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Instrumental Music Education: Teaching with the Musical and Practical in Harmony, Third Edition, by Evan Feldman and Ari Contzius, with contributions by Mitchell Lutch and Katarzyna Bugaj.
A research-based look at the topics vital to running a successful instrumental music program, balancing musical, theoretical, and practical approaches.
This textbook is intended for college instrumental music education majors studying to be band and orchestra directors at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. A central theme is the compelling parallel between language and music, including "sound-to-symbol" pedagogies. Understanding this connection improves the teaching of melody, rhythm, composition, and improvisation.
This companion website includes:
- Over 120 pedagogy videos for wind, string, and percussion instruments performed by professional players and teachers
- Examples of portfolio assignments and assessments, new to the third edition
- Nearly 50 videos on rehearsal strategies
- Additional chapter, “The Job Search and Interview”
- “The Rehearsal Toolkit,” a compilation of rehearsal ideas filmed with high school, college, an adult ensembles
- Over 50 tracks of acoustically pure drones and demonstration exercises for use in rehearsals, sectionals, and lessons
- Rhythm flashcards, practice charts, and sample lesson plans and forms
Authors
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Dr. Evan Feldman is Director of Wind Studies and Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches courses in conducting and music education. He also directs the Triangle Wind Ensemble (a community ensemble) and the Greensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra, and serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Greensboro Symphony, where he conducts their education, holiday, and pops concerts.
He is an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in and outside of the United States, with recent engagements in Switzerland, Romania, Belgium, Spain, and Tanzania, as well as all-state, all-district, and all-county honor bands in the United States. Under his direction, the UNC Wind Ensemble has been invited to perform at the North Carolina Music Educators Association annual convention and twice to the College Band Directors National Association southern division conference. He has been described as “...the real thing - a conductor with evident ensemble-building skills who knows his way around the podium...”
In addition to Instrumental Music Education, he is the author of the first MOOC (massive open online course) dedicated to conducting and rehearsal technique. Over 25,000 students have enrolled through Coursera.org.
Dr. Feldman’s arrangements and editions of music by Léo Delibes, Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Enescu, Antonin Dvořák, Ariel Ramirez, and Sergei Prokofiev are published by Tierolff Muziekcentrale (Netherlands), and his research on wind music has been presented at national and international conferences, including those of WASBE (World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) and IGEB (International Society for the Promotion and Investigation of Wind Music).
Dr. Feldman earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he studied with Donald Hunsberger and served as an assistant conductor for the Eastman Wind Ensemble and Eastman Wind Orchestra. He received his Masters in Conducting from Ithaca College (New York) and his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Duke University (North Carolina). He previously taught high school band in Hicksville, New York.
Ari Contzius is the Director of Bands at Washingtonville High School, located 60 miles northwest of Manhattan, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches brass and percussion lessons. Mr. Contzius' bands have consistently earned Gold with Distinction ratings at the New York State School Music Association's Majors Festival Evaluations. He is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician and has worked with junior high and high school honor bands in Iowa and New York. Mr. Contzius is the founder and Artistic Director of the Orange County Music Educators’ Association Summer Music Institute, a summer camp for elementary through high school band, orchestra and chorus students.
A native of Parsippany, New Jersey, he began his training as a music educator at Indiana University's Jacob School of Music, where in 1993 he earned his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education. At the beginning of his career he taught elementary and middle school band in the Elkhart Community School District, Elkhart, Indiana. In 1997 he moved to Long Island, New York to serve as a band director at Hicksville High School, in Hicksville. During this time he earned his Masters in Fine Arts from Hofstra University, where he studied wind conducting with Dr. Peter Loel Boonshaft. As an active trumpet player he maintains a small private studio and performs with the New York Wind Symphony. He resides in Wallkill, New York with his lovely wife Ashley, who is also a high school band director, along with children Cole and Leia.
Mitchell Lutch served as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Central College in Pella, IA from 2005-2019, where he directed the wind ensemble and pep band, and taught courses in instrumental conducting, music education and music appreciation. He also served as the Director of Intersections, the first-year orientation and seminar course. In 2014 he was presented with Central’s Hutch Bearce Award for Community Building and Faculty Leadership and in 2012 he was awarded The John Wesselink Outstanding Performance Award. In 2013 he was selected as one of ten faculty members to represent Central College at a Global Education Conference in Spain and Morocco. Dr. Lutch founded the Iowa Chamber Players in the summer of 2017. He also directed the Central Iowa Wind Ensemble for 13 years and the Grinnell College Symphonic Band for 10 years. In Fall 2019 he served as Interim Associate Director of Bands at the University of Northern Colorado.
He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Instrumental Conducting at the University of Washington and earned his Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory where he studied with Frank Battisti serving as the graduate assistant for the NEC Wind Ensemble and assistant conductor of the Massachusetts Wind Ensemble. His Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education is from the University of Lowell.
His book, In Search of Meaning: Frank L. Battisti - The Conservatory Years and into the New Millennium, Meredith Music Publications, was released by the Hal Leonard Corporation in 2019. Artists he has collaborated with in his teaching career include Frank Battisti, Donald Hunsburger, Eric Ewazen, Dana Wilson, Keith Brion, Ellis Marsalis, Frank Foster, Slide Hampton and Marian McPartland. Dr. Lutch is Past President of the New York State Band Directors Association and has been a guest speaker at several educational institutions including New England Conservatory, Shenandoah Conservatory, Western Washington University, the College of William and Mary, and Denison University. Conducting appearances and research presentations include concerts and conferences throughout the United States, Quebec, London, Japan, The People’s Republic of China, the former Soviet Union, Luxembourg, and Mexico.
Katarzyna (Kasia) Bugaj is an Associate Professor of Music Education at The Florida State University. At FSU, Dr. Bugaj teaches string techniques, string methods courses and historical research; she also teaches at the FSU Summer Music Camps. Her research interests include music teacher education, string pedagogy, and historical research of many stripes. In 2018-2019 she was a Fulbright Scholar at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland. She has presented at state, national, and international conferences and—in addition to academic articles—has published articles about music for the general audience. She is a frequent guest speaker and clinician throughout the United States. Bugaj is a member of the national board of the American String Teachers Association, as well as the Florida Orchestra Association. In 2018 she was selected as the Collegiate Educator of the Year by the Florida Music Education Association.
Prior to her appointment at Florida State University, Bugaj was the director of the Attica Violin Project, a curricular elementary school violin program in Attica, Indiana. She was also the assistant director of the Fairview and Highland Park string programs in Bloomington, IN, and taught violin and viola on the faculty of the Indiana University String Academy. She was adjunct faculty at Valparaiso University, a member of the viola section with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and also played with the Grand Rapids and Louisville Symphony Orchestras.
She received her Ph.D. in Music Education from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She also has degrees from Western Michigan University, The Peabody Conservatory, and is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. She has a minor in writing from Johns Hopkins University and pursued a certificate of literary translation at Indiana University.
Contributors
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Cynthia Krenzel regularly appears throughout the U.S. and abroad as a soloist, recitalist and clinician. International appearances include performances at the European Clarinet Festival in Belgium; solo performances in Merida, Mexico, with the Cuidad Orquesta de Cámara; chamber music performances in Tuscany, Italy; and giving master classes at the National Conservatory of Music in Romania. Additionally, Dr. Krenzel has performed recitals and master classes throughout the Midwest, and she regularly judges high school competitions in Iowa. A dedicated pedagogue, Cynthia helped found the annual event Iowa Clarinet Day to further the education of clarinetists statewide. Dr. Krenzel is associate professor of music at Central College. She earned her doctoral and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin, and her master’s degree from Kent State University. Her primary teachers include Håkan Rosengren, Linda Bartley and Andrea Splittberger-Rosen.
Dr. Lisa Bost-Sandbergis a flutist, composer, and improviser deeply committed to contemporary music as well as its rich roots in the classical repertoire. In demand as a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed across the United States and Europe, including National Flute Association conventions, new music festivals (SEAMUS, EMM, Pixilerations, Spark, and SCI), and guest appearances at universities. Currently serving the National Flute Association as a member of the Board of Directors, she recently completed a term as chair of the New Music Advisory Committee. She has recorded on the Albany, GIA, and North Texas Jazz labels.
Her compositions have been selected for performance at conferences of the World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, National Flute Association, Society of Composers Inc., and Iowa Composers Forum. Her most recent project, titled Chroma, is a collaboration with artist and commissioner Marjorie Schlossman and is the subject of a short film by Mary Trunk and Caren McCaleb.
A dynamic and impactful teacher, Bost-Sandberg has taught masterclasses, presented lecture-recitals, and led workshops at numerous institutions. She is the Instructor of Flute at the University of North Dakota and teaches at the International Music Camp. Originally from Montana, she received her doctorate in flute performance with a related field in composition from the University of North Texas as a recipient of the prestigious Masters and Doctoral Fellowship. She is also a graduate of New York University (Master of Arts) and The University of Iowa (Bachelor of Music).
Stanley E. Dahl is the director of the Percussion Ensemble and the Flying Pans Steel Band at Central College, in Pella, IA. He received a bachelor of music in music education from Iowa State University, where he studied with Michael Geary and Dr. Barry Larkin, and a master of music in percussion performance from Arizona State University where he studied with Dr. J.B. Smith and Dr. Mark Sunkett.
As a clinician and artist, he has appeared at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, International Association of Pan Convention, Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference and the Iowa Music Educators Association Conference. He has also given numerous percussion lectures and performances at colleges, universities, high schools and elementary schools throughout the United States, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.
Dahl is past president of Iowa Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and a member of the Percussive Arts Society World Percussion Committee. He is also director of the Des Moines steel band, Tropical Steel, and performs steel pan and vocals with the Caribbean-funk band, Jumbies. Stanley is a Pearl/Adams Regional Education Artist.
Cynthia Johnston Turner is Director of Bands, Professor of Music, and co-Artistic Director of Rote Hund Muzik at the Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia. Turner conducts the Hodgson Wind Ensemble, leads the MM and DMA programs in conducting, and oversees the entire band program including the 400+ member Redcoat Marching Band. She is "VIP Educational Clinician" with Conn-Selmer.
Before her appointment at the Hodgson School at the University of Georgia, Cynthia was Director of Wind Ensembles at Cornell University. Earlier in her career, Cynthia was a high school music educator, taught middle school beginning instrumental music in Toronto and choral music in Switzerland.
A Canadian, Cynthia completed her Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees at Queens University and her Master of Music in music education and conducting at the University of Victoria. Touring with her ensembles inspired her master’s thesis on the musical and personal transformations that occur on tours, and her D.M.A. thesis at the Eastman School of Music centered on the music of William Kraft, one of this generation’s leading composers. At Eastman, Cynthia was the recipient of the prestigious teaching award in conducting. She received the National Leadership in Education Award (Canada), the Excellence in Education Award (Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation), and the Marion Drysdale Leadership Award (also from OSSTF). She is also the recipient of the Donald A. Reick Memorial Award for research with wearable technologies and music pedagogy, grants from the UGA Willson Center for Creative Activities, multiple awards from the UGA career center, and the American Prize for innovative programming with wind bands.
Cynthia has commissioned numerous new works for wind band, contemporary music ensembles, and orchestra, and she continues to actively promote commissions by today’s leading and emerging composers around the world. Under her direction, the Cornell Wind Ensemble was invited to perform at the College Band Directors National Association’s Eastern Division Conference in 2007 and 2012, and the Hodgson Wind Ensemble performed at GMEA in 2015 and CBDNA National in Kansas City in 2017. In 2008, the Merrill Presidential Scholars at Cornell recognized Cynthia as an outstanding educator, and in 2009, she was awarded the Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship. Her performances have been praised by such composers as Steven Stucky, William Kraft, Steven Bryant, Marc Mellits, Nancy Galbraith, John Mackey, Peter Lane, Eddie Mora Bermudez, Dana Wilson, Roberto Sierra, and Karel Husa.
From January 2006, Cynthia led the Cornell Wind Ensemble on biennial performing and service tours to Costa Rica that included performances across the country, conducting masterclasses with Costa Rican teachers, instrument master classes for Costa Rican musicians, and the donation of over 250 instruments to music schools across the country. She led the Hodgson Wind Ensemble to Panama in January 2016 to teach, perform, and donate instruments.
Among other recent engagements, Cynthia has guest conducted the Thornton Wind Ensemble at the University of Southern California, Pacific Conservatory Wind Ensemble, National Youth Wind Ensemble of Great Britain, the Syracuse Symphony (“Symphoria”), the National Youth Band of Canada, Concordia Santa Fe, the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Latin American Honor Band, the National Band of Costa Rica, the National Orchestra of Heredia, and numerous state honor bands and intercollegiate ensembles. Cynthia has been invited to present her research with teaching and technology, innovative rehearsal techniques, and service-learning and music performance at numerous conferences nationally and internationally. She is published in such journals as Interdisciplinary Humanities, International Journal of the Humanities, Music Educators Journal, NAfME "Teaching Music," NewMusicUSA.org, Journal of the World Association of Bands and Ensembles, Fanfare Magazine, and Canadian Winds, and has recorded CDs with the Innova and Albany labels.
Cynthia has served as a board member with WASBE and is an active member of CDBNA, Conductor’s Guild, College Music Society, Humanities Education and Research Association, the National Association for Music Education, and National Band Association. She currently serves on the board of the Western International Band Clinic (WIBC) and faculty at WIBC University. She is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and a National Arts Associate member of Sigma Alpha Iota.
David Kobberdahl received his B.M.E. from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri and his Master's degree at the Vandercook College of Music in Chicago. He currently works as a Jazz Ensemble and Instrumental Music Instructor for the West Des Moines Comm. School District. In addition, David plays trumpet professionally as a member of the "Des Moines Big Band," the Latin Jazz Group, "Ashanti," the "Fred Gazzo Band," the Blues Band, "Old School," and the Dance Band "Gruve."
Michael Kris is a Teaching Professor at the University of North Carolina and he is also part of the teaching faculty at Duke University. An active performer, he is Bass Trombone with the Eastern Music Festival, Low Brass Mentor of the National Music Festival, Bass Trombone with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra and Principal Trombone of the North Carolina Opera Orchestra, Carolina Ballet Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. He is a former member of the North Carolina Symphony, serving as both Principal Trombone and Second Trombone and has performed with several orchestras throughout the eastern United States. Additionally, Mr. Kris is Artistic Director and Trombonist with the early music group Ensemble Collina.
Apart from his ensemble work, Mr. Kris is an active soloist and clinician performing and teaching internationally. Most recently, he presented concerts in London with Kings College, London and at the prestigious Salzburg Festival. At the University of North Carolina, he teaches low brass and chamber music and his research focuses on the use of trombone in ensemble music of the late Renaissance and chamber music of the early Baroque.
Mr. Kris attended McNeese State University earning a Bachelor of Music Education followed by a Master of Music in Trombone Performance at the Cincinnati College/Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers are William G. Rose and Tony Chipurn, Principal Trombone (retired) of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Susan Odem received her Bachelor of Music degree in oboe from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Master of Music degree from DrakeUniversity. She is a member of the Des Moines Symphony, the Des Moines Symphony Woodwind Quintet, the Lyric Winds, the Bruch Trio, and the Amadeus Trio. Ms. Odem is an adjunct instructor of double reeds at Simpson College and Central College and also teaches a private studio of double reed students.
Dr. Abigail Pack, Associate Professor of Horn at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, native of Roanoke, Virginia, received her training from East Carolina University (BMA), University of Iowa (MM), and University of Wisconsin-Madison (DMA) where she was a Bolz Teaching Fellow. Before assuming her current position at UNCG she was Horn Faculty at James Madison University from 2001 to 2008. She has also been on faculty at Knox College in Galesburg, IL; Western State College in Gunnison, CO; and taught in the Gunnison Watershed School District. An avid symphony player, Dr. Pack has held positions with the Barton Symphony Orchestra, Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and currently performs with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival Orchestra, the Southwest Chamber Orchestra, and the Opera Roanoke Orchestra. Other venues have included performances with the Iowa Brass Quintet, Western Slope Brass Band, and Massanutten Brass Band. Recent performance and presentation highlights include the National Flute Association (Washington D.C. with the Maontpelier Winds), the International Horn Symposium (University of Cape Town, South Africa), the International Midwest Band and Orchestra Conference (Chicago), and the Kennedy Center of The Performing Arts (Washington).
Mrs. Karey Sitzler holds a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education with emphasis in Strings from Western Michigan University and a Master of Music in String Performance Pedagogy from Arizona State. A violist, she has performed with professional symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras and chamber ensembles in Michigan, Indiana, Arizona, Ohio, and now Virginia for over 40 years. She has taught string classes and private lessons to students ages 4-adult at beginning to university/conservatory levels, and has taught in school music programs for 46 years. In 1986 Mrs. Sitzler founded the Young Strings Academy in Kalamazoo, Michigan which she directed until 1998. From 1987-2000, she was the music director of the Kalamazoo Prep String and Training Orchestras for the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra system, the second oldest youth orchestra program in the country. In 1991 she guest conducted the Jr. Symphony in performance at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. From 2000-2003, Ms. Sitzler served the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey, Michigan as Education Director for the Performing Arts and as Youth Orchestra conductor. There she designed the arts curriculum, organized concerts featuring over 400 students from seventeen schools in a three-county area, and coordinated cultural activities for participating schools. Since moving to Virginia in 2003, she has been teaching strings first in Suffolk Public Schools and presently at Ocean Lakes High School of Virginia Beach City Public Schools. She is a frequent guest conductor and adjudicator for district and all city orchestras. In 2014 she receive the “Best All Around” award for community service with Virginia Beach youth. From 2004-2016 she conducted the feeder ensembles for the Williamsburg Youth Orchestras and taught music history and jazz history courses for Paul D Camp Community College. Karey has been a guest lecturer for the MENC conference at Old Dominion University, presenting a session on selecting literature for the high school orchestra. Her presentation focused on an historical perspective with regard to the evolution of the instruments themselves and the relationship to increased difficulty of technique as well as complexity. She has attended the Starling/Delay Violin Symposium at the Juillard School in 2017 and 2019 and returned to her district to share pertinent information with the district teachers. In her position with Virginia Beach she initially taught 5th grade strings and served as the orchestra director for Ocean Lakes High School which houses the Math Science Academy for the city. She is now full time there with five orchestras in a program designed to meet the needs of developing students from beginners to artist level. The audition-only chamber orchestra performs at the Virginia Grade VI level, consistently receiving straight Superior awards at assessment. Adjudicators applauded the young musicians for their depth of tone, mature expression, and meticulous attention to style. In 2019, the Ocean Lakes String Quartet performed at the VBODA State Conference in Hot Springs. With “retiring” from the community college work and as conductor for Williamsburg Youth’s feeder groups, she has begun to mentor student teachers through Old Dominion. She continues to maintain a class of private viola and violin students. She and her husband live in Portsmouth with one of their six children, Stephen, an adult young man with Down Syndrome who plays the cello. They are active in church music there.
Patrick J. Kearney currently serves as the Facilitator for Teacher Leadership in the Johnston (IA) Community School District. Prior to taking his current position, he served for 15 years as the Director of Bands at Johnston High School. Bands under his direction have appeared at the Jazz Education Network national conference, the Iowa Bandmasters Association annual conference, as well as winning the Iowa Jazz Championships. Mr. Kearney has served as President of the Iowa Bandmasters Association, Co-Chair of the Iowa Jazz Championships, is a member of the national Teacher Leadership Collaborative, was a founding board member of the Jazz Educators of Iowa, and is the Executive Director of the Adventureland Festival of Bands. He has been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and is sought out as a speaker and advocate on public education issues. Mr. Kearney’s wife Cathy teaches 5th grade band in the Des Moines Public Schools and his son Brogan recently began a career as a music educator.
Saxophonist and conductor Matthew McClure is equally comfortable performing avant-garde improvisations and standard classic saxophone repertoire on the concert stage. His current professional pursuits include teaching saxophone at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and as the Music Director at Church of the Good Shepherd in Durham, NC.
McClure enjoys musical experimentations including alternative venue performances, unusual collaborations, and multimedia and live electronic interactions. He has performed as the winner of numerous concerto competitions, The World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium as well as numerous music festivals in the United States and Europe.
Myron Peterson spent twenty-one years as a Director of Bands at Urbandale High School, Iowa, from 1998 – 2019. During his tenure, the Urbandale High School band program grew in size from 110 to 180 students. In 2006, his Urbandale Wind Symphony was featured in a full-length concert at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference as the premier concert band from a large high school. The band has since appeared three times at the IBA Conference for clinics and the Young Conductors Symposium. Peterson has led performances with the Urbandale bands across Iowa and the United States, including collaborations with university bands and concerts in Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Missouri. He is an active adjudicator and clinician in concert, jazz, and marching band fields.
Peterson is currently a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Colorado State University (CSU) while also pursuing a Master’s of Music in wind band conducting with Dr. Rebecca Phillips. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), studying conducting with Dr. Ronald Johnson, Dr. Rebecca Burkhardt, and Mr. William Shepard. Peterson is currently in the trombone studio of Dr. Drew Leslie at CSU. He previously studied with John Hanson and Max Bonecutter while at UNI, and further studied with David Stuart of Iowa State University and Mike Schmitz of the United States Navy Band, Washington, D.C.
Peterson performs regularly with the NOLA (New Orleans, LA) Jazz Band, the Des Moines Metropolitan Brass Quintet, The Tony Valdez Large Band, sand has appeared with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performs as a freelance trombonist in various chamber settings around the cities of Des Moines, Iowa and Fort Collins, Colorado. He has performed in the pit orchestra at the Civic Center of Great Des Moines for national touring productions such as “The Color Purple,” “High School Musical,” and “Chicago.”
Peterson has served as the president and as a director of the board for the Iowa Bandmasters Association (IBA), president of the South-Central Iowa Bandmasters Association (SCIBA), and was the founding treasurer of the Jazz Educators of Iowa. Myron is “un-professionally” affiliated with the American Homebrewers Association and the Iowa Brewers Union. His home base is in Windsor Heights, Iowa with his wife Mary Crandell. In 2015 they were rescued by their two shelter cats, Gibbs and Imogene.
Randall Hoepker has commissioned over 25 works by composers in the USA, Canada, England, Netherlands and Japan, as well as conducted numerous other world and American premieres. His interpretations have earned praise from composers Jun Nagao (Japan), Jeremy Beck (USA), Bernard Van Beurden (Netherlands), Bart Picqueur (Belgium), and many others. He has led ensemble performance tours and conducted ensembles in Japan, China, Mexico and Europe, and is the founder and former director of the Central Iowa Youth Band. Mr. Hoepker holds master’s degrees in Wind Conducting and Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa. His primary conducting teacher is Ronald Johnson, with additional study with Timothy Reynish and Mark Heron of the Royal Northern College of Music. He is currently Music Director of the Colorado Brass, Director of Instrumental Music at Vista PEAK Preparatory High School in Aurora, Colorado and is bassist with the Miguel Espinoza Flamenco Jazz Ensemble.