Clinician Detail

Pearls of Wisdom from Women Collegiate Wind Conductors

Clinic Synopsis:

Be inspired by listening to words of wisdom from four successful women collegiate wind conductors including Andrea Brown, Sue Creasap, Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, and Emily Threinen. Topics of discussion will cover role models/mentors, training, equity, score study, and rehearsal and conducting techniques.

Andrea Brown - Biographical Information

Dr. Andrea E. Brown was appointed the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Maryland in 2018. In this position, she conducts the University of Maryland Wind Ensemble, serves as the Director of Athletic Bands, teaches conducting, and is the coordinator of the conducting division. Brown is formerly a member of the conducting faculty at the University of Michigan, where she served as the assistant director of bands and was a faculty sponsor of a College of Engineering Multidisciplinary Design Project team researching conducting pedagogy technology. She also served as the director of orchestra and assistant director of bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. She is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the US, Europe, and Asia. While under her direction, the UMD Wind Ensemble has been selected to perform at the College Band Directors National Association Eastern Division Conference, and has performed works by a diverse range of composers. Brown and the ensemble have collaborated with soloists Sam Barlow, Willie Clark, Robert DiLutis, Jennifer Piazza-Pick, and Amanda Staub. She led a consortium commissioning Omar Thomas’s Setting of Shenandoah and has participated in commissions for works by Katahj Copley, Shiyung Li, Catherine Likhuta, and Harrison Collins. During her time at Maryland, the UMD “Mighty Sound of Maryland” Marching Band has collaborated in halftime shows with local artists such as the Critical Condition Band (DC GoGo), Mawty Maw (rap artist), Grace Chin (drum set), and the Maryland Steel Pan Collective.

Sue Creasap - Biographical Information

Susan D. Creasap is Professor Emeritus of Bands and Music Education at Morehead State University. Creasap began her career teaching elementary band and orchestra in the public schools of Meadville, Pennsylvania and then junior high/high school band in Memphis, Tennessee over a period of eighteen years before moving to the college ranks. During these years she also was an active hornist and private horn instructor. Prior to her position at Morehead State, Creasap was Interim Director of Bands/Horn Professor at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She is a Research Associate for the acclaimed Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series and her numerous clinics include presentations for The Midwest Clinic, Kentucky Music Educators Association Conferences, Kansas State Honor Band Clinic, Women Band Directors International Summer Conferences, College Band Directors National Association Athletic Bands Symposium, and teacher in-service sessions. Dr. Creasap has been honored with the Women Band Directors International Silver Baton, Kentucky Music Educators Association University Teacher of the Year, and the Kentucky Chapter of Phi Beta Mu named her Bandmaster of the Year (2017). She was named the first recipient of the Women Band Directors International Al and Gladys Wright Lifetime Achievement Award (2021) and mostly recently, was named to the WBDI Hall of Fame. Creasap is the “Need a Mentor” coordinator for the National Band Association, chair of the National Band Association Foundation, treasurer of the Women Band Directors International Foundation, and past-president of Women Band Directors International.

Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin - Biographical Information

Dr. Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin is Director of Wind Band Studies and Associate Professor of Music at Penn State University. In addition to conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, overseeing the graduate wind conducting program, and teaching courses in wind band literature and wind conducting, she oversees all aspects of the concert bands at Penn State. Her appointment at PSU follows three years as Assistant Director of Bands and Associate Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her time at UofSC, Mitchell-Spradlin taught at Valdosta State University as Director of Athletic Bands, and was Director of Bands at Chamblee High School in Chamblee, Georgia for four years. Mitchell-Spradlin has a diverse background as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, educator, and speaker. She is a Conn Selmer educator and frequent guest conductor with performances with several regional honor bands, All-State bands, summer camps and clinics, and residencies at public schools and collegiate institutions. She is active in the teaching of conducting, having served as clinician for the UMKC Conducting Symposium and the President’s Own Marine Band Conductor Training Program.

Emily Threinen - Biographical Information

Emily Threinen is an Associate Professor of Music and serves as Director of Bands at the University of Minnesota School of Music in the Twin Cities. In this position, she conducts the acclaimed University Wind Ensemble, guides the graduate wind band conducting program, assists in undergraduate conducting, and provides administrative leadership for all aspects of the University of Minnesota-TC Band Program. Prior to her position here, Threinen served as Director of Bands and Artistic Director of Winds and Brass at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Director of Bands at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia; Director of the Duke University Wind Symphony in Durham, North Carolina; Director of the Concordia University Wind Ensemble in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Conductor of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Director of Bands and Instrumental Music at Harding High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she received the Outstanding Teacher Award. Threinen consistently works with composers, arrangers, and performing artists of varied disciplines. Residencies and projects with composers are integral to her creative work. Threinen is published in multiple volumes of the GIA Teaching Music Through Performance in Band book series, where she has been recognized as a strong scholarly contributor. She is active, across the nation and abroad (appearances in Australia, Spain, Brazil, and Canada), as a guest conductor, clinician, and conference presenter.