OBA Concert Band Festival - 2009 Adjudicator Bios
Joseph H. Allison
Dr. Joseph H. Allison is currently an Associate Professor of Music, serving as Director of Bands and Graduate Conducting Activities, as well as Director of the Stephen Collins Foster Music Camps at Eastern Kentucky University. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education (French Horn) from East Tennessee State University, a Master's Degree (Percussion) and the Doctorate in Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Allison is the former Director of Bands at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Associate Director of Bands at East Tennessee State University, and Director of Bands at Sumter (SC) High School, Greenwood (SC) High School and Richmond County (NC) Senior High School. He serves as an adjudicator, clinician and consultant for concert, marching and jazz events throughout North America, Europe, and Japan.
Dr. Allison has held professional affiliations with the Kentucky Music Educators Association (Board of Control), East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, South Carolina Band Directors Association, College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, National Band Association (Board of Directors), American School Band Directors Association, International Association of Jazz Educators, Percussive Arts Society (Advisory Board), The Conductor's Guild, Drum Corps International Judges Guild (Executive Board), Bands of America (Advisory Board), Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Fraternity, Phi Beta Mu Honor Fraternity and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
During his 19 years of pubic school teaching, ensembles under Dr. Allison's direction received consistent superior ratings in adjudicated events and performed regularly at significant regional and national events. During his tenure as Director, the Sumter Bands became the first internationally to be honored by the John Philip Sousa Foundation as laureates of both the Sudler Flag of Honor for concert excellence and the Sudler Shield for marching achievement. The Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensembles, Percussion Ensembles and Chamber Orchestra were all regularly featured in major regional and national settings.
As an adjudicator, in addition to extensive concert band and jazz ensemble activity, Allison has judged the major competitions of the marching world: the Drum Corps International World Championships, and the Bands of America Grand National Championships, Winter Guard International, Drum Corps Japan, and the World Music Contests in Holland. He is the Founding Director and curriculum designer of the Kentucky Marching Band Adjudicators Association
A laureate of Teacher of the Year at Sumter High School, Dr. Allison's personal honors include the National Band Association's "Citation of Excellence" and the John Philip Sousa Foundation's "Sudler Order of Merit," as well as achievement awards from both the International Association of Jazz Educators and the Percussive Arts Society. He has been listed in Who's Who of American Educators, Outstanding Young Men of America, and was honored in multiple resolutions of the South Carolina State Legislature. Allison has received letters of commendation from Presidents Bush and Clinton and is a laureate of both the Order of the Palmetto from the state of South Carolina, and Kentucky Colonel from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Mark Hopkins
A native of Toronto, Dr. Hopkins earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the New England Conservatory while serving as Assistant to Frank L. Battisti, and was awarded the Gunther Schuller Medal at graduation. Dr. Hopkins taught music in high schools for twelve years, including seven years service as Chair of the Music Department at Upper Canada College in Toronto. He is Founding Music Director (Emeritus) of the Toronto Wind Orchestra and the Alberta Winds, freelance professional wind ensembles in Toronto and Calgary. Dr. Hopkins lectured and conducted the Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Choirs at Hanover College in Indiana. From 2002-2005 he taught a variety of courses and conducted ensembles at the University of Calgary in Alberta. In Calgary he conducted the Symphonic Band and the Wind Ensemble, coordinated chamber ensembles, was Artistic Director of the 2005 New Music Festival, and was Coordinator and Instructor of the University of Calgary Summer Wind Conducting Symposium. A respected trumpet player, Dr. Hopkins served as Principal Trumpet of the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra for 12 seasons, and was very active as a free-lance trumpet performer within the greater Toronto area.
Currently, Dr. Hopkins is an Assistant Professor in the School of Music at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He is responsible for teaching conducting, and is Director of Wind Studies at Acadia University. He is founding Director and lecturer of the Acadia University Summer Wind Conducting Symposium. Dr. Hopkins has a passion for new music, and is co-founder and Artic Director of the new music Festival at Acadia University, Shattering the Silence (www.shatteringthesilence.ca). In addition to his academic duties, Dr. Hopkins is much in demand as a guest conductor and music education consultant. He is Artistic Director (Emeritus) and Principal Conductor of the Land's End Chamber Ensemble, one of Calgary's premiere new music ensembles. This virtuosic group won a Western Canada Music Award in 2005 for their first disc, Four Degrees of Freedom, and earned a second WCMA in 2006 for their second disc, Rollin Down #1. In 2003 Dr. Hopkins was appointed Associate Conductor of the National Concert Band of Canada, a role he shares with Dr. Jeremy Brown. Recently, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Nova Scotia Youth Wind Ensemble and the Atlantic Wind Orchestra (a freelance professional wind ensemble in Halifax), and was elected President of the Nova Scotia Band Association in 2007. He travels throughout North America, adjudicating festivals and guest conducting orchestras and wind ensembles. In Canada, Dr. Hopkins has led honour bands in British Columbia, Alberta Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec. Abroad, he has led collegiate and professional performances in the United States, Bermuda, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, and Romania.
David Lum
David Lum is a graduate of the University of Toronto (Mus. Bac. /Ed. 1988, B. Ed. 1990) and completed a Graduate Diploma in Wind Conducting at the University of Calgary in the summer of 2001. An active adjudicator and clinician, David is a past conductor of the Scarborough School's Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony and the Toronto Youth Concert Winds, where he was also Assistant Conductor of the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra. He has served as a Senior Administrator of the Scarborough Music Camp and has taught at the Toronto District School Board's Music Camp, "Music By The Lake", where he was Conductor of the Symphonic Band.
David is the Chair of the Scholarship Committee for the Ontario Music Educators' Association (OMEA) and is the Past President of the Ontario Band Association (OBA). Other professional affiliations include the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) and the Canadian Music Educators' Association (CMEA). He is also a member of the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters' Fraternity.
At present, David is with the Toronto District School Board, where he is the Curriculum Leader of Music at Agincourt Collegiate Institute. He also holds the position of Tuba/Euphonium instructor at York University and is a sessional instructor for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, teaching in the Summer Additional Qualifications course in Music.
Garland E. Markham
Gary Markham is currently the Supervisor of Music for the Cobb County School District. He is the former Director of Bands at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County, Virginia. He has over three decades of experience in music education, and serves nationally as clinician, guest conductor, adjudicator, and consultant. The Cobb County Music program has been named one of the "BEST 100 Communities for Music Education in America, six times.
Mr. Markham received his B. S. degree from Mansfield State University, M. Ed. degree from Penn State University, and studied for a Ph. D (ABD) in conducting and music supervision at George Mason University with Tony Maiello and Arnald Gabriel. His leadership experience includes membership on several state and national music education executive boards. He is currently Chief Judge and Education Consultant for Bands of America, Music Educational Director for Drum Corps International, and "Band Expressions" author for Alfred Music.
He is member of MENC, GMEA, ASBDA, NAJE, NBA, College Music Society, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and many others including Phi Beta Mu. Bands under his direction have consistently received superior ratings in all aspects of the program. In 1987 Mr. Markham received the "Certificate of Excellence" from the Virginia Music Educator's and in 1991 a "Commendation of Professional Excellence" from the Fairfax County Board of Education. He is a 1992 recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation's "Sudler Order of Merit" and the Robinson Symphonic Band is the 1992 recipient of the "Sudler Flag of Honor." In 2006 he received the "Administrative Leadership Award" from the Georgia Music Educators Association and was inducted into the Bands of America "Hall of Fame." In 2007, Mr. Markham received the very first DCI & Coltrin & Associates "Excellence in Music Education Award."
Dr. Ryan T. Nelson
Ryan T. Nelson is an Assistant Professor of Music at Northwestern University, where he conducts the Contemporary Music Ensemble, is co-director of New Music Northwestern, and conducts the Symphonic Band. His teaching responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate conducting, wind literature, and courses in instrumental music education. Ryan works very closely with Northwestern's Music Theatre program, music directing and supervising several productions each year, including the famed Waa-Mu Show. He also serves on the American Music Theatre Project executive committee, music directing and supervising the premieres of Was, The Boys Are Coming Home, Asphalt Beach, Boy in the Bubble, and Dangerous Beauty. At the Marriott Theatre, Ryan has music directed Footloose, Oliver, Grease, Suessical, and All Shook Up. He will be music directing The Light in the Piazza and Hairspray in their 2009 season. Nelson received his Bachelor's degree in music education from Duquesne University, where he studied conducting with Brady Allred. His Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Conducting are from the University of North Texas, where he was a student of Eugene Migliaro Corporon.
John Phillips
John Phillips received his Music and Education degrees from the University of Western Ontario. He has a Master in Music Education degree from Boston University and is completing his PhD at York University.
John is frequently in demand as an adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor across North America, Europe, Japan and the Caribbean for over 20 years. He is the judge administrator for Drum Corps International and is responsible for the training and supervision of over 120 adjudicators for some 140 events across the U.S. each summer.
John is currently serving as an Education Officer at the Ministry of Education leading the curriculum review for the Arts. He teaches music education classes at York University and the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. He also acts as Principal of the in-service teacher training programs for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Prior to leaving teaching in the public system, John was a music department head at three major high schools in the York Region District School Board.
John's musical leadership has been extensive throughout Ontario. He served as Music Course Manager for the Ontario Educational Leadership Centre for 13 years. He has been a facilitator for the OMEA leadership institute. He served on music curriculum advisory and development teams for the Ministry of Education. He has been a board member for both the Ontario Music Educator's Association and the Ontario Band Association. He has written articles for the OMEA journal The Recorder, the CMEA Journal, the OBA newsletter In Harmony and the Ontario College of Teachers journal Professionally Speaking. John is a founding member of Phi Beta Mu, Lambda Iota Chapter.
As a performer, John has played in the London Symphony Orchestra, Brantford Symphony and the Forest City Brass Quintet. He spent two summers at the Banff School of Fine Arts under the leadership of the Canadian Brass, studying trumpet with Ronald Romm and Fred Mills.
John has guest conducted honour bands across Ontario, Canada and the United States. Last year he conducted the Eastern Kentucky University Honour Band, Northern Ontario Honour Band and the Manitoba Honour Band. Each summer, John conducts the Wind Ensemble at the National Music Camp of Canada.
Dr. Colleen Richardson
Colleen Richardson oversees the wind band program and directs the wind ensemble at the University of Western Ontario. She teaches undergraduate music education classes as well as graduate conducting lessons and graduate conducting seminars. Prior to joining the faculty at UWO, Dr. Richardson was Assistant Professor of Music Education at Converse College in South Carolina.
After graduating from Brandon University with a Bachelor's degree in Music (Music Education), Dr. Richardson earned a Wind Conducting Diploma from the University of Calgary in 1996. While working towards her diploma, she studied with many well-respected composers and conductors, including Craig Kirchhoff, Karel Husa, Warren Benson, David Maslanka, Eugene Corporon, Mallory Thompson, Dale Lonis, Allan Bell, Robert Reynolds, Jerry Junkin, and Tyrone Paterson. Under the instruction of Glenn Price, Dr. Richardson received her Mmus in Conducting from the University of Calgary. She earned a D.M.A. in Wind Conducting with Rodney Winther at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where her research focused on wind literature, chamber wind repertoire, Messiaen's compositional techniques, and Varèse-s connections with visual artists. While in Cincinnati Dr. Richardson co-directed the Tri-State Chamber Players, and served as the Music Director and Conductor of the Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble.
Bill Thomas
Bill Thomas is a Professor of Music and the conductor of the Wind Symphony at York University in Toronto. He is a graduate of the jazz program at Humber College and holds Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of Toronto. He is currently completing his master's degree in composition at York University.
Bill taught music for twenty-three years at the elementary and high school levels in the York Region District School Board spending most of that time as the head of the music department at Markham District High School. He is a past board member of the Ontario Music Educator's Association and is much in demand as an adjudicator and clinician. He is a former Drum Corps International adjudicator and he has been active as an arranger for over forty marching bands and drum & bugle corps in Canada and the United States.
His performing groups have won many accolades and awards including the Jazz Report Magazine award for High School Program of the Year in 1999. In 2008 Bill was awarded an Ontario Band Association award for conducting excellence. He is a member of the international bandmaster's fraternity Phi Beta Mu.
Paul Weston
Born in Yorkshire, England, Paul Weston began making music at the age of seven, studying violin, viola, clarinet and saxophone.
At the age of 16, he joined the Royal Marines Band Service, one of the most distinguished all-around musical organizations in the world, offering him the opportunity to develop a broad knowledge of the Orchestral, Symphonic Windband and Big Band repertoires.
As both a Director of Music and freelance instrumentalist and conductor, the next 26 years saw Paul conduct and play in more than 50 countries, taking in some of the world's finest venues and entertaining numerous Heads of State.
Paul holds a Master's Degree in Conducting, Composition and Arranging, and is an Associate of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Schools of Music (London, U.K.). He has directed numerous CD recordings on the Chevron and Clovelly labels.
Paul is a member of the Performing Rights Society, and his work has been performed in the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, the USA and Canada. His symphonic tone poem 'Fastnet' won the 2002 Vivian Dun Composition Prize.
Since arriving in Canada in 2005, Paul has become heavily involved in the music scene as an instrumentalist with several orchestras and chamber groups and as a saxophonist and concerto clarinettist. He is Principal Guest Conductor of the Mississauga and York Symphony Orchestras, and is the Associate Director of Music of the Band of the Royal Regiment of Canada.