Established in 1926, in Bethlehem Pennsylvania, the Liberty High School Band was led for 40 years by the first Director of Music, Dr. Joseph Ricapito. During his tenure the band performed at President Truman’s Inaugural Parade and the 1948 World’s Fair. When He retired, Ron Sherry, a Liberty alumnus, assumed the baton and and revamped the band’s image . In 1966 he introduced the Grenadier theme. In 1976, the band provided music for England's Queen Elizabeth II’s presentation of the Bicentennial Bell. The Grenadiers became the first high school band in the world to perform in London’s Royal Albert Hall. Following Sherry’s retirement, Liberty’s third director, Greg MacGill began his tenure. Under his direction, the band would perform 4 times in England and march in the 2009 Rose Parade. Now under the direction Liberty alumnus, Kevin Long, the Grenadiers' most notable performances have included the 125th Rose Parade, the 2019 Hollywood Christmas Parade, the 2016 Waikiki Holiday Parade and as part of the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

You can find more on the band at their website: https://lhsgbopc.org/ 

You can also find them on Twitter or Facebook

Tim Lautzenheiser began his teaching career at Northern Michigan University. He then moved to the University of Missouri, and from there to New Mexico State University. During that time, Tim developed highly acclaimed groups in both instrumental and vocal music.

Following his tenure in the college band directing world, he spent three years with McCormick’s Enterprises working as Executive Director of Bands of America. In 1981, Tim created Attitude Concepts for Today, Inc., an organization designed to manage the many requests for teacher inservice workshops, student leadership seminars, and convention speaking engagements focusing on the area of effective leadership training. After thirty-plus years of clinic presentations, some three million students have experienced one of his popular sessions.

Tim presently serves as Vice President of Education for Conn-Selmer, Inc. He is a nationally recognized voice touting the importance of arts education for every child.

His books, produced by G.I.A. Publications, Inc., continue to be bestsellers in the educational community. He is also co-author of popular band method, Essential Elements, as well as the Senior Educational Consultant for Hal Leonard, Inc. Tim is also the Senior Educational Advisor for Music for All, and NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants).

He holds degrees from Ball State University and the University of Alabama; in 1995 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the VanderCook College of Music. He continues to teach as an adjunct faculty member at: Ball State University, Indiana-Purdue/Ft. Wayne University, and Butler University. In addition, he is a member of the Midwest Clinic Board of Directors and the Western International Band Clinic/American Band College Board of Directors. He is presently the Chair of the National Association for Music Education Music Honor Society (Tri-M).

High school band director Aaron Dugger returns to the podcast to discuss process and product in secondary marching bands. in the Texas UIL system, it can feel like your teaching to a test but Aaron offers productive insight as to how to take the system and make it work for students and programs of all kinds.

Aaron Dugger, a native of Pennsylvania, graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Music Education. While at Penn State, Mr. Dugger was a performing member of the Penn State Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Tuba/ Euphonium Ensemble, and the Penn State Marching Blue Band. He is a student of Velvet Brown, Dennis Glocke, Darrin Thornton, and Christopher Hornick.

In 2016, Mr. Dugger relocated to Texas where he served as the Assistant Director of Middle School Bands at Melissa Middle School in Melissa Texas. After 2 years, Mr. Dugger moved to Melissa High School where he served as the Associate Director of Bands and the director of the Cardinal Marching Band. The 2018 Cardinal Band appeared in 4A State Finals for the first time in school history. Under his guidance, the Melissa Middle School and High School non-varsity bands received consecutive Sweepstakes Awards. Most recently, Mr. Dugger served as an Assistant Band Director at Colleyville Heritage High School where the program made its first appearance at the UIL State Marching Contest in 20 years.

Mr. Dugger is an active clinician and drill writer for bands across the country. He serves on the brass staff for the 2019 DCI World Championship Silver Medalists, The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps. Mr. Dugger was a performing member of the Bluecoats from 2013-2015. Additionally, Mr. Dugger served on the brass staff for the Academy Drum and Bugle Corps in 2016. He has also served as a consultant for the Melissa Winterguard, Gateway Winterguard, Melissa Indoor Percussion, and several other groups across North Texas.

Mr. Dugger’s professional affiliations include Phi Kappa Lambda, the International Tuba/Euphonium Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the Texas Bandmasters Association. He lives in Lewisville, Texas with his adorable boxer puppy, Sophie.

Propser ISD

Bluecoats Drum Corps

Find Aaron by contacting him at [email protected]

Soprano Kirsten C. Kunkle has been hailed as an outstanding singing actress with a voice that has been described as beautiful, ethereal, powerful, fiery, and bewitching. Among her favorite roles are Agathe in Der Freischütz, the title role in Suor Angelica, Magda and the Foreign Woman in The Consul,” Mimì in La bohème, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Iolanta and Brigitta in Iolanta, Zemfira in Aleko, Lisa in Pique Dame,  Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief, and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel. With the Philadelphia Opera Collective, she has created leading roles in numerous world premieres, including Edith Standen in Shadow House, Annie Jump Cannon in Jump the Moon, Edgar Allan Poe in Opera Macabre: Edgar Allan Poe, and Dr. Frankenstein in By You That Made Me, Frankenstein.  In 2016, she made her professional straight play debut in Machinal with EgoPo Classic Theater and her professional musical theatre debut as Domina in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with the Scranton Shakespeare Festival. She has an Honorable Mention for The American Prize in Voice – Professional Art Song and Oratorio Division (Women), as well as being a two-time semi-finalist for The American Prize in Opera (Women). She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2014, as well as being the Pennsylvania District National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award winner that year. She won second place in the Roschel Vocal Competition in 2015. She attended Bowling Green State University and the University of Salzburg for her undergraduate studies, majoring in voice performance with minors in Italian and German. Her graduate degrees are in voice performance from the University of Michigan. A voting member of the Muscogee Nation, Dr. Kunkle commissioned and premiered sixteen original compositions, including one of her own, based upon the poetry of her ancestor and highly-acclaimed poet of the Native American Muscogee Nation, Alex Posey. She has recorded extensively through the Comic Opera Guild, specializing in the works of Victor Herbert. Her recordings are collected at the Library of Congress, the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution, and the Merkel Area Museum in Merkel, Texas. Ms. Kunkle is included on the list of Classical Native American Artists and Musicians at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian and on the Molto Native Music list of performers.  She has been published in peer-reviewed journals and is a successful voice educator. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Wilmington Concert Opera, a grassroots women and minority led opera company in Wilmington, Delaware. Most recently, she had her solo European debut with the Sofia Philharmonic in the role of Arabella in Johann Strauss II’s “Blindekuh.” She is also a NAXOS recording artist for “Blindekuh,” which was released in March of 2020 to extraordinary reviews.

Lucky Chops has been unleashing high-energy brassy funk on the world since forming in NYC in 2006. The intensity of the band’s energy is fueled by their desire to share the healing and inspirational power of music with others. That power has resonated with audiences around the globe, giving the band hundreds of millions of views on their online videos and leading to live performances in more than twenty five countries. Lucky Chops maintains a busy schedule touring across several continents. The band members are also committed to music education, regularly performing clinics and educational outreaches to help train and inspire the next generation of musicians.

Want more Lucky Chops? You can find the funk ambassadors in the following places:

Lucky Chops Website

A variety of mainstream streaming services + YouTube

You can also sign up for their Patreon which states the following:

"We started our band of brass and drums 14 years ago whilst in our band class at LaGuardia arts high school in NYC. Since then, we’ve made it our mission to show the world the joy and healing power these instruments can provide. We aim to breathe (literally) new life into these oft forgotten instruments by playing forward thinking, creative and energetic music rarely associated with our axes. Through doing this, we hope to repopularize instrumental music and also help inspire the next generation to discover the magic these instruments have to offer.

We started our band of brass and drums 14 years ago whilst in our band class at LaGuardia arts high school in NYC. Since then, we’ve made it our mission to show the world the joy and healing power these instruments can provide. We aim to breathe (literally) new life into these oft forgotten instruments by playing forward thinking, creative and energetic music rarely associated with our axes. Through doing this, we hope to repopularize instrumental music and also help inspire the next generation to discover the magic these instruments have to offer."

They release a wealth of usable content on their Patreon and for $3-20, it can all be yours!

Founder, CEO, Music teacher, and mom extraordinaire Sarah Gulish joins us to talk about the past, present, and future of F-flat books and the integration of Musicast to the company!

Do you know anyone that would be a great interview?! Nominate them here! https://forms.gle/JbzCstsizCHwT9zt5

Sarah Gulish holds a Ph.D in music education from Temple University.  For over a decade, Sarah has taught secondary level music at Lower Moreland High School located in the state of Pennsylvania in the U.S.A.  She also serves as Adjunct Professor of Music Education at Buffalo State University and Temple University. Her teaching centers on creativity and improvisation in courses focused on new music learners.

Sarah is an active researcher, writer, presenter, and clinician at the state, national, and international levels. She serves as the United States representative for the International Society of Music Education’s Popular Music Special Interest Group and is a past member of the National Association for Music Education’s IN-ovations Council. She also regularly tours and records as a rock musician with a variety of groups. Her experience as a popular musician has influenced her curricula and philosophy as a music educator and is detailed in her book, Creativity in the Classroom: An Innovative Approach to Integrate Arts Education. She works to provide authentic learning and performing experiences for adolescents both in and out of the classroom.  Her research interests include informal learning, creativity, popular music pedagogy, and student autonomy.

Sarah is the co-founder of F-flat books and has contributed to numerous publications in the field of music education, including chapters in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music Education and The Learner-Centered Music Classroom: Models and Possibilities, along with articles and book reviews.

Patrick Feher joins us to talk about Final Fantasy music!