Red Band – Dr. Emily Threinen
Dr. Emily Threinen is an Associate Professor of Music and serves as Director of Bands at the School of Music of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; she began this post in 2016. In this position, Threinen conducts the acclaimed University Wind Ensemble, guides the graduate wind band conducting program, and provides administrative leadership for all aspects of the University of Minnesota-TC Band Program. Prior to her appointment at Minnesota, Threinen served as Associate Professor, Director of Bands, and Artistic Director of Winds and Brass at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Assistant Professor, Director of Bands at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia; Director of the Duke University Wind Symphony in Durham, North Carolina; Director of the Concordia University Wind Ensemble in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Conductor of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Director of Bands and Instrumental Music at Harding High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she received the Outstanding Teacher Award.
Threinen consistently works with composers, arrangers, and performing artists of varied disciplines. Residencies, recordings, and engagements with composers and new compositions are integral to her creative work. In addition to contributions in several articles, interviews, and books, Threinen has been published in multiple volumes of the GIA “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” book series, where she has been recognized as a strong scholarly contributor. She is active across the nation and abroad (including work in Korea, Costa Rica, Australia, Spain, Brazil, and Canada), as a guest conductor, clinician, and conference presenter. Threinen is a strong advocate for music education and is proud to serve as a Yamaha Master Educator. She is an active member of these organizations: American Bandmasters Association (ABA), World Association for Symphonic Band and Ensembles (WASBE), College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Big Ten Band Directors Association, National Band Association (NBA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and Pi Kappa Lambda and Kappa Kappa Psi as an honorary member.
White Band – Loras John Schissel
LORAS JOHN SCHISSEL is the music director and conductor of both the Virginia Grand Military Band, of which he is the founder, and the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Festival Band, two of the finest concert bands in the world. He has travelled throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia conducting orchestras, bands, and choral ensembles in a broad range of musical styles and varied programs.
A native of New Hampton, Iowa, Schissel studied brass instruments and conducting with Carlton Stewart, Frederick Fennell, and John Paynter. In the years following his studies at the University of Northern Iowa, he has distinguished himself as a prominent conductor, orchestrator, and musicologist.
Deeply committed to young musicians, he has appeared as conductor of all-state music festivals and of festival bands and orchestras in more than 30 states. As a composer and orchestrator, Schissel has created an extensive catalogue of over 500 works for orchestra, symphonic wind band, and jazz ensemble, all published exclusively by Ludwig/Masters Music. His musical score for Bill Moyers: America’s First River, The Hudson that first appeared on PBS in April 2002, received extensive critical acclaim. He also created musical scores for two films for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Home in Hyde Park, New York. As a recording artist, Schissel has amassed a large discography with a wide variety of ensembles and various musical genres.
Schissel is a senior musicologist at the Library of Congress and a leading authority on the music of Percy Aldridge Grainger, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and former Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevitzky. He co-authored The Complete Literary and Musical Works of John Philip Sousa and is currently co-authoring The Musical Works of Karl L. King with Gene Milford of the University of Akron.Schissel appeared in the award-winning PBS documentary If You Knew Sousa for the American Experience series, as well as Ben Wattenberg’s Think Tank. He serves as a commentator on the Voice of America and for the United States Information Service. In recognition of his world travels, he was inducted into the Circumnavigators Club of New York, in May 2002, and in 2005 he was elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He is also an honorary conductor of the historic Ringgold Band ─ the last band conducted by John Philip Sousa.
Schissel made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in May 2007, conducting three performances of an Education Concert titled Spirit of America. The same month, he also made his debut with the Phoenix Symphony, conducting a program entitled Gershwin Celebration, and returned there in May 2008 to conduct for sold out concerts. He made his third annual appearance in Phoenix in May 2010 conducting an All-American Memorial Day program. In July 2008, he made his debut with the United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own) on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. In 2011 he led the Cleveland Orchestra in a 9/11 commemoration concert on Public Square in downtown Cleveland. Mr. Schissel returns to Steamboat Springs, Colorado this year to conduct a chamber orchestra concert devoted entirely to American composers.
In 2020, the National Band Association awarded Schissel the “AWAPA” prize for excellence and exceptional servive to bands and band music. This award is considered the “Oscar” in the band world. Past recipients include: Frederick Fennell, Karl L. King and William D. Revelli.
Blue Band – Dr. Danh Pham
Danh Pham is a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician, and the Music Director for both the Washington-Idaho Symphony Orchestra and the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra. He currently serves as Conductor of the WSU Symphony Orchestra, and Director of Bands at Washington State University.
Dr. Pham was recently named the 2025 Washington Governor’s Arts Commission Educator of the Year, the 2024 Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA) College/University Teacher of the Year, and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Music Teacher of the Year. In Spring 2024, he was inducted into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, where he made his conducting debut with the United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own) in Washington D.C.
Dr. Pham’s WSU honors include the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Outreach and Engagement, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award, the College of Arts and Sciences Mid-Career Award.
Dr. Pham maintains a busy conducting schedule that includes international appearances throughout Asia. He most recently returned from Malaysia as conductor of the Southbridge Music Festival, and South Korea where he conducted the renowned Seogwipo Philharmonic Wind Orchestra (Korea’s only professional full-time wind ensemble) in concert, and served as conductor-in-residence at the Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival. He is a conductor for JCLink Music Publications recordings and clinics that serves several cities in mainland China staffed by a team of artists and teachers from China, the United States, Japan, Canada, and Hong Kong. He has taught at Guangzhou University, and conducted the Guangzhou Youth Cultural Palace Youth Symphony and Wind Ensemble, the Yucai Concert Band, the Guangzhou Foreign Language School Wind Band, and the Canton Military Band. Other guest appearances include positions with the Wuhan Conservatory of Music Wind Symphony, Huazhong Agricultural University Symphonic Band, the Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music, and the Vietnam National Academy of Music. Professionally, he has conducted the Guang Xi Symphony Orchestra (Nanning, China) in their Gala Concert for the All Southeast Asia Nations New Music Week Celebration, the Saigon Wind Ensemble (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), and the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Orchestra (Hanoi, Vietnam). He made his subscription concert debut with the Calgary Wind Symphony last year. Future engagement includes artist-residencies with the Musashino Academy of Music Wind Ensemble (Tokyo, Japan) as a regular conductor, the Taiwan National Youth Symphony and Wind Ensemble, as a well as guest appearance with the Mid-Columbia Symphony Orchestra in 2027.
At home, Dr. Pham has conducted professional and honor groups throughout the country. He has been a guest conductor with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and has conducted All-State Groups in several states, and has appeared as a conductor with the Palouse Chamber Players, the Pan-Pacific Ensemble, and the Palouse Brass Company. His own groups have appeared at the Western International Band Clinic, the NAFME Biennial Northwest Conference, the Washington Music Educators Association State Convention, the Oregon Music Educators Association State Conference, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. His WSU ensembles were slated to tour Asia prior to the pandemic.
Dr. Pham serves on the Collegiate Advisory Board for the Western International Band Clinic, where he has conducted their Intercollegiate Honor Band on numerous occasions. He serves as a contributing Research Associate for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series released by GIA Publications, and has presented at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the National Association for Music Education (Northwest Division) Conference, and the Washington Music Educators State Conference. He has served as the Northwest Chair for the National Band Association, as well as its Coordinator for the State of Washington, and is currently the Northwest Chair for the Dr. William P. Foster Project – an organization devoted to celebrating musical excellence through diversity. He has also served as Producer and Editor for solo compact disc recordings that have been released by Albany and Emeritus Records. Dr. Pham is the Coordinator for the Washington (State) Ambassadors of Music European Tour program for band, choir, and orchestra. He makes a return trip to England, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria in 2026.
Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Dr. Pham received his degrees from DePauw University, Indiana University, and the University of Oklahoma. His conducting mentors include Ray Cramer, Stephen Pratt, William Wakefield, Craig Pare’, Orcenith Smith, Harry Blake, Elden Seta, and Don Tsuha. Prior to his appointment at Washington State University, Dr. Pham held similar posts at McMurry University, the Salem Youth Symphony, Western Oregon University, Salem-Keizer Public Schools, and the Beaverton (OR) School District.
Vogt-Williams Middle School Band – Darcy Vogt Williams
Darcy Vogt Williams is the head band director at Stiles Middle School in Leander, TX. She is a graduate of West Texas A&M University and in her 22nd year of teaching. Her bands have performed at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago and the Western International Band Clinic (WIBC) in Seattle. While at Stiles MS her bands have been state finalists in the TMEA Honor Band Contest. She is a member of Phi Beta Mu.
In addition to teaching, Darcy is a clinician across the country for both students and music educators. She is the author of two books about teaching band (Teaching Rhythm Logically and Pacing for Success: Beginner Band) and creator of the music education podcast “After Sectionals”
Murphy Middle School Band – Audrey Murphy
Ms. Audrey Murphy is in her third year as Band Director at East Cobb Middle School in Marietta, Georgia. Prior to this appointment, she was Band Director at Hopewell Middle School in Milton, Georgia from the opening of the school in 2004 until 2023. Under her direction, Hopewell ensembles earned consecutive Superior ratings in performance evaluations and appeared as guest performing ensembles at the University of Georgia Middle School Band Festival, the Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Band Festival, and the Music for All National Concert Festival. The Hopewell Middle School Symphonic Band also performed as a featured ensemble for the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference in 2010 and 2019.
A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Ms. Murphy is a graduate of East Carolina University. She has performed as a clarinetist with the Long Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Charlotte Civic Orchestra, the Capital City Opera Company of Atlanta, Tara Winds, the Georgia Wind Symphony, and Atlanta-based woodwind quintet Highland5.
Ms. Murphy serves as a guest clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. She has received the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence on four occasions for her contributions to the field of concert band and has conducted both Georgia and Tennessee All-State Bands. She is also a recipient of the North Fulton Jaycees Outstanding Young Arts Professional Award and was named Hopewell Middle School Teacher of the Year. She has been featured in the “50 Directors Who Make a Difference” issue of School Band and Orchestra Magazine and has been a guest on Music for All’s “Culture Before Content” podcast. Ms. Murphy currently serves on the National Band Association Board of Directors and chairs the National Band Association/Alfred Music Young Band Composition Contest Committee.