Performer Details
Performer Bio Synopsis
Part of the Clark County School District (Las Vegas, NV), the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts Band Program focuses on developing musicianship through a comprehensive music education program. Students receive regularly scheduled small group instruction (sectionals), as well as individualized instruction from staff and private lesson instructors. The LVA Band Program offers performance opportunities with three levels of concert bands, as well as two levels of orchestral winds and percussion classes paired with full orchestra. Sectional classes are partnered with large ensembles to further assist students in their musical development, with electives also available in Music Technology and Music Theory. In addition, students are offered a wide range of performance and travel opportunities, festival experiences, and interactions with world-renowned guest artists.
The Las Vegas Academy Band Program has been recognized as a Blue Ribbon Program of Excellence award winner by the National Band Association, as well as a Mark of Excellence winner in the National Wind Band Honors Project. Recent performances outside of Nevada for the program include the Las Vegas Academy Wind Ensemble performing as an invited guest at the Pacific Basin Music Festival (2016), Western International Band Clinic (2017), and a gala performance at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria (2019). Past performances include the Music for All National Concert Band Festival, multiple UNLV Wind Orchestra concerts, as well as the Auditorio de Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain. Guest artists have included performers such as Joe Alessi (New York Philharmonic, principal trombone), Chris Castellanos, the Boston Brass, and numerous others.
Las Vegas Academy of the Arts Wind Ensemble
Conductor's Bio
John Seaton serves as the Director of Bands at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, an arts magnet school in the Clark County (Las Vegas) School District serving students from one of the largest school districts in the country. Mr. Seaton is in his 7th year at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts and his 3rd year as Director of Bands. His responsibilities include conducting the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, Co-Conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra and teaching Woodwind Techniques. Ensembles under Mr. Seaton’s direction have consistently garnered superior ratings in adjudication, and maintain an active schedule of travel and conference performances, most recently receiving the invitation to perform at the 76th annual Midwest Clinic in 2022. In 2018, Mr. Seaton was recognized as a “Teacher of Influence” at a reception hosted at UNLV, in which a recent LVA graduate submitted an essay highlighting his influence on their path to college.
As a saxophonist, he has performed multiple times with both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Las Vegas Philharmonic, and has performed concerti as a soloist with both the Wright State University Chamber Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra, the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra, and The Desert Winds. Additionally, he has given recitals across the United States and on the international stage, including performances at multiple North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conferences, the U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) State Conference, the Blue Wisp Jazz Club, and both a solo and quartet recital of world premieres at the 2012 World Saxophone Congress XVI in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Consistently in demand as a guest clinician and private instructor, Mr. Seaton has previously taught applied saxophone lessons for the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, district-wide clinics for the Clark County School District, and high schools across the United States. Students under his instruction have been accepted into the saxophone studios at the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Youngstown State University, Wright State University, the Interlochen Saxophone Institute, and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. An avid writer, he has been published multiple times by The Instrumentalist magazine with articles including “Adjusting Saxophone Fingerings” and “The Art of Teaching Saxophone: An Interview with Timothy McAllister.” Mr. Seaton has also recently presented invited sessions at both the Arts Schools Network and Nevada Music Teachers Association conferences.
Outside of the classroom, Mr. Seaton serves as the Associate Conductor and Principal Saxophonist of The Desert Winds: A Contemporary Wind Ensemble, which recently traveled to perform at The Midwest Clinic in 2016. The organization features a roster of performers that include many local music educators, college students and freelance musicians. Since its debut, the Desert Winds has reached thousands of people through both inspiring performances and educational programs. Mr. Seaton also serves as the wind section coach for the Las Vegas Young Artists Orchestra, a high school/collegiate extracurricular youth orchestra.
Mr. Seaton holds an M.M. in Saxophone Performance with Program Honors from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University and a B.M. in Music Education, summa cum laude, from the Wright State University School of Music. His primary teachers include Timothy McAllister and Shelley Jagow. Mr. Seaton is a Conn-Selmer Artist, D’Addario Woodwinds Artist, and Key Leaves artist. He performs exclusively on Selmer Paris saxophones, D’Addario reeds, and uses Key Leaves saxophone care products.
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