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Time:

Wednesday
December, 21, 2022
08:30 AM - 09:30 AM

Location:

W181

Clinician(s)

Travis Weller

Travis Weller

[email protected]
David M. Blon

David M. Blon

[email protected]
Mark Camphouse

Mark Camphouse

[email protected]
Julie Giroux

Julie Giroux

[email protected]
Quincy Hilliard

Quincy Hilliard

[email protected]
Laura

Laura

Estes

When Conductor and Composer are One

Clinic Synopsis:

Conductors utilize [living] composers as a resource when deciphering their musical intent. This can (and should) be perceived as a critical component to recreation of each composer’s music. This panel discussion will explore the experiences of composers who conduct, if they sometimes find themselves at odds with what they’ve written, and how the physical musical gestures impact their analysis and communication of their own work.

Travis Weller - Biographical Information

Travis J. Weller serves as Assistant Chair to the Music Department at Messiah University. In addition to his administrative duties, he serves as Director of Music Education, conducts the Symphonic Winds, and teaches courses in the graduate conducting and music education programs at Messiah. As a composer, he is published with several companies and maintains an active clinician, commission, and guest conducting schedule.

David M. Blon - Biographical Information

Dr. David Blon joined Purdue Bands & Orchestras in fall 2021 as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Blon had previously served as Artist-in-Residence for the department during the 2019-2020 academic year. He received his Bachelor of Music at Slippery Rock University, his Master of Music at Youngstown State University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Prior to pursuing his doctoral degree, Blon was Director of the University of Hawai’i Symphonic Band and the “Rainbow Warrior” Marching Band. He also served as the Graduate Teaching and Conducting Assistant for the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. For three summers, he was the Ensemble Manager for the World Youth Wind Symphony at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Most recently, Blon was the Director of Athletic Bands at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Mark Camphouse - Biographical Information

A product of the rich cultural environment of Chicago, composer-conductor Mark Camphouse was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1954.  He received undergraduate and graduate degrees in music from Northwestern University, where he studied composition with Alan Stout, conducting with John P. Paynter, and trumpet with Vincent Cichowicz.  A Civic Orchestra of Chicago scholarship enabled Camphouse to study trumpet privately for two years with legendary Chicago Symphony principal Adolph Herseth. Camphouse began composing at an early age, with the Colorado Philharmonic premiering his First Symphony when he was 17.  His 35 published works for wind band have received widespread critical acclaim and are performed frequently in the U.S. and abroad.  He has served as guest conductor in 43 states, Canada, Europe, and China.  Recent guest conducting engagements include those with the Houston Symphony Brass Ensemble, The U.S. Air Force Band, NAfME All-National Concert Band, and Banda de Conciertos de San Jose (Costa Rica). He served as founding coordinator of the National Band Association Young Composer Mentor Project from 2000-2022.  He conceived and edited the unique 4-volume book series Composers on Composing for Band with GIA Publications.  His 5th book with GIA (Whatsoever Things...The Life and Teachings of John P. Paynter) was published in 2014. In 2002 he received an Outstanding Faculty Award by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Commonwealth's highest honor for faculty at Virginia's colleges and universities for demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and public service.  The 2021-22 academic year marked his 44th and final year of full-time teaching in higher education.  Camphouse joined the faculty of George Mason University in 2006, where he served as Director of Concert Bands, Conductor of the Wind Symphony, and taught courses in composition and conducting until his retirement in June 2022.   Now Professor Emeritus of Music at GMU, Camphouse and his wife, Elizabeth Curtis live in Millville, Delaware, near Bethany Beach on the Atlantic coast.  They have twin daughters and 3 granddaughters. 

Julie Giroux - Biographical Information

Julie Ann Giroux was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on December 12, 1961. She graduated from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA in 1984. She started playing piano at 3 years of age and began composing at the age of 8 and has been composing ever since. Her first published work for concert band, published by Southern Music Company was composed at the age of 13.      Julie began composing commercially in 1984. She was hired by Oscar winning composer Bill Conti as an orchestrator,  her first project with Conti being “North & South” the mini-series. With over 100  film, television and video game credits, Giroux collaborated with dozens of film composers, producers, and celebrities including Samuel Goldwyn, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Celene Dion, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Paul Newman, Harry Connick Jr. and many others. Projects she has worked on have been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globe awards. She has won individual Emmy Awards in the field of “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction”. When She won her first Emmy Award, she was the first woman and the youngest person to ever win that award.  She has won it three times.   Giroux has also published a large category of classical works with emphasis on original compositions for Wind Band which are published by Musica Propria and distributed internationally. She is greatly sought after as a composer and recently completing her 5th Symphony “Sun, Rain & Wind” which premiered in June, 2018. Her music has been recorded and reviewed internationally receiving top reviews and her music has been performed at major music festivals the world over.    Giroux has been a true force in a male dominated field and has accrued many previously male only awards. She is a member of ASCAP, The Film Musicians Fund, Kappa Kappa PSI, Tau Beta Sigma and a member of the American Bandmasters Association. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Service to Music Medal Award, Emmy Awards and was the first female composer inducted into the American Bandmasters Association in 2009. 

Quincy Hilliard - Biographical Information

Quincy C. Hilliard’s compositions for wind band are published by a variety of well known publishers.  In 2014, Hilliard received the prestigious Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award in the Classical Music Division.  Most recently, he was recognized with a second Global Music Award for his work as a composer.  In 2012, one of his pieces, Coty (clarinet and piano) was recorded on a CD that was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2008, he was commissioned by the Library of Congress to compose a work in celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. He is frequently commissioned to compose works, including one for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and a score for a documentary film, The Texas Rangers.  The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) has recognized him with annual awards for the unusually frequent performance of his compositions. Hilliard is regularly invited to conduct, demonstrate effective techniques, and adjudicate festivals throughout the world.  Because he is also a scholar of Aaron Copland’s music, the Copland estate authorized Hilliard to publish the educational performance editions of his music. To train school band students, he wrote Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks, Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands, Scales and Tuning Exercises for Superior Bands, Theory Concepts, Books One and Two and is the co-author of the Skill Builders, Books One and Two.  He is currently Composer in Residence and is the Heymann Endowed Professor of Music at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.  

Laura - Biographical Information

Laura Estes taught middle and high school band for 36 years before retiring in 2018 from the Cobb County School System (GA). Upon retirement she began composing, and her first piece “Kvetchers (Surprises in Controversial Time)” was accepted for publication in Excelcia’s 2020 catalog. In addition to her music being performed at The MidWest Clinic in Chicago, Estes’ concert works have been selected for the J.W. Pepper Editor’s Choice List as well as being named Five Star Features from Stanton’s Sheet Music. With her composition “Walking on Air,” Estes was named the winner of the 2021 Women Band Directors International (WBDI) Composition Competition. Throughout Estes’ career, her bands consistently earned Superior ratings at performance evaluations, and she was awarded the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence as her middle and high school bands were selected to perform at clinics in the Southeast. A South Florida native, Estes earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from The Florida State University and her Master’s Degree in Music Education from Georgia State University. In addition to composing, Estes continues to serve as an adjudicator, guest conductor, clinician, and mentor. Estes and her husband Gil reside in Marietta, GA, and have 5 amazing children: Adrienne, April, Eric, Daniel, and Michelle.

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