Featured Author - Shelley M. Jagow
Associate Professor of Music at Wright State University is director of the Symphonic Band and Saxophone Quartet; and professor of Saxophone and Music Education courses. She earned Music Education degrees from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and the University of Missouri (Columbia). She earned her Ph. D. in Music Education at the Union Institute & University (Cincinnati) where Colonel Timothy Foley, Frank Battisti, and Edward Wingard served as her mentors. Dr. Jagow is a Selmer Artist Clinician for both saxophone and conducting.Read More.
Featured Author - Jim Childers
Jim Childers is Director of Bands at Marion (IL) Jr. High School, where he directs all band activities in grades six through eight. He has directed bands since 1991, at Marion Jr. High School, since 2002 as well as Highland High School and Mt. Vernon Township High School. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education at Southern Illinois University–Carbondale, studying trombone with Dr. Robert Weiss. He has guest conducted many camps, including ISYM at the University of Illinois, and has been invited to present at several conferences, including The Midwest Clinic.Read More.
Featured Author - Matthew Arau
Dr. Matthew Arau, author of Upbeat! Mindset, Mindfulness, and Leadership in Music Education and Beyond and founder of Upbeat Global, is an Associate Professor of Music and the Chair of the Music Education Department and Symphonic Band Conductor at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. In addition, Dr. Arau serves as a Conn-Selmer Education Clinician and is on the graduate conducting faculty of the American Band College of Central Washington University and graduate music education faculty at VanderCook College of Music.Read More.
Featured Author - Sandy Goldie
teaches undergraduate and graduate music education courses at the Virginia Commonwealth University, where she is the string music education specialist and Assistant Professor of Music Education. Before her recent move to Richmond, Virginia, she spent several years teaching string music education courses at the University of Florida where she completed her PhD and was awarded the David Wilmot Prize for Excellence in Music Education. She received her Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Georgia and her Bachelor’s degree in instrumental music education and performance from the University of South Carolina. She is an active conductor/clinician, professional performer (violist), and advocate for music education. Read More.
Featured Author - Robert Bode
Robert Bode joined the faculty at The Ohio State University School of Music in 2019 as a visiting professor of Choral Music. In 2010, Bode was named the Raymond Neevel Endowed Chair of Choral Music at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Prior to coming to UMKC, Bode served on the faculty at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, where he was awarded the Thomas E. Howells Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Alma Meisnest Endowed Chair in the Humanities. His choirs have performed at both regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, the Missouri Music Educators Association, and Chorus America. Read More.
Featured Author - Don Stinson
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. Read More.
Featured Author - Jason Max Ferdinand
Jason Max Ferdinand serves as the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maryland, College Park. He assumed the role in Fall of 2022. He is very humbled to be standing on the shoulders of his mentor, Edward Maclary, who has guided the choral program for 20+ years. Jason Max Ferdinand, Professor – Conductor – Composer – Speaker, is the founding artistic director of The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers: An Ensemble of Exceptional Talents, and was the director of choral activities, chair of the music department, and a full professor at Oakwood University, where he conducted the Aeolians of Oakwood University. Read More.
Featured Author - Paula A. Crider
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 forty-six states, as well as Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, France, Italy, and Australia. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Texas, where she was twice awarded the “Eyes of Texas” Award for distinguished teaching. Read More.
Featured Author - Robert Bode
Robert Bode joined the faculty at The Ohio State University School of Music in 2019 as a visiting professor of Choral Music. In 2010, Bode was named the Raymond Neevel Endowed Chair of Choral Music at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Prior to coming to UMKC, Bode served on the faculty at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, where he was awarded the Thomas E. Howells Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Alma Meisnest Endowed Chair in the Humanities. His choirs have performed at both regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, the Missouri Music Educators Association, and Chorus America. Read More.
Featured Author - John Nieto
John Nieto is the mariachi director at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, a position he has held since 1990. He also serves as the lead mariachi instructor for San Antonio ISD, of which he is a graduate. He currently serves as arranger/copyist/instructor for the Albuquerque Mariachi Spectacular (21 years) and previously taught at similar workshops in Tucson, Arizona, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. John has been a guest clinician for Region Mariachi clinics throughout the state of Texas. Read More.
Featured Author - Mary Land
Dr. Mary Land is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Music Education at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She conducts the University Concert Band and teaches courses in instrumental music education. Prior to this appointment, she was Director of Bands and Instrumental Music Education at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia. Before moving to higher education, Dr. Land was a public-school band director in Georgia for over twenty-nine years where she developed an outstanding band program in Pickens County, Georgia. Bands under Dr. Land’s direction have received invitations to perform at many music conferences and clinics. Read More.
Featured Author - David Kish
A native of Hershey, Pennsylvania, is Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at Metropolitan State University in Denver where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and teaches conducting and music education courses. He serves as a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Innovation, is founding director of the Metro State Wind Band Celebration, and is a recipient of the Faculty Senate Teaching Excellence Award. David has taught instrumental music at all educational levels including a position as Associate Director of Bands and Franklin Fellow at the University of Georgia. His writings on wind literature, conducting pedagogy, and music education have been published in The Instrumentalist Magazine, Journal of Band Research, Music Educators Journal, Tempo, and three volumes of the popular resource texts, Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Read More.
