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Meet the FBA High School All-State Band Conductors
Scott Weiss
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- Day
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Thursday, January 14, 2016
- Time
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9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
- Venue
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Tampa Convention Center
- Room
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103
- Format
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Panel
- Topics
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Band Band
- Grade Levels
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High School
- Sponsored By
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FBA
Symphonic Band Conductor Scott Weiss and Concert Band Conductor Ken Ozzello will discuss general topics.
Scott Weiss
University of South Carolina
Director of Bands
Scott Weiss is director of bands and the Sarah Bolick Smith distinguished professor of music at the University of South Carolina, where he conducts the USC Wind Ensemble, teaches and administers the graduate wind conducting program and oversees all aspects of the university’s band program. Previous positions include director of bands at the University of Kansas, associate director of bands at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and director of bands at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. He also has nine years of public school teaching experience, including six years as director of bands at Harrison High School in Cobb County, Georgia, where his wind ensemble was featured at the 1999 Midwest Clinic. A champion of new music, he has commissioned, premiered and recorded dozens of new works by many of today’s leading composers, including Jennifer Higdon, Joseph Schwantner, Joseph Turrin, David Dzubay, Frank Ticheli, John Fitz Rogers, Roshanne Etezady, Steven Bryant and many others. In 2012, he conducted the world premiere recording of a new ballet for trumpet and chamber orchestra by Robert Bradshaw, and in May 2013, he conducted the world premiere of a new opera by Richard Maltz. He also has a series of critically acclaimed CDs on the Naxos label featuring music by American composers. His 2011 recording of the Symphony No. 4 by Morton Gould was heralded by ArkivMusic as “its best performance on record,” and a new disc with the USC Wind Ensemble and featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein was released internationally in February 2013. He maintains an active international guest conducting schedule, particularly in Asia where he has conducted wind ensembles and symphony orchestras in well over a dozen cities. Recent highlights include his June 2012 debut with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, one of China’s leading professional symphony orchestras, as well as a 2011 performance with the Shin-Siang Wind Ensemble at the National Concert Hall in Taipei. He has also taught and conducted ensembles at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, and in 2007, he was invited to give a conducting masterclass for the conductors of the People’s Liberation Army of China Military Band in Beijing. In addition, he presented research on wind band history and literature at the University of Luxembourg in 2008 and at the Austrian Wind Music Museum in Oberwölz, Austria, in 2004. Closer to home, he regularly conducts all-state bands, intercollegiate bands and high school honor bands throughout North America, and he has been featured as a guest conductor with both The United States Army Band (“Pershing’s Own”) and the United States Coast Guard Band. He received his musical training in trumpet performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and his career as a trumpet player has included performances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C. He received both a master’s degree and a doctorate at the University of Illinois, where he studied conducting with James Keene and Donald Schleicher. He is a member of and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and in 2012, he was inducted into the ABA. He and his wife, Teah, live in Columbia with their son, John, and his dog, Duke. He enjoys traveling internationally and playing golf, and he is taking Mandarin classes at USC.
Dr.
Ken Ozzello
University of Alabama
Director of Bands
Kenneth Ozzello is director of bands and professor of music at the University of Alabama. He joined the university faculty in 1989. He holds the BM degree in music education and the MM in conducting from West Virginia University, and he earned the EdD from the University of Alabama. He is the conductor of the Alabama Wind Ensemble. The ensemble has performed at national and regional conventions including ABA, CBDA, NAfME and the Alabama MEA. In 2012, the ensemble toured Italy performing at numerous historic venues from Rome to Torino. The ensemble has recorded several CDs, including the most recent titled Forbes Plays Forbes, featuring the music of composer Mike Forbes. The Alabama Wind Ensemble has commissioned and premiered dozens of works from composers such as David Maslanka, Donald Grantham, Ira Hearshen, Nigel Clarke, Jim Stephenson and Paul Dooley. In 2012, he received the Morris Meyer Award recognizing outstanding contributions to student life at the University of Alabama. He holds memberships in the prestigious ABA, CBDNA, NAfME, Phi Beta Mu and Kappa Kappa Psi. Prior to arriving in Tuscaloosa, he served on the staff of the West Virginia University band program. He also spent five years as director of bands at Jeannette High School in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. He heads the graduate wind conducting program at Alabama and maintains a busy national schedule of clinics and guest conducting engagements.
Session Coordinator:
Linda Mann
The FMEA Professional Development Conference and All-State Ensembles receive support in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.