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 entitled “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”. He is one of only 25 faculty in the history of the University of Colorado to receive this honor, the first in the College of Music and is the only one from the Arts to hold the title.

Don Owens(concert band and jazz band) - Don Owens, Coordinator Emeritus of the Jazz Studies and Pedagogy Program, Director Emeritus, Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the National High School Music Institute at Northwestern University, began his tenure at Northwestern University in 1979. Before coming to Northwestern, he taught for twelve years at Evanston (Illinois) Township High School where his duties included directing band, brass ensembles, and jazz band, as well as teaching classes in music theory, popular music, and composition. He created the Electronic Music Studio at ETHS in 1971. Many of his ETHS students went on to become music majors at many of the major Schools of Music in the United States and Canada.

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.

Wendy J. Grasdahl (concert bands) - Wendy Grasdahl is well known across Canada as a conductor, teacher, and trumpet performer. Her professional experience encompasses teaching at university and college levels, as well as provincial workshops, clinics, festival adjudication, private teaching and military band work. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, teaching brass and conducting the Concert Band.

As an officer in the Canadian Naval Reserve, Wendy conducted military bands in Alberta, B. C., and Ontario. She is in demand as a clinician and guest conductor for school programs, as well as summer music programs, including the International Music Camp at the Peace Garden on the Manitoba/U.S. border. She received the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from the International Music Camp for ten years of conducting and promoting band in North America. Previous awards include the Faculty Association Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of P.E.I.

Wendy has appeared as a trumpet soloist and in professional ensembles throughout Canada. She is a clinician for Yamaha Canada, is a founding member of the brass quintet "Five of a Kind", and has played Solo Cornet with the Mill Creek Colliery Brass Band. Wendy is the Trumpet Instructor at Concordia University College of Alberta. Wendy is the founder, Artistic Director and principal conductor of Festival City Winds Music Society, a comprehensive adult community band programme which is comprised of three Concert Bands.

Ms. Grasdahl holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music History from the University of Alberta, a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Calgary, and a graduate level Fine Arts Diploma in Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble Conducting and Literature from the University of Calgary.

WILLIAM STREET (concert band) - joined the University of Alberta in 1988 as saxophone and chamber music professor and wind band conductor. Formerly Wind and Percussion Coordinator of the Department of Music and Conductor of the University Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Professor Street is now Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies of the Department of Music. He has presented concerts throughout Europe, North America, Japan and Thailand and has recorded héliosaxo, twentieth century music for axophone and piano, My Very First Solo (Arktos - SRI- CD 200367), - with Roger Admiral featuring works by Heider, Jan Bach, Swerts, Albright, Fisher and Denisov and Westwind a recording of new works for saxophone - solo and in duos with piano, organ and percussion - by Western Canadian composers. He recorded with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a CBC 5000 compact disc recording Electra Rising by Malcolm Forsyth. This disc
was awarded a JUNO: Best Classical Recording of 1997. Tre Vie, Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra was runner up for Best Classical recording of 1998. His teachers and mentors include George Etheridge, Frederick Hemke and Jean-Marie Londeix. He performs frequently with pianist Roger Admiral and saxophonist Jean-Marie Londeix and tours bi-annually. He has presented master classes (and was a 2004 adjudicator) at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, The Royal College of Music in London, Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand and he has been a member of the European Saxophone University faculty. He adjudicated for the 2007 music examinations at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Bordeaux. Street performs regularly with the Edmonton Saxophone Quartet and Edmonton's Improvisation Group Flux and tours internationally annually with the Quatuor International de Saxophones, composed of colleagues from France, the USA and Japan. He is a past president of the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) and just completed his third term as Secretary of the World Saxophone Congress. He is a member of the advisory committee of the World Saxophone Congress to be held in 2009 Bangkok, Thailand.

During the 2006-2007 academic year, he performed a concert tour in the US with Roger Admiral and a concert tour in Japan, Thailand and France with the Quatuor International de Saxophones. Mr. Street has a Selmer clinician with a strong interest in music education and appears frequently as recitalist, adjudicator and conductor throughout Asia, North America and Europe. He has recently adjudicated at Festivals around the world including Belgium, Canada, France, Russia, Thailand, the United States of America and the Ukraine.

John Brough (choral) - has been a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta since 1997 where he has taught Music History, Conducting and Musicianship courses. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from the University of Ottawa.  He received his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting degree in 2000, and his Doctor of Music degree in 2007, both from the University of Alberta.  He also holds associate degrees with the Royal Conservatory of Music and Royal Canadian College of Organists.  Dr. Brough is Choirmaster and Director of Music at Holy Trinity Anglican Church and served as interim conductor of the University of Alberta Concert Choir during the 2004-05 season. He is artistic director of the Da Camera Singers, and interim Director of Music of the Richard Eaton Singers, where he has served as Associate Conductor since 2005.
Dr. Brough has appeared as conductor with many local ensembles, including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Alberta Baroque Ensemble.  He has conducted such works as Bach’s St. John Passion, Cantata #4 Christ Lag in Todes Banden, Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil.  In November 2008, he lead the Richard Eaton Singers with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, countertenor Daniel Taylor and Soprano Nancy Argenta in a rare performance of Handel’s oratorio Solomon.
In 2009, together with local soprano Jolaine Kerley, Dr. Brough founded the Scona Chamber Singers.  The ensemble’s focus is to present rarely performed works for choir and small ensemble.  In their first season, the ensemble performed two concerts, one of the early English cathedral tradition, featuring music from William Mundy, Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell, and one of selections from Heinrich Schütz’s Geistliche Chormusik and Kleine Geistliche Konzerte. 
Dr. Brough is sought after throughout Canada as an adjudicator and clinician.  He sits on the board of examiners for Conservatory Canada. An outstanding teacher, he was a recipient of a Graduate Student Teaching award from the University of Alberta.

Dr. Thomas Staples (concert band) – is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the University of Lethbridge.  In addition to regular performance as a horn soloist at the U of L, he has been soloist with several bands and orchestras in Western Canada, most recently as horn soloist with the Lethbridge Symphony, and at The Call of the Wild Horn Festival. A keen advocate of music for brass ensembles, Staples has a lengthy background with brass groups such as The Commonwealth Brass, The New West Brass, The Saskatoon Brass, The Southern Alberta Brass, The Bridge Brass, and is a founding member of the University of Lethbridge Faculty Brass.  He has been principal horn with the Lethbridge Symphony for the past  20 years.

In his 23rd year at the University of Lethbridge, Thomas Staples is in his 12th year as Director of Bands, conducting the Wind Orchestra, the Chamber Band and Brass and Woodwind Choirs.  Groups under his baton have received high praise for expressive and stimulating performances.  The Wind Orchestra and Chamber Band have travelled throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C and Washington State in recent years.  Staples is in regular demand as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the area.

Dr. Staples holds degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, James Madison University and the University of Iowa. 

Dr. Angela Schroeder (concert band) A native of Calgary, completed undergraduate studies in Music at University of Calgary, majoring in Secondary Education, with performance studies in piano and trumpet. She also completed the Diploma of Fine Arts in Wind Band Conducting at University of Calgary under the supervision of Glenn Price. After years of teaching at various secondary schools in the Calgary area, she entered the Long Term Residency program at The Banff Centre, where she studied and performed on piano, trumpet and as a conductor. Angela entered the Master's program in Wind Band Conducting at Northwestern University in 2002, completing her studies there in 2004 with Mallory Thompson. In 2007, she completed the degree Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting at the University of North Texas, under the supervision of Eugene Corporon.
Dr. Schroeder is currently Assistant Professor of Music in the Department of Music of the University of Alberta. She is the Director of Bands, the area coordinator for the Winds and Percussion, and conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Academy Winds and Percussion. She teaches courses in conducting and wind band education, and works with Graduate students in Wind Band conducting. She previously taught conducting at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.
Angela Schroeder is well known in the Alberta music education community, not only through her teaching and conducting both in schools and in community music organizations, but through her involvement as an executive director of the Alberta Band Association for several years. Angela has performed on cornet with the Mill Creek Colliery Band and is the Principal Trumpet for the Concordia University Orchestra. Angela has guest conducted and adjudicated numerous school bands in festivals and clinics throughout Western Canada. She is a contributor in four volumes of the Teaching Music through Performance in Band series, which profile wind literature for all levels of instrumental instruction, published by GIA.