The NBA at 60: The Past, Present, and Future of the National Band Association
Clinic Synopsis:
As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National Band Association, this session presents a panel discussion with ten past presidents of the NBA. The panelists will discuss topics related to the history of the NBA, significant NBA projects, and the influence of the NBA on bands and band music. Additional discussion will center around the current role of the NBA within the profession and thoughts from the panelists regarding the future of bands and band music.
Scott Tobias
- Biographical Information
Scott C. Tobias currently holds the position of Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at West Virginia University where his responsibilities include conducting the WVU Wind Symphony, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, and providing administrative leadership for the WVU Bands program. Prior to his appointment at West Virginia University, Dr. Tobias served on the faculties of the University of Central Florida and Appalachian State University. He also previously served as a high school band director in the public schools of Georgia and South Carolina.
Bands under Dr. Tobias’ direction have performed nationally and internationally at events such as the New York Wind Band Festival at Carnegie Hall, the Western International Band Clinic, the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival, the London New Year’s Day Parade, and the Cabalgata de Reyes (Madrid, Spain). He remains active conducting honor bands and presenting clinics throughout the United States.
A native of South Carolina, Dr. Tobias earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Furman University, the Master of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the University of Georgia. Dr. Tobias presently serves as the Immediate Past President of the National Band Association and President of the Big 12 Band Directors Association.
Rick Good - Biographical Information
Rick Good has been a guest adjudicator and conductor throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. He was inducted into membership of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association where he has also served one term on the Board of Directors. In addition, he is a Past-President of the National Band Association. Good is currently Chair of the Department of Music as well as the Director of Bands. As Director of Bands, Good oversees the successful development of all university bands, including directing the Auburn University Symphonic Winds, the university’s top performing instrumental ensemble. Good also directs the AU Chamber Winds, a select group that features soloists and sections in unique musical opportunities, as well as teaches conducting and wind literature classes.
Before becoming Director of Bands, Good served as the Auburn University Marching Band director and Associate Professor of Low Brass from 1995–2007. During his tenure as director the AUMB received the Sudler Trophy Award, the nation’s highest and most coveted award for college and university marching bands. In January of 2005, the band was selected by the Presidential Inaugural Committee to attend the Inaugural Parade of George W. Bush. For the past fourteen years, Good has directed the Macy’s Great American Marching Band, a feature band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held in New York City.
Roy Holder - Biographical Information
In addition to being Past President of the NBA, Roy Holder has served on the Board of the American Bandmasters Association and Chairs the ABA School Bands Task Force. He also serves as a Vice President and as Chair of the Sudler Flag of Honor Committee for the John Philip Sousa Foundation. During his 42 years working as a high school band director Mr. Holder has been recognized with professional honors by ETSBOA, VBODA, Phi Mu Alpha, Fairfax County Public Schools, Wolf Trap, Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, the National Band Association, the Sousa Foundation, the US Army Band, the National Symphony, and the accomplishments of his Lake Braddock Band program have twice been read into the US Congressional Record. Mr. Holder is member of the Virginia Honor Band Hall of Fame, the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Directors Hall of Fame, and the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Hall of Fame. In June of 2011 the Lake Braddock Secondary School Band was awarded the 30-year Honor Band Plaque from VBODA. Additionally, ensembles under Mr. Holder’s direction have performed at the John F. Kennedy Center, the Federal Reserve, the Pentagon, 4 times at the Virginia Music Educators Association In Service Conference, 3 times for the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, for the American Bandmasters Association Convention and completed a concert tour of China sponsored by the US-China Cultural and Educational Foundation.
David Gregory - Biographical Information
David Gregory, Founder and Conductor Emeritus of the Georgia Wind Symphony, is former Director of Bands/Coordinator of Music Education at Reinhardt University (Ret.) and Conductor Emeritus of Tara Winds Community Band. He conducted elementary, junior high, high school, university, and professional bands during his career. At Reinhardt University Dr. Gregory taught undergraduate music education classes, conducting, orchestration/arranging, conducted the Wind Ensemble, supervised student teachers, and was coordinator of Music Education. Additionally, he taught graduate classes in conducting, scoring/arranging, band literature, and directed international music studies. He was the Georgia NAfME Collegiate advisor and coordinator for GMEA from 2007 until his retirement in 2014.
His bands received invitations to perform at major conferences, including the American Bandmasters Association National Convention, GMEA state conferences, and the Midwest Clinic. He is a Past President of the National Band Association.
In 1998 Gregory was inducted into the Phi Beta Mu Georgia Bandmasters Hall of Fame. In 2003, he received the Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Bandmaster Award for the state of Georgia and in 2011, the GMEA Distinguished Career Award and the Kappa Kappa Psi Distinguished Service to Music Medal. In 2013 he received the Elizabeth Moss Bailey Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award for Reinhardt University, one of the highest awards given by that institution.
In February of 2020, Gregory was inducted into the National Band Association’s Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors.
John Culvahouse - Biographical Information
John N. Culvahouse retired as Professor of Music Education at Kennesaw State University in 2014. From 1991 until 2007, he served on the faculty at the University of Georgia, where he was a tenured Associate Professor and member of the Graduate Faculty. Prior to his appointment at UGA in 1991, Dr. Culvahouse taught in the public schools in South Carolina and Tennessee for 17 years, where he directed high school, middle school, and elementary school bands. He received the Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from the University of Tennessee and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Culvahouse has served as a conductor, adjudicator, and clinician in several states, Canada, and Western Europe. Professional affiliations have included the College Band Directors National Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Beta Mu, Pi Kappa Lambda, Kappa Kappa Psi (Honorary), and National Band Association. His NBA service began as Tennessee State Chair in the late 1970s, continued as an elected member of the Board of Directors, and Southern Division Chair. He served as President from 2009-2012. In 2014, he was elected to the membership of the American Bandmasters Association. Currently, Dr. Culvahouse serves as a Vice-President and Secretary for the John Philip Sousa Foundation. On April 24, 2018, he was appointed Conductor of the Tennessee Wind Symphony based in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Linda Moorhouse - Biographical Information
Dr. Linda R. Moorhouse serves as Professor of Music and Associate Director of the School of Music at the University of Illinois. Before joining the University of Illinois School of Music in fall 2010, Dr. Moorhouse served on the faculty at Louisiana State University for over 20 years, where she was the recipient of several awards for teaching excellence. While at LSU, she taught conducting, directed the LSU Symphonic Winds, and served as drill designer, auxiliary choreographer, co-director of the LSU Tiger Marching Band. Under her leadership, the LSU Tiger Band received the Sudler Trophy (the "Heisman trophy" of college marching bands) and won the 2008 ESPN "Battle of the Bands" contest.
Dr. Moorhouse is active as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator both nationally and internationally. Concert ensembles under her direction at two different universities have been featured at both national and regional conferences of the College Band Directors National Association. She is a Past President and the current Chair of the Board of Directors of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association and is a past President and the current Executive Secretary of the National Band Association. She is also a past President of the Women Band Directors International, where she is a recipient of the organization's "Silver Baton" and "International Golden Rose" awards. The National Band Association has recognized her contributions to bands and band music on numerous occasions with the NBA Citation of Excellence, along with election to the Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts (AWAPA).
Thomas Fraschillo - Biographical Information
Thomas V. Fraschillo, DMA, has served as a catalyst and mentor for members of the teaching profession. His high standards of performance have had a sustained influence on ensembles at every level, and his performances serve as models in both the professional or academic arena. Through his recordings, The Music of Luigi Zaninelli and The University of Southern Mississippi Wind Ensemble LIVE IN ITALY (recorded in Italy), and his publishing, conducting, and lecturing in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia, he is considered an international musician/scholar. As a writer/scholar Dr. Fraschillo is a contributing editor to the American Grove Dictionary, 2nd Edition and serves as a frequent conductor and lecturer in Italy.
Dr. Fraschillo is a member of the National Band Association’s Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors, a distinct honor recognizing his lengthy career as a public school, university, and professional conductor. Dr. Fraschillo devoted a significant amount of his career to the education of young people in Mississippi. His ten-year tenure at Meridian High School was highlighted by a performance at the Midwest Clinic. The invitation was only the second to have been given to a band from Mississippi.
Dr. Fraschillo currently serves as the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He is also a past president of the American Bandmasters Association, the National Band Association, and the Southern Division of the College Band Directors National Association.
Scott Casagrande - Biographical Information
Scott J. Casagrande was Director of Bands at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL for 22 years and retired in June, 2021 after completing 33 years of teaching in Illinois Public Schools. He taught high school, middle school and elementary students in suburban, urban and rural settings over the course of his teaching career. Currently, Mr. Casagrande serves Music for All as a Music Education Consultant. He is also an administrator for the Music Education Alliance and the Dr. William P. Foster Project serving bands in under-served communities. He is a Past-President of the National Band Association and was a member of the NBA Executive Board from 2012-2020. Under Mr. Casagrande’s direction, the John Hersey Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble performed as a featured ensemble in the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. They have been selected to perform in 21 Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festivals, two Illinois Music Educators Association Conventions and four Music for All National Concert Band Festivals. The Hersey Symphonic Band has been named the Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festival Honor Band four times and the band program was awarded the Sudler Flag of Honor by the Sousa Foundation. In addition, Jazz Ensembles under Mr. Casagrande’s direction have been Grand Champions at the Purdue Jazz Festival and the Jazz in the Meadows Festival several times (90+ ensembles in both events). Mr. Casagrande received his B.S. and M.S. in Music Education at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
James Keene - Biographical Information
James F. Keene retired from the University of Illinois in 2008, where he held the titles of Director of Bands and Brownfield Distinguished Professor of Music. Appointed in 1985, he was only the fourth person to hold the Director of Bands position since 1905. During his 23-year tenure at Illinois, the UI Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony, under his direction, were selected to perform for every major music conference in the U.S., have toured internationally and have performed in many of America's most prestigious concert halls, including New York's legendary Carnegie Hall and several performances in Chicago's Orchestra Hall. Under his direction, the Illinois Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band produced an extensive recording series on several U.S. labels. These recordings have been broadcast on National Public Radio in the U.S., as well as radio programs in Asia, Australia, and several European countries.
Prof. Keene is Past-President of the American Bandmasters Association and a Past-President of the National Band Association. Additionally, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the historic Goldman Memorial Band of New York City.
Prior to his appointment at Illinois, Professor Keene taught at all levels, including building nationally recognized programs at East Texas State University (now Texas A & M-Commerce), and at The University of Arizona.
In December 2016, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his contributions to Instrumental Music Education at The Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.
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