Clinician Detail

Recruiting and Promoting Female Low Brass Players in Middle and High School Band

Clinic Synopsis:

This panel will explore the importance of encouraging and supporting female musicians in the world of trombone, euphonium, and tuba in the middle and high school realm. Through insightful discussion, the panel will address strategies for recruiting and promoting female low brass players. Topics will include the challenges faced by young female low brass players, a list of resources highlighting female low brass players, mentorship opportunities, and promotion materials.

Joanna Hersey - Biographical Information

Joanna Ross Hersey (she/her) is a performing artist, educator, and composer with twenty years’ experience as a leader in higher education. An advocate for active duty and military-affiliated students, she is a veteran of the United States Coast Guard, beginning her career as Principal Tubist with the U.S. Coast Guard Band, stationed at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. A champion for equity in both military and civilian settings, Dr. Hersey holds Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in addition to her music degrees, and has written several book chapters and journal articles in the areas of gender, diversity, and belonging. She has released two solo albums, O quam mirabilis and Zigzags, featuring music by diverse female composers, in combination with her own works, and appears on five chamber music albums. Active in nonprofit leadership, Dr. Hersey assists organizations such as the International Women’s Brass Conference, where her work as President supported strong growth of event participation and mentoring programs. She currently serves as Conference Chair and Board Member for the International Alliance for Women in Music, and as Treasurer and Board Member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association. Her newest composition, Nanon, for euphonium and tuba duo with electronic track, was the winner of the 2023 International Tuba Euphonium Association's Mary Ann Craig Focus on Women Award, established to honor works which center the achievements and creativity of women.

Megumi Kanda - Biographical Information

Megumi Kanda, Principal Trombone of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra since 2002, is an internationally acclaimed performer, teacher, and author. Megumi has performed as a soloist across the United States, Europe, and Asia, including with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Pershing’s Own Army Band, the US Army Field Band, and the Prague Chamber Orchestra. She has commissioned and/or premiered works of numerous composers and has been a featured guest artist at many trombone workshops and festivals, including the International Trombone Festival and the American Trombone Workshop. Megumi has appeared as guest faculty at numerous music institutions, including the New World Symphony, National Youth Orchestra, and Interlochen Arts Academy, and has given master classes and recitals around the world. In April 2006, Megumi was recognized by the Arion Foundation in Tokyo, Japan as one of the most influential Japanese classical artists. She has also received a Certificate of Commendation from the Consul General of Japan at Chicago in recognition for distinguished service contributing to the friendship between the United States and Japan. Megumi was named a 2017 Woman of Influence by the Milwaukee Business Journal in the category of education. In 2020, she was named the recipient of the International Trombone Association Award, which recognizes the highest level of creative and artistic achievement. Megumi’s two books, The One Hundred (2015) and Trombone Unlimited (2020), are resources widely used by aspiring trombonists around the world. As a JVC/Victor Entertainment artist, Megumi recorded three solo albums: Amazing Grace, Gloria, and Mona Lisa. She also can be heard on Magnifique Live, a live recording of Megumi and other JVC artists in the August 2005 performance at Takemitsu Hall in Tokyo’s Opera City. A native of Tokyo, Japan, Megumi began to play the trombone at age ten and continued her studies at the prestigious Toho High School of Music, where she studied with Sumio Miwa, formerly of the NHK Symphony. At age fifteen, she became the youngest player ever to be named as one of the top ten trombonists at the Japanese Wind and Percussion Competition. Two years later, she won the Grand Prize in the National Competition for Solo Trombone. Megumi moved to the United States in 1994 and received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with James DeSano, former Principal Trombone of the Cleveland Orchestra. Prior to joining the Milwaukee Symphony, she served as Principal Trombonist of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, as a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music Community Education Division. Megumi is proud to be a Greenhoe artist and performs on a Greenhoe trombone. An avid gardener, Megumi was chosen to participate in the 2013 Garden Tour in Shorewood, WI. She also enjoys going to Milwaukee Brewers games and taking walks with her husband, MSO horn player Dietrich Hemann, and sons Hans, Max, and Lukas.

Myra Rhoden - Biographical Information

Dr. Myra K. Rhoden serves on the faculty at the University of West Georgia, where she conducts the UWG Symphonic Band and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Music Education. As the founder of Athena Music and Leadership (athenacamp.com), Rhoden has created programs and opportunities to empower young women through music while equipping them with lifelong leadership skills. She frequently serves as a guest conductor for all-state, regional, and university honor bands, and is honored to have presented sessions at national, state, and regional conferences, as well as for school systems and professional development clinics. A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, Rhoden has received national recognition for her contributions to music education with election to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity, and the John Philip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor. She had the distinct pleasure of being a guest conductor for the United States Air Force Band and the United States Army Field Band of Washington, D.C. She has served as National Chair of the NBA Programs of Excellence and is a Conn Selmer Educational Clinician. In addition to conducting and teaching, Rhoden is the author of Through My Music: Inspiring the Next Generation of Leaders (GIA Publications). She received her DMA in Conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi with Dr. Thomas Fraschillo, and her MA and BS in Music Education from the University of Alabama.

Jessica Sneeringer - Biographical Information

Jessica Sneeringer is a graduate of The Ohio State University, earning Bachelor’s Degrees in both Music Education and Trombone Performance as well as a Master’s Degree in Music Education. Jessica is currently in her 26th year of teaching, this being her 21st year as the Director of Bands at Columbus Academy in Gahanna, Ohio, as well as the Chair of the Performing Arts Department and the Dixon Art Chair Award Recipient. Jessica has been a clinician, judge, and coach for several outstanding student groups including the Ohio State University Marching Band, The Ohio All-State Band, and The All-Ohio State Fair Band. Jessica is currently on staff at Jazz Arts Group (Columbus) as the director of the Columbus Youth Jazz Ensemble as well as the director of the Columbus Community Jazz Band. As a conductor, Jessica has had the great fortune to conduct many wonderful ensembles including the Hannaford Street Silver Band, the Brass Band of Columbus, the Atlantic Brass Band, and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band among others. Since 2012, Jessica has been the conductor of the Athena Brass Band, having had the honor of conducting the group not only in the US but in the UK and Japan as well. She is very appreciative and honored to have had the opportunity to conduct the Athena Brass Band at the 2021 Midwest Clinic. Jessica is a member of the Phi Beta Mu Bandmasters Fraternity as well as the American School Band Directors Association.