2012 Whistler Festival Adjudicators

Larry Gookin (concert band) has been Director of Bands at Central Washington University since 1981. Currently he serves as the Associate Chair, Coordinator of Graduate Studies, Director of Bands and conductor of the Wind Ensemble. His fields of expertise include music education, wind literature, conducting, and low brass performance.

The CWU Wind Ensemble has performed at state, regional and national conventions, including the College Band Directors National Association Conference in Boulder; the Music Educators National Conference in Minneapolis; the Western International Band Clinics in Seattle, and the Western/Northwestern CBDNA Division Conferences in Reno. The ensemble has twice been invited to perform at the prestigious American Bandmasters Association National Conference.

Professor Gookin received the M.M. in Music Education from the University of Oregon School of Music in 1977 and the B.M in Music Education and Trombone Performance from the University of Montana in 1971. He taught band for 10 years in public schools in Montana and Oregon. Prior to accepting the position as Director of Bands at Central Washington University, he was Director of Bands at South Eugene H.S in Eugene, Oregon.

Gookin has served as president of the Northwestern Division of the CBDNA, as well as Divisional Chairman for the National Band Association. He is past Vice President of the Washington Music Educators Association. In 1992 he was elected to the membership of the American Bandmasters Association, and in 2000 he became a member of the Washington Music Educators “Hall of Fame.” In 2001, Gookin received the Central Washington University Distinguished Professor of Teaching Award, and in 2003 was named WMEA teacher of the year. In 2004, he was selected as Central Washington University's representative for the Carnegie Foundation (CASE) teaching award. He is a past recipient of the “Citation of Excellence Award” from the National Band Association, the “Mac” award from First Chair of America, and the American Schools Band Directors Association “Standbury Award.” Most recently, Gookin received the University of Oregon’s 2008 School of Music Distinguished Alumnus Award.
From 1996 to 2002 Gookin was the Music Director of the Washington Ambassadors of Music, leading biennial European tours with over 150 high school musicians from the State of Washington. The tours included performances in London, Paris, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.

Professor Gookin has appeared as clinician, adjudicator, and conductor in the United States, Canada, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe. He is former principal trombone of the Eugene and Yakima Symphony Orchestras. Gookin resides in Ellensburg, Washington with his wife Karen, who teaches English at CWU and performs on piccolo and flute with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.

Gillian MacKay (concert band) is an Associate Professor of Music of the University of Toronto, where she conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches conducting and trumpet. She is also Associate Dean of Graduate Education. An award-winning teacher, Gillian has an active professional career as a trumpeter, conductor, adjudicator, and clinician. She has conducted honour bands throughout Canada and the United States, including the National Youth Band of Canada. Dr. MacKay has adjudicated Canadian band festivals at local, provincial, and national levels, as well as competitions in Singapore and Thailand.

Dr. MacKay has presented clinics and workshops at provincial and state conferences in Canada and the United States, and is known for her work on the relationship between conducting and mime. Also recognized as a conducting pedagogue, Gillian leads the University of Toronto Wind Conducting Symposium each July, and has been the guest instructor at other symposia in Canada. As a trumpeter, she has a particular interest in the French solo trumpet and cornet music of the 19th century.

Gillian holds degrees and diplomas from the University of Lethbridge, McGill University, the University of Calgary, and Northwestern University. Previously, she served as Instructor of Brass at Medicine Hat College, and Director of the School of Music at the University of Windsor.

Allan McMurray (concert band) is the Robert and Judy Charles Endowed Professor of Music, Chair of the Conducting Faculty, and Director of Bands at the University of Colorado-Boulder, a position he has held since 1978. Prior to this position, he was on the faculty of the University of Michigan. Considered one of the world’s leading teachers of conducting, Professor McMurray has guest conducted and taught conductors in 45 states and 15 foreign countries. He has been a featured visiting professor at over 200 universities and conservatories nationally. He has authored two groundbreaking DVDs on the art of conducting that have been received with international acclaim. Professor McMurray is the host for the College Band Directors National Association National Conducting Symposium in Boulder. His former conducting students now hold high school, college, and professional conducting positions throughout North America.

Since Professor McMurray’s arrival in 1978, the University of Colorado Bands have distinguished themselves with performances at major conferences and conventions, including The First International Conference for Symphonic Bands in Manchester, England; the All-Japan Band Conference in Nemo Nu Sato, Japan; the College Band Directors National Association Convention (twice); and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Hamamatsu, Japan.

With a strong commitment to new music, Allan McMurray has been a leader in commissioning numerous compositions by American composers. He has won praise for his interpretive and expressive conducting by many composers including Pulitzer Prize winners John Harbison, Joseph Schwanter, Karel Husa, Michael Colgrass and George Crumb. Professor McMurray has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Debut Orchestra and has guest conducted the Colorado Symphony in performance at the 50th Anniversary of the Colorado Music Educators Convention in Colorado Springs. He recently completed his third season with the Colorado Ballet Orchestra as principal guest conductor of Dracula.

Allan McMurray is a Past-President of the College Band Directors National Association and a member of numerous professional organizations including the American Bandmasters Association. In addition, he is a recipient of the Bohumil Makovsky Award for Outstanding College Band Directors from the National band fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi, and has been recognized by California State University Long Beach as “Distinguished Artist in Classical Music.”

Professor McMurray’s first DVD on the Art of Conducting, Conducting from the Inside Out: Gesture and Movement, was released in December of 2002 and has received international acclaim. His second DVD, Conducting from the Inside Out: Conductor and Composer with Frank Ticheli, is published by Manhattan Beach and was released in 2004 at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago.

In December 2004, the Board of Regents designated Allan McMurray as “Distinguished Professor.”

Robert Taylor (concert band) is Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Conducting at the University of British Columbia. Prior to his appointment at UBC, Dr. Taylor served as Director of Bands at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, and Chair of the Performing Arts Department at Eureka High School in northern California. Under his direction, the Eureka High Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Band earned recognition for excellence by Downbeat Magazine, the Selmer Corporation, and Grammy Signature Schools, placing Eureka High among the finest school music programs in North America.

Dr. Taylor maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician. Past engagements include performances with the Chicago-based contemporary music group, the MAVerick Ensemble, in addition to collaborations with a wide range of international artists—from Allen Vizzutti, Gail Williams, and Ingrid Jensen, to Manhattan Transfer and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. He has also made frequent appearances with young musicians, serving as principal conductor of the Puget Sound Youth Wind Ensemble and guest conductor of the CODA/ASTA Honour Orchestra, Humboldt Youth Academy Orchestra, and numerous honour groups. As a passionate advocate of music in the schools, Dr. Taylor is in high demand as a rehearsal clinician and festival adjudicator. Recent appearances in western Canada include the Vancouver Heritage Music Festival, New Westminster Hyack Festival, Alberta International Band Festival, Alberta Band Association Festival of Bands, and BCMEA Honour Band, among others.

Dr. Taylor received the Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees in conducting from Northwestern University and the Bachelor of Arts degree in Trumpet and Music Education from Humboldt State University. His research has been published in GIA’s Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series and featured in presentations at several regional and national music conferences. He is a Jacob K. Javits Fellow, and a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda National Honour Societies, College Band Directors National Association, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Music Educators National Conference, and British Columbia Music Educators Association.

Owens received the Bachelor of Music Education degree from North Texas State University, where he also studied Composition and Jazz. His Master of Musical Arts degree is from the University of Illinois, where he majored in Composition. He studied composition with Morgan Powell, Merrill Ellis, Samuel Adler, and Salvatore Martirano. He has won several grants and awards, and is regularly commissioned for new works.

In his first few years at Northwestern, Mr. Owens conducted the Nationally renowned Jazz Ensemble, directed the "Wildcat” Marching Band and Symphonic Band, and taught advanced Method classes for undergraduate Music Education Majors. He eventually was appointed Coordinator of the Jazz Studies and Pedagogy Program, teaching courses in Jazz Writing, Seminar in Jazz Pedagogy, Jazz in the Public Schools, and conducted the Jazz Ensemble. Under his leadership, the Northwestern Jazz Program grew to offer the B.M. in Jazz Studies and the M.M. in Jazz Pedagogy.

In addition to Owens' responsibilities in the Jazz area, he served as Director and Primary Conductor of the internationally acclaimed Contemporary Music Ensemble for over 20 years. This group performed over 200 world premiers, as well as the standard 20th century repertory. In 1991, the Northwestern CME served as the primary chamber music ensemble for the John Cage Now World Festival. In the spring of 1995, the NUCME served as one of two visiting Artist Ensembles for the National Meeting of the Society of Composers at the University of Iowa. In 2002, the CME played a major part in the Stephan Wolpe Festival, sponsored by the School of Music.

During the summers, Owens served as Director of the National High School Music Institute, from 1991 to 2004. Under his leadership, the enrollment increased by 100%. NHSMI continues to thrive as a Pre-Collegiate Music Major Experience for high school-aged students. With a curriculum that requires the attending students to declare a Major - Classical Guitar, Composition, Jazz Studies, Music Education, Piano, Strings, Voice, or Winds and Percussion- NHSMI has consistently attracted students from all 50 states, as well as many foreign countries.

Mr. Owens is an internationally recognized clinician/conductor. He has served as an adjudicator and has conducted Festival and All-State Concert and Jazz Bands in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Canada, Greece, Germany, and Norway. As a conductor, he has shared in the art of music making with world famous figures from both the Jazz and Contemporary Classical idioms. His compositions have been performed across America, as well as in Canada, England, Greece, Germany, Japan, Norway, and South America.

Mr. Owens is the composer/arranger of over 100 works, including those for band, jazz band, orchestra, choir, and chamber music. His music is available from the composer via Phramus Music Publications. Owens is the author of several articles dealing with contemporary music. He is a member of M.E.N.C, Illinois Music Educators Association, International Association for Jazz Education (Past President for the Illinois State Unit), Pi Kappa Lambda (Past President of Alpha Chapter), and Phi Mu Alpha.

For five years (1999-2004) he was Composer-in-Residence with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, writing 11 works for the ESO including concerti for violin, trumpet, two harps, and clarinet. He has also been Composer-in-Residence at the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound and the Colours of Music Festival in Barrie, Ontario. Other highlights include; The Winspear Fanfare composed for the opening of the Francis Winspear Centre for Music, An Overture for the Worlds commissioned for the opening ceremonies of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Dreaming of the Masters I, a jazz concerto written for clarinetist James Campbell and given it's American premiere by the Boston Pops, the 1-act operas Hannaraptor and The Untimely Death of Whatsisname, Dreaming of the Masters II, a piano concerto written for William Eddins, the musicals The Seventh Circle and Dead Beats and Dreaming of the Masters III, a trumpet concerto written for Jens Lindemann and given its American premiere by Jens and the ESO at Carnegie Hall . In 2006 he was one of a handful of composers asked to participate in the ASCAP/Buddy Baker Film Scoring Workshop at New York University and in 2002 his orchestral work On the Shoulders of Giants took First Prize at the prestigious Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Centara New Music Festival Composers Competition. Allan has also won composition contests sponsored by Pro Coro Canada and the Alberta Band Association as well as First Place in the Jean Coulthard Competition for Composers and the Lydia Pals Composers Competition.

As an arranger, he has written hundreds of charts for almost every combination of instruments including three full “pops” shows for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Though no longer active, Allan was also a busy freelance trumpet player. He was a regular member of the Tommy Banks Big Band, co-led The Creative Opportunity Orchestra (CO2) and Inside Track and performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Opera, Citadel Theatre and Capital Brass.

He holds a diploma in Jazz Studies (trumpet) from Humber College, a Bachelor of Music degree in performance and a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Alberta and is currently pursuing a PhD in Composition from the University of Edinburgh. His teachers include Violet Archer, Howard Bashaw, Malcolm Forsyth and Nigel Osborne. Allan has taught at the University of Alberta, the University of Edinburgh and Red Deer College and is presently Head of Composition at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta where he lives with his wife and two children.

Fred is also active as a band leader and guest conductor. He currently leads his own Fred Stride Jazz Orchestra which, besides playing his own work, also performs classic jazz repertoire such as the Stan Kenton/Johnny Richards Cuban Fire Suite, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite, Ron Collier’s arrangement of Oscar Peterson’s Canadiana Suite and Duke Ellington’s major opus Black, Brown and Beige. Several of these performances have been recorded and broadcast on CBC radio.

The Fred Stride Jazz Orchestra has also recently released the CD Forward Motion (Cellar Live) containing 6 compositions by Fred, including the multi-movement Machina: A Concerto for Jazz Orchestra. Fred Stride was also the winner of the 2007 International Jazz Arranging Competition for his arrangement of Michael Brecker's Peep.

Fred also received the 2008 SOCAN/IAJE Phil Nimmons Established Composer Award. The commissioned work for this award, By All Accounts, was premiered in Toronto at the 2008 IAJE Conference. As well as his very busy professional writing career, Fred also finds time to direct a jazz ensemble and teach jazz theory and arranging at the University of British Columbia School of Music. He also works as a clinician, adjudicator and teacher at various music festivals, summer camps and jazz workshops across the Canada and the US. Fred Stride is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers. Many of his jazz compositions are published by Sierra Music Publications.