Episodes
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It's been quite a run, but all good things must come to an end. A special thank you to all of my listeners, all of my guests, and to my sponsors Celtic Horizons and Kaleidoscope Adventures. All of your support and belief in this show kept me going for so many episodes.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Jake Walker, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes for the final 50 or so episodes to create the website, change the branding, and create the amazing images we see for the final run of the show. He's been invaluable to me and I couldn't have gotten as far as I did without him. Ditto Colin Peters who wasn't with me for as long as Jake, but who helped relieve some of my work load by taking on the scheduling for me for a while. Both of them have my gratitude.
If you ever want to talk about anything and everything band, please feel free to reach out to me at mark.connorprincipia.edu. Replace the with an @ and you're good to go! I plan on retiring from this job, so barring something unfortunate, I should be at that email address for a while.
Thank you all so much for everything. You're the best, and remember to help your students become their best selves through music!
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Benjamin Dean Taylor (born 1983), has been described as “elegant and energetic” (Kenneth Thompson) and “powerful and direct with delightful surprises in each work.” (Marilyn Shrude) Having grown up as a performer in jazz, rock, ska, country, and concert bands as well as in choirs and orchestras, Taylor is driven to write music that highlights the strengths of each performing ensemble. His catalog of more than 100 works covers a large range of styles and genres including music written for orchestra, wind band, opera, choir, jazz big band, gamelan, chamber ensembles, and soloists with live electronics. Further, Taylor has written music for multimedia collaborations with dancers, filmmakers, poets, and visual artists.
Taylor has received commissions from ensembles including the Calidore String Quartet, Omaha Symphony, Solaire Saxophone Quartet, New World Youth Symphony, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Civic Wind Symphony. His music has been performed by ensembles around the world including the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Kenari Quartet, L’ensemble Itineraire, Nurnberg Hochschulorchester and has been championed by soloists Keith Kirchoff, Zach Herchen, and Scotty Stepp. As a sought-after composer for wind band, Taylor has been commissioned by over 100 band directors of players at all educational levels. -
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Don Stinson is a comprehensive music educator with a robust background spanning roles as an author, speaker, and clinician. He holds educational degrees from an array of prestigious institutions including Joliet Junior College, VanderCook College of Music, and Northern Illinois University. Adding to his educational background, Don also holds a Master’s in Education Administration from the University of St. Francis, bringing unparalleled expertise to his educational endeavors.
Currently, Don is the director of bands at Joliet Central High School in Joliet, Illinois, distinguishing himself as only the fifth individual to hold this honor in the band’s history. Under his guidance, the band has flourished, receiving invitations to esteemed state and national festivals, including a special performance at the seventy-fifth Midwest Clinic in 2021.
Over the years, Don has accrued numerous awards and recognitions including the Yale University Educator Award, the Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator Award, and a spot on Yamaha’s 2021 “40 Under 40 Music Educators” list. His unwavering commitment to education has also earned him the Dr. William P. Foster Project Community Development Award and multiple citations of excellence from the National Band Association.
As a sought-after speaker, Don has been invited to present at high-profile conferences including the National Association for Music Education National Conference and the Illinois Music Education Association Conference. He has recently served as the keynote speaker at both the Omaha Public School Music Teacher In-Service and the Northern Illinois University Urban Education Summit. In 2023, he spoke at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.
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DISCLAIMER
Episodes 209-2011 were recorded in 2023 and have only recently been uploaded to the internet. There are some things that have changed since their recordings, so be aware that you are not listening to the most current events.
Evan VanDoren is a freelance arranger, composer, and educational consultant. As the owner of VanDoren Music, Evan is commissioned each year to create works for concert and marching ensembles. He has arranged and orchestrated award-winning marching shows for numerous high school bands across the country.
Evan is an active clinician, presenting for Drum Corps International, the Music Educators National Convention, the Texas Bandmasters Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, and Music for All. He regularly consults with band programs around the country. Additionally, Evan is an active adjudicator with Bands of America, the University Interscholastic League, and the Texas Music Adjudicators Association.
Evan is the brass arranger for the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, from Santa Clara, California, as well as the leadership faculty of SASI Leadership, based in central Texas.
Before devoting his life to creating music, Evan was a band director at Cedar Park High School, in Cedar Park, Texas, during which time the band was awarded multiple marching state championships and national recognition. He received a Bachelor in Music Education with Honors from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently, he lives in Cedar Park, Texas, with his wife, Katie, and their dog, Cooper.
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Adrian Gordon is an internationally performed composer and seasoned music educator and currently serves as the director of orchestras at Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC. In addition to teaching, Adrian is the founder of Leap Year Music Publishing, which publishes string music for elementary, middle, and high school ensembles. His compositions appear on the Florida, Texas, Maryland, and Georgia Orchestra Association Music Performance Assessment Lists. His compositions are distributed through J.W. Pepper and have been performed throughout the world. Learn more at www.adriangordonmusic.com.
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Dr. Sixto F. Montesinos Jr. is assistant professor of music and head of instrumental studies at Saint Mary’s College of California in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is an active Mexican-American conductor, flutist, music educator, and scholar researching new and effective ways to strengthen Mexican-American relations through the study and performance of music. These include overcoming stereotypes as well as Mexican, LGBTQ+, and LatinX representation in the field of music education, repertoire, and performance He is the artistic director of the Saint Mary's College Jazz Band as well as its Chamber Musicians program. He also oversees the instrumental private lessons faculty at The College.
Dr. Montesinos is a regular guest conductor with the Awesöme Orchestra, a Bay-Area organization that amplifies voices of marginalized folk, forms deeper partnerships with communities and organizations as well as creates more equity and representation at every level. The mission of the Awesome Orchestra is also to make awesome orchestral adventures accessible to musicians and the public. He has also been a guest conductor with the Youth Musical Theater Company, most recently for their spring 2022 production of Stephen Sodnheim's Sweeney Todd.
He presented a clinic in December 2021 at the 75th Annual Midwest Clinic entitled "Surpassing La Cucaracha dn the Mexican Hat Dance" and spoke to the importance of diversifying Mexican-themed repertoire for instrumental ensembles and debunking common musical stereotypes,
Dr. Montesinos earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey where he studied with Professors William Berz, Kraig Alan Williams, and Darryl J. Bott. His terminal research project focused on the evolution and socio-political influence of wind bands in Mexico from the War of Independence to the Mexican Revolution. During his time at Rutgers, Dr. Montesinos also served as a teaching assistant with the Rutgers University Marching Scarlet Knights participating in performances for President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. During the fall and spring, he worked as a Graduate Assistant Conductor of the Rutgers Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Winds. In 2016, he programmed and conducted with the Rutgers University Concert Band, the United States premiere of two wind pieces by Colombian composer Victoriano Valencia: Chande and Tango from his larger series Ritmos de la Tierra. He also presented and conducted Valencia's music in March of 2018 at the new music reading session during the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Division Conference at Yale University.
Before moving to California, Dr. Montesinos served as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Ferrum College in southwest Virginia where he established The Ferrum College Panther Marching Band, Ferrum College Mountain Winds, and Ferrum College Iron Mountain Brass. Enrollment in the band program doubled under his tenure. He also served as music department coordinator and developed the curriculum to create a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree. Dr. Montesinos led an initiative to establish an Appalachian Folk Music Program and started a guest artist recital series designed to bring live music to the Ferrum College community throughout the year.
Before his doctoral studies at Rutgers University, he was a public school high school band director at Jersey Village High School, a high school within the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Northwest Houston. In this capacity, he assisted with the instruction of a 300-member marching band, four concert bands, and conducted the all-school musical. He also taught beginning instrumental classes at the middle school feeder. At Jersey Village, He was the primary conductor of the Symphonic II band. Symphonic II earned division one ratings at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Concert and Sightreading Contest.
Dr. Montesinos completed a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Texas at Arlington under the tutelage of his long-time mentor and former high school orchestra director, Dr. Clifton Evans. Montesinos also completed additional studies in wind and orchestral conducting at the following programs: The Frederick Fennell Memorial Conducting Masterclass at the Eastman School of Music and the Cincinnati Conservatory, The University of North Texas Conductors Collegium, The Art of Band Conducting at the University of Texas at Austin, The International Conductors Workshop and Competition at Mercer University, and The International Institute for Conductors in Bacau, Romania. Additionally, he worked closely and shared the podium with H. Robert Reynolds as a doctoral conducting student during a week-long residency at Rutgers University.
As a flutist, Dr. Montesinos was a featured soloist at the 70th Annual Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference performing Gabe Mussella’s Cumbia de Xavier with the Ridgeview Middle School Percussion Ensemble. He has also been on the faculty at FlootFire Houston. He completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Instrumental Music Education at the University of Houston Moores School of Music where he performed two graduate-level flute recitals and was principal flute of the University of Houston Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. Upon graduation from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, he was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to study flute performance at Arizona State University in Tempe where he completed two years of flute studies before attending the University of Houston. In high school, he studied flute at the American Festival for the Arts Summer Music Conservatory with Kirsten “Kiki” Larsen and at the Brevard Music Center in North Ca rolina as a pupil of Thomas Robertello. He was a flute student of Judy Dines, second flutist of the Houston Symphony, for two years and performed with the Houston Symphony twice at Jones Hall. He has played for Carol Wincenc at The Juilliard School and Leone Buyse, Christina Jennings, and Robert Langevin in various masterclasses. He is also a proud alumnus and supporter of the Virtuosi of Houston Youth Chamber Orchestra and the Greater Houston Youth Orchestra. In 2004 he toured China extensively as an orchestral flutist with the Northwest Houston Symphony.
Dr. Montesinos enjoys working outside of the United States and has established strong ties with high school and middle school band directors in Peru. In March of 2017, he gave a week-long seminar to local high school and middle school band directors in Lima, Peru as part of their required professional development. Most recently he was a featured speaker on marching and concert band techniques in January of 2018 at the PERUBANDAS National Congress in Lima, Peru. Additionally, he held interim teaching positions at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania as conductor of the concert band and at Lewisville High School in Lewisville, Texas as director of the orchestra program. He has also served as the Associate Dean of Students at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. His writing has been published by the Instrumentalist Magazine and internationally by the WASBE Journal. Montesinos is a native of the town of Coyoacan in Mexico City where he began his musical career at the early age of four studying piano at the prestigious Yamaha Institute.
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Vu Nguyen is the Director of Wind Ensembles and Conducting at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA.
Prior to his appointment at the University of Connecticut, he served as the Director of Bands at the University of Indianapolis, was a conductor of the Wind Ensemble at Washington University in St. Louis, and was a visiting conductor of the Indiana University Concert Band. He began his career teaching in the public schools of San Ramon, CA.
Dr. Nguyen has conducted throughout the western United States and in Japan. He maintains an active schedule as a clinician and has served as guest conductor with the United States Air Force Bands of the Golden West and Mid-America, as well as regional honor bands in northern California, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Ensembles under his direction have been invited to perform at state music educator conferences in California and Indiana, at the Midwest Clinic, and most recently at the 2020 College Band Directors National Association Eastern Division Conference. His research interests focus on contemporary wind band literature, the music of Frank Zappa, and conducting pedagogy. His book chapter on composer Carter Pann was published in the fifth volume of A Composer’s Insight: Thoughts, Analysis, and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band (Meredith Music Publications).
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Dr. Nguyen earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from University of the Pacific, a Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Oregon, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the University of Washington.
In addition to his academic career, Dr. Nguyen continues to serve as an officer in the Air National Guard (ANG) where he is the commander/conductor of the ANG Band of the West Coast. In this position, he is responsible for all activities of the 40-member squadron, including participation in ceremonies, parades, concerts and other public performances. The Band of the West Coast is one of five ANG Bands in the United States covering an eight-state area of responsibility that includes California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
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Saxophonist John Wojciechowski is originally from Detroit and has spent the last 18 years performing and teaching in Chicago. In addition to leading his own groups, he has performed or recorded with The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, The Woody Herman Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Clark Terry, Charlie Haden, and Kurt Elling among many others. John was also a third place finalist in the 1996 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. John has appeared on dozens of recordings as a sideman, and has two recordings as a leader: “Lexicon", released in 2009 and “Focus” which was released in the fall of 2015 on Origin records to critical acclaim.
Besides being an active performer, John (a National Board Certified Teacher) is also an educator noted for his versatility, creativity and enthusiasm. He has taught at the public school as well as university levels and has appeared all over the country as a guest artist, clinician and conductor. He is currently on the music faculty at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois where he teaches Jazz Bands, Concert Band and Music Theory. His student groups have performed at the IAJE Conference, Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, JEN Conference and the Illinois All-State Music Educator Conference. In addition to his public school teaching, he has also taught at Northern Illinois University and Northwestern University. -
Joshua Johnson currently serves as the Associate Director of Bands at Traughber Junior High in Oswego, Illinois. Prior to coming to Oswego, Josh served as Director of Bands at North Kirkwood Middle School and Associate Director of Bands in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Joshua attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received his Bachelor of Music Education Degree with Honors. During his time at Illinois, he was a member of the Illinois Wind Symphony, the Marching Illini, the University of Illinois Black Chorus, and many other university ensembles. Josh studied Oboe with Professor John Dee & studied conducting and pedagogy with Dr. Stephen Peterson, Dr. Beth Peterson, Dr. Linda Moorhouse & Professor Barry Houser.
Josh has been recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2021 as a finalist for the 2021 Outstanding Early Educator division of Illinois Teacher of the Year. He was also the recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Early Educator Award of Meritorious Service.
Josh spent two years serving as a Conductor (Drum Major) for the two time Drum Corps International World Champion, Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps. He is still very active in the marching band activity. Josh has worked as a designer, instructor, choreographer and judge throughout the states of Missouri and Illinois.
Josh’s professional affiliations include the Illinois Music Education Association and the National Band Association.
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Karen Fannin is Professor, Director of Bands, and Interim Director of the School of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting, instructs courses in music education, and provides leadership for all aspects of the UNO band program.
Previously, Dr. Fannin served as Director of Bands and Department Chair at Hendrix College. While in Arkansas, Dr. Fannin also held the position of Music Director and Conductor of the Little Rock Wind Symphony. A native of Iowa, Dr. Fannin began her teaching career in the Lynnville-Sully Schools as Director of Bands and subsequently served as Director of Bands at Lockport Township High School in suburban Chicago.
Dr. Fannin maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Recent professional engagements include a residency in Guangdong, China, a conference presentation in Stockholm, Sweden, and guest conducting or adjudicating in Canada, Alaska, Washington, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. An active presenter, Dr. Fannin has shared her research at international, national, regional, and state conferences. Passionate about making interdisciplinary connections that impact a conductor’s work with an ensemble, Dr. Fannin has presented on topics such as pacing in rehearsals and performance, communication in music, parallels between the ensemble and business, and the lineage of Nadia Boulanger through wind repertoire. She is published in the Journal of Band Research and is a contributing author to the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series published by GIA.
Dr. Fannin earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Colorado where she studied with Allan McMurray; a Master of Music in Conducting from Northwestern University as a student of Mallory Thompson; and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa, where she was recently honored with a Distinguished Alumnus Award.
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Mary Cogswell is the current president of the South Dakota Bandmasters Association, the editor of the Beginning Band Adaptable series, and a long time beginning band teacher. If you teach beginners, this is the episode for you!
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Biography Capt. Kenneth C. Collins, a native of Reno, Nevada, entered the Navy in 1989 and attended recruit training in San Diego, California. Upon completion of Musician "A" school, he served as a percussionist in fleet bands in Guam and Newport, Rhode Island. His first assignment upon receiving a commission as a limited duty officer bandmaster in 1998 was as the ceremonial band leader and associate conductor of the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C., and shortly thereafter an assignment as the assistant director of the U.S. Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Maryland. Collins served as the director of Navy Band Northwest from 2001-2004, director for U.S. Pacific Fleet Band from 2004-2007, director of Navy Band Southeast from 2007-2008, and director of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band from 2009-2012. He was selected for assignment to Navy Postgraduate School through the civilian institutions program in 2008, and completed a Master of Music with an emphasis in wind band conducting at the University of Illinois in 2009. Most recently, he completed a tour as director of Fleet Band Activities from 2012-2015. He reported to his current assignment as commanding officer of the U.S. Navy Band in July 2015. In addition to his military assignments, Collins studied drums and percussion with Jonathan Wacker, Dom Moio and Gary Chaffee and conducting with A.G. MacGrannahan, Anthony Maiello, James Keene, Abel Ramirez and David Waltman. He has served as a clinician for bands from all over the United States and in Europe. He served as the assistant conductor of the Rainier Symphony from 2002-2004, the Central Oahu Honor Band conductor/clinician in 2006 and adjunct faculty to Hawaii Pacific University, teaching undergraduate courses in music. Collins holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Nevada, a Master of Business Administration from Hawaii Pacific University and a Master of Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (2 Awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (3 awards) and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (3 Awards).
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Matthew Maslanka is David Maslanka’s second son and the primary caretaker of David’s music. Born in New York City in 1982, he grew up listening to his father composing at the piano. From the age of 10, Matthew started helping out by making photocopies of scores and dubbing cassette tapes for David to send to conductors interested in the music. At 12, Matthew discovered the delights of engraving music with a computer. By 14, he was skilled enough to handle the preparation of his father’s music and proceeded to engrave virtually every work from that point forward. In this way, he built up a deep understanding of the underpinnings of David’s writing and long-term development as a composer. He frequently accompanied his father on trips to work with ensembles and observed his working process closely. Matthew enjoyed a particularly close personal and professional relationship with David.
Matthew is a versatile musician, performing on euphonium and trombone, preparing sheet music for performance and publication, and publishing his father’s music. He studied euphonium performance as an undergraduate at Michigan State University with Philip Sinder and as a master’s student at Indiana University with Daniel Perantoni. He also studied trombone as a doctoral candidate at Indiana University with Carl Lenthe. He has performed on Broadway in the orchestra of Fiddler on the Roof and plays with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra and the Chelsea Symphony, among others.
Along with performing, Matthew is an accomplished music engraver and copyist. Equally at home in the commercial and classical worlds, he has prepared music in diverse genres. Projects have included the Pixar film The Incredibles 2, Warner Brothers’ Shazam!, the hit video game Destiny 2 by Bungie Inc. and the acclaimed musicals Far From Heaven by Scott Frankel with orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin, Chess by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, and Sycamore Trees by Ricky Ian Gordon. He has also engraved opera, wind ensemble, and chamber music for the New York-based publisher Carl Fischer and Internationale Musikverlage Hans Sikorski in Hamburg.
In 2012, Matthew founded Maslanka Press to publish his father’s works. Dedicated to producing beautiful, affordable new editions, promoting David’s music, and supporting performers, educators, and enthusiasts, Maslanka Press now publishes more than 70 works worldwide. Following David’s passing in 2017, he started the David Maslanka Foundation with his brother Stephen and sister Kathryn to preserve and promote David’s music and life. As part of that mission, Matthew travels worldwide, coaching performing groups on his father’s music.
Matthew is an avid photographer and lives in New York City with his two dogs, Cassie and Max.
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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!
The Everything Band Podcast team includes the following contributors:
Host and Creator: Mark Connor Outreach Manager: Colin Peters Creative Director: Jake Walker -
Gary Green is Director of Bands Emeritus at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, Florida. Prior to joining the faculty at UM, Gary served for ten years as Director of Bands at the University of Connecticut. Gary joins the show today to discuss the important life lessons that music teachers need to know to build a culture of excellence.
Gary Green and was influential in commissioning and recording new works for winds and percussion which included Symphony No. 3 by David Maslanka and A Cornfield in July and The River by William Penn. Urban Requiem by Michael Colgrass was commissioned by the Philip Frost Commission Fund and has become a standard in the repertoire for wind ensemble.
Throughout his career, Professor Green has received numerous honors and awards including The Phillip Frost Award for Scholarship and Teaching at the University of Miami. In March 2007, he joined the ranks of Frederick Fennell, William Revelli, and John Paynter in the Bands of America Hall of Fame.
Gary has conducted events in Florida, Texas, Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, Georgia, Utah, Virginia, Washington, amongst many others. In addition, he has conducted all state, regional, national, and international honor bands.
Gary holds a B.M. degree from Boise State University and an M.M. degree from the University of Idaho.
Mr. Green is a member of the American Bandmasters Association, the College Band Directors Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the Florida Bandmasters Association and the Florida Music Educators Association.
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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!
The Everything Band Podcast team includes the following contributors:
Host and Creator: Mark Connor Outreach Manager: Colin Peters Creative Director: Jake Walker -
For this episode I'm going to be sitting across from the microphone while Colin Peters interviews me. I have had pretty rough go of it during the pandemic and felt that it was the right moment to share some thoughts and encouragement from my own experience.
Biography:
Mark J. Connor (b. 1971) is a composer, conductor, educator, and podcaster who has a passion for everything band. His music is diverse, his interviews are inspiring, and his ability to capture the listener’s attention for both means of expression is remarkable.
As a composer, Mark has written a collection of wind band literature ranging in various levels, orchestral music, and chamber ensembles. His works have been published by Alry Publications, Grand Mesa Music, and RWS Music Company. As an educator for more than 20 years, Mark has had the fortune to teach students at every level from elementary to postgraduate. Through reflection and continued education, Mark adapts his philosophy of teaching to fulfill the needs of his diverse students. Prior to his current position as band director at the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, he was a visiting assistant professor and adjunct professor at several universities nationwide.
Popularly known for his role as the host of Everything Band, Mark enjoys producing this weekly podcast that features interviews with leaders in the band community. He has a faithful following for each episode and takes pride in delivering a motivational message of gratitude, inspiration, and perseverance in regards to music, education, and life.
Learn more about Mark: http://www.markjconnor.com
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Kevin Sedatole is the Director of Bands and Chair of the conducting area at Michigan State University. He has had a celebrated career in music as a conductor, clinician, teacher, and advocate for new music.
Biography
Kevin Sedatole serves as Director of Bands, Professor of Music, and Chair of the conducting area at the Michigan State University College of Music. At MSU, Professor Sedatole serves as administrator of the entire band program totaling over 700 students that includes the Wind Symphony, Symphony Band, Concert Band, Chamber Winds, Campus Bands, Spartan Marching Band and Spartan Brass. He also guides the graduate wind-conducting program in addition to conducting the MSU Wind Symphony.
Prior to joining MSU, he was director of bands and associate professor of conducting at Baylor University. Previous to his appointment at Baylor he served as associate director of bands at the University of Texas and director of the Longhorn Band, and as associate director of bands at the University of Michigan and Stephen F. Austin State University.
Sedatole has conducted performances for the College Band Directors National Association, American Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, as well as performances in Carnegie Hall. He has conducted across the United States and Europe. Most recently the MSU Wind Symphony, under the direction of Professor Sedatole, has given featured performances at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic held in Chicago, Ill. and at the national conventions of the College Band Directors’ National Association held in Austin, Texas and Kansas City, Missouri. Performances conducted by Professor Sedatole have won accolades from prominent composers including Robert Beaser, John Corigliano, Michael Colgrass, Donald Grantham, David Maslanka, Ricardo Lorenz, Michael Daugherty, John Mackey, Jonathan Newman, Carter Pann, Joel Puckett, Dan Welcher as well as many others. Professor Sedatole also serves on the summer faculty of the Interlochen Music Camp, Board of Directors for the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and as the president of the CBDNA North Central division. His international engagements include residencies at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, Tokyo, Japan and the Mid Europe Festival, Schladming, Austria.
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Please join us at the second annual Ultimate Music Business Summit, which will be held January 6-8, 2022! This is a virtual summit where musicians (from across the globe) can gather and learn about entrepreneurial ideas. The goal of this summit is to ignite curiosity and offer valuable information from an array of experts. The entrepreneurial-minded musician who attends the summit will leave with new, creative ideas that will not only inspire them but will give them the necessary tools to utilize in our ever-changing musical world. The desire to connect, educate, learn, and grow together is UMBS’s hope and mission. Please visit our website at musicsummit.biz for more information! Thanks!
Prices of Tickets:
Basic Ticket: $17 Basic Ticket Early Bird (purchased before Nov. 30): $14 VIP (access to all video recordings): $137 Early Bird (purchased before Nov. 30): $97Dates:
January 6-8, 2022
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Glenn Eichelberger is the Director of Bands at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Glenn has been involved in HBCU bands for his entire career and joins the show to discuss his career and his experiences with HBCU excellence in music.
Links:
Glenn Eichelberger Holsinger: Prelude and Rondo Sheldon: 1,000 Cranes Nelhybel: FestivoBiography:
Mr. Eichelberger currently serves the Director of Bands at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Mr. Eichelberger recently completed his Masters of Arts in Instrumental Conducting at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland (2020). Mr. Eichelberger is a native of Miami Florida where he graduated from Miami Carol City Senior High School (1997). He started his undergraduate studies at Florida A&M University where he was a member of the FAMU Marching 100, Symphonic, Jazz, Brass Ensemble and Trombone Choir. In 2000 and 2002 Mr. Eichelberger was selected for the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Southeast Intercollegiate Honors Band. He is also a former member of the U.S. Marines Basic Musician Enlistment Program where he studied at the Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. Mr. Eichelberger also holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Florida Memorial University (2011). Mr. Eichelberger is also the Founder and President of the Palm Beach Band Director Coalition.
Prior to his appointment as the Director of Bands at Stillman College, Mr. Eichelberger served as the Director of Bands at Park Crossing High School in Montgomery, AL (2020-2021), a Graduate Conductor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD (2017-2020), Music Teacher at Holabird Middle School in Dundalk, MD (2017-2019), Department Chair and Director of Bands at Jeaga Middle School in West Palm Beach Florida (2015-2016), Director of Bands and Music Coordinator at N.E.W. Preparatory High School of Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (2014-2015), Director of Bands at American Senior High School in Hialeah, Florida (2008-2013). Mr. Eichelberger has also served as the Assistant to the Director of Band and Music Arranger at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC (2005-2006). Mr. Eichelberger has also served as the Assistant Director of Band and Music Arranger at James S. Rickards High in Tallahassee, Florida (2002-2003). During his Tenure at James S. Rickards the band was selected as the honor band for the Veterans Day Celebration and was selected to perform a post-game performance at Florida A&M University; Assistant to the Director of Band and Arranger at Thomasville High School in Thomasville, Georgia (2004-2005), during his time at Thomasville High the band was featured in a commercial for White Wheat Bread for the Hostus Bread Company. In the summer of 2006 Mr. Eichelberger was asked to serve as the Assistant Director of Bands and Music Arranger at his alma mater Miami Carol City Senior High. In April of 2007 Mr. Eichelberger was asked to serve as the Interim Director of Bands at Miami Carol City Senior High after the Promotion of Fedrick C. Ingram to Secretary/Treasurer of United Teachers of Dade. Mr. Eichelberger has been a Guest Clinician at the Savannah State University Summer Band Camp, (2012), Florida A&M University Marching 100 Summer Band Camp (1998-2002, 2004) Dade County Parks and Recreation Annual Summer Performing Arts Camp (1999), Miami Northwestern Senior High (1999), North Miami Beach Senior High (2004) and Florida Memorial University Miami All-Star Summer Band Camp (2003-Present), and several high schools in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He has served as a guest Conductor at Miami Carol City Senior High, Thomasville High School, Florida Memorial University, and Savannah State University.
Mr. Eichelberger is a member of the HBCU-National Band Director Consortium, Music Educator National Conference (MENC), Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA), Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA), International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), FAMU Marching 100 Alumni Band Association, (DAC) Diaspora Arts Coalition, (UTD) United Teachers of Dade, Florida Education Association (FEA), National Education Association (NEA), Teacher Association of Baltimore County (TABCO), Alabama Education Association (AEA), Maryland Music Educators Association, and an honorary member of the Eta Omicron Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma.
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Cam Stasa is a well known figure in the marching arts community as the Director of Participant Relations for Music for All (Bands of America). She joins the show to discuss Music for All programs, her personal journey through music, and her prospective on winning and losing in competition.
Links:
Music for All
Band of America Hall of Fame
Biography:
A graduate of Eastern Michigan University and Wayne State University (MI), she taught English and Communications in secondary schools prior to her arrival at MFA. Originally hired as Director of Operations for Bands of America, her job description evolved into the “sales” director of Music for All. Whether talking to directors by phone, or in person, Cam developed the most direct communication with music directors to encourage them to participate within the events produced throughout the year.
For over 15 years Cam has announced the Lake Park Lancer Joust, a high school marching band competition held annually on the campus of Lake Park High School in Roselle, Illinois. She is also the announcer of the Normal West Marching Band Invitational at Illinois Wesleyan University. Cam has been the Master of Ceremonies at the Chicagoland Invitational Concert Band Festival since 2003.
On March 8, 2014, Cam was inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame joining the ranks of William Revelli, John Paynter, Gary Green, Greg Bimm, Alfred Watkins and others that have been recognized for their impact on Bands of America, the nation’s band activity and music education.
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Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!
The Everything Band Podcast team includes the following contributors:
Host and Creator: Mark Connor Outreach Manager: Colin Peters Creative Director: Jake Walker -
Paula Crider has had an illustrious 33 year teaching career as a band director, 17 of those as the director of the University of Texas Longhorn Band. She continues to be powerful voice in the band community as a clinician and consultant.
Links:
Paula Crider Dahl: SinfoniettaBiography:
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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The Everything Band Podcast team includes the following contributors:
Host and Creator: Mark Connor Outreach Manager: Colin Peters Creative Director: Jake Walker -
JaRod Hall is a band director in Irving, Texas and an up and coming composer at the beginning of his writing career. He is infectiously positive throughout our conversation about his creative journey, including a discussion of representation and why it matters for our students.
Links:
Shostakovich: Finale from Symphony no. 5 Hall: Brigid's CrossBiography:
JaRod Hall (b. 1991) is a Texas-native educator, performer, and composer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education fom the University of North Texas where he studied conducting with Nicholas Williams and Dennis Fisher. Upon graduating, he served as an associate band director for Berkner High School in Richardson, Texas. A passionate performer, JaRod has been a part of many ensembles such as the North Texas Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band, 3 O’ Clock Lab Band, Carrollton Wind Symphony, Metropolitan Winds, and during his time in high school the Texas All-State Symphonic Band (2007-09) and Jazz Band (2010). He served as drum major for the 2013 Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, and member of the 2014 Disneyland All-American College Band. He is currently a freelance tubist and trombonist in the DFW metroplex. JaRod is the associate director of bands at Sam Houston Middle School in Irving, Texas. He resides in Carrollton, Texas with his fiancée, Rachel.
The Everything Band Podcast team includes the following contributors:
Host and Creator: Mark Connor Outreach Manager: Colin Peters Creative Director: Jake Walker-------
Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!
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