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Time:

Thursday
December, 19, 2019
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Location:

Ballroom W183

Category

CHAMBER ENSEMBLES

Conductor

Rachel Zephir

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

The Eleanor Roosevelt High School Chamber Ensembles have been a part of the forty three year history of the school's band program. Flute choir, clarinet choir, Dixieland Combo, and Jazz Ensemble have been after school ensembles. In 2018-2019 the Wind Ensemble was turned into several chamber groups to meet the needs of the growing program. They were invited to perform at the 2019 HBCU Band Directors Consortium Convention in Atlanta in this format.

Eleanor Roosevelt High School Chamber Ensembles

Conductor's Bio

Rachel E. Zephir is currently the Director of Bands at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt Maryland. At Roosevelt, she directs four Concert Bands, Pep Band, Jazz Ensemble, and oversees the chamber music program. She began this position in August of 2015. During her tenure the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band have been selected to perform at the Maryland Music Educators State Conference in 2017, the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Regional Conference at Yale University in 2018, and in March 2019 they will perform at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) National Band Directors Consortium Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. She has held similar positions at Hereford High School in Parkton Maryland, and Francis Scott Key High School in Union Bridge Maryland. Rachel also spent three years teaching with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s El Sistema based program OrchKids. At OrchKids, she was the Brass Department Chair, and taught Musicianship and Ear Training classes. From 2007-2011 she was also the Music Director of the Westminster Symphony Orchestra; a combined effort between McDaniel College and Carroll Community College in Westminster Maryland. Members included local professional musicians, area music educators, college students, and community members. She was also an adjunct faculty member at both McDaniel College and Carroll Community College teaching studio trumpet and the Brass Ensemble. . She has attended conducting workshops at some of the finest institutions for Wind Conducting in the United States. Rachel was selected to the first two Frederick Fennell Memorial Conducting Masterclass at The Eastman School of Music in the fall of 2007 and University of Maryland in spring 2009. She has also participated in two summer workshops at the University of Michigan with Professor Michael Haithcock and was a finalist for the Chamber Music Track at the Temple University Conducting Workshop. There she worked with Professor Craig Kirchhoff and Emily Threinen. Rachel has also recently been selected to the chamber conducting track of the University of Colorado at Boulder Conducting Symposium where she will work with guest clinician H. Robert Reynolds, and Director of Bands Donald McKinney. She has worked with renowned Wind Conductors such as Donald Hunsberger, Frederick Fennell, Mark Scatterday, Michael Haithcock, Frank Battisti, and Craig Kirchhoff. Rachel is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She has degrees in Trumpet, Music Education, and Wind Conducting.

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