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

Andrea Brown is the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Maryland, where she conducts the Wind Ensemble, serves as the Director of Athletic Bands, teaches conducting, and coordinates the conducting and ensembles division. While under her direction, the Wind Ensemble has been selected to perform at the CBDNA Eastern Division Conference and the Maryland Music Educators Association Conference, and has performed works by a diverse range of composers. She led a commissioning consortium for Omar Thomas’s Shenandoah and has participated in commissions for works by Katahj Copley, Shiyung Li, Catherine Likhuta, Adrian Sims, Will Healy, Li Chan, and Harrison Collins. Brown is the founder of Women Rising to the Podium - an online group of over 5000 members supporting and celebrating women band directors. She currently serves as the chair of the CBDNA Diversity Committee and was a founding member of the DCI InStep Committee. Brown has served as a music judge for DCI since 2022 and is currently a member of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Shield Jury. Originally from Tennessee, she received a Distinguished Alumni Award both from Austin Peay State University and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Brown is a member of American Bandmasters Association, CBDNA, NAfME, WASBE, Sigma Alpha Iota, Kappa Kappa Psi, and was awarded the Tau Beta Sigma "Paula Crider Outstanding Band Director Award.”. She resides just outside of Washington, D.C., with her dog Carter.

Sue Creasap - Biographical Information

Susan D. Creasap is Professor Emeritus of Bands at Morehead State University. She holds a DA in Wind Band Conducting/Horn Performance - Ball State University, MA in Music Education/Music History - University of Minnesota, and BS in Music Education - Indiana University of PA. Her career includes 18 years of experience as a public school band director and 25 years at the university level. She is a Research Associate for the acclaimed Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series (12+ vols) and has presented numerous clinics and in-services at the state and national level. Her awards include 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 is the first recipient of the Women Band Directors International Al and Gladys Wright Lifetime Achievement Award (2021) and will be inducted into the Women Band Directors International Hall of Fame (2026). Creasap is Executive Assistant and the “Need a Mentor” coordinator for the National Band Association; chair of the NBA Foundation; treasurer of the WBDI Foundation; past-president of Women Band Directors International; and has held numerous leadership positions throughout her career. She is primary conductor of the Winds of the Blue Ridge in Roanoke, VA, an active guest conductor/clinician, and in her spare time she works in dog rescue. 

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.