Middle School Band Rehearsal Lab
Clinic Synopsis:
This rehearsal clinic will provide practical information to band directors regarding: building ensemble sound, the establishment of daily fundamentals, developing a variety of articulation, appropriate use of dynamics, establishing melodic and vertical intonation and interpretative ideas.
Corey Graves
- Biographical Information
Corey LaMon Graves is in his sixteenth year of teaching and is the
head band director at Tony A. Jackson Middle School in Forney ISD. Prior to
this appointment, Mr. Graves served as the head director of Roma Middle School
for eleven years. Mr. Graves received his Bachelor of Music Education degree as
a summa cum laude graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) in
2007. Mr. Graves earned a Master of Music in Euphonium Performance from The
Ohio State University (OSU) as a graduate fellow in 2008.
Mr. Graves is a Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar. Bands
under his direction have consistently received superior sweepstakes ratings at
UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest, and have also earned high levels of
recognition at both the state and national stage, being recognized as a
National and Commended Winner in The Foundation for Music Education National
Wind Band contest from 2013-2023. His bands have been consistent state
finalists in the Texas Music Educators Association Honor Band Competition,
being recently honored as the 2020 TMEA CC Honor Band.The RMS Symphonic
Winds were also invited to perform at the 70th Annual Midwest International
Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. The RMS band program is a 2019
recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Silver Cup Award and named
a Rio Grande Valley Program of Distinction. Mr. Graves was chosen as Roma ISD’s
2013 Secondary Teacher of the Year, Forney ISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year
in 2023, and named the Phi Beta Mu Texas Young Bandmaster of the Year in 2017.
He was also named as Yamaha “40 Under 40” Music Teacher of Excellence and a
Country Music Awards Music Teacher of Excellence in 2023. He is an active
clinician, adjudicator, guest euphoniumist, sits on the Board of Directors for
the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, is an educational clinician for the
Conn-Selmer Division of Education, and maintains professional affiliations with
Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music
Adjudicators Association, the UIL Prescribed Music List Committee, and Pi Kappa
Lambda National Music Honor Society.
Mr. Graves credits his passion for music to his mother, Brenda M.
Moore, his drive for success to his grandmother, Mrs. Vergie Graves, and his
love of education to an incredible list of music educators across the country.
Cooper Middle School Band - Biographical Information
Located in McLean, Virginia, the Cooper Middle School band
program features over 200 students in three concert ensembles, a jazz band, and
percussion ensemble. The bands have performed at the Virginia Music Educators
Association Conference in 2017 & 2022, and were the first Virginia middle
school band to perform at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival in
2019. They received the 2019 National Band Association Blue Ribbon Program of
Excellence Southern Division Award. In June of 2022, they were awarded the
prestigious Sudler Silver Cup by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. The Cooper
Bands have performed at the White House Easter “Egg Roll”, recorded for NASA’s
Artemis 1 launch, and participated in clinics with the Boston Symphony Pops and
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. They actively commission and join consortiums with
composers like Brian Balmages, Craig Fitzpatrick, Carl Holmquist, Brant
Karrick, Katie LaBrie, Andrew David Perkins, Randall Standridge and Doug
Wallace.
Matthew Baker - Biographical Information
Matthew Baker has been the Director of Bands at Cooper
Middle School since 2013. He is responsible for overseeing and teaching all
aspects of the band program, including three concert bands, percussion
ensemble, and jazz band. Under his leadership, the bands have grown from 57
students to over 200 students. He is a product of Fairfax County Public
Schools, where he attended Chantilly High School under the direction of Keith
Taylor and Alan P. Johnson. He received both a Bachelor of Music in Music
Education and Master of Music in Music Performance from James Madison
University, where he studied under Kevin Stees, Scott Rikkers, Dr. Pat Rooney,
and Dr. Steve Bolstad. As the Band Director at River Bend Middle School in
Loudoun County, Virginia, he was named the 2010 Teacher of the Year and built
the program from 200 to over 450 students. Mr. Baker then became the Assistant
Band Director at Fairfax High School in 2012, where the band performed at the
Music for All National Concert Band Festival and Virginia Music Educators
Association conference. During his time at Cooper Middle School, the bands have
performed at Virginia Music Educators Association conference in 2017 and 2022,
the Music for All National Concert Band Festival in 2019, as well as
participating in clinics with the Boston Pops and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
They recently performed at the White House, and recorded for the NASA Artemis I
Launch. Matthew Baker was awarded the NBA Citation of Excellence three times
and has been recognized for excellence by the Fairfax County School Board,
Fairfax County Board of Directors, and Virginia State Senate. He is a member of
NAfME, VMEA, VBODA, and NBA. He currently resides in Ashburn, Virginia with his
wife Sarah, their son Everett, and their dogs Ella and Ellington.
Alexandra Singer - Biographical Information
Alexandra Singer is in her tenth year as the Assistant Band
Director at Cooper Middle School and second year as Director of Bands at
Churchill Elementary School. She regularly assists with all aspects of the band
program, and conducts the Wind Ensemble and co-conducts the Concert Band. While
at Cooper, Mrs. Singer assisted with the Symphonic Band at the Virginia Music
Educators Conference performance in 2017, the Music for All National Concert
Band Festival in 2019, the National Band Association Blue Ribbon Program
of Excellence award, and received an NBA Citation of Excellence. Her bands have
earned superior and excellent ratings at state assessment. She also regularly
works with the Langley Marching Band, and maintains a private clarinet studio.
Mrs. Singer earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music from George Mason University
where she performed with various ensembles and assisted with guitar
class. She currently resides in Centreville, Virginia with her
husband, Steve and their daughter Eliana.
Doug Wallace - Biographical Information
Doug Wallace is a vibrant and energetic performer, composer,
and educator with diverse experience in all areas of percussion performance and
pedagogy. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School,
Mr. Wallace has performed with a variety of acclaimed ensembles including the
National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, The Metropolitan
Opera, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Theater Chamber Players, the
Battery Four Percussion Group, Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Post Classical
Ensemble, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the Amadeus Orchestra. He has also
participated in several honors ensembles and festival orchestras including
Tanglewood Music Center, The National Repertory Orchestra, the National
Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West, and the International Symphony
Orchestra. With these groups and others, Mr. Wallace has worked under the baton
of Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Pierre Boulez, James Levine, John Williams,
Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, and Placido Domingo.
With vast teaching experience at all levels, Mr. Wallace is
in high demand as a music educator and clinician. Currently the Director of
Percussion for the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras in Annandale,
Virginia, Mr. Wallace is an active percussion director, clinician and sectional
instructor at several nationally recognized Fairfax County Public Schools. He
is also proud to have been the first full time Professor of Percussion at
Christopher Newport University, an up and coming music department located in
Newport News, Virginia. Mr. Wallace's private students have been
accepted to continue studies at The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of
Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, Boston
University, the Peabody Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music, The University of Miami, and DePaul University. His
teaching techniques are highlighted in his method book, Percussion with Class,
published by FJH Music, and his compositions and arrangements have been
performed at The Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, New York
University, George Mason University, Christopher Newport University, the Music
Academy of the West, the Aspen Music Festival, Temple University, the Concert
Chamber Series, the Music for All National Percussion Festival, the Virginia
Music Educators Conference, and National's Park.
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