Roundtable Discussion: Navigating Online Teaching in the Fall and Beyond
Theresa Hoover Ducassoux is an Instrumental Music Teacher in Arlington, VA.
She is a Google for Education Certified Trainer and Innovator, Flipgrid Ambassador, and a member of the Personalized Learning Design Team for Arlington County. Theresa has earned a bachelors degree in music education from Penn State University and a masters degree in instrumental conducting from West Chester University. She frequently incorporates technology into her teaching as a way to enhance and personalize student learning.
Currently, Shemeka Nash is the Fine Arts Department Chair at Morgan Park High School in Chicago. She is also the director of bands, conducting the Concert, Jazz, Marching and Modern Band. Shemeka has been recently appointed as the Full Orchestra Conductor of Sistema Ravinia. She holds the Bachelor of Music Education Degree from DePaul University and Master of Music Education degree from Northwestern University. She also holds National Board Teacher Certification for the area of Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood (EAYA) Music. Shemeka continues to be an active saxophonist with the Soundmine Merchants Big Band, KCR Ensemble, and the Noteworthy Jazz Ensemble. Her professional memberships include Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity, Tau Beta Sigma, NAfME, ILMEA, JEN, WBDI and NBA.
Anoa Green, M.M. is on the Music Faculty at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where she is the Coordinator of Wind Studies and the Director of the BSA Wind Symphony. She has held this position for thirteen of her fifteen years with Baltimore City Public Schools.
Anoa is also passionate about social inequality and Urban Arts Education and has a background in clarinet and conducting. When Anoa is not in the band room, she enjoys time spent with her husband and two children.
Dr. Julia Baumanis is the Assistant Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands at the
University of Central Missouri where she directs the UCM Symphonic Band, the UCM
Marching Mules, as well as teaches courses in Music Education.
Dr. Baumanis is a graduate of The Florida State University College of Music, where she received
her Bachelors of Instrumental Music Education, her Masters Degree in Instrumental Conducting,
and her PhD in Music Education and Instrumental Conducting. Prior to graduate school, she
taught public school in south Florida as the Associate Director of Bands and Orchestras at J.P.
Taravella High School, and the Director of Orchestras at Ramblewood Middle School.
Dr. Baumanis has presented her research nationally. Most recently, her research has focused on
developing a conductors baton that records data collected from a conductors expressive
gestures. She hopes to implement this technology in the conducting classroom as a technological
tool to assist beginning conductors in developing their craft.
Emily Talley is currently the Interim Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at Ohio University. Prior to her time in Ohio, Emily spent fourteen years teaching high school and middle school in New York and North Carolina. She received her Bachelor's of Science in Education degree from Western Carolina University in 2004, as well as her Master's of Music in Clarinet Performance in 2013. During her time as an undergrad she served as a staff coordinator of the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band. In 2015, Emily received a Distinguished Educator's Award from Yale University, and attended the Yale Distinguished Educator's Symposium. Her band's at Asheville High School continuously received superior ratings at Music Performance Adjudication Festival, and have performed in Washington, DC, the Bahamas, Disney World, and Waikiki, Hawaii. Emily has participated in the InterHarmony Festival in Arcidosso, Italy and the World Adult Wind Orchestra Project In Schladming, Austria. She is a member of the International Clarinet Association, Sigma Alpha Iota, Women Band Directors International, and the National Association for Music Educators.
MJ Robinson is the band director at Alston Middle School in Summerville, South Carolina. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from Murray State University and a Masters of Music Education from Boston University. Mrs. Robinson has served as a music educator for 14 years at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels in both Tennessee and South Carolina.
Mrs. Robinson is a published author and clinician on topics such as culture building in the band room, advice for beginning teachers, and the job application process. Her articles have been published by WBDIs The Woman Conductorand NAfMEs Music in a Minuet.
MJs professional affiliations include the National Associate for Music Education (NAfME), South Carolina Band Directors Association (SCBDA), South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA), and Women Band Directors International (WBDI).
Mary Cogswell just completed her 30th year of teaching band, the past 26 years in the Brookings, SD School District teaching beginning band. She is President of the honorary band fraternity Phi Beta Mu-SD chapter, has served the SD Bandmasters Association as young band representative and is currently President-Elect of the organization. Mary has presented numerous young band related clinics emphasizing recruiting and proper instruction for the success of beginning students. In addition, she developed the SD Bandmasters Director of Young Bands Midwest Clinic Scholarship and the SD Bandmasters Heritage Video Series. Her recognitions include the 2019 SD School Band and Orchestra Magazines 50 Directors Who Make a Difference and 2020 Phi Beta Mu Distinguished Service Award. Mary has engaged in many local and regional educational and musical outreach activities, two of which being the guest conductor for the 2018 SD Middle School Festival All-State Band as well as the SDSU All-State Summer Music Camp for Young Band Members.
Lauren Reynolds is assistant professor of music and director of concert bands at the University of Delaware School of Music, where she serves as conductor of the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting and wind literature. She received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Delaware, and her Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting, cognate in Flute Performance, from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Rodney Winther. She is the founder and music director of the Delaware Youth Wind Ensemble, a year-round honor ensemble comprised of fine high school musicians from the greater Delaware region.
Dr. Reynolds has conducted ensembles from the middle school through professional levels, and has served as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States. She was previously the music director of the Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble, and also served for several years as the teacher for the United States Coast Guard Band conductor leadership program.
An avid conductor of wind chamber music, her doctoral document examines the larger wind chamber works of Czech composer Bohuslav Martin. Dr. Reynolds is active as a presenter and clinician, and currently serves as president-elect of the Eastern Division of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA). She resides in Maryland with her husband, a professional bassoonist, and her two young children.
Adam Klein is an audio engineer and music producer based in the Kansas City area and is
currently working for PSAV, a global event production company. Adam is also owner of 1451
Music, an independent audio production company that focuses on recording live concerts and
working in recording studios with bands and songwriters.
Some of his most recent work includes working as a mixing engineer for various virtual
ensembles through virtualchoirs.net and recording the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra for live
performances. In 2019, Adam recorded and co-produced Bassd on a True Story, an original
jazz album by Brandon Robertson. Adam is also the producer and engineer for the upcoming
album Live at Snug Harbor, by the Amina Scott Combo.
Adam is a graduate of The Florida State University College of Music, through their commercial
music program having studied under Chandler Bridges and Brian Gaber.