Quality Control: Discovering Repertoire that Meets YOUR Standards
Clinic Synopsis:
The continued efforts to program diverse repertoire have inspired an influx of new music for the wind band medium. As musical curators, we can ensure the works we choose are of high quality in this growing landscape. This panel-presentation will examine the intersection of artistry, creativity, quality, and emotive potential, while addressing the definition of “quality” and encouraging attendees to develop their own programming standards and methods of discovering diverse repertoire.
Janet Kim
- Biographical Information
Dr. Janet Song Kim (any pronouns) serves as the Director of Wind Bands at the University of Connecticut as an Assistant Professor of Music and Woodwind Coordinator. They are the director and conductor of the UConn Symphonic Wind Ensemble while teaching courses such as Instrumental Pedagogy, Wind Literature, and Advanced Instrumental Conducting. Before this appointment, Kim most recently served as the Director of Instrumental Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where they taught courses in Conducting, Arranging and Orchestration, while conducting the Symphonic Band. Kim is an active guest conductor and clinician with current invitations to work with honor bands, music camps, and clinics in the United States and Canada.
Kim earned their doctor of musical arts degree from The Herb Alpert School of Music at the University of California, Los Angeles under the mentorship of Dr. Travis J. Cross. Prior to this, they earned a master of arts degree in instrumental conducting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and their dual bachelor of music degree in music education and jazz studies, magna cum laude, from Montclair State University. While studying as a graduate student at UCLA, they took a deep interest in audio technology and electronic music. During that time in Los Angeles, they also served as the Associate Director of the Peninsula Symphonic Winds based in San Pedro, CA and led a fully virtual ensemble through the pandemic.
Mike Lebrias - Biographical Information
Mike Lebrias (he/him) is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting at the University of Texas at Austin where he studies with Professor Jerry Junkin and serves as an assistant instructor for the UT Bands. His responsibilities at UT include co-teaching undergraduate conducting, serving as an assistant conductor for the concert bands, and a teaching assistant for the Longhorn Band.
Mike has worked with various high schools & middle schools in the Austin and Tampa areas throughout his career. He has made conducting appearances with all-district & region bands, professional bands, and British-style brass bands alike. In 2022, he had the great honor of being named a fellow at the Midwest Clinic’s Reynolds Conducting Institute. Mike is also active in the transcription and arrangement realm, where he has transcribed multiple works for winds, most notably Orbital (originally for percussion quartet and orchestra) by John Psathas - in addition to a large body of arrangement work for collegiate and high school marching bands.
Recently, Mike has taken up content creation and maintains a steady presence on social media platforms. He aims to provide educational music and conducting content to his viewers, with hopes to help bring the Wind Band artform into the mainstream.
He received both his Bachelor of Science in Music Education (‘15) and Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting (‘21) from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL under the mentorship of Jay Hunsberger, Dr. Matthew McCutchen, Dr. Marc Sosnowchik, and Dr. William Wiedrich.
Tina DiMeglio - Biographical Information
Tina DiMeglio is the Associate Director of Bands at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. Dr. DiMeglio conducts the USF Symphonic Band and teaches courses in conducting and music education. She has served as the Music Director of the Tampa Brass Band since 2021.
Recently, Dr. DiMeglio won first prize at the Inaugural Frederick Fennell International Conducting Competition, held in Modica, Italy in November 2021. She was a Conducting Fellow in the 2019 Midwest Clinic Reynolds Conducting Institute, and was also a recipient of the 2019 CBDNA Mike Moss Diversity Conducting Fellowship Study Grant. She actively works toward increased diversity and inclusion in the wind band medium, collaborating with composers and artists from historically marginalized communities and mentoring young women and non-binary conductors.
Tina DiMeglio earned a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree from the University of Miami, where she studied Instrumental Conducting with Dr. Robert Carnochan. She holds a Master of Music Degree in Wind Conducting from West Chester University, where she studied with Dr. Andrew Yozviak, and a bachelor’s degree in music education, clarinet concentration, from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music, where she studied clarinet with Paul Demers of the Philadelphia Orchestra and graduated Magna Cum Laude as a member of the academic honors program.
Dr. DiMeglio serves as a clinician and guest conductor for band programs and honor band festivals nationwide. She maintains a private lesson studio and performs professionally as a conductor and clarinetist.
Henry L. Dorn - Biographical Information
Henry
Dorn (b. Little Rock, AR). Each of his compositions builds distinct narratives
based on lived experiences of being a musician and African American, taking
ideas and putting them in places where they do not seem to belong. Dorn has
enjoyed performances by noteworthy ensembles across the country, including the
Minnesota Orchestra, the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet, Aizuri Quartet, Argento
Ensemble, and the Dallas Wind Symphony. Dorn is Assistant Professor of
Conducting and Composition, Conductor of the St. Olaf Band at St. Olaf College
in Northfield, MN. He is the former assistant director to the Memphis Area
Youth Wind Ensemble, and former director to the Memphis-based Nu Chamber
Collective. Dorn has also worked with musicians of the United States Army Field
Band, the United States Air Force Band, and has guest conducted the United
States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” He’s proud to have received multiple awards
for his unique style, including an Inaugural Future of Music Faculty Fellowship
from¬ the Cleveland Institute of Music and an ASCAP Foundation’s Morton Gould
Young Composer Award. Dorn holds two Doctor of Musical Arts degrees – one in
wind conducting and another in composition – from Michigan State University and
has completed studies at The University of Memphis and at Peabody Institute of
The Johns Hopkins University. He has studied conducting with Kevin L. Sedatole,
Harlan D. Parker, and Kraig Alan Williams, and composition with David
Biedenbender, Ricardo Lorenz, Alexis Bacon, Oscar Bettison, Kamran Ince, and
Jack Cooper.
Alexander Gonzalez - Biographical Information
Dr. Alexander Gonzalez is the Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; he conducts the Tuesday Night University Band, assists the University of Wisconsin Marching Band, directs the Men’s Hockey Band, and teaches courses in conducting. Prior to his appointment at UW-Madison, Alexander taught conducting at Capital University Conservatory of Music (OH), served as Music Director of the Professional School Orchestra (OH), served as the director of the Middleton Symphony Orchestra’s Wind Octet (WI), taught music history at Hillsborough Community College (FL), and was a public-school educator in Florida and Colorado where he taught at the middle and high school levels. His current research centers around the body of works commissioned by Robert Boudreau for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. In partnership with Editions Peters, Alexander has created a critical edition of Eugène Bozza’s Children’s Overture and will create forthcoming editions of other works in this unique catalogue. Dr. Gonzalez received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from The Ohio State University, where he studied with Dr. Russel Mikkelson. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Florida and a Masters in Wind Conducting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Additionally, Alexander is an active member in the National Association for Music Education, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the National Association for Music Education, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma.
Ogechi Ukazu - Biographical Information
Ogechi Ukazu is a doctoral candidate in wind conducting at the University of Texas at Austin where she also serves as an Assistant Instructor for the UT band program. Prior to this appointment, she acted as Visiting Instructor of Instrumental Music at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas. Ms. Ukazu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Houston and Master’s Degree in Conducting from Sam Houston State University. She began her career in Spring ISD where, in 2011, the Claughton Middle School Symphonic Band performed at the Midwest International Band & Orchestra Clinic.
In July 2022, Ms. Ukazu was named Associate Conductor of the Dallas Winds. She also serves as the primary conductor for the Austin Brass Collective, a group of professional brass musicians in the Central Texas area that perform wide ranging programs of original works and arrangements in performance and educational settings.
Ms. Ukazu is an avid proponent of quality music education for all students and has presented on music education advocacy at workshops, clinics, and conventions around the state of Texas and country, including the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention, and the Conn-Selmer Summer Institute.
Ms. Ukazu’s professional affiliations include College Band Directors National Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, Tau Beta Sigma, and honorary membership in Kappa Kappa Psi.
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