Andrew Pease serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Music at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY, where he leads the Wind Ensemble and Brass Ensemble. He is also co-conductor of the Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble, also based in Oneonta. His guest conducting work has taken him to several states and the UK, and he has presented nationally and internationally on topics in the wind band field. He has degrees from Dartmouth College, Columbia University Teachers College, and Hofstra University. He completed doctoral studies in wind conducting at Arizona State University, studying with Gary Hill. His work there earned him the 2017 American Prize in Collegiate Wind Band Conducting. He was a 2025 Grammy Music Educator quarterfinalist. He started his career in New York City, where he was music director of the Columbia University Wind Ensemble and the community band Columbia Summer Winds. Throughout his varied career, he has directed players of all ages and ability levels, from elementary beginning band to adult amateurs to professional ensembles. He got his start as a composer writing rock songs in high school, and he has written and arranged for wind bands and chamber groups ever since. His latest compositions appear at his personal website, www.andypease.com. He also runs two websites dedicated to wind bands: Wind Band Literature (windliterature.org) and The Wind Band Symphony Archive (windsymphonies.org).

Bio Coming Soon!

Joe Cernuto is Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, where he directs the Marching Marauders, conducts the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and Jazz Lab Band, and teaches the courses technology in music education, brass methods, conducting, instrumental methods, first-year seminar, and general education music courses. He taught middle school and high school band in the public schools of North Carolina and Oklahoma and previously served as Director of Bands at Rogers State University (Claremore, Oklahoma). Cernuto is an in-demand adjudicator, drill writer, honor band conductor, guest conductor, clinician, and arranger. The MU Wind Ensemble was selected through blind peer-review to perform at the 2026 PMEA Annual In-Service Conference. He was awarded as a finalist in the 2024 American Prize in Conducting - College Division, and the MU Wind Ensemble was awarded 3rd place in the 2024 American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music. He has presented research seminars and workshops at the state, regional, national, and international level on conducting pedagogy, repertoire selection, rhythm and pedagogy, and the music of John Mackey. He holds degrees in wind band conducting and music education from the University of Iowa and the University of Florida. Dr. Cernuto’s professional affiliations include the College Band Director’s National Association, the National Band Association, the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors, the National Association for Music Education, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, the International Society for the Promotion of Wind Music Research, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles. 

Bio Coming Soon!

Ryan Cox is the Director of Music and a member of the mathematics faculty at The Prout School in Wakefield, RI, where he has taught since 2018. A multi-instrumentalist and self-described “musical chameleon” with experience performing, arranging, teaching, and conducting, he is routinely commended for his program selection catering to a diverse array of styles and composers. This past May, Ryan earned a Master of Music degree with a concentration in instrumental conducting from the University of Rhode Island, studying under Dr. Brian Cardany and Dr. Luis Víquez. His research on Hozier’s use of religious imagery earned him the 2024 URI Writing Award in the Graduate Research division. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano performance and mathematics from Providence College, and also completed his secondary education teaching certificate in mathematics there. This is Ryan’s first research presentation at a regional conference, and he is excited to begin sharing his work supporting band directors of small programs.

Justin Daly is an active music educator, clinician, and adjudicator from Connecticut. He currently serves as the Director of Bands at East Lyme High School, where he directs the marching, concert, and jazz bands. He has presented professional development workshops, clinics, and lectures across New England and online. Justin has earned degrees in Music Education (BS), Music (BA), and Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in Music Education (MA) from the University of Connecticut. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Music Education from Boston University.

Marc Decker is an Associate Professor of Music and the Associate Director of Bands/Director of Athletic Bands at Florida Atlantic University where his duties include directing the Marching Owls, ‘Parliament Sound’ Pep Band, and Symphony Band, and teaching courses in music education and conducting. He holds both an MM and DMA from the University of Iowa. Dr. Decker is an active guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the Midwest and Southeastern United States, and has published articles and presented at professional conferences throughout the nation on a variety of topics including wind band repertoire, music teacher preparation, and pedagogy. He is a Past-President of the Florida College Music Educators Association, and active in many professional associations.

Dr. Jack A. Eaddy, Jr., a native of Orangeburg, SC, is the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Georgia, where he conducts the Wind Symphony and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Dr. Eaddy holds degrees from the University of North Texas, University of Georgia, and the Florida State University. Dr. Eaddy taught for twelve years in Orlando, FL, where he developed a program recognized throughout the state for maintaining high standards despite the challenges his students experienced. Dr. Eaddy received the FMEA Tom Bishop Award recognizing a director who turned a program around, making a positive difference. Dr. Eaddy has presented at several conferences, including the Midwest Clinic and CBDNA Southern Division and Athletic Band Conferences. As a conductor, some of his honors include winning the 2025 American Prize in Conducting—band/wind ensemble (college/university division), and being a selected participant in the U.S. Pershing’s Own Army Band’s conducting workshop. Dr. Eaddy is a 2022 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year finalist. 

Rose-Marie Evans is a veteran teacher with over 35 years of Prek-12 experience. The past 25 years of teaching music education have been spent at a small high school in Connecticut where she teaches both instrumental and choral studies. She received her Bachelor Degree in Music Education from The Florida State University (1989), Masters Degree in Music from Central Connecticut State University (2002), and Sixth Year in Administrative Leadership from Southern Connecticut State University (2015). She has been teaching chamber music as part of school band and choir ensembles since 2001. 

Dr. Robert Franzblau has spent more than forty years at the intersection of musical performance and music education. Recently retired from college-level teaching and conducting, he is in his seventeenth year as conductor and artistic director of the Rhode Island Wind Ensemble. Educated at the University of Iowa, Northwestern University, and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, he has taught instrumental music at every level, from beginning band through graduate study. In 2021, he earned his RYT® 200-hour certification in Integrative Yoga Therapy and now teaches chair and basic yoga in Scituate and Coventry, RI, with a focus on alignment, strength, and balance for healthy aging. He is the author of So You Want to Be a Music Major (2013), and continues to appear nationwide as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. He can be reached at robfranzblau@gmail.com. 

Louis Hanzlik is a GRAMMY Award-winning trumpeter, chamber musician, and educator. A member of the renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and former member of the American Brass Quintet, Hanzlik has performed throughout Asia, Australia, North America, South America, and Europe. A dedicated educator, Dr. Louis Hanzlik serves as Professor of Trumpet, Department Head of Music, and occupies the Alice Murray Heilig Music Chair at the University of Connecticut. Hanzlik earned his B.M. from the University of Iowa, M.M. from The Juilliard School, and Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, where his dissertation (Fostering Citizenship and Democracy through Chamber Music Coaching) explores how chamber music cultivates collaborative leadership, mutual respect, critical thinking, inclusivity, and democratic engagement.

Dr. John T. Hart Jr. serves as Associate Professor of Music at Keene State College, directing the Concert Band and co-coordinating the Music Education program. He also coordinates the Music Department’s woodwind, brass, and percussion areas; and leads the low brass studio. Dr. Hart is also on the trombone & chamber music faculty for the renowned LA Phil’s YOLA National Festival. Dr. Hart has performed with and conducted many of the Northeast’s top ensembles, including the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Hartt Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, Hartford Opera Theatre, the Connecticut Valley Symphony Orchestra, Winchendon Winds, Valley Winds, and TUNDI Opera Productions. As an active clinician, he has conducted All-State and regional festivals and workshops throughout the Northeast. He especially enjoys working with living composers and is a strong advocate for the creation of new wind ensemble music to better represent marginalized populations.

Dr. Hart also designs, publishes, and presents empirical research on music teacher education and conducting methods. His publications appear in Music Educators Journal, Contributions to Music Education, and Journal of Music Teacher Education. He has presented at the state, regional, and national levels. Dr. Hart received a Ph.D. in Music Education and a Master of Music Education from The Hartt School, and a B.A. in Music from Gettysburg College. He is a member of NAfME, NHMEA, SMTE, AERA, Conductors Guild, CBDNA, College Music Society, and the academic music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda. Dr. Hart performs on S.E. Shires Custom trombones, an S.E. Shires Custom euphonium, and Eastman tubas. He plays euphonium with the Legato Pesante Tuba Quartet.

Dr. Scott Hippensteel is Professor of Music, Director of the School of Music, and Director of Instrumental Studies at Shepherd University. He conducts the Shepherd Wind Ensemble, Ram Band, Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and Pep Band. In addition to conducting ensembles, he teaches classes on instrumental music education, wind and orchestra literature, instrumental techniques, and conducting. Dr. Hippensteel completed his undergraduate degree at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and earned his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Wind Conducting and Music Education from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Dr. Hippensteel serves as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Dr. Hippensteel remains active as a performer on bass trombone with the Village Brass, Masterworks Orchestra, and Hagerstown Municipal Band. Dr. Hippensteel is a proud member of the National Band Association, College Band Director’s National Association, National Association for Music Education, West Virginia Music Educators Association, and West Virginia Bandmasters Association. Dr. Hippensteel serves as the faculty advisor for the Xi Alpha chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi at Shepherd University. 

Bio Coming Soon!

Taylor Hughey, a Courtois performing artist with the Buffet Crampon Group, currently resides in Vermont. Previously, she was an Artist in Residence at Valdosta State University and the Head of Brass Development for Brass for Africa in Uganda, on faculty in the music department at Heze University in Heze, China and at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. She earned a doctoral degree in Trombone Performance from the University of Southern California with concentrations in Music Education, Jazz Studies, and Arts Leadership/Music Industry. She holds a BM in Music Education from the University of Tennessee and an MM in Trombone Performance from the University of Southern California. She has performed regularly with ensembles across the Southeast, New England, and the West Coast, and has presented masterclasses and recitals at colleges and conferences throughout the United States and Europe. Her performance work also includes collaborations with recording artists, as well as appearances on commercial and film soundtrack recordings. She has toured internationally as both a soloist and a member of a trombone ensemble, with performances spanning Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Dr. Brent Johnson is Director of University Bands at Murray State University, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and leads a program centered on artistic depth, meaningful repertoire, and student-driven growth. His work consistently bridges tradition and innovation, inviting performers and audiences into music that resonates beyond the page. At Murray State, he has expanded the band program’s artistic reach through commissioning and residency projects, including A Field of Wildflowers, a national consortium honoring the life of Kelsey Dunn, and collaborations with composers such as Tyler S. Grant, Kelijah Dunton, Leslie Gilreath, and John Fannin. He is also the founder of the Jackson Purchase Youth Wind Orchestra, a regional honors ensemble designed to connect and elevate advanced young musicians. Prior to his appointment at Murray State, Dr. Johnson led the band program at Evergreen High School in Vancouver, Washington, where the Wind Ensemble performed at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival and the NAfME All-Northwest Conference. His broader career includes teaching bands in Texas and Kentucky, reflecting a sustained commitment to building programs rooted in excellence, access, and community. Dr. Johnson holds degrees from Murray State University, New Mexico State University, and the University of Kentucky, and is an active member of CBDNA, KMEA, NBA, and WASBE.

Dr. Matthew Mailman is Professor of Conducting in the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University, a position he has held since 1995. Dr. Mailman has had extensive and diverse experience conducting bands, operas, musicals, orchestras, choirs, and chamber music. He serves as Music Director of OCU's award-winning Wind Ensemble and Wind Philharmonic and a Music Director for the Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company. At OCU, Dr. Mailman has conducted fifty-nine operas and musicals and has led the Wind Ensemble and Wind Philharmonic in eighteen world premieres, on five tours, at two OK Mozart Festivals, and at ten convention performances. He teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting and founded OCU's Masters in Conducting program. Dr. Mailman is the Music Director and Founder of the Oklahoma Youth Winds.

Adam Mejaour enjoys being immersed in the world of music from almost every angle. By day, he is the head technician and repair department manager at David French Music Company in Westborough, MA, specializing in wind instrument repair. He has been enjoying his time working alongside the French family since 2010. There, he also doubles as a music educator, teaching a thriving private studio of local trumpet students that have ranged from 10 to 76 years of age. With his remaining time, he enjoys an active freelance trumpet playing career, performing in idioms across the musical spectrum. Whether in chamber ensembles, pit orchestras, jazz bands or wind ensembles, Adam “Hot Lips” Mejaour finds himself at home. 

He earned his Bachelor’s in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2015. This is also where his current group, Amity Street Brass Quintet was initially founded and graciously guided by music department faculty: Greg Spiridopoulos (trombone), John Bottomley (tuba), Laura Klock (horn), and Eric Berlin (trumpet). If he’s not doing any of the above things, you’ll likely catch him cooking some amazing meals at home, hanging with his two cats Simba and Bagheera, out enjoying a nice hike, or kayaking.

Caitlin Ramsey, Co-Director of Bands at Cape Elizabeth Middle School, where she has taught since 2010, has been an active clinician and guest conductor throughout New England for the past twenty-two years. She currently serves as the Eastern Division Representative on the National Council of Band Education, coordinator for the Maine Music Education Association District 1 7/8 and 6th Grade North Honors Festivals, and Secretary for MMEA District 1. A 2009 Maine Arts Teaching Fellow and the 2020 MMEA Music Educator of the Year, Mrs. Ramsey has led the Cape Elizabeth Middle School bands in consortium commissions with composers JaRod Hall, Andrew Boysen, Randall Standridge, and Frank Tichelli. She holds undergraduate degrees in horn performance and music education from Miami University and a Master of Music from Kent State University.

Missy Shabo has served as Co-Director of Bands at Cape Elizabeth Middle School since 2022, following her tenure as Director of Bands at Scarborough Middle School. A saxophonist, she holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Education from the University of Southern Maine and earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership in 2022. With over eighteen years of experience as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor, she was named the 2024 Maine Music Educators Association Middle School Music Educator of the Year. Since 2015, she has served as Director of Summer Camps at the Osher School of Music, where she also conducts the Youth Band Camp, and she remains active professionally as MMEA District I Treasurer and Honors Festival band manager, as well as a member of both MMEA and the National Band Association.

Christian Terry is currently the Band Director/Music Teacher at Lebanon Middle School in Lebanon, NH. Christian grew up in Bellows Falls Vermont, and played under the direction of Stan Rumrill and Nick Pelton. Christian graduated from Keene State College in Keene, NH in 2020 with a Bachelors of Music in Music Education. Christian holds a Masters of Music Education Degree from the Longy School of Music. Christian has been playing percussion from a young age and is an avid performing musician from around the area including pit orchestras, community bands, community orchestras, and much more. Christian teaches at Cardigan Mountain school teaching percussion and the wind band. Christian is one of the percussion all state adjudicators for the state of Vermont, the percussion adjudicators for the middle level honors festival in the State of New Hampshire and has presented at conferences around Vermont and New Hampshire.

Bio Coming Soon!

Jeff Ventres has been teaching band for 13 years and is the high school band director at Farmington High School. He received his Bachelor’s degree from UConn (2013) and his Master’s degree in Music Education from VanderCook College of Music (2020). His graduate thesis is titled "Fostering Student Metacognition Through Chamber Music." He has been teaching chamber music in his ensembles since 2016.