The Band Director’s Toolbox: Fusing Innovative Programming and Immersive Ensemble Rehearsal Techniques.
Clinic Synopsis:
We dedicate more time building connections with our students and engaging with our chosen literature during rehearsals than in performance. This session will be a dynamic, practical, “how to” presentation featuring innovative and artistically-centered rehearsal techniques. Session attendees will be presented relevant “tools” aimed at fusing innovative ensemble programming and immersive ensemble rehearsal skills to make rehearsals more authentic, allowing for a deeper musical immersion.
Gregory Whitmore
- Biographical Information
Gregory Xavier Whitmore is conductor of the University Symphonic Winds at California State University Fullerton. Additionally, Dr. Whitmore is an Associate Professor of Instrumental Music Education and serves as Area Coordinator of the CSUF Music Education Department. Dr. Whitmore is in his 11th season as Music Director of the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble. Dr. Whitmore is also a conductor for the World Strides Honors Performance Series.
Dr. Whitmore earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from The University of Michigan. While a student at Michigan, Dr. Whitmore performed in the Michigan Symphony and Concert Bands; and led The Michigan Marching Band as “Michigan’s Man Up Front” - Drum Major - from 1999 to 2001 – becoming the second Black Drum Major in Michigan history. Dr. Whitmore received his master’s degree in wind conducting from California State University Fullerton. Dr. Whitmore holds a master’s degree, and a Doctorate in music and music education from Columbia University (Teachers College) in the city of New York.
With a research interest in music educator values as operationalized into pedagogy, in addition to investigating the concert band as an artistic medium; Dr. Whitmore has presented research at music education symposia in the United States and abroad. Dr. Whitmore’s research has been published in Visions of Research in Music Education. Dr. Whitmore was selected to represent the State of California by School Band and Orchestra Magazine in the 2008 edition of “50 Band Directors Who Make a Difference”.
William Tonissen - Biographical Information
Dr. William J. Tonissen Jr. serves as the Symphonic Band Director at White Plains High School in Westchester County, New York. His leadership has led the Bands to achieve Gold Ratings at the New York State School Music Association Majors Festival. He also holds the position of Music Director for the Manhattan Summer Winds. His experience also includes the role of Assistant Music Director with the Columbia University Wind Ensemble.
Dr. Tonissen’s international credentials include guest conducting engagements in the United States, Prague, and Budapest. He has also been invited to conduct the prestigious Pacific Symphony Orchestra Youth Wind Ensemble. In academia, he serves on the faculty as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Education at Lehman College. His teaching journey spans from elementary to middle school levels in Michigan, alongside a distinguished tenure as a Band Teaching Artist with Project Music in Stamford, Connecticut.
Holding degrees in Music Education from the University of Michigan and Teachers College, Columbia University, where he also earned his doctorate, Dr. Tonissen's research focuses on representation in music, student motivation in band ensembles, and innovative and immersive band methodologies and pedagogical practices. He has shared his insights at esteemed conferences such as the International Society for Music Education, NYSSMA, the California All-State Music Education Conference, the Michigan Music Conference, and the NAfME Eastern Division Conference. His scholarly contributions include publications in the NYSSMA School Music News.
Michael Markowski - Biographical Information
Michael Markowski (b. 1986) is fully qualified to watch movies and cartoons. In 2010, he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in ‘Film Practices’ from Arizona State University. While Markowski never studied music in college, his primary music teachers have included Gary Larkins, Dawn Parker, Jon Gomez, Dr. Karl Schindler, and Michael Shapiro. He has continued this education by participating in a number of extracurricular programs, such as The Art of Orchestration with Steven Scott Smalley (2008), the National Band Association’s Young Composer and Conductor Mentorship Project (2008), and the NYU/ASCAP Foundation’s Film Scoring Workshop (2014) where he was named one of ASCAP’s Film & TV “Composers to Watch.” Mark Snow, composer of The X-Files and one of the workshop’s guest mentors, says Michael’s music was “extremely sophisticated” and “complimented the mood and emotion of the scene with unusual maturity and sensitivity.” Most recently, Markowski was invited to join the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop (2015) as a composer and lyricist.
Alex Shapiro - Biographical Information
Alex Shapiro’s genre-blind acoustic and electroacoustic works for chamber groups and large ensembles are heard daily in concerts, broadcasts, and on over thirty commercially released recordings worldwide. Alex’s 2008 electroacoustic and visually choreographed wind band commission PAPER CUT led to her acclaim for changing the landscape of the field through over twenty subsequent adventurous multimedia pieces for all performance levels. With her professional background as a composer and engineer in pop, jazz, film, and concert music, Alex is sought after for her seamless melding of live and recorded sounds in pieces often incorporating striking optical and physical elements. A dynamic public speaker and longtime advocate for her peers, Ms. Shapiro holds the Symphonic & Concert writer member seat on the Board of Directors of ASCAP, is an officer of the ASCAP Foundation, and also serves on the boards of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music and the Music Publishers Association of the United States, representing her company Activist Music LLC. Born and raised in Manhattan, Alex’s primary composition studies were at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, after which she moved to Los Angeles where she worked in the film and concert music worlds for 24 years. Since 2007 Alex has lived amidst nature on the edge of Washington State's remote San Juan Island. An award-winning amateur wildlife photographer, her many images from home can be seen throughout her website, alexshapiro.org.
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