With over 500 titles in print and 15 million copies in circulation, Roger Emerson is one of the most widely performed choral composers in America today. He received his degree in Music Education from Southern Oregon University and served as music specialist for 12 years in the Mt. Shasta Public School system. He concluded his teaching career at the College of the Siskiyous, also in Northern California, and now devotes full time to composing, arranging and consulting. Roger is known for creating "songs kids love to sing," and has written such best sellers as First, We Must Be Friends, Sinner Man and Shoshone Love Song. His educational arrangements include We Are The World, The Greatest Love of All and My Best Friend's Wedding, as well as some of the most successful Broadway and commercial titles in the industry, including Disney's Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast and Seasons of Love from RENT. For 12 years running, Roger has been awarded ASCAP's (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Standard Award, as well as performances of his works at The Kennedy Center, The White House and Carnegie Hall. Roger is constantly in demand as a lecturer on popular choral music and has addressed major music education groups including MENC (Music Educators National Conference), CMEA (California Music Educators Association), TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association), ICDA (Iowa Choral Directors Association), OMEA (Ohio Music Educators Association) and NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association). Roger currently resides in Mt. Shasta, California with his wife Mari and daughters Cassie and Kayla.

Richard L. Saucedo retired in 2013 as Director of Bands and Performing Arts Department Chairman at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana. During his 31-year tenure, Carmel bands received numerous state, regional and national honors in the areas of concert band, jazz and marching band. Under his direction, Carmel's Wind Symphony I performed at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival three times, and was named Indiana State Champion Concert Band most recently in 2013. The group also performed at the 2005 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. Carmel Jazz Ensembles won numerous awards at festivals in Indiana and throughout the Midwest, and the Carmel High School Marching Greyhounds finished in the top ten at the Bands of America Grand National Championship for 17 years under Saucedo and were named National Champions in 2005 and 2012. The Marching Band was the Indiana Class A State Champion four times. He was named Indiana Bandmasters' 1998-99 Bandmaster of the Year, and Indiana Music Educators Association's 2010 Outstanding Music Educator. His accomplishments have been highlighted in articles by HALFTIME and SCHOOL BAND AND ORCHESTRA magazines. He was inducted into the Music for All Hall of Fame in 2015.

Mr. Saucedo is a freelance arranger and composer, having released numerous marching band arrangements, choral arrangements, and concert band and orchestral works. He is on the writing staff of Hal Leonard LLC. His compositions have been performed by middle school and high school bands all over the world, as well as by college and university groups.

Among the most distinguished classical artists of his generation, clarinetist JON MANASSE is internationally recognized for his inspiring artistry, uniquely glorious sound and charismatic performing style.Jon Manasse’s solo appearances include New York City performances at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Hunter College’s Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse, Columbia University, Rockefeller University and The Town Hall, fourteen tours of Japan and Southeast Asia – all with the New York Symphonic Ensemble, debuts in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Osaka and acclaimed concerto performances with Gerard Schwarz and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, both at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and at the prestigious Tokyu Bunkamura Festival in Tokyo. With orchestra, he has been guest soloist with the Augsburg, Dayton, Evansville, Indianapolis and National Philharmonics, Canada’s Symphony Nova Scotia, the National Chamber Orchestra and the Alabama, Annapolis, Bozeman, Dubuque, Florida West Coast, Green Bay, Jackson, Oakland East Bay, Pensacola, Princeton, Richmond and Stamford Symphonies, under the batons of Leslie B. Dunner, Peter Leonard, Matthew Savery, Alfred Savia, Lawrence Leighton Smith, Richard Westerfield, Michael Morgan and Leif Bjaland. He also presented the world premieres of James Cohn’s Concerto for Clarinet & String Orchestra at the international ClarinetFest ’97 at Texas Tech University and, in 2005, of Steven R. Gerber’s Clarinet Concerto with the National Philharmonic. Of special distinction was Mr. Manasse’s 2002 London debut in a Barbican Centre performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Gerard Schwarz and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.Jon Manasse’s current season is highlighted by duo-recitals with pianist Jon Nakamatsu at the Eastman School of Music, Duke and St. Bonaventure Universities and Charlottesville’s Tuesday Evening Concert Series and chamber music collaborations with the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, The Amadeus Trio at Southern Oregon University and the Ying Quartet at Harvard University. He also appears in recital at Pittsburg State University and as guest soloist with the Orchestra of Northern New York.An avid chamber musician, Jon Manasse has been featured in New York City programs with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theatre (on Lincoln Center’s “Great Performers Series”), The Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse and Merkin Concert Hall; at the Aspen Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Colorado Springs Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival and France’s Festival International des Arts, as well as the chamber music festivals of Bridgehampton, Cape and Islands, Crested Butte, Georgetown, St. Bart’s, Seattle and Tucson. He has also been the guest soloist with many of the leading chamber ensembles of the day, including The Amadeus Trio and Germany’s Trio Parnassus and the American, Borromeo, Colorado, Lark, Manhattan, Moscow, Orion, Rossetti Shanghai and Ying String Quartets, and has collaborated with violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jon Nakamatsu.Jon Manasse is also principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. As one of the nation’s most highly sought-after wind players, has also served as guest principal clarinetist of the New York Pops Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and New Jersey, Saint Louis and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, under the batons of Gerard Schwarz, Zdenek Macal, Jerzy Semkow, Robert Craft and Hugh Wolff. For several seasons, he was also the principal clarinetist of the New York Chamber Symphony. Mr. Manasse has been a guest clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic in concerts conducted by Valery Gergiev and André Previn, and, during the 2003-04 season, served as the principal clarinetist of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, performing under the batons of Artistic Director James Levine and, among others, Andrew Davis, Valery Gergiev and Vladimir Jurowski.Jon Manasse has six critically acclaimed CDS on the XLNT label: the complete clarinet concerti of Weber, with Lukas Foss and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra; the complete works for clarinet and piano of Weber, with pianist Samuel Sanders; recording premieres of 20th Century clarinet works; “Clarinet Music from 3 Centuries,” including Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet (with the Shanghai Quartet), as well as music by Spohr, Gershwin and James Cohn; James Cohn’s Clarinet Concerto #2; and, most recently released, the concerti of Mozart, Nielsen and Copland, with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. During the 2005-2006 season, he recorded Steven R. Gerber’s Clarinet Concerto with Vladimir Lande and the St. Petersburg Symphony, while, in New York City, he recorded his debut CD with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, a harmonia mundi usa album of the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas.Jon Manasse is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with David Weber. Mr. Manasse was a top prize winner in the Thirty-Sixth International Competition for Clarinet in Munich and the youngest winner of the International Clarinet Society Competition. Currently, he is an official “Performing Artist” of both the Buffet Crampon Company and Vandoren, the Parisian firms that are the world’s oldest and most distinguished clarinet maker and reed maker, respectively. Since 1995, he has been Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Eastman School of Music.Jon Manasse and his duo-partner, the acclaimed pianist Jon Nakamatsu, serve as Co-Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, an appointment announced during summer 2006.

Violinist Rachelle Elizabeth Puccini is an active soloist and chamber musician. She has played with orchestras, and in venues throughout the country and abroad. Last season she was featured as a soloist and guest concertmaster with the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra, and recorded Kreisler’s Liebesfreud and Libeslied with pianist Paul Hamilton. This upcoming season will feature solo and trio concerts in Chicago, and throughout the midwest. She is currently working on a film for the violin and piano work Fratres by Arvo Part where she is the featured subject and recording artist with pianist and film maker Paul Hamilton to be released in 2019. As an Eastman artist, Ms. Puccini enjoys giving clinics, recitals and masterclasses, she teaches and performs all her educational engagements on an Eastman violin model VL928. In Chicago, she has built a successful violin studio, and is currently on faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago. Ms. Puccini holds a Masters degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University where she studied with Gerardo Ribeiro, and a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Grand Valley State University where she studied with international soloist, violinist Dylana Jenson. She has also studied with violinist and pedagog Olga Kaler. Ms. Puccini concertizes on a 2015 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin made especially for her. In her spare time Rachelle enjoys painting, running, and the occasional triathlon.

Oscar Petty born in Newark, New Jersey. He has studied at the Mannes College of Music and earned his Bachelors Degree in Music Education at Montclair State University, Master and a Doctorate Degrees in Music from Rutgers University Mason Gross School for the Arts. His teachers have included Stephen Adelstein, Leonard Arner, Marsha Heller, Bert Lucarelli, Richard Killmer, and Matt Sullivan. Dr. Petty is a Yamaha Artist and gives master classes throughout the United States.

Hailed by the press as a brilliant and captivating oboist, Petty has served as principal oboist of the Rome Festival Orchestra, and has toured Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Canada. He was one of only four finalists to be awarded an Orchestral Performance Fellowship to the first Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, where Leonard Bernstein described Petty’s playing as "a gorgeous oboe sound."

He has performed at the New Jersey Mozart Festival, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall. Dr. Petty was awarded a fellowship to the American Conservatory of Music at Fontainebleau, France. He has performed in master classes at the Bach Aria Institute at New York University, American Oboist Conference at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Aspen Music Festival. His chamber music performances have included the Muir and Essex String Quartets, and he has performed under such notable conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Christopher Hogwood, Daniel Lewis and Herbert Blomstedt. Dr. Petty has also served as Principal Oboe for the Staten Island Symphony, Virtuosi de Camera, the Bergen Philharmonic and the Westfield Symphony and as Assistant Principal Oboe for the Cathedral Symphony at Sacred Heart Basilica, under Thomas Michalak. He has premiered five new works for oboe by legendary composer Mario Lombardo, and teaches Oboe at The Music Shop in Boonton, NJ.

Dr. Petty made his debut as a soloist at the world premiere of the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra by Mario Lombardo with the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea, under the direction of Alphonse Stephenson. Dr. Petty has performed on WQXR classical radio and premiered the Rhapsody for Oboe and Orchestra by Mario Lombardo with the Monmouth Symphony, under the direction of Roy Gussman. His performances have included the International Double Reed Society Conferences at Arizona State University, University of Wisconsin, University of North Carolina at Greensboro and New York University. He has performed as a soloist with the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, Sioux City Symphony in Iowa and recorded Music for Oboe and Orchestra with the Billings Symphony, under the direction of Uri Barnea. He has performed on multiple recordings with the Rutgers University Wind Ensemble and has recorded the music of Lombardo, Haydn, Ulysses Kay and Hanson. Dr. Petty has performed at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey and has presented a clinic at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Petty is Director of Bands and Orchestra at the Cicely Tyson High School of Performing and Fine Arts in East Orange, New Jersey and serves as a clinician and adjudicator for World Strides Music Festivals.

Dr. Robert Gillespie, violinist and professor of music, is chair of Music Education at Ohio State University where he is responsible for string teacher training. Ohio State has one of the largest and most extensive string pedagogy degree programs in the nation. Under Gillespie’s leadership, Ohio State received the 2015 ASTA Institutional Leadership Award as the premier string education university in the country.

Gillespie is a past national President of the American String Teachers Association. He is a frequent guest conductor of All-State, region and festival orchestras. Gillespie has appeared in 47 states, Canada, Asia and throughout Europe. He is co-author of the Hal Leonard string method book series, Essential Elements for Strings, the leading string instrument teaching series in the country with sales of over ten million copies. Also, he is co-author of the college text Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building A Successful School Orchestra Program, the String Clinics to Go DVD series, and the Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra texts for GIA publications. He received the Distinguished Scholar award for 2002–2003 in the School of Music at Ohio State University.

In summers, Gillespie directs the Ohio State String Teacher Workshop, the largest string/orchestra teacher-training workshop in the country. In Columbus, he conducts the Columbus Symphony Chamber Strings Youth Orchestra. He is a performing violinist in the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. During the previous academic year, Gillespie gave string pedagogy and research presentations, and conducted orchestra performances in Ohio, Maine, Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Alabama, Missouri, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida and Oregon. This year he is again working with students and teachers throughout the United States, including a 9-day teaching residency in Switzerland. In addition, he will be conducting concerts in LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall and Chicago’s Orchestra Hall.

Assistant Professor of Music Education Montclair State University

Dr. Shelley Axelson is currently Assistant Professor of Music Education at Montclair State University in New Jersey where her responsibilities include teaching conducting, conducting the Campus Band and teaching courses in instrumental music education. Before coming to New Jersey, she held a similar position at the University of Indianapolis. Dr. Axelson was also the Director of Bands at Central College in Pella, Iowa, Pasco Middle School in Dade City, Florida (co-author of the Secondary Music Curriculum) and Richardson Junior High School in Richardson, Texas. Dr. Axelson has appeared as a guest conductor, clinician or adjudicator throughout much of the United States and Canada. She received an undergraduate degree in Music Education from the University of South Florida, a Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Michigan and the Doctor of Music degree in Conducting from Northwestern University. Her principal conducting teachers are Mallory Thompson and H. Robert Reynolds.

Jonathan Palant is on the faculty at the University of Texas at Dallas and is founder and conductor of Credo, a 115-member community choir, and the Dallas Street Choir, a musical outlet for those experiencing homelessness and disadvantage. In addition, Dr. Palant is minister of music at Kessler Park United Methodist Church, adult choir director at Temple Shalom Dallas and is employed by the Dallas Independent School District to mentor middle and high school vocal music teachers.Upcoming conducting engagements include all-state choirs in Illinois and North Carolina, along with lectures in Arkansas, Florida, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.

A conductor, choral clinician, and music educator, Sophia Papoulis serves as Director of Choirs for the Boston Children's Chorus, where she conducts choirs at the advanced, intermediate, and beginning levels. She also serves as Creative Director for the Foundation for Small Voices, a not-for-profit organization dedicated, through music, to crossing cultural, generational, and ideological boundaries to raise awareness and funds for national and international music and mentoring programs for children. Sophia guest-conducts regional and all-state choruses; adjudicates; guest-lectures in music education and conducting; and gives choral and teacher education workshops throughout the US and abroad. She is a firm believer in the power of music to inspire growth and inherent joy.

Dr. Dave Gerhart, Product Manager for Yamaha Corporation of America and Lecturer of Percussion at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, is a nationally recognized performer, composer, and educator. Dr. Gerhart, originally from Fairfield, California, holds a D.M.A. from the University of Southern California in Percussion Performance with a secondary emphasis in Music Education, Ethnomusicology, and Music Industry and Technology. He received a M.M. in Percussion Performance and Instrumental Conducting and a B.M. in Music Education from California State University, Long Beach. Dave’s compositions and arrangements for percussion ensemble and steel drum orchestra are published by Bachovich Music Publications, Boxfish Music Publishing and Living Sounds Publications. He is a founding member of the Island Hoppin’ Steel Drum Band and the IronWorks Percussion Duo.

Equally at home in a multitude of musical idioms, Allen Vizzutti has visited 60 countries and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of artists and ensembles including Chick Corea, 'Doc' Severinsen, the NBC Tonight Show Band, the Airmen Of Note, the Army Blues and Army Symphony Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, Japan's NHK Orchestra, the Budapest Radio Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Performing as a classical and a jazz artist, often in the same evening, he has appeared as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Germany, Slovenia, St. Louis, Seattle, Rochester, Syracuse, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Phoenix, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg to name a few. He has been featured on national television throughout the world, and has had solo performances at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Newport Jazz Festival, Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Montreaux Jazz Festival, the Teton, Vail, Aspen and Breckenridge Music Festivals, the Charles Ives Center and Lincoln Center in New York City.

Allen was taught by his father, a self-taught musician and trumpet player, until he left home to attend the Eastman School of Music on full scholarship. There, he earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, a Performer's Certificate, a chair in the Eastman Brass Quintet faculty ensemble and the only Artist's Diploma ever awarded a wind player in Eastman's history.

While living in Los Angeles during the 80's, Allen performed on over 150 motion picture sound tracks, (such as Back To The Future and Star Trek), as well as countless TV shows, commercials and recordings with such artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Chick Corea, the Commodores and Prince. His soaring sound can be heard on such projects as the movies Furry Vengeance, 40 Days and 40 Nights, Unfaithfully Yours, Gridiron Gang, Scary Movie Four and The Hulk, as well as the "Medal of Honor", "Resistance" and "Halo" video games.

Allen's love of expression through composition has led to premier performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Budapest Radio Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic of London, the Nuremberg Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony, London Symphony, the renowned Summit Brass and others. Allen Vizzutti is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Anthony McGill, principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (MET), has been recognized as one of classical music’s finest solo, chamber and orchestral musicians. Before joining the MET Orchestra in 2004, he served as associate principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.On January 20, 2009, McGill performed “Air and Simple Gifts” by John Williams with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Gabriela Montero at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, and again on August 18, 2012 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood as part of a special concert honoring John Williams 80th birthday.In 2000, McGill was a winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and in March of 2012 was one of the first three artists to receive the Sphinx Organization’s Medal of Excellence, which were presented at the U.S. Supreme Court.McGill frequently performs with the MET Chamber Ensemble and in January 2012 was featured in the Copland Clarinet Concerto with the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He can also be seen on the Live in HD broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera.In addition to the MET Orchestra, he has appeared as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony and Symphony in C, to name a few. In May of 2012 he and his brother Demarre McGill were invited by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra where they began their careers, to be soloists in the world premiere of a concerto for flute and clarinet written for them by Joel Puckett .Anthony McGill has collaborated with such musicians as Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida and Lang Lang, and in many festivals including Tanglewood, Marlboro, Mainly Mozart, [email protected], Grand Teton, Interlochen, Music from Angel Fire, Bridgehampton, and Sarasota Festival. In July 2012 he participated in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa.McGill’s love of chamber music has taken him throughout the United States, as well as Europe and Asia. He has worked with such quartets as the Guarneri, Tokyo, Brentano, Shanghai, Pacifica, Miami, Miro and Daedalus, and with such groups as Musicians from Marlboro and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He is a member of the Schumann Trio with violist Michael Tree and pianist Anna Polonsky.McGill has appeared on Performance Today, MPR’s St. Paul Sunday Morning, Ravinia’s Rising Star Series, on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series, and on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood television show.He attended Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Curtis Institute of Music. His teachers have included Donald Montanaro, Richard Hawkins, Larry Combs, Julie DeRoche, David Tuttle and Sidney Forrest.In high demand as a teacher, McGill currently serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Mannes College and Bard College Conservatory of Music. He has given master classes at the Curtis Institute, University of Michigan, SUNY Stony Brook, Temple University, UCLA, University of New Mexico, Manhattan School of Music, and has been a coach at the Verbier Festival.

Weston Sprott enjoys an exciting career that includes orchestral, chamber, and solo performances, as well as numerous educational and outreach efforts. He is currently Acting Principal Trombone of New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and has been a member of the orchestra since 2005. He has been recognized as “an excellent trombonist” with a “sense of style and phrasing [that] takes a backseat to no one”.

Sprott performs frequently with the Philadelphia Orchestra, recently held a position with the Zurich Opera/Philharmonia, and has appeared with numerous other major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, and Oslo Philharmonic. He previously held principal positions with the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. His chamber music engagements include performances with the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Fesitval (SICMF), PRIZM Ensemble, 92nd Street Y, Great Mountains Music Festival, and numerous others.

Weston Sprott is an artist/clinician for the Antoine Courtois Instrument Company. He performs exclusively on Courtois trombones and plays the Legend AC420BHW “New Yorker Model” trombone. Performances and interviews with Mr. Sprott have been seen and heard on PBS’ Great Performances, NPR’s Performance Today, MSNBC, and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Derek Fenstermacher is leading a new era of tuba soloists into the 21st century with his dynamic musicianship and keen eye for detail. As the newly appointed Principal Tubist with the New Jersey Symphony, Derek is now entering into the New Jersey music scene with a thirst for creativity and a passion for education. Prior to coming to the NJSO, Derek was the Principal Tubist with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Orchestra (TN) from 2006-2014. He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony, Houston Ballet Orchestra, Alabama Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, and Meridian Symphony orchestras, as well as being an Associate Member with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in 2008-2009. An enthusiastic teacher, Derek teaches orchestral tuba at Bard College’s Conservatory of Music and also coaches the school’s brass quintet and trombone quartet. He is adjunct professor of low brass at Kean University’s Conservatory of Music where he also teaches applied tuba, trombone, and euphonium. Derek has taught masterclasses at University of Wisconsin–Madison and Montclair State University with several others scheduled for 2014/15.

David Gould’s clarinet playing has been characterized as “elegant” and “virtuosic”. He has been a featured concerto soloist in America and Europe in works by Debussy, Mozart, and Strauss. Mr. Gould has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra, L’Orchestre National de France, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, the New York City Ballet, the New York City Opera, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He is currently third clarinet and bass clarinetist with the American Ballet Theater Orchestra in New York City. He has performed under the direction of many of today’s leading conductors such as Marin Alsop, Charles Dutoit, Daniele Gatti, Alan Gilbert, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, John Nelson, Krzystof Penderecki, David Robertson, Gerard Schwartz, and Leonard Slatkin.Mr. Gould is committed to the music of his time and has given numerous world premieres including works by David Bixler, Paquito D’Rivera, Christian Ellenwood, Hayes Greenfield, Sean Hickey, and Ranny Reeve.As a chamber player he has performed with the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the iO String Quartet, Nancy Allen, Philippe Cuper, Carol Wincenc, and the Polish Wind and String Players Ensemble. He founded Ensemble 54, the NYC based clarinet quartet. He has taken part in the recording sessions for the soundtracks of major motion pictures and documentaries including the Coen brother’s remake of True Grit, Extremely Loud and Intolerably Close, and Building Alaska for PBS.He has given master classes, concerts, or lectures at many prestigious schools such as the Colburn School, the New England Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, and the University of Michigan.Mr. Gould has edited and corrected etudes by Labanchi for International Music Diffusion (IMD) and recorded for Naxos, Mode Records, and MSR Classics.He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, having studied with Stanley Drucker and David Weber, and was awarded the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, to study music in France. He studied privately with Jacques Lancelot. Living three years in Paris, David Gould studied at the Conservatoire Paul Dukas in the class of Michel Arrignon and later at the Conservatoire National de Region de Versailles in the class of Philippe Cuper. He completed both Superior and Honor level studies earning unanimous first prizes with special felicitations of the jury.Throughout his performing career Mr. Gould has had a significant relationship and concurrent professional career working with Vandoren, the French manufacturer of the world’s finest reeds and mouthpieces. For close to fifteen years he has aided in the development of new products as well as their marketing and promotion. He serves as the Artist-Relations manager, product specialist, and is the director of the Vandoren Musician’s Advisory Studio in midtown Manhattan for DANSR inc.

Cheryl Lavender, Doctor of Music Education (honoris causa), is internationally recognized as a master music educator, composer, clinician and keynote speaker. Having taught music for 37 years from elementary through university levels, Cheryl maintains an active writing/speaking schedule through Hal Leonard. Cheryl’s 50+ music resources include games, songs, and teaching strategies. Popular titles: ROUND the World, World Partners, Beautiful Music - Beautiful Children posters, The Ultimate Music Assessment and Evaluation Kit, Making Each Minute Count, Songs of the Rainbow Children, Rhythm/Melody Flash Cards, and the popular Bingo series.

In 2016, Cheryl was awarded a DMusEd (h.c.) degree from VanderCook College of Music. She is a contributing composer for MacMillan/McGraw-Hill textbook Spotlight On Music and John Jacobson's Music Express magazine. In 2005, Cheryl received the WMEA Distinguished Service Award and the Central Michigan University Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2004, she was awarded the NEA [email protected] $5000 grant funding the school's piano lab. In 1996, she taught in South Africa for Eisenhower Citizen Ambassadors. In 1993, Cheryl received Elmbrook School’s Outstanding Teacher Award. Cheryl's enthusiasm for teaching music and her love for children make her one of the most sought-after clinicians in music education.

Dr. Charles Laux is the Director of Orchestras at Alpharetta High School where his duties include directing five levels of orchestra, including the nationally recognized AHS Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as Essential Elements clinician, consultant, and contributor for the Hal Leonard Corporation. Dr. Laux holds degrees in music education from Ohio University, the University of Nevada – Las Vegas, and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. A string educator for over 20 years, Dr. Laux has worked with diverse student populations from elementary school through collegiate level. He served as Assistant Professor of String Music Education at Kennesaw State University and directed award-winning school orchestra programs in Nevada, Florida, and Ohio.

Endorsed as an artist educator by D’Addario Orchestral and Eastman Stringed Instruments, Dr. Laux has presented over 100 educational sessions for conferences and school district in-services. Dr. Laux remains in frequent demand across the nation as an orchestra clinician, conductor, and adjudicator.

Acclaimed for her electrifying performances and compositions, pioneering electro-acoustic violist Martha Mooke is highly regarded for her artistry, innovative educational programs and music advocacy. She transcends musical boundaries, enhancing classical training with extended techniques, technology and improvisation.

A Yamaha Performing Artist and leading clinician on electric and progressive string playing, Mooke has performed with Barbra Streisand, David Bowie, Philip Glass, Elton John, Trey Anastasio, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli, Star Wars in Concert, Tony Bennett and many others. She has performed solo concerts throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Cuba. Her genre-defying recordings include Enharmonic Vision, Bowing's Cafe Mars and No Ordinary Window, produced by multi-Grammy winner Cynthia Daniels.

Mooke is Founder and Artistic Director of the Scorchio Quartet, which has performed annually since 2001. The group made its debut performing with David Bowie at the Tibet House Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall, produced by Philip Glass. Scorchio is featured on Bowie's Heathen album and has performed on Damon Albarn's solo tour as well as with Blur at Madison Square Garden.

Mooke is a recipient of the prestigious ASCAP Concert Music award for creating and producing ASCAP's new music showcase THRU THE WALLS, featuring boundary-defying composer/performers. She serves on the Board of Governors of the NY Chapter of the Recording Academy, Grammy Career Day and Advocacy committees and the Composers Now Advisory Board.

Don Liuzzi was born and raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and completed high school at the Franklin Learning Center in Philadelphia. He earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan and his Master of Music from Temple University. His primary teachers were Alan Abel, Charles Owen and John Soroka.

Before joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989, Mr. Liuzzi was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony percussion section from 1982-1989. While in Pittsburgh, he taught percussion and conducted the percussion ensemble at Duquesne University, was Assistant Conductor of the Three Rivers Young People Orchestra and appeared on PBS' nationally-syndicated Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, performing marimba and percussion solos.

Locally, Mr. Liuzzi has been a percussionist with the Network for New Music and has recorded contemporary chamber works for the CRI label. He has given master classes at most major music schools throughout the United States and in Mexico, Spain, Korea and China. For several seasons he has been a percussion and timpani coach at the National Orchestra Institute. He joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in January 1994.

Mr. Liuzzi's early orchestral experience included the Flint Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra and the Colorado Philharmonic. He has also played in the Spoleto Festival Orchestra and the Berkshire Music Center Fellowship Orchestra. In July 1996, he made his solo debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Music Center. He is married to former PBS producer Gretchen McManus Liuzzi, and they have two daughters, Ana and Cara.

Sharon Burch began teaching general music in 1987. Constantly pursuing the best methods of educationally connecting with students, she is a certified teacher with the International Piano Teaching Foundation, earned a master’s degree as a Professional Educator and uses a combination of strategies to enable kids to experience concepts in the classroom. Teaching creatively, Sharon introduced Freddie the Frog to her classroom of music students in 1995 and discovered the magic of games, storytelling and puppetry in teaching.

She authored Freddie the Frog and the Thump in the Night, Freddie the Frog and the Bass Clef Monster, Freddie the Frog and the Mysterious Wahooooo, and Freddie the Frog and the Secret of Crater Island as the first of several adventuresome stories introducing fundamental music concepts. Collaborating with jazz double bass player and elementary educator, Sherry Luchette, the next book introduces jazz through scat and improv in an interactive story—Freddie the Frog and the Flying Jazz Kitten. Sharon and Sherry serve on the Jazz Education Network Elementary Jazz Committee. Sharon enjoys sharing her teaching strategies atmusic conferences and clinics with teachers around the globe and teaches general music to the K-3 students in the Centerville Community School District in Centerville, Iowa.

David F. Eccles is a native of Norfolk, Virginia and currently serves as Director of String Music Education and Orchestral Activities at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. He has held string education positions in Virginia and Florida. He is an active clinician, adjudicator, conductor, and cellist. He has served as music director and principal conductor for many youth orchestras and guest conductor for numerous state, county, regional, and community orchestras.

Mr. Eccles has presented clinic sessions at local, state, and international conferences including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Directors Clinic & Conference, American String Teachers Association Conference, Texas Music Educators Conference, Illinois Music Educators Conference, and Florida Music Educators Conference. Mr. Eccles is also a clinician and consulting author for the Hal Leonard Corporation and a Performing Artist for JonPaul Bows.

Jim Snidero attended the U of North Texas, where he was a member of the One O’clock band, before moving to New York in 1981, studying with both Phil Woods and David Liebman.

Snidero has performed and/or recorded with Frank Sinatra, Eddie Palmieri, Tony Bennett, Jack McDuff, Mingus Big Band, Jack Dejohnette, Sting, Dave Holland, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Eddie Gomez, and Frank Wess, among others.

His solo credits include 17 recordings for EMI, Milestone, Savant and Criss-Cross, including “Strings” (Milestone), composed for string orchestra, hailed a “masterpiece”. In 2011, “Interface” (Savant) prompted a full-length feature in Downbeat magazine, demonstrating his continued relevance on the international jazz scene.

Snidero is considered one of the most influential jazz educators of his generation, authoring the “Jazz Conception” series, which “changed the way jazz is taught”. His “Jazz Conception Company” is producing innovative courses in jazz improvisation and performance. He is an adjunct at New School University and was a visiting professor at both Indiana U and Princeton. Snidero is an active clinician for both Conn-Selmer and Rico.

Canadian-born flutist Jeffrey Khaner has been principal flute of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1990. From 1982 to 1990 he was principal flute of the Cleveland Orchestra, and he has also served as principal of the New York Mostly Mozart Festival and the Atlantic Symphony in Halifax, as well as co-principal of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

A noted soloist, Mr. Khaner has performed concertos with orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia, collaborating with conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Claus Peter Flor, Hans Werner Henze, Erich Leinsdorf, Kurt Masur, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Yutaka Sado, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Gerard Schwarz, José Serebrier, Robert Spano, Franz Welser-Möst, and David Zinman. Mr. Khaner's concerto repertoire is extensive and he has premiered many works including the concertos by Behzad Ranjbaran, Ned Rorem, Jonathan Leshnoff, Eric Sessler, and David Chesky, all written for him. As a recitalist, Mr. Khaner has appeared on four continents with pianists Charles Abramovic, Christoph Eschenbach, Lowell Liebermann, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Hugh Sung, and many others. He regularly incorporates into his programs the music of today's composers, many of whom have written expressly for him.

A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Khaner was named to the faculty as flute professor in 2004, holding the position which was formerly held by his mentor, the late Julius Baker. Since 1985 he has been a faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He is also Professor of Flute at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. He has given master classes throughout North, South, and Central America, Europe, and Asia.

Mr. Khaner has also participated as a performer and teacher at many summer festivals and seminars, including the Solti Orchestral Project at Carnegie Hall, the New World Symphony, the Pacific Music and the Hamamatsu festivals in Japan, the Sarasota and Grand Teton festivals, and the Lake Placid Institute. In 1995, he was selected by Sir Georg Solti to be principal flute of the World Orchestra for Peace, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. The orchestra regularly reconvenes in venues throughout the world.

In addition to his orchestral recordings, Mr. Khaner has extensively recorded solo flute repertoire. He has released seven critically acclaimed solo CDs on the Avie label - American, British, Czech, French, German, and Romantic Flute Music, and Brahms and Schumann sonatas and romances. His recording of David Chesky's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra appears on Chesky Records ,and his recording of Ned Rorem's concerto is on Naxos. His editions of repertoire, including the Brahms sonatas, are published by the Theodore Presser Company. Mr. Khaner is a Yamaha Performing Artist and clinician.

Powell Artist NANCY STAGNITTA is a leading crossover artist as both classical flutist and jazz artist. Praised for her “brilliance and beauty of tone” by the Baltimore Sun, her passion, versatility, and elegant artistry have led to concert engagements in Europe, Asia, Africa, and across the U.S. In 2018, she will perform and teach at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and will appear as concerto soloist with the China National Symphony in Beijing.

Her recent album with Grammy Award winning pianist and composer Bob James, “In the Chapel in the Moonlight,” has garnered acclaim across musical genres, and was described in JAZZIZ magazine as “…captivating… brilliant… striking… Stagnitta effortlessly picks up on [James’] attitude, sounding not unlike Hubert Laws.” “Nancy Stagnitta is among a very few flutists on the planet who can truly play both classical and jazz flute,” says legendary flutist Jim Walker. “The recent recording with Bob James speaks volumes to her fluency and talent in great flute playing.” It was declared “an album to be treasured” by renowned flutist Paula Robison. Stagnitta has also recorded contemporary American classical repertoire for Capstone Records, and was recently featured on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

Appointed as U.S.I.A. Artistic Ambassador to southern Africa, she presented concerts and master classes in Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique and Namibia. She has also performed at the Shanghai Conservatory, the Biblioteca Universitaria di Napoli, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, and on the Voice of America Broadcast Network and National Public Radio. A two-time recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Solo Artist Award, she was named a semi-finalist in the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition.

A passionate educator, Stagnitta currently serves as Instructor of Flute at Interlochen Arts Academy, a world leader in arts education. Her students have consistently attended top conservatory programs, won major awards and competitions, and can be heard in orchestras and ensembles around the world. Eight of her students have won the prestigious $10,000 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, and subsequently appeared on NPR’s “From the Top,” since 2009. She has offered masterclasses in Germany, Italy, Shanghai, and at American universities in Austin, Boulder, and Phoenix, among many others. As a result of her holistic approach to teaching, and to an ongoing collaboration with the dance and physics departments at Interlochen, she was invited to present a lecture on the relationship between body alignment, resonance, and injury prevention at the 2011 Performing Artist and Athlete Science Symposium. She earned her degrees from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where she received the Ashworth Prize. Her teachers include Robert Willoughby, Tim Day, and Mark Sparks.

A "remarkable artist with dazzling musical ability" (American Record Guide), Lisa Garner Santa currently serves as Artist-Performer and Professor of Flute at Texas Tech University where she enjoys a diverse career as teacher, recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician. Her playing has been described as "luminously beautiful" (Audio Video Club of Atlanta) and "soulful" (All Music Guide).

As a member of the National Flute Association, Dr. Garner Santa has been a featured performer at numerous conventions and has served as adjudicator and coordinator for many NFA events and competitions, including service as the Program Chair and as a member of the Executive Committee.

As a pedagogue, Lisa Garner Santa presents masterclasses throughout the United States and abroad. International exchanges include masterclasses and performances at the Royal College of Music in London, England, Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, Peking University in Beijing, China and most recently in Veracruz, Mexico. Her students have been prize winners in numerous competitions including the NFA Young Artist, Myrna Brown, Frank Bowen, and Byron Hestor competitions.

Lisa Garner Santa has been recognized as a pedagogue through many awards including the Texas Tech University President's Excellence in Teaching Award and the President's Excellence in Diversity and Equity Award. Recent publications include The Flutist Quarterly 2019 articles, “An Uncommon Woman: Celebrating the Flute Works of Composer Joan Tower,” and "Ergonomic Headjoint Designs," co-authored with Chip Shelton, D.D.S., as well as the 2018 co-authored book chapter, “Faculty Voices and Perspectives on Transparent Assignment Design," Stylus Publishing, an outgrowth of the Transparency in Teaching and Learning Project at TTU. Musician Wellness continues to be an integrated part of her pedagogy: "How the Busiest People Alive Thrive: Tools to Fuel Teaching and Prevent Burnout," co-authored with Dr. Shauna Thompson, was published by Southwestern Musician in 2019.

Jason Heath is the Double Bass Product Manager for Eastman Strings. He also serves on the advisory board of Be Part of the Music, and he is internationally active as a clinician and consultant. Jason is a former of the Board of Directors for the International Society of Bassists and past president of the Illinois chapter of the American String Teachers Association and past orchestra representative for District VII of the Illinois Music Educators Association.

A highly decorated veteran teacher, Jason is a past faculty member at DePaul University and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. His former students hold positions in the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Baltimore Symphony, and Philharmonie Sudwestfalen. As a high school orchestra director, Jason’s orchestras had many notable performances, including the Midwest Clinic in Chicago and tours in Peru, Spain, and Cuba.

A graduate of Northwestern University, Jason performs with the IRIS Orchestra in Memphis Tennessee and ensembles in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was a member of the Elgin Symphony for 16 seasons and has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Symphony, and numerous other professional ensembles.