Dr. Jingwen Zhang (NED): March 9, 2024
Jingwen Zhang PhD, MT-BC, LCAT is an assistant professor at State University of New York at New Paltz. She received a B.A. in Music Therapy from the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing, China), an M.S. from the State University of New York at New Paltz (NY, U.S.), and a PhD from Temple University (PA, U.S.).

Dr. Jingwen Zhang’s research is rooted in her clinical work in general medical setting, speech-language rehabilitation and neurological rehabilitation, and mental health setting. She coordinated the research, the Effects of a Music Therapy Respiratory Protocol on Post-Covid-19 Respiratory Symptoms and the intervention phase for Music Therapy Experiences in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. She completed her dissertation, Developing an Improvised Generative Speech Protocol for People with Aphasia: Music Enriched Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (MeVNeST) in December 2022. Her dissertation received the MAR Research Award in 2021. Dr. Jingwen Zhang is on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Music and Medicine and serves as the chair of the Global Reporting Committee and a member of the research committee of the American Music Therapy Association-Mid Atlantic Region. Jingwen is also a passionate musician who plays a string instrument, erhu. She is a member of the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York and performs with the group regularly.

Dr. Kellye Hall (SED): March 23, 2024
Kellye Hall is a Board-Certified Emergency Physician currently practicing Occupational Medicine in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has practiced medicine for eighteen years, thirteen of those being in the Emergency Department. She is a two-time best-selling author as a contributing author in The HBCU Experience Anthology: North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University Edition and an expert author in The HBCU Experience: The HBCU Band Alumni Edition. Born in Rochester, New York, but raised in Soul City, North Carolina, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a physician by attending college at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has the honor of being the first female drum major of the Blue and Gold Marching Machine. She pledged the Theta Zeta Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, National Honorary Band Sorority in the spring of 1997. She is also a lifetime member of Tau Beta Sigma. She pledged the Alpha Mu chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated in the spring of 2000. She is also a lifetime member and current member of the Charlotte Alumnae Chapter. She attended medical school at The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and stayed there for her emergency medicine residency. Her experiences in the field of emergency medicine have led to her desire to write about her experiences with people, both in and out of medicine. Her memoir, I Am the Beat: God Sets the Pace, documents her journey into medicine. Over the past five years, she has returned to her true passion, dance. While it was always God’s plan for her to be a physician, in 2019, she joined forces with former NBA dancer and hip-hop dance studio owner, Ana Ogbueze to become the Co-Owner and COO of NC Dance District, Incorporated. She is a dancer with Project: FULL OUT, an NC Dance District affiliate. She is married to her husband Eric Hall, and she has two daughters, Alessandra, and Alexandria.

Dr. Courtney Snyder (NCD): April 6, 2024

Dr. Courtney Snyder is Associate Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Conducting at the University of Michigan, where she conducts the Concert Band, teaches conducting, and conducts the Michigan Youth Symphonic Band. Under her artistic leadership, the Concert Band was invited to perform at the College Band Directors Association North-Central Division Conference.

Previously, Snyder served as the assistant director of bands and director of athletic bands at the University of Nebraska-Omaha where she conducted the “Maverick” Marching Band, conducted the Concert Band, served as associate conductor of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and taught courses in conducting, music education, and brass methods. While in Omaha, Snyder also served as music director for the Nebraska Wind Symphony, which, under her direction, was invited to perform at the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association annual conference. Prior to teaching at the collegiate level, Snyder taught high school and middle school band and orchestra in the Michigan public schools.

Dr. Snyder is an active guest conductor and clinician. She has presented at national and international conferences including the Midwest Clinic, World Association of Symphonic Band Ensembles, College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society, and Women Band Directors International. Her current projects include research in conducting movement kinesiology, promoting equity through programming and commissioning works by women and minority composers, and building a strong community of women band directors. She is President of Women Band Directors International and serves on the editorial board for The Woman Conductor journal.

Snyder is published in Music Educators Journal, The Instrumentalist, several volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, School Band & Orchestra Magazine, The Woman Conductor, and Association of Concert Bands Journal. Her chapter “Trailblazers: Five Pioneering Female Band Directors Recount Their Journeys Over the Last 50 Years” in the book The Horizon Leans Forward…Stories of Courage, Strength, and Triumph of Underrepresented Communities in the Wind Band Field will be published in December 2020. In 2018 she received Tau Beta Sigma’s Paula Crider Award. She earned 2nd Place of the 2017-2018 American Price in Conducting, Band/Wind Ensemble Division Competition and was given a Citation of Excellence award by the National Band Association.

Dr. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Michigan (DMA – conducting), Baylor University (MM – conducting) and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (BME). She is a member of College Band Directors National Association, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Women Band Directors International, National Band Association, National Association for Music Education, College Music Society, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Dr. Jennifer (Amox) McGowen (SWD): April 6, 2024
Dr. Jennifer Amox McGowen is the Department Chair and Associate Professor of Music at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, where she leads an amazing group of faculty and staff and an equally amazing group of students. In addition to teaching the four-semester music theory sequence and occasional music education and music technology courses, she serves on the MSU-Texas faculty senate and Navigate CRM Faculty Champion team. Jennifer also serves as a board member and instructional technology consultant for Organizational Consultants of America, a Texas-based healthcare organization operating an assisted living facility serving residents suffering from mental illness. Prior to her appointment at MSU, Jennifer served as the Coordinator of Music Theory and Associate Professor of Music at Henderson State University, where she taught applied flute, woodwind methods, music theory, music literature, Humanities, and music education Technology. Jennifer served as the chair of the Teaching and Learning Council during the COVID-19 and financial exigency crises affecting HSU, eventually transitioning the group into a faculty support group entitled “From the Ashes” that focused on mid and late-career transitions into fields outside of academia. Her proudest achievement at HSU was directing HSU Flutes, one of the largest flute ensembles in the state, which toured annually throughout Texas and Arkansas, presented planetarium concerts in conjunction with the HSU Society of Physics, and fundraised over $20,000 for student travel and instrument purchases. Members of HSU Flutes have become trailblazers in music, teaching, medicine, counseling, accounting, and law. The success of the program garnered the attention of the national publication Flute Talk, which interviewed Jennifer for a cover feature in 2019. Jennifer has performed with the Houston Civic and Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra, as well as Orchestra of the Pines, Ballet Forte, the Little Rock Wind Symphony, and the National Flute Association Professional Flute Choir, and was also featured on Phillip Schroeder’s 2011 release, Passage through a Dream. Her true passion is chamber music, and she is a founding member of the Mockingbird Quartet (4 flutes), Triple Dame Trio (flute/oboe/piano), HornPipe Duo (flute/horn), and Apple Blossom Duo (2 flutes). These chamber ensembles frequently perform at regional and international conferences. In addition to teaching at the collegiate level, Jennifer has taught band and choir at the elementary and secondary levels in the North Little Rock (AR) and Pasadena (TX) school districts. She served as newsletter editor for the Houston Flute Club and Texas Flute Society in the early 2000s and was a frequent contributor to Flute Talk magazine prior to its closing in 2021. Jennifer holds degrees from the University of Memphis (DMA), Stephen F. Austin State University (MM) and Henderson State University (BM), with additional coursework from the University of Central Arkansas (instructional technology) and the University of St. Thomas (teacher certification). An obsessive consumer of self-help and productivity media, Jennifer is in the process of finding a healthy work-life balance and enjoys traveling, riding bikes, playing pool, and binging TV with her husband, daughter, and delightfully lazy bulldog and two cats.

Katy Ambrose (MWD): April 13, 2024
Katy Ambrose is Visiting Assistant Professor of Horn. Ambrose has created and cultivated several chamber ensembles, including Seraph Brass, Izula Horns, and the natural horn quartet Conica. She recently served as interim Operations Coordinator for the Boulanger Institute, an organization working to promote music written by and for women, helping to launch their inaugural festival in March 2019. Katy is especially interested in mentoring younger musicians and has developed programs for several engagement initiatives in the Delaware and Philadelphia areas, as well as through the Charlottesville Symphony. Her academic research explores race and power dynamics in the history of the horn in the United States.

Martha Stoddard (WD): April 13, 2024
Martha Stoddard enjoys a multi-faceted musical career as conductor, composer and flutist in the SF Bay Area. She assumed the leadership of the Oakland Civic Orchestra in 1997 and began her 26th season as Music Director in the Fall of 2023. Originally trained as a flutist, she is principal flute for the Handel Opera Project and Piedmont Chamber Players, and performs chamber music throughout the region.

Ms. Stoddard also holds conducting positions with the Community Women’s Orchestra and the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra, and is a regular guest conductor of the Awesome Orchestra. Previous conducting posts include the Holy Names University Community Orchestra, San Francisco Composers’ Chamber Orchestra, and Resident Conductor for Enriching Lives Through Music.

Calliope Brass (2023 National Convention, Orlando, FL)

American quintet Calliope Brass collaborates with the world’s most prominent creatives to build evocative, story-driven concert experiences for a variety of audiences. Inspired by the eponymous storytelling muse in Greek mythology, Calliope Brass (pronounced “Kuh-LIE-uh-pea”) is most known for its innovative approach to creating interactive concert experiences. As a registered nonprofit, Calliope has been awarded grant funding for performance and educational programming since its founding in 2015. As a registered 501(c)3 organization, Calliope Brass increases the visibility of women brass musicians as both artists and teachers through excellence in artistry and innovation in performance. Members are active freelance musicians in New York City playing on Broadway, in major symphony orchestras, television shows, and mainstage acts.

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Heather Thorn (2023 National Convention, Orlando, FL)

HEATHER THORN is a xylophonist in Orlando, FL where she performs with her band Vivacity and as a freelance percussionist and actress. She holds a degree in Music Performance with a minor in Theatre from Ithaca College where she was a proud member of Gordon Stout’s marimba band for two years. Heather has a passionate interest in the history of xylophone and is working with Bill Cahn on a project to digitize and preserve nearly 1500 recordings of xylophone and percussion music from 1898-1929. She has attended the Leigh Howard Stevens Marimba Seminar and was on faculty for the Bob Becker Ragtime Institute in 2014. Her teachers have included Gordon Stout and Bob Becker. Heather proudly endorses Malletech Instruments.

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Jesénia Jackson (NED) March 18, 2023
Jesénia Jackson is a composer, songwriter, & producer. She has served as an orchestrator, scored several indie films, composed for fashion shows, & served as a Music Director for theatre. Jesénia has just recently served as the assistant to the orchestrator on the Off Broadway musical (TREVOR). Her works have premiered in national and international venues. In 2019, Jesénia’s concert piece, STAGES (I Movement) was performed by The PHACE Ensemble in Vienna, Austria. Her most recent work includes AJ’s Story (October 2022), and Sonny’s Blues (New York International Film Festival).

As a singer-songwriter, Jesénia released her first EP, Introducing Jesénia Jackson, in June 2022. She currently serves as the Women In Music Washington, D.C. Chapter Chair, member of the New York Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) & Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC) and piano & vocal instructor at The International School of Music. Jesenia currently works out of her home studio in Maryland. Her most recent awards include being nominated for the DC Wammies for Best Advocacy Award.

Jesénia holds a Master of Music degree in Screen Scoring from New York University (2020) and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Spelman College (2018).

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Dr. Leigh Muñoz (MWD) April 14, 2023
Leigh Muñoz is Assistant Professor of Bassoon at UMKC Conservatory and on the faculty for the Bassoon Intensive at Interlochen Arts Camp. Prior to her appointment at UMKC, she has held bassoon teaching positions at Middle Tennessee State University, University of Missouri, Washburn University and Missouri State University. Leigh is second bassoon of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) and a regular substitute bassoonist and contrabassoonist with the Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera, and Kansas City Ballet. Leigh has performed as concerto soloist with the University of Missouri Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, University of Kansas Wind Ensemble, University of Kansas Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa University Symphony Orchestra and Ohio University Symphony Orchestra.

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Dr. Maria Castillo (SED) April 1, 2023
As an orchestral musician Mrs. Castillo was the Associate Principal of the Caracas Municipal Symphony Orchestra until 2015, and has performed with a great deal of orchestras in México, Venezuela and the United States such as, the Caracas Municipal Symphony, the Venezuelan Symphony, the Venezuela National Philharmonic, the Miami City Ballet, the New World Symphony, the Sphinx Symphony, the Mazatlán Sinfonietta, the “Sinaloa de las Artes” Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Acadiana Symphony and the Lake Charles Symphony.

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Dr. Ann Hicks (NCD) April 1, 2023
Ann M. Hicks teaches music education at Ball State University. Prior to obtaining her current teaching position, she taught instrumental music for grades 5-12 in Iowa, as well as taught at the university level at Ball State University and The Ohio State University. Dr. Hicks holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Iowa State University, a Master of Music Education and Clarinet Performance degree from Ball State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from The Ohio State University. At Ball State, she teaches undergraduate music education courses in woodwind techniques, introduction to music education, and supervises students’ field experiences.

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Claudia Hayden (SWD) April 15, 2023
Claudia Hayden is an American flautist, producer, composer, and national recording artist, whose original jazz and funk rhythms have been heard internationally. Hayden’s new single “Turn Me Up,” released this year, is currently climbing the Billboard Charts marking a spot at #12. This single follows her 2021 chart topping hit “Central Park West.” Renowned for her impeccable tone, full-range technical expertise and creativity, this musician bridges classical genres to a world sound. A trailblazer, educated by pioneering artists, Claudia commands multiple styles with mastery. Her debut album, “Abstract,” was followed by another original CD, “The Spirit Speaks,” a sonically rich blend of Native American flute, jazz, and free improvisation. Centering the mind and the body in these jazz-infused meditative tracks, Claudia’s musicianship reaches new levels in the versatile work inspired by the Native American flutist, R. Carlos Nakai. Working in sound across mediums and industries, Hayden has composed original music for major broadcasting networks such as, HBO, CBS, The Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET, and Court-TV. The Louisiana native learned piano and flute as a child, studying under masters like the acclaimed jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste and flutist Kent Jordan.

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Dr. Linda Margetts (WD) April 21, 2023
Linda Margetts has been an organist on Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah, since 1981 and brings an impressive list of accomplishments to her role as Temple Square organist. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ performance from Brigham Young University and her PhD in music composition from the University of Utah. She is a Fellow in the American Guild of Organists (F.A.G.O.) As a Temple Square organist, she performs with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Temple Square Chorale, and Bells on Temple Square and, along with her fellow organists, presents daily 30-minute organ recitals in the Tabernacle and Conference Center. She also teaches music theory in the 16-weekTabernacle Choir training school. Dr. Margetts has been a member of the music faculty at Utah State University and is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Music at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. She has lectured at the Church Music Workshop at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, for over 30 years. Some of her positions in the American Guild of Organists include Dean of the Salt Lake Chapter and Education Chairman for the Western Region. Linda Margetts and her husband, Bert, are the parents of six children and grandparents of 26.

Dr. Dina Bennett, Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs-The American Jazz Museum (MWD) March 25, 2022
Dina M. Bennett is the Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs at the American Jazz Museum where she is responsible for overseeing the permanent collection and institutional archives of the museum, including all loans and temporary exhibits. Prior to this position, Bennett spent three years as the Curatorial Director of the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee, the first national institution dedicated to educating, preserving, and celebrating more than fifty music genres and sub-genres that were created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans. She oversaw the museum’s curatorial department and served as the primary curator for the permanent exhibition.

As an ethnomusicologist, Bennett specializes in African American music-culture and has honed her expertise in telling the story of African American music and its various genres through her curatorial work in music museums. She has previously served as the Associate Director of the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas; Director of Education at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center; and Manager of Collections and Exhibitions at the American Jazz Museum.

Dr. Bennett earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from Washburn University, a master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Kansas State University, and a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology with a minor in African American & African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University. Dr. Bennett has over 30 years’ experience in the music field and is an accomplished pianist. She currently serves on the advisory team of scholars for “A History of African American Music,” an interactive timeline produced as a resource for Carnegie Hall’s 2009 festival “Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy.”

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Lauren Generette, Manager, Cleveland Youth Orchestra (NCD) April 1, 2022
Lauren Generette is completing her second stint as Manager of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra after also having been COYO’s founding manager. In January of 2022 she assumes the title Director of Instrumental Pathways Programs for The Cleveland Orchestra. She has served as a member of the Youth Orchestra Division board for the League of American Orchestras and led the Youth Orchestra’s 2015 tour to China and the 2019 tour to Europe. A native of Cleveland, Ms. Generette became a public school music teacher in Atlanta following her graduation from Howard University. She later obtained an MBA in Arts Administration and was a Fellow in the Music Program at the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Dr. Brooke Stevens, Bugler, Army Fife & Drum Corps (NED) March 19, 2022
Sergeant First Class Brooke Stevens is an active musician, composer, and arranger, currently serving in the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps as a trumpeter and bugler since 2012. She regularly performs for military ceremonies and functions in the national capital region, notably in three presidential inaugurations and many foreign head of state arrival ceremonies. In addition to her performing duties, she also heads the unit’s Production Staff, where she has created numerous arrangements and original compositions. Her music has been performed at the White House, U.S. Capitol, and at international military tattoos. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of Northern Iowa, Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from Indiana University, and Doctor of Music in Brass Pedagogy and Literature from Indiana University. Her primary teachers include Edmund Cord, Joey Tartell, and Dr. Randy Grabowski.

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Jennifer Theilacker, Associate Director of Manhattan Wind Ensemble (SED) March 26, 2022
Ms. Jennifer A. Theilacker has been actively teaching and performing for over twenty years. She is currently the assistant band director at Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, Georgia. Prior to moving to Georgia, she was directing instrumental music at KIPP: NYC at KIPP Star Harlem Middle School and teaching beginning jazz band at Jazz at Lincoln Center and at the Harlem School of the Arts. She is a past adjudicator for NYSSMA and was named the Associate conductor for the Manhattan Wind Ensemble.

Jennifer has taught instrumental music in Brooklyn, New York, at Philippa Schuyler Intermediate School (I.S. 383) for the Gifted and Talented, and at M.S. 180 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams in the Bronx. Jennifer is the past Associate Director of Music Programs at the Boys and Girls Harbor in Harlem. From 2001-2009, Jennifer was the director of the 5th and 6th grade bands in the Lampeter-Strasburg School District. Additionally, Jennifer taught band and general music at the prestigious Tatnall School in Wilmington, DE.

Jennifer is currently studying at the American Band College of Central Washington University for her Masters in Music Education. During her time at ABC, she has had the opportunity to play under the batons of composers Jan Van der Roost and Johan de Meij, and conductors Frank Wickes, Paula Crider, Anthony Maeillo, Michael Bankhead, and Lowell Graham.
Jennifer’s professional affiliations include The National Band Association, Women Band Directors International (WBDI) (New York State Representative), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Association of Black Women Band Directors (ABWBD), Minority Band Directors National Association (MBDNA),Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA).

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Lindsey Cox, Box Office Manager and Talent Booker, Factory Obscura (SWD) April 9, 2022
Lindsey Cox is an Oklahoma City based musician and artist. She is the manager and frontwoman of the orchestral dream punk band, stepmom. She is the box office manager and talent booker for Factory Obscura, an immersive art company in Oklahoma City. In 2019, she produced and performed in The March of The Sun King, an immersive performance piece featuring musicians, dancers, and aerialists that re-imagined The Beatles’ Abbey Road. In addition, she has produced several collaborative projects and concert series for Factory Obscura and other venues throughout the city. She recently produced her first stop motion music video for stepmom that has been featured in national and international film festivals. Lindsey holds Bachelor’s Degrees in both Forensic Science and Psychology from The University of Central Oklahoma, but decided to follow her heart into the arts instead.

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Katie Levine, President, Seattle Music Teachers Association (WD) April 23, 2022
Katie Levine is a composer, pianist, and teacher. She has performed as a part of various jazz ensembles, classical chamber ensembles, and musical theatre productions. Katie is active in the local music community and is President of the Seattle Music Teachers Association. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Piano Performance from Cornish College of the Arts.

Terri Lyne Carrington, Professional Drummer (National Convention, Grand Rapids, MI) July 15, 2021
Carrington was regarded as a prodigy in her hometown of Medford, Massachusetts. While in high school and college, she impressed many veteran jazz players. Moving to New York City in the early ’80s, she began to get gigs with local musicians before gaining enough attention to warrant another move, this time to California, where she was seen by millions on a nightly basis as a member of the band on The Arsenio Hall Show and worked with Wayne Shorter’s late-’80s band. She released her debut recording as a leader on Verve Forecast in 1989. Into the late ’90s, Carrington continued working steadily and was heard best in funk settings, as exemplified by her work with Herbie Hancock. In 2003, Ms. Carrington received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music and was appointed professor at the college in 2005, where she currently serves as the Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, which recruits, teaches, mentors, and advocates for musicians seeking to study jazz with gender equity as a guiding principle, and asks the important question, “what would jazz sound like in a culture without patriarchy?” She also serves as Artistic Director for Berklee’s Summer Jazz Workshop, co-curator for BAMS Fest, and co-Artistic Director of The Carr Center, Detroit, MI.

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Dr. Courtney Snyder, Director of Bands (National Convention, Grand Rapids, MI)
Dr. Courtney Snyder is associate director of bands and assistant professor of conducting at the University of Michigan, where she directs the Concert Band, teaches conducting, and directs the Michigan Youth Wind Band – a group of select, auditioned high school students from area high schools. Under her direction, the Concert Band was invited to perform at the College Band Directors Association North-Central Division Conference. While in Omaha, Snyder served as Music Director for the Nebraska Wind Symphony, which, also under her direction, was invited to perform at the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association Annual Conference. Prior to directing college ensembles, Snyder taught high school and middle school band and orchestra in the Michigan public schools.

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Anna Edwards, Conductor (WD Virtual Convention) April 18, 2021
Conductor ANNA EDWARDS’ musical career progression as a violinist, educator, and symphony conductor has inspired her mission to encourage and promote musical diversity at the highest level from professional, educational, and collaborative music organizations across the country. She is a passionate advocate of music from underrepresented composers on the concert stage. Currently, Edwards balances her time between conducting in the Pacific Northwest, serving as a guest conductor/clinician across the country, and developing young musicians through instruction and collaboration with professionals in concert settings. The 2021-22 season marks the ninth season for Edwards as Music Director of the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, seventh season as Music Director of the Saratoga Orchestra, and fourth season as Music Director of the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute.

As a recognized leader for the promotion of musical diversity in symphonic orchestral music, Dave Beck, of Seattle Classical KING FM wrote, “The Seattle Collaborative Orchestra under Dr. Anna Edwards’ excellent musicianship, inspired vision, and creative leadership, is doing everything a modern orchestra should be doing to insure the future of the art of symphonic music. The spirit of collaboration among these professional, gifted amateur and excellent student musicians fosters innovation, diversity, and new possibilities in the life of the 21st century symphony orchestra. SCO is showing the way forward like no other orchestra in our region.”

Edwards continues to follow her commitment to program innovative music, which balances traditional classical music with music by women, people of color, and Northwest artists. Commissioned premieres include works by Victoria Bond, Tim Huling, Angelique Poteat, Sarah Bassingthwaighte, Leanna Primiani, Julian Garvue, Brendan McMullen, David Lien, and Andy Clausen. Anna additionally offers lectures concerning music, gender, and leadership to up-and-coming musicians and community leaders in public schools, community businesses, Colleges, and Universities.

Edwards’ dedication to quality musical performance started with her early career as a professional violinist, performing with prestigious ensembles such as the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Northwest Sinfonietta, Auburn Symphony, and multiple Seattle area chamber ensembles. As she has turned her career towards conducting, Edwards has attended numerous festivals and workshops, with mentors such as Ludovic Morlot, Michael Jinbo, Diane Wittry, Neil Thomson, and Gustav Meier. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Washington, and holds a Bachelor of Music Education and Masters in Violin Performance.

In 2013, 2014, and 2018, Edwards received 2nd place and then two – 1st place honors (respectively) for conducting in The American Prize, a national competition for conductors and musical ensembles. Seattle Collaborative Orchestra received two – 2nd place and then 1st place honors for The American Prize orchestra performance division. In SCO’s performance of Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra, American Prize described Edwards’ conducting as “strong and committed” and “…always ‘in the moment,’ showing clarity of beat, intensity and focus.…the conductor’s face is alive to each musical gesture and the nuance.”

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Emily Koh, Associate Professor of Composition at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia (SED Virtual Convention) March 20, 2021
Emily Koh (b.1986) is a Singaporean composer+ based in Atlanta, Georgia whose music reimagines everyday experiences by sonically expounding tiny oft-forgotten details, and explores binary states such as extremities/boundaries and activity/stagnation. She especially enjoys collaborating with creatives of other specializations.

Described as “the future of composing” (The Straits Times, Singapore), Emily is the recipient of awards such as the Copland House Residency Award, Young Artist Award (National Arts Council, Singapore), Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize (Asian Composers League), ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Prix D’Ete (Peabody), and the Macagnoni Prize for Innovative Research (University of Georgia). Her work is supported with commissions, grants and fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, National Arts Council (Singapore), Opera America, New Music USA, MacDowell, the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, American Composers’ Orchestra, Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, the Paul Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic Excellence (National University of Singapore) and others. Described as “beautifully eerie” (New York Times), and “subtley spicy” (Baltimore Sun), Emily’s music has been performed around the world, and is published by Babel Scores (Europe) and Poco Piu Publishing (worldwide).

Emily is currently Associate Professor of Music Composition at the University of Georgia, USA.

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Dr. Carolyn Barber, Director of Bands, University of Nebraska at Lincoln (MWD Virtual Convention) March 20, 2021
Carolyn A. Barber is the Ron and Carol Cope Professor of Music and Director of Bands in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Glenn Korff School of Music. She earned a B.M. in horn performance at Northwestern University, an M.M. in horn performance from Yale University, and returned to Northwestern to earn her D.M. in conducting as a student of John P. Paynter and Victor Yampolsky.

Dr. Barber began her career as a lecturer and assistant to the dean of the Northwestern University School of Music. Her duties included teaching advanced conducting and directing the university’s 118-piece Concert Band. Prior to her appointment at UNL, Dr. Barber also served as the director of bands at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Apart from her conducting and teaching at UW-L, Dr. Barber also served for five years as the principal horn of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.

As director of bands at UNL, her teaching assignment is now a hybrid of traditional academic classes and performance-based courses. This combination provides a rich atmosphere for the cross-pollination of ideas, techniques, and creative problem solving. Dr. Barber’s chief area of research is conducting practice and pedagogy, with emphasis on group dynamics (flocking and influence), and the development of ensembleship through improvisation, artistic thinking, and a broad, multidisciplinary array of rehearsal techniques. She has demonstrated and elaborated upon her work at venues including the Midwest Clinic, conferences of the College Band Directors National Association, American String Teachers Association, and the National Association for Music Education, state music educators conventions, district training workshops, and masterclass/rehearsal clinics nationwide.

Dr. Barber has received numerous awards for musical and academic achievement, including the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Distinguished Teaching Award, a Hixson-Lied Professorship, multiple National Band Association Citations of Excellence, and a United States Navy Good Conduct Medal – an unusual distinction for someone who has never had the honor to serve in the military. Most recently she was named the 2019 Martha Daniel Newell Scholar at Georgia College where she spent a semester developing a course and engaging in research focusing on the creative process. Her writing has been published in the Journal of Band Research, and she is a regular contributor to the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band reference series. In addition to her scholarly activities, Dr. Barber maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor throughout the United States and Canada. She is a member of Phi Beta Mu Honorary Bandmasters Fraternity, state chair and a member of the College Band Directors.

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Dr. Emily Freeman Brown, Music Director and Conductor, Bowling Green Philharmonia (NED Virtual Convention) March 13, 2021
Emily Freeman Brown is Music Director and Conductor of the Bowling Green Philharmonia and Opera Theater at Bowling Green State University in Ohio where in 2016, she was made Professor of Creative Arts Excellence. Brown has led eight CDs on Albany Records with the Bowling Green Philharmonia. In 2018, the 100th Anniversary year of the BG Philharmonia, the orchestra performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Detroit’s Orchestra Hall. The BG Philharmonia has performed under her baton at the Ohio Music Educators Association in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Dr. Brown is the author of the book Dictionary for the Modern Conductor (Rowman & Littlefield).

The first woman to receive a doctorate in orchestral conducting at the Eastman School of Music, Ms. Brown has appeared as conductor with orchestras in the United States, Europe, Asia and South America including the Rochester Philharmonic, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, the Syracuse and Toledo Symphonies, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Eastman Virtuosi, Skaneateles Music Festival, Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Orchestra and Göttinger Symphonie Orchester (Germany), ​​the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony of Chile and the Bartók Ensemble, both in Santiago, the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania), the Macedonia National Symphony Orchestra, the National Soloists Orchestra in Astana, and Conservatory Symphony Orchestra of Almaty (Kazakhstan), the American Festival of the Arts (Houston), Interlochen and Chautauqua summer music institutes and the all-state orchestras in Texas, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, Washington and Minnesota. Dr. Brown was in residence at the Boston University, School of Music conducting a performance of Hadyn’s Creation in Symphony Hall in 2018. In 2010 she was in residence at the University of North Texas, conducting the School’s Symphony Orchestra and leading classes in orchestral conducting. She taught a summer conducting course at the Free University of Berlin for nine years in addition to conducting master classes at the Conservatory of Music in Riga, Latvia, Santiago, Chile and many others. For the fall of 2021 Dr. Brown is teaching graduate conducting at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Ms. Brown has recorded for Naxos, Linn and Opus One Records, including eight disks on Albany Records with the Bowling Green Philharmonia under the title The Voice of the Composer; New Music from Bowling Green that have been widely heard and featured in an internationally syndicated radio program under the same name. In addition to her book Dr. Brown has published articles in the BACH journal and the Journal of the Conductors Guild. She served as President of the Conductors Guild and continues as a member of the advisory board.

Ms. Brown studied conducting and cello at the Royal College of Music in London, England where she was twice winner of the Sir Adrian Boult Conducting Prize. Her major teachers have included Leonard Slatkin, Herbert Blomstedt, Franco Ferrara, David Effron and James Dixon.

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Natalie Steele, CEO of Crossmen Productions (SWD Virtual Convention) March 27, 2021
Natalie Steele, Chief Executive Officer of Crossmen Productions, oversees the DCI finalist drum corps Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps, WGI finalist Crossmen Winds, and the most diverse program in the city, San Antonio Community Wind Ensemble. Ms. Steele and the Crossmen team pride themselves with actively working to build a strong culture of resiliency, respect and responsibility through all programs. As a former Crossmen alumna, Ms. Steele brings a unique and experienced perspective to the organization. Ms. Steele received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Houston, her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Colorado State University, and her master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a proud brother of Kappa Kappa Psi, hailing from the Beta Sigma chapter at the University of Houston. Go Coogs! She has worked within the non-profit industry since 2006, serving in various leadership positions in youth development, marketing and membership with YMCAs in Texas and California. Consistent with her broad-based experience in the nonprofit industry, Steele currently focuses on development, communications and strategy at Crossmen Productions. Steele, born in California and raised in Austin, Texas, currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with her partner of 8 years, their dog Monte, and two cats, Lily and Bones. When she is not busy with the Crossmen, she is passionate for the arts, music, the Spurs and San Antonio culture and spends (probably too much) time outside with her furry little family.

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Andrea Liguore, Entertainment Lawyer (NCD Virtual Convention) May 10, 2021
Andrea Liguore is a solo practitioner who opened her firm to serve the needs of musicians and entertainers in the Northeast Ohio area. Her practice is focused on music, entertainment, and business law, and she is experienced in contract drafting, negotiation, business formation, and copyright registration. She believes all artists should have resources available to them to protect their works and their business to build a successful career.

Audrey Hausing, Music Therapist (MWD & NED Virtual Conventions)

Audrey has been providing person centered, trauma-informed, holistic music therapy for two decades. She earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s of music therapy at Temple University and is a board-certified music therapist. She facilitates music experiences within a therapeutic relationship to support children, adolescents, and adults as they explore their strengths, needs, and goals. Audrey has worked with people experiencing a variety of struggles with a focus on mental illness, substance use disorders, neurological impairments. She has been privileged to bear witness to their courage, strength, and hope as they work towards increased wellness and wholeness.  Audrey plays guitar, bass guitar, violin, piano, drums, and sings.

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Dr. Courtenay Harter, Associate Professor of Music, Music Theory, Music Cognition, oboe/English horn (SED & NCD Virtual Conventions)

Associate Professor Courtenay Harter currently teaches music theory, oboe & English horn, and coaches chamber music at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. Most recently, Dr. Harter has been the point person in the development of an interdisciplinary major in Music & Psychology, and teaches courses in the curriculum, including “Psychology of Music.” Her previous teaching appointments include Georgia State University, Oberlin College′s Conservatory of Music, and the University of Connecticut.

Of her many research interests, Dr. Harter is particularly attracted to the pedagogy of music theory; her dissertation study, entitled “Phrase Structure in Prokofiev′s Piano Sonatas,” uses familiar terminology to describe formal procedures within the context of neoclassic characteristics. She continues to study the compositional procedures of Serge Prokofiev through manuscript studies and sketchbook analyses with the Prokofiev Archive in London, England. Her more recent research in pedagogy includes instrument-specific excerpts for theoretical studies and new empirical methodologies and pedagogies to complement the Music & Psychology major.

Dr. Harter has presented papers at national and regional meetings of the Society for Music Theory and the College Music Society, as well as international conferences of Music Since 1900 and the Music Analysis Conference. Her most recent presentations have been at the International College Music Society (Stockholm & Helsinki) and the Society of Music Perception and Cognition. Her more recent publications include “Bridging Common Practice and the Twentieth Century: Cadences in Prokofiev′s Piano Sonatas” (in the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy) and “Theory through Ferling and Excerpts: A Winning Combination” (in The Double Reed: Journal of the International Double Reed Society). Her current research projects include an anthology of instrument-specific excerpts for theoretical studies, as well as sketchbook studies with the Serge Prokofiev Archive in London, England, and empirical studies of music theory & musicianship pedagogical techniques.

Dr. Harter is a faculty consultant for the Advanced Placement Music Theory Exam and also published teaching materials and resources through the College Board (in the 2007 AP® Teacher′s Guide in Music Theory and in the “Teachers′ Resource Catalog,” on the AP® Central website). She has also been on the test development committee for the CLEP Humanities Exam. Dr. Harter is also the Assistant Editor for the Society of Music Theory newsletter, and serves as a board member for the Southern Chapter of the College Music Society.

Dr. Harter bridges the gap between the analysis and the performance of music for her students as an active performer: in addition to being a core member of the Jackson (TN) Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Harter regularly performs solo and chamber music recitals, maintains a private oboe studio, and pursues other freelance opportunities in the mid-south region. In February 2006, Dr. Harter performed the Eastern United States premiere of Night Song, with the composer, Craig Phillips, on organ.

Education
B.F.A., Carnegie Mellon University – Oboe Performance
M.M., Northwestern University – Music Theory and Oboe Performance
Ph.D., University of Connecticut – Music Theory and Music History

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Jennifer Ryder, Band Director at Babb Middle School (SED & NCD Virtual Conventions)

Jennifer Ryder attended South Carolina State University, where she received a B. S. in Music Education: Instrumental. She was initiated into the Epsilon Chi Chapter at South Carolina State University (SCSU) in Spring 1999, and is a Life Member. During her time as an undergrad she served in several leadership roles including band club treasurer and assistant treasurer for the chapter. She was a clarinetist and a member of the Marching 101 and SCSU Symphonic Band.

She has a Masters of Education in Education Leadership from The Citadel and an Educational Specialist from Walden University. Upon graduation, she was a band director in Charleston County School District and Clarendon 2 School District in South Carolina. Jennifer currently is a Middle School Band Director for Clayton County Public Schools in the Atlanta, GA Metro Area with over eighteen years’ experience.

Jennifer is also an active-charter member of TBSAA. She is a member of the Atlanta Alumni Association of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma (AAA), where she is the current corresponding secretary and past treasurer. She has served on AAA’s Undergraduate, Fundraiser, & Golden Baton Scholarship Initiative Committees. Jennifer is also a member of the National Association for Music Education, Sigma Alpha Iota Fraternity, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Jennifer enjoys spending time traveling, attending live concerts, and spending time with her husband Larry, who is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, their son Jai, and her extended family and friends.

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Beth Bronk, Associate Professor, Director of Bands at Texas Lutheran University (SED & NCD Virtual Conventions)

Professor Beth Bronk is in her fourteenth year as Director of Bands at Texas Lutheran University, where she teaches conducting, instrumental music education courses, and directs the TLU Bands. She earned her Bachelor of Music, Performance Certificate, and teaching certification at the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas, and is writing her doctoral dissertation on “Band Director Expertise in Intonation Instruction” to complete her studies at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Before joining the faculty at Texas Lutheran University, she completed eighteen years of public school teaching and administration, fifteen of those in New Braunfels ISD, where serving as the director of the Mighty Unicorn Band was her pride and joy. Her service to the profession includes twelve years as President for Region 12 of the Texas Music Educators Association, four years as the Vice-President for Professional Relations on the National Council of Tau Beta Sigma, where she coordinated the National Intercollegiate Band, and Youth Day Coordinator for the 2018 International Trumpet Guild Conference. Her in-service presentations focus on continuing professional growth and education for band directors at all levels of experience, especially in the areas of pedagogy, ensemble development, and intonation instruction, with a focus on pre-service teachers.

In the 14 years she has been at TLU, she has conducted the TLU bands in more than 250 performances, presented more than 60 times at state, national, and international conferences, given more than 125 band clinics, and adjudicated more than 130 performances. In 2015, Prof. Bronk was awarded TLU’s Distinguished Faculty Award for Service and Leadership. In 2018, she was awarded the Baenziger Professorship in Music. In 2019, she was awarded the Harold D. Bier Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2020, she was nominated by her university for the Minnie Stevens Piper Award for Teaching Excellence. She will serve as vice-chair of the faculty association in 20-21, and chair in 21-22. Ms. Bronk is an active clinician, adjudicator, and performer, and is honored to be with you today.

Jocelyn Hagen (2019 National Convention, Stillwater, OK)

Jocelyn Hagen composes music that has been described as “simply magical” (Fanfare Magazine) and “dramatic and deeply moving” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul). Her first forays into composition were via songwriting, and this is very evident in her work. The majority of her compositional output is for the voice: solo, chamber and choral. Her dance opera collaboration with choreographer Penelope Freeh, titled Test Pilot, received the 2017 American Prize in the musical theater/opera division as well as a Sage Award for “Outstanding Design.” The panel declared the work “a tour de force of originality.” Her melodic music is rhythmically driven, texturally complex, and has recently become more experimental in nature. In 2013 she released an EP entitled MASHUP, in which she performs Debussy’s “Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum” while singing Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team.” Jocelyn is also one half of the band Nation, an a cappella duo with composer/performer Timothy C. Takach, and together they perform and clinic choirs from all over the world.

Her commissions include Conspirare, The Minnesota Orchestra, the American Choral Directors Associations of Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut and Texas, the North Dakota Music Teacher’s Association, Cantus, the Boston Brass, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and The Houston Chamber Choir, among many others. She is currently an artist-in-residence at North Dakota State University and regularly composes for their ensembles. For ten years she was a composer-in-residence for the professional choir she also sang in: The Singers, under the direction of Matthew Culloton. Her music has been performed all over the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City. Her work is independently published through JH Music, as well as Graphite Publishing, G. Schirmer, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Fred Bock Music Publishing, and Boosey and Hawkes.

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Valerie Naranjo, Percussionist (2019 National Convention, Stillwater, OK)

Valerie has been the percussionist for the Saturday Night Live Band for 24 years, was the first musician on The Lion King on Broadway, and has also performed her work with such artists as Glen Velez, Paul Winter; The National Symphony of Ghana, and the African/jazz percussion ensemble “Mandara”. Drum! magazine reader’s poll named Valerie “World Music Percussionist of the Year” 2005 and 2008, and “Mallet Player of the Year” 2012. Her work and life have been featured in Modern Drummer, Rhythm! Scene (Cover Story), Drum!, Latin Beat (cover story) and Allegro (cover story).

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Christine Sirard (NED): March 15, 2019

Christine Sirard has been the Assistant Director of the UMass Marching Band, serving as Color Guard Director and Visual Coordinator, since 2015. She previously worked as Color Guard Instructor for the UMMB from 1990-1995.

As a UMass student, Chris joined the UMMB in 1988, was color guard captain in 1989, and graduated in 1990 with a degree in Communications.

Chris taught the Color Guard at the University of South Carolina where she earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education, with a concentration in Early Childhood Music Development. She has taught early childhood music in California and Minnesota, and elementary general music classes in Virginia and Massachusetts. She moved back to Amherst in 2013 and happily resumed working with the UMass Guard. She lives in Amherst with her family, and teaches early childhood music classes in the area.

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Dr. Stacey DiPaolo (SWD): March 30, 2019 

Stacey DiPaolo is Associate Professor of Clarinet at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and joined the faculty in 2010. In addition, she is Principal Clarinet of the Lawton Philharmonic (OK), has regularly performed with the Tulsa Symphony, and maintains an active performance schedule as a soloist and chamber musician. Stacey DiPaolo held the position of Principal Clarinet of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic during the 2009-2010 season and previously served on the faculties of Penn State University-Berks campus and Oklahoma City University. As a professional freelance musician in the New York area from 1999-2009, she played concert stages ranging from Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, New York’s City Center, the New York State Theater, to Broadway.

Her orchestral performances include productions such as Garrison Keillor’s radio show A Prairie Home Companion, and Casey at the Bat, a production of Robert Kapilow’s famed “What Makes it Great?” series. Her Broadway performances include The Sound of Music, and Baz Luhrmann’s production of La Boheme. Her many collaborations include performances under the batons of acclaimed conductors Gerard Schwarz, Skitch Henderson, Robert Shaw, and Constantine Kitsopoulos, and renowned wind band conductors Donald Hunsberger, H. Robert Reynolds, Harry Begian, and Frederick Fennell.

Dr. DiPaolo has frequently been featured as soloist and chamber musician, and appears as guest recitalist and master class clinician at festivals, conferences, and universities across the country. In her chamber music performances, she has collaborated with such artists as Gilbert Kalish, Stephen Taylor, William Purvis, and members of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and Oklahoma City Philharmonic. She also organizes Chamber Music Weatherford, a chamber music concert series that features the faculty of Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

DiPaolo has spent summers at the Chautauqua Institution, Heidelberg Schlossfestspiele (Germany), and toured Japan twice with the Eastman Wind Ensemble. An enthusiastic and devoted teacher, Dr. DiPaolo is a faculty member of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, in addition to her university studio.

Stacey DiPaolo holds a doctorate degree from SUNY Stony Brook, and received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music, including the esteemed Performer’s Certificate. Additionally, she is a graduate-with-distinction of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Her primary mentors include Jon Manasse, Dan Gilbert, and Deborah Chodacki.

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Genevieve Geisler (NCD): March 30, 2019

Genevieve Geisler is Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps, where she has been a driving force in the growth of the Bluecoats organization over the past thirteen years. She is a founding member and current chair of Drum Corps International’s IN STEP: Women in DCI program committee. Geisler holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Michigan and lives in Canton, Ohio with her husband and two children.

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Amanda Miller Sutfin (MWD): April 6, 2019

Mrs. Sutfin is currently a band director in Colorado Springs District 11, teaching band in grades 4 through 8. She is also a woodwind technician for the William J. Palmer Terrors Marching Band. Previously she taught in the Pocahontas School District in Pocahontas, Arkansas, where she was the assistant band director. Amanda currently plays clarinet with the Little London Winds (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Amanda is a native of Arkansas where she graduated from Corning High School. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Arkansas State University and is currently working on her Masters in Education from Liberty University. As an undergraduate, she was a member of Theta Theta (Henderson State University) and Gamma Xi (Arkansas State University) chapters of Tau Beta Sigma and served as chapter historian, vice-president, and president.

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Melanie Britton (WD): April 6, 2019

Melanie Britton has spent the last 28 years doing what she loves…teaching youth to love music! A graduate of Arizona State University, her career began in 1992 in the Florence Unified School District teaching elementary, junior high and high school band and choir. After 4 years building those programs to Superior levels, she was recruited to take over the music program at Washington High School and spent 6 years teaching Superior with Distinction marching bands, concert bands and jazz bands. In 2002, Ms. Britton was hired as the inaugural Director of Bands and Choirs at Sandra Day O’Connor High School. Her 16 years at O’Connor High School brought many rewards of international recognition and yearly awards of Superior with Distinction for her marching bands, concert bands, jazz bands and choirs. She is recognized for her innovative marching band show designs, and is the first female band director to have led her band to winning the ABODA Divison I State Marching Band Championships in 2014.

Melanie has served in many leadership roles over the years, including the Arizona Band &Orchestra Directors Association Vice President in charge of Jazz Activities, North Central Region Band Chair and the Arizona Representative for Women Band Directors International. She was awarded the ABODA O.M. Hartsell “Excellence in Teaching Music” Award, AMEA “Program of Distinction” Award, School Band & Orchestra Magazine’s “Top 50 Directors Who Make a Difference in America”, and the Deer Valley Unified School District “Teacher of the Year”.

Diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease and sound-induced Vestibular Migraines, Melanie has been an advocate for hearing protection in the music education industry. To spread awareness of dangerous decibels in the classroom and waning funding for the Fine Arts, she adopted music advocacy and hearing protection as her platform competing in pageants, winning the titles of Mrs. Arizona, Ms. North American and Ms. World International. She is a Spokesperson for Etymotic Research and has done presentations around the country raising awareness of the dangers of unprotected ears as musicians and the importance of educating youth to protect their hearing. In 2018, Melanie retired as a full time music educator due to the damage caused from years of unprotected ears and has made it her goal to educate others how to prevent this so they can “Hear for a Lifetime”.

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Kirsten Lies-Warfield (SED): April 13, 2019

Kirsten Lies-Warfield hails from Fargo, North Dakota. She did her undergraduate work at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. She holds a Master of Music degree in trombone performance from Indiana University where she was a student of M. Dee Stewart. Subsequent doctoral studies in brass pedagogy at IU were suspended when she was offered a position in the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” She joined the group in April, 1999, becoming the first woman trombonist in the unit’s history. Ms. Warfield has also been principal trombone of the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the Prince George’s Philharmonic and is currently second trombone with the Arlington Philharmonic. She is a regular member of the contemporary music group, Great Noise Ensemble, and the ethno-funk band, Black Masala. She has played with the Monarch Brass, Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, Chopteeth Afrofunk, Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes, McLean Orchestra and Pan-American Symphony Orchestra. She is an educator, teaching low brass students at Episcopal High School and through Full Blown Trombone, LLC. Ms. Warfield also is an active composer performer, writing works to suit her needs and tastes to perform for local and national audiences. Ms. Warfield is currently serving on the board of advisors for the International Trombone Association and is an assistant advisor for the IWBC solo competitions.

Dr. Annie Stevens, Assistant Professor of Percussion, Virginia Tech (NED:Friday, March 9, 2018)

Dr. Annie is the Assistant Professor of Percussion in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech University. She is an educator, as well as a dynamic performer as half of a professional performance act called Escape Ten Percussion Duo, in which they were recently show cased at the 2016 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). Learn more about her from her professional website and watch some of her performance videos with Escape Ten: Dr. Annie Stevens.

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Catherine Coonis, Band Director, New Covenant Academy (MWD:  Friday, April 6, 2018)

Cathy Coonis is a music educator located in Springfield, Missouri. She is the band director at a local private school called New Covenant Academy and has over 35 years of experience as a musician and educator. She plays saxophone, but is also a singer in a couple of different groups. She was strongly recommended by one of her former band students, Shalyn Guthery, who as we know is one of our newly appointed TBS CVAs. Here is a link to her bio to learn more about her: Cathy Coonis.

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Dr. Polly Middleton, Assistant Director of Bands, Illinois State University (NCD: Saturday, April 7, 2018)

Dr. Polly Middleton is an Assistant Director of Bands at Illinois State University. She is the Director of the “Big Red Marching Machine” there at ISU, but she’s been making moves and her mark on various band programs at a rapid rate. Previously, she was the athletics band director at Arkansas State University and before that, on the band staff at Virginia Tech University. She was the Women In Music Speaker for the Zeta Alpha Chapter this fall for the Focus On Five Campaign and came with a recommendation from NCD Counselor, Carrie Webster who attended that event. Here is an article about her move to Illinois State University: Dr. Polly Middleton.

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Lisa Butts (WD: Sunday, April 8, 2018)

Lisa Butts recently retired from Hanford West High School with over 30 years of experience as a band director. She has been heavily involved with leadership in the California Band Directors Association (CBDA) and the California Alliance for Jazz (CAJ). She was the top recommendation from one of her colleagues, Kimbi Sigle, the 32 National President of TBS and a recently appointed member of the Tau Beta Sigma Board of Trustees. According to Kimbi, she is an amazing trumpet player, who also conducted the Sequoia Winds at the College of the Sequoias.

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Anne Hendrickson, Band Director (WD: Sunday, April 8, 2018)

Anne Hendrickson is the band director at Manchester GATE Elementary School. Prior to Manchester, Anne was the concert and jazz band, guitar, and piano teacher at Central Middle School in Riverside for 21 years. She was awarded Central Middle School, Riverside Unified School District and Riverside County music educator of the year in 2000. Anne earned her degree in music education in 1984 from Fresno State. Her major instrument was the clarinet, but she also doubled as a saxophonist as a member of the Jazz Band “A” under the direction of Dr. Lawrence Sutherland. In addition to being a music educator, Ms. Hendrickson has had a career as a performing musician. She lived and performed on board several cruise ships as a woodwind performer, backing up entertainers such as Rita Moreno, Phyllis Diller, Jerry Lewis, Jack Jones, Michel LeGrand, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Stan Getz, and Zoot Sims. She also lived and worked in New York City for several years where she performed in jazz bands, Broadway pit orchestras and on national Broadway show tours.

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Tonya Mitchell, Assistant Director of Bands/ Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at University of South Carolina (SED:  Friday, April 13, 2018)

Tonya Mitchell is the Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Carolina where she assists with the Carolina Band, directs the women’s basketball band, and conducts the University Bands. Professor Mitchell is an alumni brother of Kappa Kappa Psi from Indiana University (Alpha Zeta Chapter) and was previously at Valdosta State University, where she serves as the chapter sponsor for the Zeta Tau Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma. She is extremely excited about the chance to speak to our students and after that convention, she will take flight to Kansas to defend her research and become Dr. Tonya Mitchell. Here is her bio from the University of South Carolina: Tonya Mitchell.

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Dr. Constance Kelley, Associate Professor of Music at Angelo State University (SWD:Saturday, April 14, 2018)

Dr. Constance Kelley is an Associate Professor of Music at Angelo State University where her duties include teaching Applied Flute, Music Theory, Aural Skills, Elementary Music Methods and she directs the Flute Choir. She also serves as the sponsor for the Delta Tau Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma. I had the chance to hear her speak to a group of SWD students back in 2015 during my time as the Southwest District Counselor and really enjoyed how she engaged the students. She is very excited about this opportunity to speak to our students and seemed very honored to be asked. She’s spunky! Here is her Angelo State bio: Dr. Constance Kelley.

Dr. Paula Crider (2017 National Convention, Orlando, FL)

Following a distinguished 33-year teaching career, Professor Paula A. Crider continues to share her passion for making music through an active schedule as guest conductor, lecturer, clinician, and adjudicator. She has enjoyed engagements in 47 states, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, Italy, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, and Australia. Professor Crider has taught in the public schools at all levels and holds the unique distinction of having been the first female in the state of Texas to serve as director of bands at a class 5-A high school. Her Crockett High School Bands in Austin, Texas enjoyed both state and national recognition for musical excellence on the concert stage and were twice named Texas 5A State Marching Champions. A tenured Full Professor at The University of Texas, Crider conducted the Symphony Band and was Director of the acclaimed University of Texas Longhorn Band. During her 17 year tenure, she was twice accorded the “Eyes of Texas” Award for distinguished teaching. She continues to serve as a visiting guest professor at universities throughout the country. She has written numerous articles for The Instrumentalist, The Band Directorʼs Guide, the National Band Association Journal, and has published manuals for Brass Techniques, Marching Band Methods and Instrumental Conducting. She is a co-author for the Hal Leonard “Masterwork Studies” series, and author of The Composerʼs Legacy, Conductors on Conducting for Wind Band published by GIA.

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Mary Palmer (2017 National Convention, Orlando, FL)

Mary Palmer, University of Central Florida Professor Emerita and former College of Education Dean, has taught in pre-kindergarten through grade twelve schools, as well as colleges, universities, and community settings throughout the world. She is the delighted Grandma (aka, NaMa) of a brilliant toddler who loves to sing! As president of Mary Palmer & Associates, LLC, a consulting group in education and the arts, she assists schools and community organizations in transforming their practices through the arts. Dr. Palmer has served as senior author of multiple music textbook series published by Silver Burdett/Scott Foresman/Pearson. Her widespread teaching experiences are evident in the global and practical perspective she brings to her work. As founder of the Florida Alliance for Arts Education and a board member for numerous local, state and national organizations, she is a tireless advocate for arts education in schools and communities. Palmer hold’s Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois. Her most recent publication, Teaching Through the ARTS: WRITING (Arts Journey Press, 2014) written with Susan Rosoff, provides materials and strategies for making the arts a central avenue for learning across the curriculum.

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Heidi Sarver, Director of Bands, University of Delaware (NED)

Heidi I. Sarver is a Professor of Music and Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Delaware. She was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Music in 1995. Professor Sarver is Director of the 300+ member Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching Band, co-conductor of the Symphonic Band and instructor of the Marching Band Techniques course She is also the supervisor for student teachers pursuing an undergraduate degree in music education. Professor Sarver attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst where she received a Bachelors Degree in Music Education and a Master of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance. Her teachers include George N. Parks, Walter M. Chesnut, Malcolm W. Rowell and Seymour Rosenfeld.

Active as a national and international adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor, Professor Sarver is best known for her work with the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy. Her contributions to DMA have spanned over 30 years and include that of eduactional director and lead clinician. In the past she has also served as an adjudicator and production assistant for the Sugar and Orange Bowls through Heritage Festivals and Bowl Games of America. In 2005 Ms. Sarver was the Assistant Director for the Bands of America Honor Band’s inaugural performance in the Tournament of Roses Parade and again in their second appearence in 2009.

She is an avid show designer and has written for many high schools in New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Arizona, as well as being the former primary show designer for the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band, recipient of the Louis C. Sudler Trophy in 1998. Her show designs are also available for purchase through Marching Show Concepts.

In the past Professor Sarver has performed with the Reading Buccaneers Senior Drum and Bugle Corps as a soprano soloist, music instructor and drum major. Prior to her appointment at the University of Delaware, she was a high school band director in New York, and the Assistant Director of Bands at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a member of DMEA, MENC, CBDNA, and the National Band Association.

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Dr. ChihChen Sophia Lee, Director of Music Therapy, SWOSU (SWD)

Dr. ChihChen Sophia Lee, Music Therapist-Board Certified (MT-BC), is the Director of Music Therapy at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, Oklahoma. Part of her duties have included teaching music therapy core courses, applied piano lessons, and Class Piano (III & IV beginning F14, and V beginning F16) and Introduction to Music Technology, supervising student music therapists’ clinical experiences, as well as providing music therapy services via the SWOSU Music Therapy Clinic.

Professionally active at the local, regional, national, and international levels, Dr. Lee has published, co-authored, and presented numerous papers as well as the Continuing Education for Music Therapists (CMTE) courses in peer-reviewed professional journals, books and other professional publications, and conferences in music therapy and expressive arts therapy.  She has also been invited to provide professional consultations, workshops and in-service presentations for healthcare professionals and educators regionally and internationally, including serving on the Standards of Clinical Practice Committee and Academic Program Approval Committee of American Music Therapy Association (Southwestern Region Representative), as the keynote clinical trainer for projects sponsored by the United Nation International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and as visiting professor at international institutions such as the University of Taipei (formerly known Taipei Municipal University of Education), National Sun Yat Sun University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Central Conservatory of Music of Beijing, China. Currently, Dr. Lee is the Immediate Past President of the Southwestern Region of the American Music Therapy Association.

A graduate of University of Minnesota (Ph.D., M.A.) and Ohio University (B.M.), Dr. Lee’s research interests evolve from Music Therapy Distance Education, human psychophysiological reactions and processes to music stimuli, international/multiculturalism in music therapy, and ethnomusicology.  She also studied piano primarily with Alexander Braginsky, Richard Syracuse, Ming-Hsin Hsu, and Fu-Mei Liu.  Clinically , Dr. Lee has worked at the long-term care facilities, hospice care services, Intermediate Care Facilities for adult with intellectual disabilities, midway houses/shelters for women, adolescents, and children experiencing domestic violence and substance abuse, educational institutions serving children/adolescents receiving early intervention, special education, and Alternative Education.

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Lisa Chaufty, Music Librarian (WD)

The Librarian

As a child, Lisa spent many happy hours in the public library in the rural town of Glocester, Rhode Island, dreaming of becoming a librarian when she grew up. She landed her first library position fifteen years ago at the J. Willard Marriott Library on the University of Utah campus. Lisa quickly moved up through various library departments, receiving an excellent foundation in what it takes to make an academic library great. In her last years at the Marriott Library, she lead and managed the University of Utah’s institutional repository, USpace. Lisa joined the School of Music in June 2013 as the new Director of the McKay Music Library. She brings her interests and expertise in music, music history, early music, music libraries, academic libraries, digital libraries, digital preservation, metadata, data curation, languages, and the arts to her current position of leadership.

The Musician

Lisa began her musical studies as a flutist in Rhode Island and discovered early music and the recorder while an undergraduate at Wellesley College. Her training in Medieval/Renaissance Studies and Musicology inform her work as a performer and teacher of early music. Lisa has been praised for her “remarkably vibrant” playing, performing as a soloist and with groups such as the Choir of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and Utopia Early Music. She has also played in and co-organized several Sundays@7 Baroque concerts since 2009. Lisa plays primarily early music; however, she has traveled into the realm of new music, premiering Miguel Chuaqui’s Arioso for Recorder and LiveElectronics in 2012, and performing it at several festivals; most recently in June 2014 at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival. In the past few years, Lisa has returned to her first instrument (in its ancestral form), and performs on the traverso as well as the recorder. Lisa is the co-director of heArt Music, an early music group that performs several concerts a season for underserved populations.

Lisa has performed with and helped to guide the Early Music Ensemble since 2004 and is looking forward to leading it into the future.

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Beth Cummings, Director of Fine Arts for Polk County Public Schools (SED)

Beth Cummings is a graduate of USF, certified in Music K-12, holds a masters degree in Educational Leadership from Grand Canyon University and is a National Board Certified Teacher. Her current position is the Director of Fine Arts for Polk County Public Schools and she is also the Immediate Past-President of the Florida Music Educator’s Association. She served as project administrator for the RTTT Performing Fine Arts Assessment Project, was co-chair for the state music writing team for the NGSSS and on the state course description writing team.

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Dr. Natalie Royston, Music Education Coordinator, Iowa State University (MWD)

Natalie Royston is the Music Education Coordinator at Iowa State University. She teaches courses in Music Education and coordinates practicum placements and student teachers. Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Royston served for three years with the Iowa State University bands, most recently as Associate Director of Bands, Director of the Cyclone Marching Band (ISUCF’V’MB), director of the women’s basketball Pep Band, and conductor of the Concert Band. Previously, she served for six years as Associate Director of Bands at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas and taught in the public schools of Ohio for six years where her ensembles received consistent superior ratings at district and state events.

Dr. Royston received a Bachelor of Music Education degree and Master of Music degrees in Trombone Performance and Wind Conducting from Ohio University and a PhD in Music Education from the University of North Texas. Her biography is published in several recent editions of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. She has held memberships in Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, Tau Beta Sigma, Mu Phi Epsilon, Music Educators National Conference, the College Band Directors National Association, and the Iowa, Ohio, and Texas Music Educators’ Association.

Dr. Royston is an active clinician and researcher. She has presented at conferences and research symposiums across the country and is published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, The Southwestern Musician, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education.

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Erin K. Spring, Music Therapist (NCD)

Ms. Spring has been a practicing, board-certified music therapist in central Ohio since 2007.  Erin holds a bachelor and master degree’s in music therapy from Ohio University where she studied under Ms. Anita Louise Steele and Mrs. Kamile Geist.  Ms. Spring interned as a music therapist at Cleveland Music School Settlement and in the Cleveland Clinic Palliative Medicine Unit and is currently the owner of Central Ohio Music Therapy, LLC in Circleville, Ohio.  In fall 2012, Erin began work as an adjunct professor of music therapy at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Erin is a neurologically trained music therapist serving a variety of populations including the terminally ill, individuals with autism and developmental disabilities, geriatric adults, patients receiving obstetric and general hospital care and children experiencing grief. Her thesis research focused on collaboration, exploring the collaborative terminology and the teaching models used to train upcoming professionals in collaborative work. She also directs the music therapy program, supervises practicum students and provides individual and group music therapy sessions to children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities at the Ohio University Music Therapy Clinic in Athens. Ms. Spring is a member of the American Music Therapy Association and the Association of Ohio Music Therapists, and is director of music therapy for Music of the Heart, a non-profit organization supporting music education, performance and therapy.Erin studied voice with Dr. Patricia Pease, Mrs. Stephanie Mouat and Mrs. Lorna Frank and performs around her community as a soloist and with various ensembles.  Erin is also the director of the Circleville Presbyterian Handbell Choir and the Roundtown Ringers Community Handbell Choir. She is also an Ohio Music Education Association marching band adjudicator in the field commander caption.  Erin enjoys advocating for music therapy through regular presentations to local organizations, agencies and businesses.

Erin has the honor of serving on the Ohio Department of Aging – Music & Memory Committee.  Recently, Ms. Spring presented at the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) National Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.  Among her other presentations, Erin was a panelist with Dan Cohen, MSW, on the effects of music on memory and discussing the film Alive Inside.  Erin is also on the board of directors for Music of the Heart and the Berger Hospital – Circle of Caring

When she’s not leading music therapy sessions, you will often find her volunteering with her therapy dogs Oscar & Rosie, providing pet therapy services to patients, students and anyone else who’s quality of life is improved when there’s a dog around.

Dr. Jaqueline Mattingly, Lecturer of Music-University of Nebraska at Lincoln (MWD)
Jaqueline Mattingly Dr. Jacqueline Mattingly currently serves as a Lecturer of Music at UNL where her duties include teaching Arts: 1945 – Present. Prior to arriving at UNL, Mattingly served as Director of Instrumental Activities at the University of North Carolina Asheville, where she directed the String Ensemble, Concert Band and Pep Band, and taught applied horn . Previous teaching positions also include Lecturer of Music at Western Carolina University and Assistant Professor of Music at Dickinson State University. Mattingly earned a Doctorate of Music in Horn Performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Master of Music in Horn from the University of Calgary, and Bachelor of Music from Brandon University in Canada. She has also studied horn at the Banff Centre of the Fine Arts. Mattingly has served as a horn instructor at the International Music Camp in North Dakota, has taught at UNC Greensboro’s Summer Music Camp, and has given master classes throughout the US and Canada. Her performance venues range from playing professionally with numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles and solo performances. She currently serves as the Nebraska Representative to the International Horn Society.

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Dr. Andrea Brown, Assistant Director of Bands, The University of Michigan (NCD)
Dr. Andrea E. Brown is a member of the conducting faculty at the University of Michigan serving as the assistant director of bands. In this position, she is the conductor of the Campus Bands and director of the Campus Band Chamber Ensembles, associate director of the Michigan Marching and Athletic Bands, director of the Men’s Basketball Band, guest conductor with the Symphony Band and Concert Band, teaches conducting, and a faculty sponsor of a College of Engineering Multidisciplinary Design Project team researching conducting pedagogy technology in support of which she was awarded a 2015 Transforming Learning for Third Century Quick Wins/Discovery grant. Previously Brown was the director of orchestra and assistant director of bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta where she also lead research in conducting pedagogy technology and was a member of the Oxford Program faculty. She is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the US, Europe, and Asia.Brown completed a DMA in instrumental conducting at UNC Greensboro where she was a student of John Locke and Kevin Geraldi. She was named 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant at UNCG and was both guest conductor and principal horn on UNCG Wind Ensemble’s fireworks! and finish line! CDs released on the Equilibrium label. Brown has also had six rehearsal guides published in the popular GIA Publications series, “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” and has a presented at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, the Yamaha Bläserklasse in Schlitz, Germany, the International Computer Music Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the College Band Directors National Association National Conference. She currently is the Assistant Brass Caption Head of the Drum Corps International World Champion Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps of Rockford, Illinois, where she has been on the brass and conducting instructional staff since 2004. Brown has also been a member of the instructional staff for the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band. She has been the recipient of a CBDNA grant for summer conducting, the Sigma Alpha Iota Conducting Scholarship and Doctoral Study Grant, as well as the Chi Omega Graduate Education Grant.While at UNCG, Brown was a member of the AA Brass Quintet, which won the 2001 International Brass Quintet Competition hosted by Fred Mills at the University of Georgia.  As principal horn with the UNCG Wind Ensemble during her doctoral and master studies, she performed at both the 2009 National CBDNA Conference and at the 2000 Southern Division CBDNA Conference. She performed as a guest artist at the 2010 Focus on Piano Literature at UNCG as well as with the horn sections of the Boston Brass All Stars Big Band, North Carolina Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra. Brown has studied brass performance and pedagogy with Abigail Pack, J.D. Shaw, Jack Masarie, Freddy Martin, Dottie Bennett, Randy Kohlenberg, Richard Steffen, and Ed Bach.Originally from Milan, Tennessee, she is a graduate of Austin Peay State University where she was named “Outstanding Student in Music.” Brown earned a master of music degree in horn performance and a master of music education degree with a cognate in instrumental conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Prior to her position at Georgia Tech, Brown was the assistant director of bands at Austin Peay State University and taught public school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Dallas, Texas. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, NAfME, and CBDNA. She was awarded the Rose of Honor as a member of Sigma Alpha Iota Women’s Music Fraternity and is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.

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Beth Bronk, Director of Bands, Texas Lutheran University (NED)
Prof. Bronk serves as TLU Director of Bands. She teaches conducting, instrumental music education classes, and conducts the TLU Bands. Ms. Bronk earned the University of Texas Performance Certificate and studied trumpet with Ray Crisara. While at the University of North Texas, she was a trumpet Teaching Fellow and studied conducting with Anshel Brusilov. Ms. Bronk taught instrumental music in Texas public schools for 18 years and most recently held the position of Director of Bands and music administrator for New Braunfels I.S.D. She currently serves as president of the Texas music educators Association Region 12. Ms. Bronk is an active clinician, adjudicator, and performer.

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Jamie M Honea Howell, Band Director, Excel High School (SED)
Jamie M Honea Howell, a native of Albany, Louisiana, received her Bachelor’s of Music Education and Master’s of  Science in Education Degrees from Troy University, Troy, Alabama.  Mrs. Howell is in her 21st year as a Music Educator in Alabama and is finishing her first year as Band Director at Carver Magnet School in Dothan, Alabama.  At Carver her Concert Band recently received Superior Ratings at State Music Performance Assessment; the first time in 4 years.  Prior to Carver, Mrs. Howell spent 13 years at Excel High School in Excel, Alabama where her Bands consistently received Superior Ratings in both Marching, Jazz and Concert Bands.  Under Mrs. Howell’s direction the Excel Band marched in two Governor Inaugural parades and numerous students participated in District and All State Bands.Mrs Howell is a member of the Alabama BandMasters Board of Directors currently serving as Vice Chairman of District VIII.  She is President of the Troy University Band Alumni; the largest Alumni Chapter of Troy University.  Mrs Howell is a member of the Southeast Alabama Community Band serving in her 14th year as Principal Flutist.  She is a member of Tau Beta Sigma, Sigma Alpha Iota, Omicron Delta Kappa, Delta Kappa Gamma, Women Band Directors International, AMEA and NAfME.  Mrs. Howell resides in Dothan, Alabama with her husband Jason and her 14 year old son Hunter who plays Alto Sax in the Carver Magnet Band.Midwest District Convention Jaqueline Mattingly  Dr. Jacqueline Mattingly currently serves as a Lecturer of Music at UNL where her duties include teaching Arts: 1945 – Present. Prior to arriving at UNL, Mattingly served as Director of Instrumental Activities at the University of North Carolina Asheville, where she directed the String Ensemble, Concert Band and Pep Band, and taught applied horn . Previous teaching positions also include Lecturer of Music at Western Carolina University and Assistant Professor of Music at Dickinson State University.
Mattingly earned a Doctorate of Music in Horn Performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Master of Music in Horn from the University of Calgary, and Bachelor of Music from Brandon University in Canada. She has also studied horn at the Banff Centre of the Fine Arts. Mattingly has served as a horn instructor at the International Music Camp in North Dakota, has taught at UNC Greensboro’s Summer Music Camp, and has given master classes throughout the US and Canada. Her performance venues range from playing professionally with numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles and solo performances. She currently serves as the Nebraska Representative to the International Horn Society.

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Dr. Debbie Rohwer, Regents Professor of Music Education, University of North Texas (SWD)
Debbie Rohwer serves as Professor and Chair of the Division of Music Education. She received her Bachelors degree at Northwestern University, her Master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, and her Ph.D. degree at the Ohio State University. Dr. Rohwer teaches the research and statistics courses, and pedagogy courses at the graduate level. In 1998, Dr. Rohwer founded the Denton New Horizons Senior Adult Beginning Band. She currently serves as conductor, administrator, and arranger for the band. In her research, Dr. Rohwer has concentrated on skill learning of musicians at various experience levels. She has been published in numerous research journals, and serves on state and international research review boards.  Currently, Dr. Rohwer serves as the lead editor for Update: Applications of Research in Music Education and she assists as an Academic Affairs Fellow in the Office for Faculty Success at UNT. In 2016, Dr. Rohwer participated in the Women in Education Leadership program at Harvard University, and she also helps facilitate the Women’s Faculty Network at UNT.

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Dr. Carlene Brown, Music Therapist (WD)
Dr. Carlene J. Brown has been a musician, music educator, music therapist, and arts manager for over 25 years. Her early training began in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied music, taught in the Boston Public School system, earned her certification in music therapy, and worked several summers at Tanglewood, for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Brown earned a master’s degree and doctorate in Systematic Musicology, with a focus on the Psychology of Music, from the University of Washington.Dr. Brown is currently an Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Department at Seattle Pacific University. She is a Board Certified Music Therapist and director of the SPU Music Therapy Program, the first music therapy program in the state of Washington.Her clinical and research interests are in the use of music for the management of pain. In addition to teaching core courses in music therapy, such as Introduction to Music Therapy, the Psychology of Music, and Music and Medicine, Dr. Brown teaches the first-year curriculum of music theory. She has been honored and recognized twice by the University for her teaching. She is an organist for St. Brendan’s Parish in Bothell, Washington.

Julie Giroux (2015 National Convention, Lexington, KY)

Julie Ann Giroux was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on December 12, 1961. She graduated from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA in 1984. She started playing piano at 3 years of age and began composing at the age of 8 and has been composing ever since. Her first published work for concert band, published by Southern Music Company was composed at the age of 13. Projects she has worked on have been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globe awards. She has won individual Emmy Awards in the field of “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction”. When She won her first Emmy Award, she was the first woman and the youngest person to ever win that award. She has won it three times.

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Mary Jo Papich (2015 National Convention, Lexington, KY)

As an educator, Mary Jo Papich has empowered multiple generations of youth to pursue the arts with passion. Her career spanned nearly four decades, from teacher and award-winning band director to coordinating the fine arts district-wide in Peoria and the Chicago suburbs. She co-founded the global Jazz Education Network, which produces the world’s largest jazz conference, and sits on the selection committee for the Grammy Music Educator of the Year award. In Peoria, she serves as board president of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois and works with numerous organizations to keep the arts scene thriving, making a positive difference in the lives of all those around her.

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Kelley Harness, Musicology Professor-University of Minnesota (MWD)
Despite having started piano lessons at the age of seven, University of Minnesota musicology professor Kelley Harness never played any music composed by a woman until she reached college, when she discovered the music of nineteenth-century prodigy Clara Wieck Schumann. Harness has devoted much of her scholarly career to investigating women’s contributions to music history, with a particular focus on their role as patrons in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, research that culminated in her book entitled Echoes of Women’s Voice: Music, Art, and Female Patrons in Early Modern Florence (Chicago, 2006), as well as in numerous journal articles and book chapters. Her current research focuses on the seventeenth-century Florentine horse ballet, a topic at the core of her chapter on “Pageantry” recently published in the Routledge Companion to Music and Visual Culture (2014). She serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music. Harness is also currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Minnesota School of Music, where she also teaches various music history courses, including the Music of J. S. Bach, Baroque Opera, and Music, Gender, and Sexuality. In 2013 she received the CLA Arthur “Red” Motley Award for Exemplary Teaching.

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Margi Peterson, Composer (NCD)
Margi Derks Peterson is a thoughtful, compassionate person with many years of experience working with people of all ages in church settings of different denominations. She has also studied world religions and feels it is very important for us to celebrate the things we share as human beings, rather than dwell on the things that are different.

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Jessica Craft, Executive Director for Rock to the Future (NED)
After working in financial services, Jessica Craft founded Rock to the Future (RocktotheFuture.org) in 2010 with the mission of helping Philly youth achieve their fullest potential through free, student-driven music programs. She believes in the power of music to change lives and that arts should be accessible for youth in their own neighborhoods. A Temple University graduate with a degree in Business Administration and Economics, Jessica has been featured in the New York Times, named a Local Leader at the PA Conference for Women, and received the Designing Leadership award from the Arts and Business Council of Philadelphia. Her past volunteer work includes being a big sister through Big Brother, Big Sister, working with Habitat for Humanity, volunteer drum instruction at Girls Rock Philly youth and adult camps, and organizing community benefit events.

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Connie Frigo, Professor of Saxophone at UGA (SED)
Dr. Connie Frigo is an accomplished soloist, chamber musician, teacher, speaker, and founder of numerous festivals. She is sought-after presenter on topics relating to professional development, entrepreneurship, creativity, and women in music, and is a steadfast organizer of interdisciplinary events with a focus on the creative process and engaging new audiences. She has at taught saxophone at UGA since 2011, and is the inaugural Chair of the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Committee on the Status of Women, where her leadership has overseen the launch of a women’s mentoring program. Her degrees are from Ithaca College (BM), The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (MM), Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Fulbright, post-graduate performer’s diploma) and The University of South Carolina (DMA).

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Janet Knighton, Instructor, Music Education, University of Arkansas (SWD)
Jann Knighten received her Bachelor and Master degrees in Music Education from East Carolina University where she was a percussion student of Harold Jones. In 1999, she completed the coursework for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education with a conducting emphasis at the University of Texas at Austin. While at Texas, she was a graduate assistant with Dr. Robert Duke in music education, Paula Crider and the Longhorn Band, and a conducting student of Jerry Junkin. Mrs. Knighten taught middle school band for 24 years in Jacksonville and New Bern, NC, high school band for 5 years in Tarboro, NC, and general music at the Oakwood School in Greenville, NC. During that time, her students consistently placed in regional and state honor bands and performed at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference. She served as President of the Eastern District Band Directors Association, clinical supervisor for numerous student inters, and clinician and adjudicator in North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas. In 2001, she represented North Carolina as an educational ambassador for the U.S.-Japan Foundation’s Global Schools Initiative at Hiroshima University and Mihara Junior High School in Hiroshima, Japan. In 2002, she was among the first recipients in the country to acquire Board Certification in Music Education from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She currently teaches music education classes, supervises clinical interns, and is the Undergraduate Advising Coordinator

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Anne McGinty, Composer (WD)
Anne McGinty (born June 29, 1945 in Findlay, Ohio) is an American flutist, composer and music publisher. McGinty writes for bands of all levels, including elementary and middle school bands. She has written compositions and arrangements for concert band, string orchestra, flute, and flute ensembles. In 1987 McGinty and her husband John Edmondson formed Queenwood Publications. They managed the creation, production, promotion, and international sales and distribution of the catalog. In March 2002 they sold their company to the Neil A. Kjos Music Company. She later opened her own publishing company, McGinty Music. McGinty is a member of the American Society of Composers and a member of the National Flute Association, where she served for two years on the Board of Directors.

Dr. Julia Gaines, Associate Professor and Director of Percussion Studies-University of Missouri (MWD: Columbia, MO)
Dr. Julia Gaines joined the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri in 1996 and is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Percussion Studies. She conducts the University Percussion Ensemble, the World Percussion Ensemble, coaches the Graduate Percussion Ensemble, and applied percussion lessons for approximately 16-18 music majors. She is also the Faculty Advisor to the MU Percussion Society – a student organization that promotes percussion performance and education on the MU campus and throughout the mid-Missouri region. Dr. Gaines received her D.M.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma, her Master’s degree as well as a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and her Bachelor’s degree from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. She has performed in the percussion sections of the Missouri Chamber Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Fox Valley Symphony, and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra. She also has a history in drum corps culminating as a member of the 1989 Santa Clara Vanguard front ensemble. She was selected to perform at PASIC 2004 in Nashville, the 2005 International Hawaiian Conference on Arts & Humanities held in Honolulu, and the 12th Annual Puerto Rico Percussion Festival held in San Juan in August of 2005. She gave her solo debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in March of 2007 performing a work she commissioned for marimba and electronic sounds. In the summer of 2008, she spent two weeks in Londrina, Brazil teaching at the 28th Festival of Music. Her current research on the objective grading of four-mallet marimba literature has led to presentations at the 2008 Percussive Arts Society International Convention and the 2009 and 2011 National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. Dr. Gaines has been a member of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) for twenty+ years. She has been the Vice-President and President of the Missouri Chapter of PAS and hosted the MOPAS Day Of Percussion in 2003 and 2012. She has served on the PAS International Board of Directors and as Secretary of the Executive Committee. Currently, she is an Associate Editor for Percussive Notes, the scholarly journal of PAS, with the primary responsibility of Review Editor. Her interest in commissioning new, intermediate four-mallet marimba music as well as her passion for helping teachers recently led her to another stage in her career. In 2007, she began the process of creating a matrix from which to objectively analyze the technical and musical attributes of a four-mallet marimba piece. After three years of revising this matrix, she now has a large number of pieces organized into ten pedagogically sequential levels. Sequential Studies for Four-Mallet Marimba – Level 1 is Dr. Gaines’ first book published as a result of this research. She is currently working on Book 2 of this series. More information about these books and research can be found at www.marimbalevels.com. Dr. Gaines proudly endorses Vic Firth Mallets and Sticks, Pearl/ Adams Drums and Percussion, Evans Drumheads, and Sabian Cymbals.

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Dr. Heather MacLachlan, Ethnomusicologist (NCD: Dayton, OH)
Heather MacLachlan is an ethnomusicologist whose research focuses on music-making among Burmese populations, both inside Burma/Myanmar and in the diaspora, and on LGBT musical advocacy in North America. She is the author of Singing Out: GALA Choruses and Social Change (University of Michigan Press, 2020), Anthology to Accompany Gateways to Understanding Music (Routledge, 2020) and Burma’s Popular Music Industry: Creators, Distributors, Censors (University of Rochester Press, 2011). In addition, Dr. MacLachlan has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in a variety of scholarly sources including Ethnomusicology, the Yale Journal of Music and Religion, Metal Music Studies, Religions, American Music, Asian Music, the Journal of Burma Studies, and the Journal of American Culture.

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Dr. Barbara Hopkins, Flautist (NED: Storrs, CT)
Award winning flutist Barbara Hopkins enjoys national recognition for her performances. She has released several CDs including Telemann Methodical Sonatas, Vol. 1, and Short Concert Pieces for Flute and Piano and Andersen Etudes, opus 15. Flute Talk magazine recommends her Andersen CD, writing, “Hopkins plays these virtuoso etudes with taste and a technical ease that many students work for years to never achieve.” The Flute Network praised her Telemann recording as, “full, rich, and highly musical,” and the best selling Short Concert Pieces disc is in its third printing. She has appeared as soloist in New York, Boston, Albuquerque, Seattle, Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Alaska, Florida, Connecticut, and throughout her home state of Pennsylvania. Composer Edward Diemente has written several works for her, and she has also worked with Joan Tower, Kenneth Fuchs, Chinary Ung, and Shirish Korde. A cousin of nineteenth century Connecticut flute maker Asa Hopkins, Barbara is very interested in early flutes and music. She has acquired several flutes by Asa Hopkins, and has had them restored to playing condition. This led her to found The Rosewood Chamber Ensemble with guitarist Judy Handler, which specializes in performances of early music performed on historical wooden flutes with nineteenth century guitar. The Greater Boston Flute Association Gazette wrote of their Boston concert, “The pieces were played with style and joy, resulting in a captivating performance.” They have just recorded their first CD, Songs and Dances of Early America, which was funded in part by a Dean’s Grant from the UConn School of Fine Arts. Barbara has been a top prize winner in the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, was first prize winner in the National Flute Association Orchestral Audition Competition, and was awarded a fellowship to Tanglewood Music Center, where she had the honor of playing principal flute under Leonard Bernstein. She has been a member of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra since 1993, and has also performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Sarasota Orchestra. Dr. Hopkins teaches flute at the University of Connecticut and also taught Community Division students at The Hartt School. It was while teaching at The Hartt School that she conceived the idea for her first CD, Short Concert Pieces for Flute and Piano, when she realized her students needed to hear the repertoire that she was teaching and that much of it had never been recorded. Dr. Hopkins received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she studied with Samuel Baron. She earned her Master of Music from The Mannes College of Music under Thomas Nyfenger, and her Bachelor of Music at The Hartt School with John Wion. Always seeking to refine her skills, she has also studied piccolo with Geralyn Coticone of the Boston Symphony, new music with Robert Dick, and Baroque flute with Na’ama Lion.

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Deborah Bradley, Professor of Music at Georgia Military College (SED: Atlanta, GA)
Deborah Bradley has been the Professor of Music at Georgia Military College since 2013. Prior to that, she taught middle school, high school and college throughout Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Ms. Bradley was named the Teacher of the Year for both the Valdosta Junior High School and Cook County High School as well as system wide Teacher of the Year for the Cook County Schools.

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Dr. Michelle Henry, Associate Professor of Choral Music Education (SWD)
Dr. MICHELE HENRY is Associate Professor of Choral Music Education. She has been a member of the Baylor faculty since 2001. Dr. Henry holds the Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral dissertation, “The Development of a Vocal Sight-Reading Inventory,” focused on the development of an individualized vocal sight-reading test that can be used by classroom educators, as well as researchers. She earned her Master of Music Education degree from the University of North Texas and her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Oklahoma Baptist University. Dr. Henry teaches a variety of choral methods and music education courses, coordinates the Master of Music in Music Education program, and supervises student teachers. She coordinates the Music Education Convocation Series, the Baylor Women’s Choir Festival, and is the advisor to the Baylor University Music Educators Association (BUMEA). Dr. Henry is currently the College Division Vice-President of the Texas Music Educators Association. Before coming to Baylor, she held a similar position at Malone College in Canton, Ohio. Prior to university-level teaching, Dr. Henry was a choral and general music teacher at Wright Middle School in Nashville, an experience she describes as “undoubtedly my most valuable preparation for teaching future music educators.” Concurrently, she served as an adjunct faculty member at Belmont University and as assistant director of the Nashville Children’s Choir. She also served on the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association State Executive Board, organizing auditions and festivals for regional honor choirs and mass choir events. A specialist in vocal sight-reading materials, techniques, and assessment, Dr. Henry is published in numerous music education journals (including the Journal of Research in Music Education, UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Symposium: The Journal of the College Music Society, the Choral Journal, and The Southwestern Musician), presents research and clinics regionally, nationally and internationally, and serves on several review boards (Texas Music Education Research, Southwestern Musician, Connections). Dr. Henry also serves on the TMEA/TMAC joint task force developing a statewide assessment in music. Dr. Henry is a sought after clinician for sight-reading teaching strategies, assessment techniques, and SmartMusic applications. She frequently serves as a judge and clinician for choral and vocal events. Dr. Henry recently concluded six years as the Associate Faculty Master of Brooks Residential College at Baylor, where she lived alongside 360 students with her husband Douglas, a member of the Great Text faculty, their son Zachary, and their cat Aphrodite.

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Dr. Carolyn Bremer, Composer (WD: Los Angeles, CA)
Carolyn Bremer has been dubbed a composer “driven by hobgoblins of post modernist cant.” Bremer came to composition on the heels of intensive training as an orchestral bassist. Her catalogue contains works based on feminist symbolism (Athene), baseball (Early Light), and popular culture (It Makes Me Nervewracking). Recently, Bremer has incorporated her photography and music into multimedia works. Bremer has had recent performances of her works at Carnegie Hall; in Germany, Norway, and Sweden; and for the gala 150th anniversary concert at West Point. Her commissions include the Symphony for WindBand, premiered by Ray Cramer at Indiana University; Returns of the Day, premiered by Thomas Dvorak at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Pieces of Eight premiered by the California State Honor band, and Spark, premiered by Adam Brennan at Mansfield University. CDs released since Spring 2002 include the El Paso Wind Symphony on Summit Records, the Heritage of American Band of the US Air Force, the Towson University Symphonic Band, and the Monarch Brass Ensemble. Her work Early Light is a mainstay in the wind ensemble repertoire, receiving hundreds of performances each year. The original version for orchestra has been performed by professional orchestras including the Houston Symphony, California Philharmonic, Chattanooga Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and Waco Symphony Bremer studied at the Eastman School of Music, CalArts, and received the Ph.D. in composition from UCSB. She was Chair of Composition at the University of Oklahoma from 1991-2000 where she held the O’Brien Presidential Professorship. Currently, she is a Professor of Composition/Theory and Chair of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University Long Beach.

Amy Mills (2013 National Convention, Springfield, MA)

Bursting with joy, drama, and hope, Amy Riebs Mills’ music shines with melodic beauty, rhythmic intensity and harmonic richness, and has been enthusiastically received around the world. Mills writes large scale, chamber and solo works which have been performed in foreign capitals, at international festivals, and throughout the USA. A trail blazer as a woman composer and conductor, Mills founded the National Women’s Symphony in Washington, DC, served as the first woman commander/conductor of the United States Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants, and for 14 years was Music Director of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. She has guest conducted orchestras in Russia, Poland, Israel, Brazil, Mexico and around the United States, and her first orchestral composition was premiered in Mexico.

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Jana Fallin, Director of Teaching & Learning, Kansas State University (MWD: Lawrence, KS)
After earning her degree in Music Education from Baylor University (1968), Jana taught elementary music in Austin, TX. She entered graduate school at the University of Texas, completing her Master of Music (1974) and Ph.D. (1979). She took her first college teaching position at Peabody College, now part of Vanderbilt University in 1977. She completed her doctoral degree while teaching there, and in 1980, Jana moved to the University of Southwestern LA (now Un. of Louisiana Lafayette) as head of music education. In 1987 Dr. Fallin moved to the University of Northern Iowa as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Education department. K-State hired Dr. Fallin in 1988 as their first full-time elementary Music Specialist. In 1989, she became Chair of Music Education. Dr. Fallin became the Director of the Center for Teaching & Learning at K-State in 2012. Dr. Fallin is nationally known in the world of elementary music education, having presented at numerous national organizations throughout her career. She has authored four text books with a third edition of Using Music to Enhance Student Learning currently in production. She is the author of many articles and scholarly research in music, including her work with authentic cowboy music which she presented at the International Conference on Arts and Culture in Venice, Italy in 2009.

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Lori Gooding, Music Therapist (NCD: Lexington, KY)
Lori Gooding, PhD, MT-BC, is an Associate Professor of Music Therapy at Florida State University. Dr. Gooding taught at Charleston Southern University and founded the academic and clinical music therapy programs at the University of Kentucky before joining the FSU faculty in 2015. Dr. Gooding is President Elect of the American Music Therapy Association and a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Music Therapy. She has presented nationally and internationally. She has also received several grants, including a Fulbright grant to Malaysia. She received her BME degree from the University of South Carolina and her MM and PhD degrees from Florida State University.

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Nikki Stoia (Northeast District Convention, Amherst, MA)
Coach/accompanist, piano soloist, singer and conductor Nikki Stoia is known for her musical versatility, with repertoire that encompasses traditional and contemporary classical and popular music. Her concert work has taken her to many U.S. cities, including New York, Washington, San Francisco and Honolulu, and as accompanist for the Smith College Chamber Singers, she appeared in concerts in London, Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm, among others. Ms. Stoia’s performance as piano soloist with the Massachusetts Wind Orchestra of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and her duo-piano recital with conductor Raymond Harvey (Kalamazoo Symphony) have been aired by National Public Radio. She has also appeared in performances at various U.S. and Canadian venues as a member of the “Bob Becker Ensemble” and has performed in concerts at International Tuba and Euphonium, International Trumpet Guild and Percussive Arts Society conferences. She holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, acknowledged as a Phi Kappa Phi graduate, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College, where she majored in Music and German.

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Katarzyna Bugaj, Assistant Professor of String Music Education at Florida State University (SED: Tallahassee, FL )
Katarzyna (Kasia) Bugaj is Associate Professor of String Music Education in the College of Music at The Florida State University. She received her Ph.D. in Music Education from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She also has degrees from Western Michigan University, The Peabody Conservatory, and is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. She has a minor in writing from Johns Hopkins University and pursued a certificate of literary translation at Indiana University. At FSU, Dr. Bugaj teaches string techniques and methods courses; she also teaches at the FSU Summer Music Camps. Her research interests include string pedagogy, working with underserved populations, and music teacher education. She has presented at state, national, and international conferences and—in addition to academic articles—has published articles about music for the general audience. She is an active translator of Polish musical texts.

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Beth Bronk , Director of Bands at Texas Lutheran University (SWD: Huntsville, TX)
Beth Bronk is an Associate Professor and Director of Bands at Texas Lutheran University. Texas raised, Bronk received her Bachelor’s at the University of Texas at Austin, and her Master’s of Music from the University of North Texas. Prior to her appointment at Texas Lutheran, Professor Bronk was the Director of Bands and Music Administrator for the New Braunfels, Texas Community School District. She has also served as President of Region 12 of the Texas Music Educators Association.

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Christi Green, Professional Guitarist (WD: Boise, ID)
Christi Green has been a professional musician for over thirty years. She performs, teaches, composes and records music. Her principal instrument is guitar but she sings and is also an electric bassist. Christi offers guitar lessons at her studio and online. She can record your memoirs or your next album! She can compose your soundtrack or the music bed for your video production or radio show.

Ingrid Stölzel, Internationally Renowned Professional Composer (MWD)
Stölzel was born and raised in Germany and has resided in the United States since 1991. She holds a DMA in composition from the University of Missouri, Conservatory of Music and Dance in Kansas City and a Master of Music in composition from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. Before joining the University of Kansas School of Music, she served as Director of the International Center for Music at Park University. Stölzel’s compositions have been commissioned by leading soloists and ensembles, and performed in concert halls and festivals worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Kennedy Center, Seoul Arts Center, the Thailand International Composition Festival, Festival Osmose (Belgium), Vox Feminae Festival (Israel), Dot the Line Festival (South Korea), Ritornello Chamber Music Festival (Canada), Festival of New Music at Florida State (USA), Beijing Modern Music Festival (China), Festival of New American Music (USA), and SoundOn Festival of Modern Music (USA).

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Dr. Sarah Smith Waters, Professor of Applied Percussion, Steel Drum Band, Percussion Ensemble, Aural Skills, African Music, American Music and Music History at Ohio Northern University (NCD)
Dr. Sarah Waters is an Associate Professor of Music at Ohio Northern University, and is also the Director of the ONU Annual Summer Music Camp. A native of Lima, Ohio she has a Bachelor of Music Education from Ohio Northern University, a Master of Music from Western Michigan University and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The Ohio State University. She performs with the Lima Symphony Orchestra and in area jazz groups. She has written several articles in Percussive Notes from her research and performance experiences in Africa, China, South America, Europe, and the Caribbean. She also has published music for percussion with C. Alan Publications and Per-Mus Publications. Together with colleague, Dr. David Kosmyna, her CD, “Shreds: Music for Trumpet and Percussion,” was released through Centaur Records in 2015. “Duoma” recently performed at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, the Women in Music Conference, and the NACWPI Conference.

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Katherine Rodeffer, Instrumental Music Supervisor, Prince George’s County Public Schools (NED)
Katherine Roddeffer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from the University of Maryland. She did graduate work in Music Education at the University of Maryland and in 1992 received a Master’s of Education degree in Administration and Supervision from Bowie State University. Kathy taught instrumental music in Prince Georges’ County, Maryland, for 35 years at the Elementary, Middle, and High School level. Her bands consistently received “Superior” ratings and was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center for the Arts. She is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, Women Band Directors International, and is an Honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi.

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Robyn (Wilkes) Bell), Director of Instrumental Studies at the State College of Florida in Bradenton (SED)
Dr. Robyn L. Bell is the Music Program Manager, Director of Instrumental Studies, and Professor of Music at State College of Florida as well as the conductor and music director of the Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota. She founded the highly popular Suncoast Culture Club podcast in 2020.

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Dr. Jamie Blair Loeb, Founder, Houston Heights Orchestra, Music Director of HaZamir Houston and Choir Director at Congregation B’rith Shalom (SWD)
Jamie is the Founder of the Houston Heights Orchestra, Former Music Director at HaZamir Houston, and former Choir Director at the Congregation B’right Shalom. Currently, she is a senior consultant at Attain Partners.

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Judith Cloud, Composer (WD)
Composer Judith Cloud’s gift for vocal writing was born out of her own rich experiences as an accomplished mezzo-soprano soloist. Born in 1954 in Reidsville, NC, Cloud sang with her musical family in church services, where her first mentor, Dr. Ruth Graham, introduced her to music ranging from Bach to Britten. Later, Cloud entered the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied voice, conducting and composition. Her composition studies were with Robert Ward and Roy Johnson. Vocal instruction was with Janice Harsanyi, a champion of 20th-century American composers and an amateur composer, herself. Cloud received vocal performance degrees from the North Carolina School of the Arts and Florida State University where she studied with acclaimed soprano Janice Harsanyi. Her first composition lessons were with Robert Ward, who advised her to keep singing—but to keep writing music, too. She taught at Florida Community College at Jacksonville and Indiana State University before moving to Flagstaff in 1989 where she joined the music faculty at Northern Arizona University as a voice teacher.

Dr. Lisa Hunter, Vice President of Education at Ad Astra (2011 National Convention, Colorado Springs, CO)

Lisa R. Hunter is vice president of education at Ad Astra, where she designs and delivers educational content, tools, resources, and best practices to help academic leaders and institutions effectively and efficiently manage the academic enterprise and achieve their student success goals. She also serves in a consulting role at Ad Astra where she uses her extensive experience in higher education as a tenured professor and senior academic administrator to help institutional stakeholders evaluate and improve their student success ecosystem in the areas of infrastructure, pathway health, instructional capacity, enrollment health, course schedule refinement, and financial health. Hunter is an accomplished scholar, educator, speaker, and higher education thought leader. Her areas of expertise include course scheduling, curriculum design, educational assessment, accreditation, academic rigor, general education reform, student success, and leadership in higher education. Outside of Ad Astra, Hunter is a certified wellness coach and 200-hour registered yoga teacher. As owner of Leading Heart Wellness LLC, she helps high-achieving leaders prevent burnout and find solutions to live and lead with heart.

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Cora Coleman-Dunham, Percussionist (2011 National Convention, Colorado Springs, CO)

Cora Dunham began her musical journey at Kashmere High School under senior William Portis and at church under Mamie L. Johnson. She played in the marching and concert bands and by the 11th grade moved on to play the drum set. After graduating as valedictorian, Cora received her Bachelor of Science Degree at Howard University. Cora now drums for BET’s Annual Black Girls Rock! Awards and has historically graced the Super Bowl Half-Time Show with both, Prince (XLI) & Beyonce (XLI). She has played with Beyonce for 2 1/2 years, where she also served as bandleader.

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Tin-Shi Tam, Hong Kong, Cownie Professor of Music (University Carillonneur) and Chair of the Keyboard Division (MWD)
Tin-Shi Tam, a native of Hong Kong, is the Cownie Professor of Music (University Carillonneur) and the Chair of the Keyboard Division. She is a carillonneur member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and a fellow of the Trinity College of Music (London). She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ from The University of Michigan, Master of Science in arts management from Durham University, England, Master of Arts in organ performance from The University of Wales, Cardiff and a Bachelor’s degree in music from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She was the dean of The American Guild of Organist, central Iowa chapter, and a member of the board of directors, the Franco Composition Fund as well as the Carillonneur Examination Committee of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. At present, she is a jury of the Associate Carillonneur Examination Committee of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.

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Dr. Pamela Nave, Purdue University Associate Professor of Bands (NCD)
Private instructor Nave’s Percussion Studio, Noblesville, Indiana, 1991—1995. Professor percussion Ball State University, Muncie, 1996—1997. Associate professor bands and percussion Purdue University, Lafayette, since 1999. Master: Yamaha Drum Company (associate. Clinician 1999), Kori Marimbas (associate. 2004), Remo Drum Head Company (associate). Assistant director 2001), Percussive Arts Society (associate. Vice president 2005), Lafayette Symphony Orchestra (associate. Percussion section leader 2005), Lafayette Citizens Band (associate.

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Dr. Christine Ennis Carillo, Music Theory and Trumpet Professor, James Madison University (NED)
Dr. Christine Ennis Carrillo is a Conn-Selmer trumpet artist and music educator. She has performed with a wide variety of ensembles including the New Orchestra of Washington (Washington D.C.), Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (Harrisonburg, VA), Ash Lawn Opera (Charlottesville, VA), Opera on the James (Lynchburg, VA), Madison Brass Quintet, and Audio Inversions Contemporary Music Ensemble (Austin, TX), as well as performances at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the City Recital Hall Angel Place in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Carrillo holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music from The University of Texas at Austin, and dual Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her trumpet teachers include Ray Sasaki of the Saint Louis Brass Quintet, Ronald Romm formerly of the Canadian Brass, and Dr. Michael Ewald.

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Zandra Bell-McRoy, Doctoral Candidate in Music Education at the University of Georgia (SED)
A native of Monroe, Georgia, Zandra Bell-McRoy has been a music educator since 2002. Upon graduating from the University of Georgia in 2002 with degrees in music and music education, Dr. Bell-McRoy began her career as a high school band director in Troup County, and later in Clayton County. She has also served as a middle school band director in Clayton, Walton, and Gwinnett counties. Bands under her direction have consistently received superior and excellent ratings. Her most recent appointment was as Director of Bands at Snellville Middle School, in which she restructured the band program and served as Fine Arts Department Chair.

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Dr. Debra Traficante, Assistant Director of Bands, University of Oklahoma (SWD)
Dr. Debra Traficante serves as Kennesaw State University’s Associate Director of Bands/Director of Athletic Bands. In this position, Dr. Traficante guides and directs all aspects of the KSU Marching Band (“The Marching Owls”), premiered in the Fall 2015, as well as the KSU Basketball Pep Band. Professor Traficante also serves as the Conductor of the KSU Concert Band, teaches beginning instrumental conducting, wind band literature, arranging and pedagogy, and marching band technique courses, while also advising Music Education students. She also serves as the Kappa Kappa Psi (Nu Mu) and Tau Beta Sigma (Iota Psi) chapter advisor. Dr. Traficante serves on the brass staff for the Boston Crusaders.

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Marcia Stevens, Director of Bands at the Cascade School District, Turner, OR (WD)
Currently the Director of Bands at Corvallis HS, Corvallis, OR.

Heidi Brende Leathwood, certified teaching member of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (MWD: Boulder, CO)
Heidi Brende Leathwood has performed chamber music with members of the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Colorado Symphony and, since moving to Colorado in 2001, she has enjoyed working regularly with leading musicians in the Front Range area. Equally at home as a soloist, Leathwood has performed in many areas of the U.S. in concertos as well as solo recitals. While still a teenager, she was a prize-winner in the Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition and the Ruth Slenzynska National Piano Competition, among others. Her two CDs have received airplay on classical stations nationwide and on Public Radio International. Her recording of the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was recently aired on “So You Think You Can Dance.” Leathwood’s major teachers were John Perry, Joseph Schwartz and John Strauss. Her education includes a BM degree from Oberlin Conservatory and an MM and DMA from University of Southern California (now the Thornton School of Music). In addition, she received her Alexander teacher training from ATI-Los Angeles. As a teacher of the Alexander Technique, Heidi works with musicians of all levels, from amateurs to symphony musicians and solo concert artists. She has twice presented classes on performance at the national Alexander Technique conference, taught workshops at the International Horn Symposium and was a panelist on Enlightened Keyboard Technique for the 21st Century at the 2008 Convention of the Music Teachers National Association.

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Dr. Kate Fitzpatrick, Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Michigan (NCD: Deerborn, MI)
Kate Fitzpatrick (she/ her/ hers) is Associate Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. In addition to holding BME and MA degrees from The Ohio State University, Fitzpatrick holds a Ph.D. in music education from Northwestern University, where her mixed methods dissertation focused on the experiences of inner-city instrumental music teachers in the Chicago Public Schools. Dr. Fitzpatrick is a 2020 winner of the Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award for Excellence in Promoting Equity and Social Change, awarded to University of Michigan faculty “whose sustained efforts have resulted in greater equity with regard to gender, race, class, age, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”

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Dr. Laura Artesani, Assistant Professor in the School of Performing Arts at the University of Maine (NED: Bangor, ME)
Dr. Laura Artesani is an Associate Professor in the Division of Music at the University of Maine, where she teaches music education courses, advises music education majors and is the faculty advisor for the University of Maine Collegiate NAfME chapter. Dr. Artesani also serves as collaborative pianist for the University Singers, Collegiate Chorale and Recital Lab, and performs frequently in faculty and student recitals. Dr. Artesani graduated summa cum laude from Barrington College in Rhode Island with a B.M. in Music Education, and received a M.M. in Piano Performance from the University of Maine. She earned a D.M.A. in Piano Performance from West Virginia University, where she was the recipient of the Swiger Teaching Fellowship for four years.

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Dr. Leslie Odom, Associate Professor of Oboe and Music Theory at the University of Florida (SED: Gainesville, FL
Dr. Leslie Odom is Associate Professor of Oboe and Music Theory at the University of Florida. Her teachers include Richard Killmer (Eastman School of Music), James Lakin (University of Iowa), Malcolm Smith, (Butler University), and Marion Gibson (Principal Oboe, Louisville Symphony Orchestra). Dr. Odom received her Bachelor of Music in Oboe Performance from Butler University, in Indianapolis, Indiana; her Master of Music in Music Theory and her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Oboe Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She also received the coveted Performer’s Certificate during her doctoral work. Dr. Odom was Principal Oboe on the CBS Masterworks recording (1988) with the Eastman Wind Ensemble. She was awarded first runner-up in the Graduate Performance Competition during the Sigma Alpha Iota National Convention held at Tucson, Arizona in 1988. Prior to moving to Gainesville, Dr. Odom performed with the Indianapolis Symphony, as Principal Oboe with the Indianapolis Opera Company, the Quad Cities Symphony (Davenport, Iowa) and as Principal Oboe with the Cedar Rapids, IA, Symphony. Since moving to Gainesville in 1989, Dr. Odom has performed with the Jacksonville, FL, Symphony, as Principal Oboe with the Flagler (Florida) Symphony, and is currently Principal Oboe of the Gainesville Orchestra. Dr. Odom is an active performer in Europe, South America, and Canada. She attended both the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals, was a Guest Artist in Residence at the Banff, Canada, Centre for the Arts, and worked as a faculty member at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. A member of the International Double Reed Society, Dr. Odom regularly performs at the Society’s Annual Conferences. Along with performing, Dr. Odom writes reviews of music and compact disks for the Society’s Journal. She is also a member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, currently serving her second term as National President.

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Dr. Jean Boyd, Department Chair of the Baylor University School of Music (SWD: Waco, TX)
Jean Boyd has taught in the Baylor University School of Music since 1972. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Church Music and her Master of Music in Music History from Baylor University. Her Ph.D. in musicology was granted by The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Boyd is an American Music Scholar, and teaches a variety of classes and seminars in American music, including American Folk Music, American Classical Music, American Jazz, American Popular Music, and American Musical Theater. Dr. Jean BoydShe also teaches two core music history courses, Music in Europe and the United States from the end of World War I to the Present, and a graduate 20th-century class.

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Dr. Elizabeth Schauer, Associate Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arizona (WD:Tucson, AZ)
Elizabeth Schauer (she/hers) serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Arizona, where she is recognized for her innovative and inclusive curricular approach. An award-winning educator, Dr. Schauer conducts Symphonic Choir and Arizona Choir, and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, literature and methods with a student-centered focus to an international population of learners. She is in demand as an adjudicator, clinician, presenter and conductor throughout the United States, including for performances at Carnegie Hall and with numerous all-state and honor choirs. She has presented sessions at the national conferences of ACDA, Presbyterian Association of Musicians and CMS; regional conferences of ACDA, and state conferences of ACDA and NAfME. Former students are active as music educators at public and private schools, churches, colleges and universities throughout the world, and have been accepted into respected graduate schools and programs for continued study. Dr. Schauer holds degrees from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Westminster Choir College and University of Michigan.

Jill Sullivan, Professor of Music at Arizona State Jennifer Judkins, Associate Director of Bands at UCLA Wendy Rees, MTV Music Award Winner Anne McGinty, Composer and Arranger Anne Parker, Music Therapist (2009 National Convention, Arizona Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix, AZ)
Dr. Jill M. Sullivan is a Professor of Music Education in the School of Music, which is part of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (HIDA) at Arizona State University, Tempe. She teaches courses for all levels of students: undergraduate elementary and secondary instrumental methods, master’s courses in assessment and measurement, instrumental literature and pedagogy, research methods, psychology of music, and action research collaborations. She also chairs students’ Capstone portfolios. Doctoral teaching includes a course on historical research methods, doctoral seminar, and chairing dissertations. Other university appointments include a summer adjunct position at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota (since 2007), and previous positions at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. The majority of her public-school teaching was as a music teacher at Sequoyah Middle School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where she started 200 beginning band students each year, and where the band program included more than 400 students. In addition, she started a New Horizons Band for senior adults at the University of Oklahoma.

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Dr. Jacqueline Fassler-Kersetter, Professor of French horn and Music Theory at Kansas State University (MWD: Manhattan, KS)
Jacqueline Fassler-Kerstetter teaches horn, music theory, and brass techniques. She is a member of the K-State Faculty Brass Quintet and the Konza Wind Quintet. She has performed as horn soloist with the K-State orchestra, bands, and clarinet choir. In the spring of 2006, Jacqueline was featured as a soloist on the K-State Symphony Band’s South Pacific tour. Jacqueline’s past orchestral experience includes performances with the Filarmónica del Bajío of Guanajuato (Mexico), Evansville Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony, Greenville Symphony, Asheville Symphony, the Aspen Music Festival, the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt (Austria), and with the American Wind Symphony on tours in America and Northern Europe.

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Julie Giroux, Composer (NCD)
Julie began composing commercially in 1984. She was hired by Oscar winning composer Bill Conti as an orchestrator, her first project with Conti being “North & South” the mini-series. With over 100 film, television and video game credits, Giroux collaborated with dozens of film composers, producers, and celebrities including Samuel Goldwyn, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Celine Dion, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Paul Newman, Harry Connick Jr. and many others. Projects she has worked on have been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globe awards. She has won individual Emmy Awards in the field of “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction”. When She won her first Emmy Award, she was the first woman and the youngest person to ever win that award. She has won it three times.

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Dr. Laura Rexroth, Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (NED: Amherst, MA)
Laura Rexroth joined the music faculty at the University of Wisconsin Parkside in 2014. In addition to her duties as conductor of the UW-Parkside Wind Ensemble and UW-Parkside Community Band, she teaches courses in world music, music education, music history, and conducting. Prior to her appointment at Parkside, Rexroth held conducting posts at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Central College in Iowa, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia. An advocate for new music, Rexroth has commissioned and conducted works from numerous composers, most recently Jodie Blackshaw, Tim Mahr, Ryan George, James Crowley, Daron Hagen and Anthony O’Toole. She has taught conducting workshops in Missouri, New Hampshire, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.

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Dr. Rebecca Phillips, Associate Director of Bands and Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina (SED: Columbia, SC)
Dr. Rebecca Phillips is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Colorado State University where she conducts the CSU Wind Symphony and guides all aspects of the band and graduate wind conducting programs. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Carolina where she was responsible for directing the Symphonic Winds Concert Band, “The Mighty Sound of the Southeast” Carolina Marching Band, “Concocktion” Pep Bands, teaching undergraduate instrumental conducting, and directing the Carolina Summer Drum Major Clinic. A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Phillips earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from The Florida State University, Master of Music degrees in conducting and trombone performance from the University of South Florida, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in conducting at Louisiana State University. She served as a secondary school band director for seven years in Florida, including Director of Bands at Howard W. Blake Performing Arts High School in Tampa, Florida where she developed an award-winning concert band program. Currently, she is the President of the National Band Association, chair of the Music Education Committee for the College Band Directors National Association, and co-chair of the American Bandmasters Association Commissioning Committee.

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Professor Jeannie Little, Professor of Trombone at Louisiana State University (SWD: Baton Rouge, LA))
Trombonist and conductor Dr. Jeannie Little joined the Montana State University School of Music in 2015 as Low Brass Professor and Director of the University Band. Jeannie earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Performance and Pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music, a Master’s degree in Music Performance from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the Florida State University. Previous teaching positions include Trombone Professor at Louisiana State University, James Madison University, and Instructor of Low Brass at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Hawaii.

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Dr. Alyson McLamore, Music History Professor at California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo (WD: San Luis Obispo, CA))
Alyson McLamore teaches music history classes to majors and non-majors on topics ranging from the general history of western music to Broadway shows. She is a specialist in music of the early Classic Period, including study of symphonic music in London during the late 18th century, funded by a grant from the Fulbright Commission. Publications include a musical theater textbook; studies of concert-presenting musical prodigies — contemporaries of Mozart — who were sons of the cofounder of Methodism, Charles Wesley; evaluation of 18th-century “nautical-themed” music and its impact on British national identity; resource guides for the U.S. Academic Decathlon; and program notes for the Festival Mozaic (formerly the Mozart Festival) and the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale (formerly the Cuesta Master Chorale).

Dr. Rebecca Burkhardt, University of Northern Iowa, Music Director of the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra and Musical Director of the UNI Lyric Theatre (MWD: Cedar Falls, IA)
Conductor, composer, and Professor Emeritus Rebecca Burkhardt is sought after as a guest conductor for professional and educational orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. She served as the Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Northern Iowa from 1988-2020. Besides her duties as Music Director of the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, she performed as the conductor for the UNI Opera Theatre, and served as a professor on the music theory and conducting faculties at UNI. A native of Texas, Dr. Burkhardt earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Southwestern University (TX), a Master of Music Education degree from the University of North Texas, and her Ph. D. at the University of Texas, Austin.

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Janice Schreibman, Music Therapist at Methodist Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, IN (NCD: Indianapolis, IN)
Music physically touches us through vibration and promotes healing on many levels. Janice has practiced music therapy since 1989 and have had experience working in behavioral health, pediatrics, rehabilitation, wellness, and geriatrics. Her path has lead me to develop and cultivate 6 music therapy positions, a national roster music therapy internship and provide supervision to numerous students from across the United States. She has been self-employed, founded Creative Pathways Indy (a 501 (c) 3), and wrote the application for accreditation of the music therapy degree at the University of Indianapolis.

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Dr. Esti Steinberg, Professor of Musicology, history, and theory at Virginia Tech University (NED: Blacksburg, VA)
Esti Sheinberg is an independent scholar who shares her time between Nebraska and Israel. She completed her BA degree summa cum laude in Musicology at Tel-Aviv University in Israel, focused around Music Education, and her PhD in Music at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, focused on Musical Semiotics.Dr Sheinberg’s teaching experience ranges from middle and high-school levels and courses in general music adult education, to more than thirty years in higher education and university courses on the subjects of Music Education, Music History, Musical Appreciation, Music Theory and The Semiotics of Music. She taught, designed courses and did research at Tel-Aviv University, Israel (1985–1992), The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (1995–2002), Virginia Tech, Virginia, USA (2004–2012), and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA (2014–2019).

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Jayne Standley, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy at Florida State University (SED: Tallahassee, FL)
Jayne M. Standley, Ph.D., MT-BC, NICU-MT is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at The Florida State University and the Ella Scoble Opperman Professor of Music with a courtesy appointment in the College of Medicine. She directs the Music Therapy program at FSU, the National Institute for Infant and Child Medical Music Therapy which awards the NICU-MT national certificate, and the Medical MT and Arts in Medicine Programs in partnership with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in Music Therapy Methods, Medical Music Therapy, Music in Counseling, and the MT Research Seminar. She is an internationally acclaimed researcher and has published extensively in music in learning and music in medical settings with refereed publications appearing in nursing, early childhood, and music therapy journals. Dr. Standley received the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Therapy and the Ph.D. degree in Habilitative Sciences from FSU. She was appointed to The Florida State University faculty in 1976.

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Suzanne Ray, Assistant Band Director for the Nacogdoches Independent School District (SWD: Nacogdoches, TX)
Theater Director, Montgomery Indepedent School District, Montgomery, TX.

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Ellen Burnell, Music Therapist, Boise, ID (WD: Boise, ID)
Music Therapist-Board Certified Also Trained in Acutonics at Good Samaritan Society-Boise Village since May of 1989. BM College of Wooster, MM of Music Therapy, University of Minnesota.

Captain Michelle Rakers, Assistant Director of The President’s Own Marine Band (2005 National Convention, Orlando, FL)

American born conductor Michelle Rakers was the Senior Assistant Director for “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra from 2004 – 2018. In that capacity, she led the band and orchestra in countless high-profile programs at the White House, in Washington, D.C., and across the country. She conducted ensembles for White House State Dinners, advised and conducted ensembles for White House ceremonies, and led the band on many national tours. Ms. Rakers earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, her Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from Northwestern University, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Music Management from the University of Evansville. Additionally, Ms. Rakers received an Emmy® award for her part in producing the All-Star Orchestra program, “United States Marine Band New England Spirit.” She also received the “Distinguished Alumni” award from University of Evansville and she is an honorary inductee into Tau Beta Sigma, a National Honorary Band Sorority, receiving their “Outstanding Service to Music” award in 2010.

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Dr. Valerie Cisler, Professor of Music and Chair Department of Music and Performing Arts University of Nebraska at Kearney (NED: Kearney, NE)
Valerie Cisler is Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication and Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. A champion of American music, Cisler has given numerous performances and presentations at state, regional, national, and international conferences, including the premieres of eight state-commissioned works for Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), most recently, Ghosts of Old Pianos by Grammy Award Winner Libby Larsen, in addition to performances at Regional NATS (Texas), the American Composers Alliance (New York City), Festival of Women Composers (Pennsylvania), and at CMS, NASA, and NASM conferences in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., San Jose, Costa Rica, and Bangkok, Thailand. She is a member of the Society for American Music, College Music Society, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, Nebraska Music Teachers Association (former state President), and holds National Certification (piano, pedagogy, and theory) with the Music Teachers National Association.

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Catherine Keener Booth, Director of Bands, Valley View School in Germantown, OH (NCD: Cincinnati, OH)
Mrs. Catherine Abner, who is currently Director of Bands and the High School Choir Director at Valley View Local Schools. She also conducts the Kettering Civic Band.

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Dr. Marian T. Dura (NED: Clarion, PA)
Dr. Marian T. Dura received her PhD from Northwestern University in Music Education. She is currently Visiting Assistant Professor and Interim Coordinator of Music Education at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

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Dr. Andrea DeRenzis Strauss, Director of Bands, Georgia Institute of Technology (SED: Atlanta, GA)
Andrea DeRenzis Strauss is the Conductor and Artistic Director of Tara Winds and has taught elementary, middle, high school, and college at both public and private schools in Georgia. Dr. Strauss attained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education with a minor in conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi and the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Music Education from the University of South Carolina with an emphasis in clarinet performance. She is the former Director of Bands at Georgia Tech and served as Associate Professor of Music at Shorter University. Her ensembles have performed in Australia, China, and Ireland as well as Southern Division CBDNA/ NBA Conventions and GMEA In-Service Conferences. In addition to adjudicating and conducting honor bands across the United States, she has conducted in Italy, adjudicated in Canada and Ireland, and presented clinics on various aspects of teaching and conducting for the NAfME Division In-Service Conferences, TBA, GMEA, and various universities. Articles by Dr. Strauss have been published in the MEJ and NBA Journals and she has served as a Rehearsal Lab conductor for the Midwest Clinic. Dr. Strauss is currently on the Board of Directors for the National Band Association.

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Lanette Compton, Assistant Professor of Horn Oklahoma State University (SWD: Stillwater, OK)
Lanette López Compton is the Associate Professor of Horn at Oklahoma State University where she has been since 2005. She is presently a member of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Tulsa Opera Orchestra and has performed with groups in Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Argentina. Lanette has performed on more than a dozen CD’s, including the critically acclaimed CD The Manne We Love: Gershwin Revisited featuring the Steve Houghton Quintet and the University of North Texas Two O’clock Lab Band. She has performed at the International Women’s Brass Conference, International Horn Symposium, Mid-South Horn Workshop, Texas Music Educators Association Convention, College Band Director’s National Association Convention, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Convention, and the American Bandmasters Association Convention. Lanette has been co-director of the very popular Noon Concert Series at the OSU Library since 2007. Professor Compton has been the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music’s Wellness Innovator for America’s Healthiest Campus®. She has also served as faculty advisor for the OSU Hip Hop Dance Crew and OSU Dance Company. OSU Athletics selected Lanette as an honorary assistant football coach for her dedication to helping OSU athletes succeed academically.

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Dr. Zarina Melik-Stepanova, Assistant Professor of Piano Oklahoma State University (SWD: Stillwater, OK)
Dr. Zarina Melik-Stepanova received a Doctor of Musical Arts, the coveted Performer’s Certificate and a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music where she was a student of Natalya Antonova. Before beginning her post at Baldwin Wallace, she held positions of assistant professor of piano at Oklahoma State University, where she was awarded the Junior Faculty Award for Scholarly Excellence, and Millikin University. Melik-Stepanova is an active chamber musician, often collaborates with faculty and students at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music and is a faculty member of the BW Community Music School. She specializes in Russian language and vocal repertoire coaching.

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Dr. Eugenie Burkett, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Music Professor (WD: Las Vegas, NV)
Eugenie Burkett is an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Music Education) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Burkett has published research in JHRME, NACWPI, and Percussive Notes, and has presented papers at the Southeastern Music Education Symposium (1995), the Qualitative Methodologies in Music Education Research Conference II (1996), the College Music Society (CMS) conferences in Atlanta, Georgia (1996), Kansas City, Missouri (2003), and Miami, Florida (2004), the WEDELMUSIC2002 and 2003 International Conferences on the Web Delivering of Music in Darmstadt, Germany, and Leeds (U.K.), as well as the MENC National Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2004).

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Dr. D. Gause, Music Discipline Advisor, Community College of South Nevada (WD: Las Vegas, NV)
Dr. D. Gause has enjoyed a multi-decade career performing globally. The concentration of her performances has been in Las Vegas, where she has had the opportunity to play music with a diverse variety of shows, musicians, and entertainers. From ABBA (keyboard player for ABBA’s musical Mama Mia!) to We Will Rock You (keyboard player for Queen’s musical); from Andrea Bocelli to Luciano Pavarotti (bass clarinet player for Western US tours); her international career spans solo, chamber, orchestral, avant garde, classical, and popular genres.

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Anne Parker, Music Therapist, Miraval Resort, Tucson, AZ (WD: Las Vegas, NV)
Anne B. Parker, MA, MHSA, MT-BC, FAMI has been a music therapist since 1977.She holds degrees in music therapy, counseling psychology, and health services administration and completed training in the Bonny Method of GIM in 1997. Anne has professional experience in general, rehabilitation, and psychiatric hospitals as well as addiction treatment and cancer recovery programs. From 1994 to 2009, Anne had in private practice in Tucson, AZ where she focused in the areas of wellness, living well with chronic illness, and psychospiritual growth. She is currently the Supervisor of the Wellness Department at Miraval Resort and provides both group and individual services there. Anne is the current President of the Association for Music & Imagery (AMI).

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Dr. Sonja Giles, Lecturer of Flute, Iowa State University (MWD)

Sonja Giles has appeared as a recitalist, chamber musician, and educator at a variety of venues across the United States, Austria, Belgium, Italy, England, Germany and Russia. She is Second Flute with the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, flutist for the National Touring Musicals at the Des Moines Civic Center, and performs regularly with Orchestra Iowa. Sonja is exclusively a Miyazawa Performing Artist. Sonja received her B.M. in Flute Performance at the University of Alabama, M.M. at the University of Iowa and D.M.A. at the University of Minnesota. She has presented and performed at the National Flute Conventions and flute days across the United States. Sonja is newly appointed coordinator for the National Flute Association’s Collegiate Flute Choir competition. She is the author of volumes 1 and 2 of The Melody Book, a supplemental guide to Marcel Moyse’s Tone Development Through Interpretation.

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Sue Sergi, President & CEO of Clay Center of Performing Arts & Sciences, Charleston, WV (NCD)

Sue Sergi retired as President of the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of WV, Inc. in 2007. Sergi served the Clay Center for over ten years. During her tenure as President, over $120 Million was raised to design, build, equip and endow the Clay Center. Sergi was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of the facility. She also was responsible for hiring and training staff to open the Center. Sergi managed the Clay Center for three years after it opened. She led negotiations to implement strategic alliances between the three resident organizations located at the Clay Center. After she announced her retirement, Sergi participated in negotiations that led to the merger of the Clay Center and the Avampato Discovery Museum. Sue Sergi is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Philanthropy WV, Hunters Ridge Homeowners Association, and on the Advisory Council for the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences and Recovery Point Charleston. She chairs the Board of Directors of theCharles and Mary Fayne Glotfelty Foundation and FestivALL Charleston.

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Johnnella L. Edmonds, Assistant Professor of Music, Virginia State University (NED)

Director of Choral Music at Virginia State University. Directs the Concert Choir, Women’s Choir, Men’s Chorale.

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Dr. Linda Dzuris, Music Professor, Clemson University (SED)

Dr. Linda Dzuris became Clemson’s first University Carillonneur in 1999 and is Chair of the Department of Performing Arts. Additionally, Dzuris is a performance instructor of the North American Carillon School, which was established in 2013 as affiliate and American representative of the Royal Carillon School ‘Jef Denyn’ in Mechelen, Belgium. She received her B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees in organ performance and church music from the University of Michigan. Carillon study was also done in Ann Arbor, MI, with additional study at The Netherlands Carillon School in Amersfoort, NL. Dzuris is a former board member, a current adjudicator on the Associate Carillonneur Evaluation Committee, and a juror on the Carillonneur Exam Committee for the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA). She has been a featured guest artist in carillon concert series throughout the United States, The Netherlands, France, and Switzerland. In 2017, Dzuris performed concerts on behalf of the GCNA at the 19th World Carillon Federation (WCF) Congress held in Barcelona, Spain and currently serves as a North American delegate to the WCF. American Carillon Music Editions and the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs publish her original carillon compositions.

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Dr. Sarah McKoin, Director of Bands, Texas Tech University (SWD)

Dr. Sarah McKoin is the Director of Bands and Professor of Conducting at Texas Tech University. Her responsibilities include Conductor and Musical Director of the TTU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, administrating the graduate program in wind conducting, teaching conducting and wind literature, and overseeing all facets of the University band program, which includes 5 concert bands, the 400 member Goin’ Band from Raiderland, and other athletic bands. Dr. McKoin holds her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin as well as degrees from Wichita State University and Michigan State University. She has served as President of the Southwest Division of the College Band Director’s National Association as well as President of the Big 12 Band Director’s Association. She is a member of TMEA, TBA, Phi Beta Mu, Pi Kappa Lambda and holds honorary memberships in Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.

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Dr. Joan de Albuquerque, Associate Director of Bands, California State University, Long Beach (WD)

Joan attended Clintondale schools, graduated from Macomb Community College, and received her Bachelor of Music education degree from Michigan State University. She earned a Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University, where she studied with John Whitwell. She earned her Doctorate in Wind Conducting at the University of North Texas while studying under Eugene Migliaro Corporon, and graduated with an impressive 4.0 GPA. Joan was Band Director at Pinckney High School in Michigan and Adams State University in Colorado. She was Associate Director of Bands at California State University, Long Beach. She was also Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa for 9 years.

Diza Jazz (2025 National Convention)

A spirited new quintet has arrived in the music world. It is a group steeped in the history of jazz but infused with the progressive harmonies of today. Like the Benny Goodman Quartet, Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five, Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats, Tommy Dorsey and the Clam Bake Seven, and Woody Herman’s Woodchoppers, Five Play is also derived from a larger aggregation. The critically acclaimed jazz orchestra Sherrie Maricle and DIVA has selected five of its “all-stars” to carry small group jazz into the next century

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Brenda Romero (MWD)

Brenda M. Romero is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Ethnomusicology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she has been on the faculty since 1988, serving as Chair of Musicology from 2004-2007. She holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of California in Los Angeles, and received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Theory and Composition from the University of New Mexico. She has worked extensively on the pantomimed Matachines music and dance and other New Mexican folk music genres that reflect both Spanish and Indian origins. Since 1998 she has extended her fieldwork and research on Matachines to Mexico.

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Kay Edwards (NCD)

Dr. Kay Edwards is Professor and Coordinator of Music Education at Miami University in Oxford, OH and an active clinician and author in the areas of elementary general music pedagogy, guided listening, and multicultural music education for more than 30 years. She has taught in general music settings for ages 3-adult in northern and southern Ohio, North Carolina, and Arizona, where she taught elementary music for 10 years. Dr. Edwards holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in General Music from Arizona State University and has Orff Level III certification, in addition to special training in Kodály and Dalcroze. She has authored lesson plans and served as an educational consultant for Classics for Kids since 2005.

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Cindy Balisteri (SED)

Cindy Ballsteri taught elementary music education at Booker Elementary, Phillippi Shores Elementary and Brookside Middle School, before assuming the role of Fine Arts Program Specialist in 1997. She was named Teacher of the Year for Sarasota County in 1992. She received the Arts Leadership Award for Arts Education in 2008 from the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County. From 2010 – 2017, Cindy became the Arts Education manager for the Arts & Cultural Alliance, working with schools, teaching artists and community organizations. Cindy earned a Bachelor of Music Education form Florida State University in 1970 and a Master of Science in Educational Administration and Supervision from the University of South Florida in 1985. She is a classical pianist and clarinetist.

Dr. Lisa Hunter (MWD)

Dr. Hunter is an Assistant Professor, and Director of Bands at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. where she directs the 190-member “Spirit of the West” Marching Band and conducts the Wind Symphony. Lisa earned her doctoral degree in Music Performance from the University of Arizona and has trained as a wind band conductor at the College Band Directors National Association Conducting Symposium at the University of Boulder. She is active throughout the Northwest as a clinician, conductor, and adjudicator, and often presents lectures and workshops on instrumental music education, student leadership, and performance psychology

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Patricia Flowers (NCD)

Flowers is currently professor of music at Ohio State University, a position she has held since 1996. She previously served as chair of Graduate Studies at Ohio State from 1992 to 2007. Flowers was also associate and assistant professor of music at Ohio State from 1985 to 1996. Prior to her Ohio State tenure, Flowers was visiting professor and assistant professor of music at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at Kent State University, where she also earned a Master of Music degree. Flowers earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in music at Florida State in 1981.

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Ina Grapenthin (NED)

Presently, she is a Professor of Music at Kutztown University where she has been since 1978. Her responsibilities include the teaching of Organ and Piano, Foundations of Worship, and classes in Elementary Music Education and Early Development, Music Theory and Introduction to Music Literature. She was responsible for the Kutztown Academy for Church Organists and has directed field classes for church organists internationally. She was also responsible for the North American Organ Competition held at the university. She has served as the American judge and President of the Jury at the International Organ Competition held in Mondiano, Italy.

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Rosephanye Powell (SED)

Rosephanye Powell has been hailed as one of America’s premier women composers of solo vocal and choral music. She has an impressive catalogue of works published by some of the nation’s leading publishers, including the Hal Leonard Corporation, the Fred Bock Music Companies, Gentry Publications, Oxford University Press, Alliance Music Publications, and Shawnee Press. Dr. Powell’s works have been conducted and premiered by nationally and internationally renowned conductors and have been premiered at distinguished halls around the country, including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and Spivey Hall, to name a few. Dr. Powell’s works have been commissioned by professional choral ensembles, including Cantus and the Grammy award-winning men’s vocal ensemble Chanticleer.

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Ronda Mains (SWD)

Ronda Mains is professor of flute/music education and chair of the Department of Music. She is principal flutist of the North Arkansas Symphony and performer with the Lyrique Quintette, Cholthichanta/Mains Duo and Zephyr Trio. Dr. Mains has appeared as a soloist with the North Arkansas Symphony, University of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony, Oregon Winds, Boise Summer Symphony, the Treasure Valley Wind Ensemble, and the Boise State University Symphony and Wind Ensemble. She has performed solo and chamber music nationally and abroad; in 1998, she performed at the National Flute Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.

Susan Fleet (2003 National Convention)

In her travels, Susan Fleet has worn many hats: trumpeter, college professor and music historian. While teaching at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she began killing people. Fictionally, of course! In 2001 she moved to New Orleans, the setting for her award-winning crime thrillers featuring NOPD Homicide Detective Frank Renzi. Susan still plays her trumpet every day, but spends most of her time dreaming up new ideas to terrify and enthrall her readers. See more at http://www.susanfleet.com Her other passion is promoting talented female musicians. See them here http://susanfleet.com/morewomenmusicians.htm

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Patricia Childress (NCD)

Dr. Childress teaches instrumental music lessons around the South Bend, Indiana area. She received her Bachelors’ of Music Education from Arizona State University, and her Masters’ and DMA from Michigan State University

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Patricia Hoy (SED)

Dr. Patricia Hoy has nearly 40 years’ experience in a variety of roles. Her 17 years as Director of Bands at Northern Arizona University included numerous performances at regional and national conferences. She has served as guest conductor with the Flagstaff Festival Orchestra, the Flagstaff Symphony and Eugene Ballet Company, the Memphis Symphony and Ballet Memphis, the Tucson Pops, the Mesa Symphony, and regional and all-state bands in more than thirty states. Most recently, she served 5 years as Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Boston Conservatory and 7 years as Director of the School of Music at the University of Memphis. While an active performer in the Los Angeles area, she taught high school instrumental music for eight years before moving to higher education. Dr. Hoy is a recipient of the Tau Beta Sigma Outstanding Service to Music Award in recognition of her national contribution to music and music education and the O.M. Hartsell Excellence in Teaching Music Award presented by the Arizona Music Educators Association. She was elected into the membership of the American Bandmasters Association in 1996 and awarded the Faculty Artist Award from the Northern Arizona University Chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Her wind and chamber recordings of music by African American composers are often featured on broadcasts throughout the United States, in Canada, and in England. She is a committed advocate for the value of arts in education.

Ann Goodwin (MWD)

Ann has an extensive background as a music educator, having been a band director at Gallatin R-5 Schools (3 years), Nevada School District (8 years), Oak Park High School (1 year), Park Hill High School (8 years). Her bands have performed three times at the Missouri Music Educators Association Conference (1987, 1997, 2002) She has served as President of the Missouri Bandmasters Association (2006-2008) and the Missouri Women Band Directors Association. From 1998-2000, she served as Band Vice-President for MMEA. She was the Missouri honoree as one of the 50 ‘Directors Who Make A Difference’ by School Band Magazine in 2003. In 2004, she was named a Laureate of the ‘Legion of Honor’ by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Other professional memberships include NAfME, MMEA, MBA and Phi Beta Mu honorary band fraternity.

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Belva Prather (MWD)

Dr. Belva Worthen Prather is Professor of Music at Missouri State University where she conducts the University Wind Ensemble, the University Wind Symphony, and the University Concert Band. She is coordinator of Wind and Percussion Studies for the music department and teaches Graduate Research, Advanced Conducting, and Wind Band Literature. Recently, Dr. Prather was selected by her colleagues to receive the College of Arts & Letters award for “Excellence in Teaching”, and she received the University Foundation’s “Award for Teaching.” Dr. Prather’s thirty-eight year career has included teaching and administration on the elementary, junior high, high school, and university levels. She is active as conductor, adjudicator, and clinician, and has served in that capacity in twenty-eight states and nine European countries.

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Mary Goetz (NCD)

During her tenure at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Mary Goetze was instrumental in founding the Music in General Studies program and in creating and teaching such courses as Z100. She founded two choral programs that have continued past her retirement in 2007–the International Vocal Ensemble and the Indiana University Children’s Choir. Now as professor emerita, she continues to compose for choral groups, write articles and books, and travel to present lectures, workshops, and conduct honor choirs.

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Patty Neeper (NED)

Patty represented Steinway & Sons with Trombino Music Centers and Steinway Piano Gallerie Pittsburgh, she is now concentrating on the music at West View UMC in Pittsburgh.

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Ann Flipse (SED)

Dr. Ann Flipse is a retired Pediatrician and Clinical Instructor. She received her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis and did her pediatric residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Flipse is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. She practiced pediatrics for 13 years in Miami and then taught at the University of Miami, School of Medicine for 20 years. Flipse retired in 2005 and has since moved to Jacksonville where she is involved in UNF in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program and on two community advisory councils.

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Nancy Barry (SWD)

Nancy H. Barry is Professor of Music Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Auburn University. She earned the Master’s degree and Ph.D. in music education, and certificates in Electronic Music and Computers in Music from Florida State University. Barry is an international scholar in music education with publications in such journals as Arts and Learning, Psychology of Music, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Contributions to Music Education, UPDATE, and Bulletin of Research in Music Education, among others. She served as editor of the Journal of Technology in Music Learning, and is a reviewer for Psychology of Music. Professor Barry is a frequent presenter at national and international professional conferences. She was on the faculty of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Auburn from 1990–2000. Barry served as Professor, Graduate Coordinator and Chair of Music Education at the University of Oklahoma from 2000–2007 where she received the Henry Daniel Rinsland Memorial Award for Excellence in Educational Research in 2006 and was awarded a Presidential Professorship in 2007. She returned to Auburn in 2007. Recent international activities include being selected by the Confucious Institute to visit China as a member of a delegation of educators, and establishing a community-based partnership for AU students and faculty to work in Malawi, Africa. Barry is a long-time member of the College Music Society. She has served CMS in numerous capacities including Southern Chapter President and Mentoring Committee Chair and recently was elected to serve as National CMS Secretary.

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Marilyn Kotska (WD)

Marilyn taught music and earned a Masters degree and a Doctorate in Music Education at The University of Texas. She and Stefan were divorced but remained close friends, and she spent several years teaching music at U.T. and in public schools in the Austin area. In 1993 Marilyn moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, as a professor of music education at Northern Arizona University until her retirement in 2008. She became deeply involved in research and writing in the field of music education. She was published frequently and recognized nationally for her contributions to the field of music education and pedagogy, particularly in the area of elementary music education, one of her deepest passions.

Joan de Albuquerque, Associate Director of Bands, California State University, Long Beach (WD)

Joan attended Clintondale schools, graduated from Macomb Community College, and received her Bachelor of Music education degree from Michigan State University. She earned a Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University, where she studied with John Whitwell. She earned her Doctorate in Wind Conducting at the University of North Texas while studying under Eugene Migliaro Corporon, and graduated with an impressive 4.0 GPA. Joan was Band Director at Pinckney High School in Michigan and Adams State University in Colorado. She was Associate Director of Bands at California State University, Long Beach. She was also Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa for 9 years.

Denise Grant, Doctoral Student in Conducting (MWD)

Denise Grant has earned respect and praise as a conductor and educator of great musical depth and artistic sensitivity. She has guest-conducted ensembles across Canada, the United States, and Southeast Asia, and in 2004 she was the Music Director for the National Youth Band of Canada. After a recent move home to Nova Scotia, Denise is currently conducting the Symphonic Band at Acadia University and working as a freelance artist. She has a strong commitment to music education in Canada and her professional activities reflect that commitment – she is in demand as a guest conductor, adjudicator, clinician, and conducting teacher.

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Carol Dary Dunevant, Director of Bands, Northern Kentucky University (NCD)

Ms. Dunevant began her teaching and conducting career in Kansas where her ensembles quickly grew in size and quality under her direction. She has studied with Elizabeth Green and Jorge Perez-Gomez and has been coached by many top conductors including Paul Vermel, Peter Jaffe, and Carl Topilow. Ms. Dunevant holds numerous professional and honorary memberships in many organizations. Her honors include ‘Outstanding University Teacher’ by the Kentucky Music Education Association, District VI, keynote speaker for the Tau Beta Sigma “Women in Music” Series, and has presented to the Society of American Music Band Interest Group at their national conference. Ms. Dunevant is a frequent speaker about Frank Simon and the Golden Age of Bands. Her passion is teaching and working with audiences and ensembles of all ages.

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Lynnette Jackson, MS in Music Education from WVU (NED)

Band Director, Hamilton Public Schools-Hamilton, Ohio.

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Debbie Baker, Vice Chair TBS Board of Trustees (SED)

Deborah Baker is the band director at Flat Rock Middle School in Tyrone, Georgia. She received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Florida. The Flat Rock Band program consists of 270 members. Under her leadership, the bands consistently receive ‘Superior’ ratings at District Band Festival. Her bands have performed at Walt Disney World, Six Flags Over Georgia, and Carowinds Band Festival. The Symphonic Band has been a featured band at the 2003 National Middle School Conference, the 2004 Southeastern United States Band Clinic, and was very proud to perform for Georgia Governor Perdue at the 2004 signing of the HOPE Scholarship Legislation.

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June Bearden, SWD Counselor, Middle School Band Director (SWD)

Mrs. June Bearden retired from Frenship Middle School in Wolfforth, Texas where she served as the director of bands for 21 years. Her career of being a proud Texas band director included the school districts of Monahans, Plainview, Lubbock and Frenship over 29 years. She graduated from Wichita Falls High School, followed by Texas Tech University where she earned a Bachelor of Music Education with primary study on French Horn and served as drum major of the Goin’ Band from Raiderland & president of the Beta chapter of Tau Beta Sigma. Mrs. Bearden has been a clinician at TMEA, TBA & a chat room host at Midwest conventions. She is an active adjudicator, clinician and consultant. She has served as an adjudicator at the Denmark Band Championships, Kansas Central States Honor Band, Middle Tennessee Honor Band, as well as numerous Texas Honor band events.

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Dr. Kathryn Bumpass, Music History Instructor, Fresno State University (WD)

Principal Music Historian for University of California at Fresno, 1985-2004.
BA, Austin COllege Sherman, TX; MA Columbia Univeristy, NY, NY; PhD University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignBA, Austin COllege Sherman, TX; MA Columbia Univeristy, NY, NY; PhD University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
BA, MA, PhD, English, historical musicology