Students wishing to audition for instrumental music should refer to the instructions below for specific audition guidelines and criteria pertaining to their instrument.

Brass, Woodwinds, and Strings

1. Perform a short prepared solo (unaccompanied). Please prepare an entire solo or etude.

2. All major scales and the chromatic scale (strings -- major scales only.)

3. Sight reading.


Percussion

1. Tympani solo

2. Snare solo

3. Mallet Solo

4. Sight reading on your choice of tympani, snare, or mallets.


Piano

1. A minimum of 5 minutes and a maximum of 10 minutes of classical (non-popular) music. This should include at least two pieces of contrasting style. Arrangements, simplified versions, and popular songs are inappropriate. All pieces should be played from memory.

2. All major scales, both hands, four octaves.

3. Sight reading


Classical Guitar

1. Student audition must be performed on a classical guitar.

2. Two prepared pieces of contrasting style. Suggested repertoire may include a movement from a Bach Lute or Cello Suite, and an etude by Sor, Carcassi, Aguado, Giuliani, or Sagreras.

3. Sight reading in the first position.

4. All major Segovia scales or position scales.

Deanna R. Little, associate professor of flute at Middle Tennessee State University, holds a Bachelor of Music degree in education from the University of Northern Iowa, a Master of Music degree in flute performance and the Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University. Her primary instructors include James Scott, Kate Lukas, Peter Lloyd, Trevor Wye, and Angeleita Floyd.

As a professor at MTSU, Little currently teaches applied flute, classes in woodwind methods, literature and pedagogy and directs the MTSU Flute Choir.

As a writer/arranger she is the author of Daily Flutin', a daily warm-up and exercise book for flutists, and has arranged several works for flute ensemble.

As an active performer, Little is a member of the Stones River Chamber Players and a frequent guest on Nashville's WPLN "Live from Studio C" radio broadcasts. She has performed with the Nashville Symphony, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony ( AL), and Evansville Philharmonic (IN).

Little has won numerous awards for her flute playing. She was a two time winner in the National Flute Association's Young Artist Competition (1998, 1996) as well as the recipient of an award for best performance of a newly commissioned work at the 1996 convention. She was a winner in the 2007 Myrna Brown Competition in Texas and a 1998 semi-finalist in the New York Concert Artists Guild Competition.

She has performed as a soloist, master class clinician, and flute ensemble director throughout the mid-west and mid-south. She was also the 2004 local arrangements coordinator for the NFA Convention in Nashville, TN and is the past-president of the Mid-South Flute Society.

Laura Ann Ross is an active freelance oboist in the Nashville area and also teaches at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. She a frequent substitute for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Kentucky, and is principal oboist of the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra with whom she appeared as a soloist in 2009. Ms. Ross also performs with the Stones River Chamber Players, the MTSU Faculty Woodwind Quintet and on the program “Studio C” on WPLN FM. In 2008 she joined the faculty of the TN Governor’s School for the Arts. Before moving to Nashville, Laura Ann Ross lived in the Philadelphia area where she played principal oboe with the Great Hall Chamber Orchestra in Bryn Mawr and served as a substitute for both the Haddonfield Symphony (NJ) and the Reading Symphony (PA). She was also a faculty member at Suburban Music School in Media, PA.

Under the tutelage of Louis Rosenblatt, Ms. Ross earned a Master of Music degree from the Esther Boyer College of Music at Temple University. She earned a Bachelor of Music (Summa cum laude) from Miami University (OH) as a student of Andrea Ridilla. While at Miami she was a featured soloist with the Miami University Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the Concerto Competition and was a Third Prize winner in the Miami University Undergraduate Artist solo competition.

In the fall of 2007 Laura Ann Ross was a participant in the Nicholas Daniel Masterclass in Udine, Italy. She has also participated in the National Orchestral Institute, Pierre Monteux School and the Oboe Repertoire Festival in Paris and Côte d’Azur, France.

Todd Waldecker serves as Associate Professor of Clarinet in the School of Music at Middle Tennessee State University where he was a recipient of the 2006 MTSU Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award. Waldecker is also a faculty member of the summer Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts where he teaches a selective group of high school clarinetists. His degrees include the Doctor of Music from Indiana University, Master of Music from Yale University, and a music education degree from the University of Missouri. His primary teachers include Howard Klug, David Shifrin, Eli Eban, James Campbell, Alfred Prinz and Paul Garritson. Prior to his appointment at Middle Tennessee State University, Waldecker held teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Purdue University, and the University of Northern Iowa.

Waldecker has performed by invitation as a featured soloist at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest 2008 and the 2007 University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium. As a member of MTSU’s Stones River Chamber Players, he has performed throughout the southern United States, Germany, Switzerland, and France; and has appeared at conventions of the National Flute Association and the Guitar Federation of America. In 2006, Waldecker traveled to South Korea with the MTSU Wind Ensemble where his performance of Artie Shaw’s “Clarinet Concerto” was broadcast on Korean television. Waldecker is a frequent performer with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and has recorded with the ensemble for Decca, NAXOS, and National Public Television. Since 1999, he has also served as principal clarinetist with Orchestra Nashville and has recorded and toured nationally with the ensemble.

Michigan native Phil Barham's phenomenal playing has literally taken him around the globe. 'An American master saxophonist...' declared a London critic after Phil Barham's debut there in 1990. That recital in the Purcell Room, London, was part of his first European tour of debut recitals that also took him to Oslo, Norway, where he played in the Universitetets Aula, and to Geneva Swiwtzerland, with two recitals, one at the Musee International de la Croix-Rouge and the other in the Palais de l'Athenee. Audiences and critics agreed with the opinion already offered by the New York TÏmes: '...ability to swing at a dancing rhythm or to blister through a swift rippling melody...' published after his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1987.

Mr. Barham has received critical acclaim across the country. At a recent concert in the Midwest, one critic was moved to write: '...world-class saxophonist... technical virtuosity...a dazzling performance that brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation.'

On March 2, 1991, Mr. Barham completed his 1990-1991 season with a solo recital at Merkin Concert Hall, New York City. Mr. Barham presented his Tokyo debut under the auspices of "Music 2000" on October 30, 1993. This concert was held in Sogetsu Hall and featured music by American composers. On September 28, 1994, Mr. Barham performed for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series held at the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center. Recently, he was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to record the works for U.S. contemporary composer Rodney Waschka II. Mr. Barham has performed at the Uniniversity of North Texas, Denton as guest artist.

Phil Barham received the Bachelor of Music degree in woodwinds (1982) from the University of North Texas and the Master of Music degree in wind instruments/saxophone (1983) from the University of Michigan. A former saxophone instructor at Califomia State University, Northridge, Mr. Barham was also a clinician under the Yamaha Musical Instruments Performing Artist program. Mr. Barham is presently a clinician for the Selmer Company and Assistant Professor of Saxophone at Tennessee Technological University. He has also been the Saxophone Instructor for Western Michigan University's Summer Seminar. In 1989, he received the honor of being among the 'Outstanding Young Men of America.' In constant demand as a clinician and performer, Mr. Barham has appeared regularly with the Southwest Michigan Symphony, the South Bend Symphony and the Kalamazoo Symphony. Mr. Barham has also appeared on Public Television's WNIT "Open Studio." His recent performances include Alexander Glazunov's Concerto with the Holland Symphony Orchestra, Darius Milhaud's Scaramouche with the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and John Williams' Escapades with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. Professor Barham has also taught saxophone and jazz band at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts since 2006.

Keith McClelland was principal bassoonist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for 36 years, from 1972 until 2008. Chamber music associations have been with Windstrum, a bassoon/guitar duo; Lyric Chamberwinds, a clarinet, bassoon, and piano trio that performed at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Manchester, England as well as Southeastern United States; Mozart on a Summers Eve, an wind octet in Spokane, Washington; and the Tennessee Bassoon Quartet, which performed on the Grammy Award winning PDQ Bach CD, An Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion.McClelland is also the bassoon teacher at the Tennessee Governors School For The Arts. Bassoon, Music Theory.

Michael Ellzey, Assistant Professor of trumpet, holds an undergraduate and doctorate of musical arts degree in trumpet performance from The University of Southern Mississippi, and a master of music degree in trumpet performance from the University of Akron. Dr. Ellzey also holds a doctorate minor in the secondary area of music theory and is also certified to teach grades K-12.

His major teachers include Mr. Allan E. Cox currently at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Joel Treybig currently at Belmont University, Mr. Scott Johnston at the University of Akron, and most recently with Dr. Reese Land currently at Cambpellsville University.

Dr. Ellzey has performed with several ensembles, including the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, Meridian, MS; Mississippi Symphony, Jackson, MS; the Mississippi Wind Symphony, Clinton, MS; and the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra, Biloxi, MS. Other performance activities include appearances with the Eastern New Mexico University Wind Symphony; the Clovis Community Orchestra; the Clemson University Concert Band in April, 2006, and was one of the winners of the 2004 William T. Gower Concerto Competition at Southern Miss. He was a member of the graduate brass quintet at the University of Akron and the faculty Southern Arts Brass Quintet at Southern Miss.

In addition to his teaching duties at ENMU, Dr. Ellzey serves on the faculty of the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts each summer at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. He has served as an adjudicator for the New Mexico All-State organization, Southeastern New Mexico Solo and Ensemble festival, and most recently at the National Trumpet Competition in Washington D.C.

Dr. Ellzey is an active member of several professional organizations, including the International Trumpet Guild, College Music Society and the Theta Chi Chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

Dr. Ellzey teaches applied trumpet and horn to music majors and minors, High Brass Methods, conducts the University Brass Choir, along with other courses needed by the department, and maintains an active teaching and performing schedule.

Dr. David Loucky, trombonist and low brass specialist, performs on all low brass instruments. A faculty member at Middle Tennessee State University since 1989, he also performed for two seasons as Assistant Principal Trombonist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He has performed and lectured at several International Trombone Festivals, and International Tuba-Euphonium Conferences and served on the faculty of the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts. He is an active performer with the Nashville Symphony, the New Hampshire Music Festival, the Huntsville Symphony, the Stones River Chamber Players, the MTSU Faculty Jazz Combo, the Middle Tennessee Jazz Orchestra. the MTSU Faculty Brass Quintet, and the Nashville Chamber Brass.

With the St. Louis Symphony, Loucky toured 6 European countries and four states, performed six times in Carnegie Hall, and played in all the low brass chairs except tuba (Principal, Assistant, Second and Bass Trombone, Euphonium and Bass Trumpet). He was also very active in the Symphony's educational arm, the Community Partnership Program. With the Nashville Symphony he has played in every low brass chair including tuba, and also performed in that orchestra's Carnegie Hall debut in 2000.

Loucky earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University, a Master of Music from Yale School of Music, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He had additional studies in Cologne, Germany and Vienna, Austria in both classical and jazz traditions. His principal teachers include John Swallow (New York Brass Quintet and NYC Ballet), Ronald Borror (American Brass Quintet and NYC Ballet), Bill Harris (Syracuse Symphony), Jiggs Whigam (West German Radio Big Band), Horst Kublbock (Vienna Symphony) and Eric Kleinschuster (Austrian Radio Big Band).

Loucky performs on a period 19th century ophicleide, the predecessor of the tuba and euphonium. He engages in the research of repertoire for this instrument and collaborates with composers who are interested in writing new works for it.

Nashville native. BMA, (1975) University of Louisville. Principal Tuba: Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra (1975-1978), Nashville Symphony Orchestra (1978 – present), Nashville Ballet and Nashville Opera, Nashville Chamber Brass Society, Nashville Contemporary Brass Quintet.

Performances with the Louisville Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Mr. Jack Daniel’s Original Silver Cornet Band, Belmont Brass Quintet, Blair Brass Quintet, Middle Tennessee State University Brass Quintet. Teaches at Belmont and Vanderbilt Universities, Sewanee Summer Music Festival (1975-2000). Personnel Manager: Nashville Symphony Orchestra (1979-1981).

Solo performances: Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Chamber Brass Society, Fish Creek Music Festival, Southeastern Horn Conference, Middle Tennessee State University Wind Ensemble. Freelance and studio work in Nashville. Recorded with Mr. Jack Daniel’s Original Silver Cornet Band, Nashville Contemporary Brass Quintet, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Larnell Harris, Sandy Patty, Crystal Gayle, Garth Brooks, Box Car 20, Jars of Clay, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Faith Hill, Ronnie Milsap, David Clydesdale, CNN, American Airlines, ESPN, Best LIttle Whore House in Texas, Earnest Goes to Jail, Earnest Goes to Camp, The Johnny Cash Show, brass quintet CD, Classical Brass and Classical Wedding, for Green Hill Productions, multiple recordings with the Nashville Symphony of which, Made in America, won a Grammy. Manages Aardworks.com, a brass publishing company.

Andrea Dawson joined the MTSU Music Faculty as Assistant Professor of Violin in 2007 and the faculty of the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts in 2008. Dr. Dawson is a member of the Stones River Chamber Players and Belle Meade Baroque, and has been a featured chamber musician on WPLN, Nashville Public Radio. She has also performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Mexico. Before moving to Tennessee, she was Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Texas ­ Pan American and Associate Concertmaster of the Valley Symphony Orchestra in south Texas.

Dawson received her Masters in Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the coveted Performer¹s Certificate. She also received a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology, with a minor in French, and a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Oberlin College. Her principal teachers include Lynn Blakeslee, Camilla Wicks, Taras Gabora, Kathleen Winkler, and Robert Koff.

Violinist Mark Reneau's career encompasses solo, recital and concerto appearances, as well as orchestral, opera, chamber music and baroque performance. Concertmaster since 1998, Mr. Reneau has performed with the HSO since 1977. He plays frequently in the violin section of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, performing with such conductors as Stefan Sanderling, Carlos Kalmar and Leonard Slatkin. Since 2000, he has performed regularly in the violin section of Orchestra Nashville. In 2003 and 2004, he toured with Amy Grant and Vince Gill. Since 2005, he has been Associate Concertmaster of the Bellingham Festival of Music in Washington state. Several of his performances with the Bellingham Festival have been broadcast on National Public Radio's Performance Today. Prior to his appointment in Huntsville, he served as associate concertmaster of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera from 1983 to 1998. In 2006, he was concertmaster of the first Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition held in the United States.

Mr. Reneau has made several recordings with Orchestra Nashville, including the first stereo recording of Virgil Thomson's cello concerto and a critically acclaimed Naxos disc of works by Aaron Copland. He has also made studio recordings with diverse artists such as Trey Anastasio, James Brickman and Rebecca Lynn Howard.

Mr. Reneau is gifted and dedicated teacher, serving over twenty years on the faculty of Southern Adventist University. Since 2000, he has taught at the Tennessee's Governor's School for the Arts. From 1978-2005, he was on the faculty of Cadek Conservatory of Music. His students are regularly accepted to music conservatories and major festivals, and are performing with distinguished ensembles such as the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Mr. Reneau's sons are also accomplished musicians. Charles is bass trombonist with the Oregon Symphony, and has performed with the orchestras of Honolulu, Huntsville, Atlanta, Alabama, the Metropolitan Opera and the Israel Philharmonic. Douglas is a graduate trumpet student at the Indiana University. Winner of several national competitions, he toured Europe in 2005 performing the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto. In the summer of 2008, Douglas with the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Mr. Reneau's hobbies include the study of old stringed instruments and bows, cooking, and the study of theology and social history..

Violist Daphne Gerling was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and began her musical studies in Boston, MA at the age of four. A graduate of the Walnut Hill School and New England Conservatory, she went on to earn degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey.

Her performances have taken her to leading venues in the U.S., Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Austria, and England, and to the Aspen, Bowdoin, Bad Leonfelden, Ciaccona, Encore, NYU, Norfolk (UK), and Sarasota Music festivals. She is a former faculty member of the preparatory departments at Oberlin and CIM, and has also taught at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. From 2001-2004 she taught in the Shepherd School of Music’s Michael P. Hammond Preparatory Division, where she was a Brown Foundation fellow in viola and early childhood music. Concurrently, she held a joint appointment as principal violist of the Houston Chamber orchestra and String Quartet. As a founding member of the Archiano Ensemble and the Rice Chamber Players, she performed in Baltimore and Brazil to critical acclaim.

From 2005-2007 Daphne was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Music in England, where she undertook the research for her doctoral dissertation entitled “Connecting Histories: Identity and Exoticism in Ernest Bloch, Rebecca Clarke and Paul Hindemith’s Viola Works of 1919.” She was awarded the title of Doctor of Musical Arts from Rice University in May 2007, where she was a student of and departmental teaching assistant to violists Karen Ritscher and James Dunham. During her time in the United Kingdom she was also active as a recitalist, was the violist for the Anglian Ensemble, and was a sought-after teacher in Cambridgeshire. While living in Europe, she also studied with Thomas Riebl and Simon Rowland-Jones.

Dr. Gerling’s students have achieved ‘distinction’ (the highest mark awarded) in the examinations of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, UK, and have won principal chairs in the Texas All-Sate Senior Orchestra and Houston Youth Symphony. They have been accepted to music programs at Oberlin, CIM, the Juilliard School, the University of Texas at Austin and Princeton University, among others. Daphne is an active member of the American Viola Society, serving as a board member for the Virginia Chapter, and the American String Teachers’ Association. She is a past member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, having served as chair for teacher development in the Houston Area Suzuki Strings Association, where she chaired workshops with Barbara Barber and William Preucil Senior.

Since returning to the United States, Dr. Gerling has taught and performed in Virginia, appearing regularly with the Richmond Symphony, notably at the Kennedy Center. She has been a frequent guest at the James Madison University School of Music in Harrisonburg, VA, performing chamber music, teaching master classes, lessons, and adjudicating the 2008 and 2009 concerto competitions. In the summer of 2008 she taught at Rice University and was on staff at the Heifetz International Music Institute in New Hampshire. In October she returned to Brazil to coordinate the viola activities and perform as an orchestral soloist at the Festival de Cordas Nathan Schwartzman in Uberlândia, MG. Recently she has been a guest clinician and recitalist at Illinois State University, and a guest performer at Florida State University’s School of Music. This summer she will be the violist on faculty at the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. Since August 2008 she has held a Lectureship in Viola at Valdosta State University’s department of music where she is also Director and Master teacher of the South Georgia String Project, violist of the Azalea String Quartet, and principal violist of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra.

A native of Dayton, Ohio, Sean Katsuyama began studying cello at the age of 14 with Lee Fiser and subsequently with Orlando Cole in Philadelphia. Within five years he was accepted into the Juilliard School where he earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees under the guidance of Channing Robbins and Harvey Shapiro. A dedicated orchestral player, he has performed as Principal Cello of the Long Island Philharmonic and the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra, with whom he toured Japan and worked with musicians such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Christoph Eschenbach, and Toru Takemitsu. In 2003, he toured South Korea and Europe as a member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. In 2007 he again toured Korea with the New Jersey Philharmonic as a soloist. Currently residing in New York City, he has performed solo and chamber music in many of its important halls, including Carnegie's Weill, Alice Tully, Steinway, and others, and had the honor to play for relief workers at the World Trade Center site. With colleagues Albert Tiu and Joseph Esmilla, he recorded original piano trio transcriptions of Astor Piazzolla's music on the Northbranch label. Aside from performing, Mr. Katsuyama is an Assistant Professor at the Globe Institute, where he teaches music appreciation, and also teaches cello privately. His hobbies include the Chinese, Japanese, and Western versions of chess, and golf.

Photo and bio coming soon!

Percussionist, clinician, and educator, Andy Smith has performed in the national spotlight for over two decades. A former resident of Nashville, Tennessee, Andy taught as Adjunct Percussion Instructor at Middle Tennessee State University from 1999-2008. He is a regular clinician in a variety of settings for all ages across the country, including the 2011 Kentucky PAS (Percussive Arts Society) Day of Percussion, the 2011 Western North Carolina Day of Percussion, the Georgia PAS Day of Percussion, the North Alabama PAS Day of Percussion, the Indiana Percussion Association State Day of Percussion, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Mars Hill College in North Carolina, and the University of North Alabama where he also served on the faculty from 2007-2008. Since 2004, Andy has been the percussion instructor for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, a state sponsored program for elite college-bound musicians.

Andy’s teachers include John Tafoya, Peter Tanner, Jim Ancona, Kevin Bobo, Lalo Davila and Thom Hannum. In addition, Andy has studied drum-set and Afro-Cuban Music with Michael Spiro, Lalo Davila, Ed Uribe, Victor Mendoza, Ian Froman, Alan Hall, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Richie “Gajate” Garcia, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Jesus Diaz. He also traveled to Ghana, West Africa where he studied West African drumming and dance with Paschal Younge, Johnson Kemeh, and others. Andy studied gyil and West African Drumming with Bernard Woma in the United States.

Andy has performed with Lalo Davila, Mat Britain, Mambo Blue and The Canadian Brass. He has been recorded on numerous albums and instructional videos and has performed at Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center. Currently living in Bloomington, IN, Andy performs with regional orchestras, including the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra. His Brazilian Jazz Quintet has been featured at local Jazz festivals and on WFHBs Local Live program. In 2010, Andy led the Indiana University Bateria at Carnaval festivals in Bloomington and Indianapolis, and performed as a special guest with Nation Beat at the Lotus Music Festival. A versatile composer and arranger, Andy is published by Row-Loff Publications. His music is regularly performed all over the country. He is endorsed by Pearl/Adams, Evans drumheads and Innovative Percussion.

William Yelverton's exceptionally diverse repertoire and brilliant technique set him apart as one of today's most exciting and unique concert artists. He is an award-winning classical guitarist whose eclectic recital programs often include jazz, folk, latin, and flamenco, together with early music performed on Renaissance lute. As an authority on the art of guitar transcription, his unprecedented performances and recordings of masterworks by great composers have received wide critical acclaim. His debut CD, "Harpsichord Music on Guitar" was cited as "first-rate" by Guitar Review.

Since his 1988 European debut in Glasgow, Yelverton has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean. His concert schedule has included performances at the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals, live radio and television appearances, and guest artist recitals at prominent universities and music societies. As a founding member of the Stones River Chamber Players, he has performed with the group throughout the US and on their May '03 European tour of Switzerland, Germany and France. In June '03, he performed as concerto soloist with the Black Sea Philharmonic Orchestra in Constanta, Romania. In February 2002, Yelverton commissioned and premiered a new guitar concerto by Roger Hudson with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra strings during NCO's Nashville Guitar Festival. At the festival, he performed a showcase solo concert and with elite Nashville guitarists: John Jorgenson, John Johns, and Phil Keaggy. In February 2000, he was selected to accompany legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti in concert with the Nashville Symphony before an audience of 16,000. His '95 performance was heard nationally on NPR's broadcast of "150 Years of American Fingerstyle Guitar."

Yelverton holds a Doctorate in Guitar Performance from the Florida State University and has won top prizes in the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition and the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition. As an instructor, he has given masterclasses throughout the US and has been invited to teach at the National Guitar Workshop's "Classical Summit" in Connecticut. He currently directs guitar studies at Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee where is Professor of Music. The MTSU guitar studio is one of the largest and most successful in the midsouth. MTSU guitar students have won numerous awards and have gone on to careers in teaching and performing.

Student of James Tocco and Alfonso Montecino. Additional studies with Rosalyn Tureck at the Banff Centre and Edith Oppens at the Aspen Music Festival. Chamber music coaching with Josef Gingold, Janos Starker, Pierre Fournier, Menachem Pressler, and Walter Roberts. Concerto appearances with Nashville Symphony Orchestra. National Public Radio and TV appearances with bassist Edgar Meyer including Lonesome Pine Special and St. Paul Sunday Morning as well as recitals at Tully Hall and Town Hall in NY and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Guest artist at summer festivals including Sedona Music Festival and Music Mountain in Connecticut with the Blair String Quartet and Mozart Festival in California and Northwest Chamber Music Festival in Oregon with Mr. Meyer. Member of Dorfman/Katahn Duo with pianist Enid Katahn since 1991. Member of Blakemore Trio with violinist Carolyn Huebl and cellist Felix Wang since 2002. Students have attended undergraduate and graduate programs at Indiana University, North Texas State University, Oxford University, University of Oklahoma, and Gnessin Academy in Moscow as well as Aspen, Eastern, Sewanee, IU Piano Academy, and Interlochen. Students have been winners of state division competitions(TMTA), Vanderbilt Concerto Competition, Curb Records(soloist with Nashville Symphony Orchestra). Individual Artist Fellowship Award, TN Arts Commission, 1990. Additional faculty positions at University of the South(1983/84) and Fisk University(1985/86). Blair School since 1984.

At his New York debut recital at Carnegie Recital Hall, the New York Times called David Northington “an immensely gifted musician…who combines the technical mastery of a virtuoso with the musical sensitivity of a poet.” Such critical accolades have followed Northington throughout the world in concerts and concerto engagements. His tours have included the United States, eastern and western Europe, Canada, China, and Russia. In addition to recitals and concerto engagements, he has given master classes at many of the leading conservatories in these countries. David Northington’s masterful pianism has won him first prizes in the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the East/West Artists Competition, the American Music Scholarship Association’s International Competition, the unanimous Judges Prize at the Fourth Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and selection to the Artistic Ambassador Program sponsored by the United States Information Agency. As an Artistic Ambassador for the United States, Northington has toured extensively in France, Spain and Portugal. In addition to broadcasts throughout Europe on the Voice of America, he has filmed recitals in the historic Tallyrand Theatre in Paris for telecast on French National Television. Recently, Northington celebrated the international release of a compact disc featuring of the waltzes of Chopin on the Centaur Records label. After this release, Dr. Northington was invited to perform solo recitals in the United States, Italy and Poland. Since receiving his degrees at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Yale University School of Music, David Northington has taught on the faculties of several universities. His many teaching awards include the Tennessee Music Teachers Association’s Teacher of the Year Award and the Tennessee Governor’s School of the Arts “Outstanding Teacher Award’. Dr. Northington has also been the recipient of the Tennesssee Arts Commission’s Artist of the Year Award.

J. Eric Wilson is in his sixth year as Director of Bands at Baylor University where he administrates the band program, conducts the Wind Ensemble, and teaches and oversees the undergraduate and graduate conducting curriculum. Additionally, he has supervised student teachers and served as Chair of the Ensemble Division for four years. Prior to joining the Baylor faculty, he served twelve years on the faculty of Abilene Christian University. Dr. Wilson holds both a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (wind band conducting) and a Master of Music degree (saxophone performance and conducting) from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Abilene Christian University. Prior to his university appointments, Dr. Wilson taught in the Texas public school system.

Jerome Reed has been on the faculty of the Governor's School for the Arts for 26 years. He keeps an active performance schedule in the U.S. and Europe, giving recitals and lectures and adjudicating competitions. Recent performances include recitals in Japan,Taiwan, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, England and Uruguay.

He has appeared as both soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States. His recording for the Capstone label have been broadcast over MDR in Germany, Australian National Public Radio, and NPR. He has written numerous reviews for The American Music Teacher. He is Past-President of both the Tennessee Music Teachers Association and the Southern Division of Music Teachers National Association. He holds the B.M. degree in Piano Performance from MTSU, and M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in Piano Performance from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Reed is The Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Piano at Lipscomb University, where he teaches private piano, piano literature, chamber music and collaborative piano. He is the recipient of Lipscomb University's Avalon Award for Creative Excellence and Tennessee Music Teacher's Association Teacher-of-the-Year Award.

John McDonald is in his third year as choral director at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, TN. He is a recent graduate of Middle Tennessee State University where he earned his bachelor's degree in Vocal Music Education studying under the likes of Dr. Raphael Bundage, Dr. Jamila McWhirter, and Dr. Nancy Boone Allsbrook. At Oakland High School, Mr. McDonald directs three choral ensembles, jazz choir, teaches general music, sponsors the Tri-M Music Honor Society, and co-directs the musical theatre program. He is also a member of the Murfreesboro Community Men's Chorus and the Nashville Chamber Singers. In the fall of 2012, Mr. McDonald will begin studies for his Master's of Music in Choral Conducting at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He resides in Murfreesboro, TN with his lovely wife Alyssa.

The 2010/11 season marks Associate Conductor Kelly Corcoran’s fourth season with the Nashville Symphony. During this time, she has conducted a variety of programs, including the Symphony’s SunTrust Classical Series and Bank of America Pops Series, and has served as the primary conductor for the orchestra’s education and community engagement concerts. She also conducted the Nashville Symphony’s CD with Riders In The Sky, ‘Lassoed Live’ at the Schermerhorn.

Corcoran debuts this season with the Houston Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Colorado Symphony and Springfield (Mo.) Symphony. She has conducted orchestras throughout the country, including performances with the Milwaukee, Detroit, Charlotte, Memphis and National symphonies, as well as the Naples (Fla.) Philharmonic. In 2009, she made her successful South American debut as a guest conductor with the Orquesta Sinfónica UNCuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. She has developed a reputation for exciting, energized performances. The Tennessean hailed her work on the podium as “lively” and “fresh,” while Green Bay Press-Gazette noted that “her smooth conducting style flashed dynamism.”

Named as Honorable Mention for the Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, Corcoran conducted the Bournemouth (U.K.) Symphony in January 2008 and studied with Marin Alsop. Prior to her position in Nashville, she completed three seasons as assistant conductor for the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Ohio and music director of the Canton Youth Symphony and the Cleveland-area Heights Chamber Orchestra. During the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, Corcoran competed in the VIII Cadaqués Orchestra International Conducting Competition in Spain, worked with the Cleveland Opera, and attended the Lucerne Festival’s master class in conducting, focusing on contemporary orchestral literature with Pierre Boulez.

In 2004, Corcoran participated in the selective National Conducting Institute, where she studied with her mentor, Leonard Slatkin. She has held additional past posts as assistant music director of Nashville Opera, founder/music director of the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra and fellow with the New World Symphony, where she worked with Michael Tilson Thomas.

Originally from Massachusetts and a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus for more than 10 years, Corcoran received her Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from The Boston Conservatory. She received her Master of Music in instrumental conducting from Indiana University.

Corcoran currently serves on the conducting faculty at Tennessee State University.

Dr. Stephen L. Rhodes, professor of music, directs the University Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and String Ensemble. He teaches courses in conducting, secondary music education, instrumental methods, instrumentation, and History of Jazz. He received the D.A. degree in instrumental conducting and the M.M. degree in brass performance from the University of Northern Colorado. He received the B.M.Ed. degree from Abilene Christian University. Prior to coming to Lipscomb Dr. Rhodes taught in the Friona and Abilene public schools in Texas.

Dr. Rhodes's publications include the articles "William Schuman: Chester Overture for Band", "Programming for bands with limited instrumentation", and "Shades of silence". Dr. Rhodes' book, "A History of the Wind Band," is available online. He is founder and director of the Nashville Wind Ensemble, a group of select musicians who perform band literature of high quality. He also serves as co-conductor of the Nashville Double Reed Ensemble. Dr. Rhodes has served as guest adjudicator/conductor for numerous ensembles from the elementary to the university level, as well as serving as judge and clinician for a variety of music festivals. He is a regular conductor for the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts.

Dr. Steven Ward, Associate Professor of Music, is the Director of Bands and Orchestra, and teaches courses in conducting. Previous to his appointment at ACU, he was Director of Bands at Hope College in Holland, MI, and the Music Director/Conductor of the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra in Kalamazoo, MI. Dr. Ward holds a D.M.A. in Conducting from Michigan State University, East Lansing, a M.A. in Conducting from Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, and a B.M. in Music Education from Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas. Prior to his appointment at Hope College, Dr. Ward was the Music Director/Conductor of the Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra in La Grande, Oregon, and was Instructor of Music at Eastern Oregon University.
He has conducted extensively in many different areas including orchestra, band, musical theater, and contemporary music, and is a recipient of the ASCAP award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music as Music Director of the Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra. He has spent 10 summers conducting at the Interlochen Arts Camp, conducting the Interlochen Philharmonic, as well as middle school, high school and faculty ensembles. He also has conducted many all region and similar ensembles, including the Symphony Orchestra at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival and the Orchestra for the Tennessee Governor's School.

As a bassoonist, Dr. Ward has performed with many professional orchestras including orchestras in Abilene and San Angelo, Texas; Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Midland, Michigan; Shreveport, Louisiana; and West Shore in Muskegon, Michigan. He is also active as a recitalist and chamber musician. Dr. Ward is a member of the Conductor’s Guild, the College Band Directors National Association, the International Double Reed Society, the Music Educators National Conference, Michigan State Band and Orchestra Directors Association, the American String Teachers Association, the Texas Bandmasters Association, and the Texas Music Educators Association.

John L. Whitwell is Director of Bands Emeritus at Michigan State University, where he served as Director of Bands, Conductor of the Wind Symphony, Professor of Music, Chair of the Conducting area, and guided the graduate degree programs in Wind Conducting prior to his retirement in 2006.
Prior to his appointment at Michigan State University, Professor Whitwell held positions at Stephen F. Austin State University and Abilene Christian University. He also taught in the public schools of Michigan as band director at Ann Arbor Huron and Northwest Jackson high schools.
His bands have performed for the College Band Directors National Association Convention, Texas Music Educators Association Clinic-Convention, Midwest Clinic, and Midwestern Conference on Vocal and Instrumental Music. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Midwest Clinic, past-president of the Big Ten Band Directors Association, and past-president of the North Central Division of the College Band Directors National Association.
Professor Whitwell maintains an active schedule and is in great demand as a guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and abroad.
He is extremely active in the commissioning of new music and has participated in commissioning projects with composers Samuel Adler, Fred Allen, Kenneth Amis, William Averitt, Steve Barton, Susan Botti, Timothy Broege, Daryl Burghardt, Michael Colgrass, Donald Crockett, James Curnow, Richard Danielpour, Michael Daugherty, Eric Ewazen, Michael Finnissy, Michael Gandolfi, David Gillingham, Daniel Godfrey, Michael Golemo, Adam Gorb, Donald Grantham, Murray Gross, Daron Aric Hagen, Sam Hazo, David Heckendorn, Jennifer Higdon, Sydney Hodkinson, Jere Hutcheson, Robert Jager, Ian Krouse, Timothy Mahr, John Mackey, Daniel McCarthy, David Maslanka, Gregory Mertl, Cindy McTee, John Moss, Lior Navok, Ron Newman, James Niblock, Robert Xavier Rodriguez, Charles Ruggiero, Joseph Spaniola, Eric Stokes, James Syler, Frank Ticheli, Joan Tower, Joseph Turrin, Michael Weinstein, Eric Whitacre, Dana Wilson, and Charles Rochester Young.
Whitwell has received many honors, including: being named the Michigan recipient of theA. R. MacAllister “Mac” Award, “Band Teacher of the Year” Award by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, “Citation of Excellence” Award by the National Band Association, Distinguished Graduate “Hall of Fame” Award by Wyandotte Roosevelt High, Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Rochester College, Kappa Kappa Psi “Distinguished Service to Music” Award, American School Band Directors National Association “Edwin Franko Goldman” Award, the Michigan State University “Distinguished Professor” Award, the MSU “Paul Varg” Award for teaching excellence, the National Federation of High Schools “Outstanding Music Educator” Award, the Kappa Kappa Psi “Bohumil Makovsky Memorial Award,” and induction into the Phi Beta Mu/Texas Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame.