Larry Don Austin was an American composer noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music periodical Source: Music of the Avant Garde. Austin gained additional international recognition when he realized a completion of Charles Ives's Universe Symphony. Austin served as the president of the International Computer Music Association (ICMA) from 1990 to 1994 and served on the board of directors of the ICMA from 1984 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1998.
Michael Kevin Daugherty is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic book-inspired Metropolis Symphony for Orchestra (1988–93), Dead Elvis for Solo Bassoon and Chamber Ensemble (1993), Jackie O (1997), Niagara Falls for Symphonic Band (1997), UFO for Solo Percussion and Orchestra (1999) and for Symphonic Band (2000), Bells for Stokowski from Philadelphia Stories for Orchestra (2001) and for Symphonic Band (2002), Fire and Blood for Solo Violin and Orchestra (2003) inspired by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Time Machine for Three Conductors and Orchestra (2003), Ghost Ranch for Orchestra (2005), Deus ex Machina for Piano and Orchestra (2007), Labyrinth of Love for Soprano and Chamber Winds (2012), American Gothic for Orchestra (2013), and Tales of Hemingway for Cello and Orchestra (2015). Daugherty has been described by The Times (London) as "a master icon maker" with a "maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear."
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom are undergraduates, with the second largest enrollment of all music schools accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.
The Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center (ASC) is a performing arts facility located on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). It hosts over 250,000 people for more than 300 diverse events annually. The ASC is the center for entertainment and arts education in Birmingham and Central Alabama. The facility houses four performance venues, including the 1,330-seat Jemison Concert Hall, the 350-seat Sirote Theatre, the intimate 170-seat Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall, and the black-box Odess Theatre.
The Symphony Orchestra at The University of Southern Mississippi is the oldest orchestra in Mississippi. Established in 1920, it has been under the direction of music director Dr. Jay Dean since 1988. The orchestra is part of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music.
Dan Welcher is an American composer, conductor, and music educator.
Phillip Wayne Barham is a classical and jazz saxophonist was the professor of saxophone at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee until October 2018.
Geoffrey Philip Simon is an Australian conductor resident in London.
The Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra (GDYO) is a youth orchestra in Dallas, Texas, US, founded in 1972. GDYO has grown from a single orchestra of 35 members to a program of over 450 members. The principal group is the eponymous symphony, presently under the direction of the Maestro Richard Giangiulio. The organization as a whole comprises ten groups, which together provide musical opportunities for students from ages five to eighteen. Auditions are held each spring. Coaches and judges come from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Opera, Dallas Winds, and area universities and orchestras. The ensembles include two full symphonies, flute choir, clarinet choir, wind symphony, three string orchestras, jazz orchestra, and a jazz combo. The mission of Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra is to inspire and cultivate excellence in youth through music education, ensemble building, and performance opportunities.
The Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) is an American jazz ensemble which was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the SuperJazz Big Band by Birmingham, Alabama jazz pianist and vocalist Ray Reach. The mission of the group is to "...perform and record big band jazz music written by well known but under-recorded jazz artists."
Steve Sample Sr. was a bandleader, arranger, composer and jazz educator. For more than 30 years, Sample was a professor in the Music Department of the University of Alabama, where he directed the Jazz Ensembles and taught music theory, arranging and jazz related courses. Sample trained many notable jazz musicians during his long tenure at Alabama, including Gary Wheat, Birch Johnson, Kelley O'Neal, Chris Gordon, Mervyn Warren, Cedric Dent, Beth Gottlieb, Mart Avant, Dick Aven and Ray Reach. He was respected by his peers as one of the finest jazz educators in the United States. On September 26, 2008, Sample was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame for his contributions to jazz education.
Ken Watters is an American jazz trumpeter residing in Huntsville, Alabama. He is the brother of noted jazz trombonist, Harry Watters. Ken has performed and/or recorded with Frank Sinatra, Tabou Combo,, Jason Isbell, Marc Anthony, Wyclef Jean, Natalie Cole, Mingus Big Band, Ray_Reach, Billy Ray Cyrus, Chris Potter Cee-Lo, Brad Mehldau, the Vanguard Orchestra, and a host of other luminaries of the music world. He attended the University of North Texas, where he participated in the famed Lab Band program and studied trumpet with internationally renowned teacher Leonard Candelaria. Later, Ken pursued further trumpet studies at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he also studied with Lew Soloff, Joe Lovano, Jack Walrath and Wynton Marsalis.
Joseph Hugh Thomas was an American choral conductor, pianist and educator, perhaps best remembered for his role as conductor of the Concert Choir of Birmingham–Southern College (BSC), a liberal arts college located in Birmingham, Alabama. He served for many years as chairman of the Department of Music at BSC. His work has been honored numerous times by professional organizations such as the American Choral Directors Association.
Rodney Waschka II is an American composer known for his algorithmic compositions and his theatrical works.
Craig Morris is an orchestral trumpeter known for serving as the Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is also known as a soloist and chamber musician. He is an endorsing artist for Yamaha Instruments, and is currently Professor of Trumpet for the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
Thomas M. Sleeper was an American composer and conductor. He was the Orchestra Conductor at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida from 1985 to 1993, and Director of Orchestral Activities and Conductor of the University of Miami Frost Symphony Orchestra until his retirement in 2018. He was also the director of the Florida Youth Orchestra from 1993 to 2020.
David Chester Itkin is an American conductor and composer. He served as music director and conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2010, and currently holds the title of conductor laureate of that orchestra. He is music director and conductor of the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra and professor of music and director of orchestral studies at the University of North Texas College of Music. University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra.
John Read Giordano is an American orchestra conductor, professor of music, composer, and former concert saxophonist.
Kevin Patrick Noe is an American conductor, stage director, writer, and trumpeter. He is currently the executive artistic director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and a regular guest conductor of orchestra, opera, and ballet at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music
The Tulsa Youth Symphony Orchestra (TYS) is an Oklahoma nonprofit arts organization founded in 1963 to provide advanced orchestral training and performance experience for young musicians in Northeastern Oklahoma. As of 2016, more than 200 students, ages 8 to 18, participate in the program’s two orchestras. The orchestra is composed of students from northeast Oklahoma communities and schools including Tulsa, Bartlesville, Owasso, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Coweta, Grove, Oologah, Jenks, and Holland Hall, as well as home schooled children.
