Clinician Detail

Authentic Approaches in Performing International Repertoire

Clinic Synopsis:

A panel discussion of experienced conductors from five continents and 8 countries will present common performance practices based on their own cultural background and together discuss how their collective professional relationships have influenced the impact on their own individual work with ensembles. The panel will also discuss how exposure to different cultures can be beneficial to conductors, and how wind literature performed across the globe can be reproduced in a more authentic way.

Felix Hauswirth - Biographical Information

Felix Hauswirth earned his degree in conducting and theory at the Lucerne Conservatory of Music in Switzerland. In 1985, he was appointed professor of conducting at the Basel Conservatory, Switzerland. In 1983, Mr. Hauswirth founded the Swiss National Youth Wind Ensemble and conducted this ensemble until 1993. As clinician he is regularly invited all over the world. From 1993 - 2000 Mr. Hauswirth was the Artistic Director for the International Festival for Contemporary Music in Uster, Switzerland. He was President of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) from 1997 – 2001. From 1992 - 2020 he was the Artistic Director and conductor of the Baden-Württemberg Youth Wind Ensemble, Germany. In December 2009 Felix Hauswirth received in Chicago the “Midwest Clinic International Award“ in Recognition of Outstanding Contributions and Dedication to Instrumental Music Education. During the 17th WASBE Conference in July 2017 in Utrecht (The Netherlands) he was awarded “Honorary Life Member“ by the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.

Ralph Hultgren - Biographical Information

Ralph Hultgren is currently the Artistic Director of the Australian International Music Festival – Sydney. He is a freelance teacher, composer and conductor having held tenured positions at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and the Queensland University of Technology, where he lectured in Composition, Conducting, Music Education and Instrumental Music Pedagogy. He currently holds an adjunct position at QCGU supervising Masters and Doctoral candidates. Dr Hultgren has been invested into the Order of Australia as a Member in the General Division (AM). This esteemed national honour sits alongside his professional awards that include being Patron of the Maryborough Music Conference, becoming a recipient of the Midwest Clinic – Chicago, International Award, and was awarded the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association’s Citation of Excellence, located along with Life Membership in ABODA. Dr Hultgren is a member of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, a full writer member of the Australasian Performing Right Association and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society. His compositional output ranges from educational and amateur performing groups to the professional studio and stage, and his conducting credits are equally broad. He continues to conduct, by invitation, across Australia, the Asia Pacific region and North America. Dr Hultgren enjoys annoying the members of his church, and loves to read to and play trains with his grandchildren.

Dario Sotelo - Biographical Information

Conductor of the Symphonic Band and teacher of instrumental conducting at the Municipal School of Music of Sa~o Paulo. He was the President of WASBE - World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, from 2017 to 2019, the first Latin American to hold this position. Through the Conservatoire of Tatui´, he commissioned several Brazilian composers such as Mario Ficarelli, Ernest Mahle, Edson Beltrami, Hudson Nogueira and Edmundo Villani-Co^rtes and conduct more than 137 world premieres of Brazilian works. He established and coordinated the 1st and 2nd editions of the Ibero-American Conference of Composers, Arrangers and Symphonic Band Conductors. Established and coordinated the National Seminar of Band Conductors from 2013 to 2017. He was Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Brazilian Wind Orchestra for 25 years, the ensemble that recorded 7 cds with Brazilian works under his direction. In 2019 he organized and coordinated the WASBE World Conference in the city of Bun~ol-Spain. In 2020, he was awarded the ‘Pari Antoni’ award from the 'Ateneo Musical y de Ensen~anza Banda Primitiva de Lliria', the oldest musical society in Spain.

Alberto Roque - Biographical Information

Alberto Roque began his musical studies at the Artistic and Musical Society of Pousos (SAMP) in Portugal. He continued his studies at the National Superior Academy of Orchestra in Lisbon, where he, studied Orchestral Conducting with Jean-Marc Burfin. In 1998, he won first prize in the International Contest of Oriental Foundation for Young Conductors of Orchestra. In 2001 he achieved his "Perfeccionement" in Orchestral Conducting with Jean-Sébastien Béreau, at the Conservatoire Jean-Philippe Rameau established in Dijon, France. Mr. Roque has been conductor of the Lisbon College of Music Wind Ensemble. He is also a guest conductor of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and Orquestra do Algarve, Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, Orquestra Sinfónica da ESART, Brass and Percussion Section of the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa and conducted many soloists including Claude Delangle (France), James Houlik (USA), Pedro Carneiro (Portugal), Mário Laginha & Maria João (Portugal), and Roger Hodgson (Supertramp). From 2009 to 2011 he was member of the Artistic Planning Committee of WASBE´s 15th Conference – Chiayi City, Taiwan, and was a member of the same committee for the next conference in Uthech (The Nederland) in 2017. In July 2015, he was invited to the Conducting Masterclass of WASBE Conference in S. José, California. He is a founding member of Saxofínia Saxophone Quartet and project “concert for Babies” of Musicalmente Company.

Keith Allen - Biographical Information

Keith Allen was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London, then undertook post-graduate studies at Birmingham University and Kingston University, with a Master's Degree from the University of West London. His current positions include: Music Director: Birmingham Symphonic Winds; Festival Director: National Concert Band Festival – the UK's largest wind band & big band festival; ‘conductor in residence’ with Birmingham University Wind Band; Conductor: Solihull Youth Wind Ensemble; Consultant Editor: Faber Music Ltd. and member of the Advisory Board of the London International Music Festival. His busy schedule includes adjudicating across all musical genres at numerous festivals in the UK, as well as guest conducting in America, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia, China and the UK. Keith Allen founded Birmingham Symphonic Winds in 1992 and since then have achieved an unparalleled track record both nationally and internationally with more accolades for musical enterprise and excellence than any other wind orchestra in the UK. With a dedication to the creation and performance of contemporary works for this medium, BSW has premiered over 50 pieces (many of them commissions) from British, American and European composers.

Joseph Cheung - Biographical Information

Joseph Cheung was born in Hong Kong.  He graduated from the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music with merit and scholarship from the Royal Jockey Club. Later, he received a bachelor’s degree with Honors from the Chinese University of HK. Joseph had been working full-time for the HK Government Music Office, Tom Lee Music Foundation, and the HK Academy for Performing Arts. He is also the founder of HK Brass, the Tom Lee Wind Orchestra, Tom Lee Jazz Orchestra, and he has led clinics for different schools and community bands in HK and Mainland China. He has appeared as a guest lecturer at HK Baptist University, HK Government Music Office, and different music centers throughout. Joseph was invited as Music Examiner for HK Examination Authority. He has taught at the elementary, junior high, high school, and college levels for over twenty years and was nominated for the Chairman of the Hong Kong Band Director Association (from 1990 to 2004). He was honored as an Adjudicator of the China Association for Symphonic Band and Ensemble and a Consultant of the Beijing Band Directors Association. As a music educator, Mr. Cheung presents his classes in different provinces of China and other countries such as Singapore, Spain, and the USA too. Currently, Joseph is the Vice Director / International Liaison Department at the China Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.

Rafael Sanz-Espert - Biographical Information

Sanz-Espert is one of the most dynamic, expressive and representative conductors on the international wind music scene and one of the most well-known, valued and committed conductors of his generation. He regularly conducts the most important professional wind bands in Spain. He also collaborates, as a guest conductor, with The U.S. Army Band and Orchestra, ORCAM, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, OSN Paraguay, Banda Sinfônica do Estado de Sao Paulo, Orquesta de Sopros Brasileira, Symphonic Wind Orchestra of UMD, Intercollegiate Honor Band of the CBDNA, TPWO (Duluth), and Grand Symphonic Winds Minnesota. He also conducts at the Midwinter Clinic (Minnesota) and Midwest Clinic (Chicago) festivals. His extensive discography reflects his versatility in different genres. Particularly noteworthy are his recordings with the Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia, Royal Northern College of Music de Manchester and Spanish Brass. He also has received national and international prizes and five honorary mentions for his career as a conductor. He has taught courses, developing his own technique. Noteworthy are the workshops in Berklee Valencia and master classes at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was Chief Conductor of the Banda Municipal de Bilbao, Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Madrid, member of the Board of Directors of WASBE and of the AIE (Society of Artists of Spain). He is currently Artistic Director of the Congreso Iberoamericano de Directores and of the CIBM Executive Committee, and Chief Conductor of the Municipal Symphonic Band of Valencia.

Mark Whitlock - Biographical Information

Dr. Whitlock received his BM in Music Education degree from Iowa State University, MM in Trombone Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa and the DMA in Wind Conducting, also from the University of Iowa. He is a frequent clinician throughout the country having conducted honors bands and clinics in Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa , Minnesota, West Virginia and California including the 2007 – 2008 Minnesota All-Sate Concert Band. Dr. Whitlock has also guest conducted and given clinics in Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Spain and Turkey. Dr. Whitlock is conductor of the Twin Ports Wind Orchestra, a local community wind band dedicated to the performance of the finest wind band literature. He has also conducted the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra on several concerts as well as with the Minnesota Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker Ballet. Both the UMD Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Twin Ports Wind Orchestra have performed at state and national conventions including the Minnesota Music Educators Association Convention, American School Band Directors National Association National Convention and the College Band National Association National Convention.

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