is also a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.) Dr. Wilson has also been recognized and honored by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.