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Tennessee Valley Winds Community Concert Band Performance

Tennessee Valley Winds Community Concert Band Performance
 

Murfreesboro, TN- The Tennessee Valley Winds will perform a free concert under the direction of Dr. Steve Rhodes on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 at 8:00 pm. This concert is presented as a part of the Wind Band Conference hosted by Middle Tennessee State University.  Music will include works by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins,  Vincent Persichetti, Arthur Bird,  Mark Camphouse and John Philip Sousa. 

Dr. Steve Rhodes, Director Instrumental Ensembles

Dr. Stephen L. Rhodes, professor of music, directs the University Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and String Ensemble. He teaches courses in conducting, secondary music education, instrumental methods, instrumentation, and History of Jazz. He received the D.A. degree in instrumental conducting and the M.M. degree in brass performance from the University of Northern Colorado. He received the B.M.Ed. degree from Abilene Christian University. Prior to coming to Lipscomb Dr. Rhodes taught in the Friona and Abilene public schools in Texas.

Dr. Rhodes's publications include the articles "William Schuman: Chester Overture for Band", "Programming for bands with limited instrumentation", and "Shades of silence". Dr. Rhodes' book, "A History of the Wind Band," is available online. He is founder and director of the Nashville Wind Ensemble, a group of select musicians who perform band literature of high quality. He also serves as co-conductor of the Nashville Double Reed Ensemble. Dr. Rhodes has served as guest adjudicator/conductor for numerous ensembles from the elementary to the university level, as well as serving as judge and clinician for a variety of music festivals. He is a regular conductor for the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts.

The Tennessee Valley Winds is a non-profit, all volunteer, self-supporting community band that has been providing quality musical performances since 1984. The community band experience is unlike school or professional groups. Rarely do amateurs and professionals, young and old, get to work together. The opportunity to learn and grow is unique. The director is more of a guide than an authority figure, and does not assign parts or solos. It is expected that all will help each other by offering suggestions and sharing. Friendships are born of shared work and musical enjoyment.

The TVW has been under the direction of Mr. Erich Zimmerman, the conductor for the Tennessee Valley Winds, in preparation for this concert. Mr. Zimmerman is currently in his 22nd year as a music educator in Middle Tennessee. Mr. Zimmerman began his teaching career in Sumner County, serving as the Director of Bands at Westmoreland High School, Westmoreland, TN. He then spent 10 years teaching in the Nashville Metropolitan School System, serving at McGavock High School, J.T. Moore Middle School and Martin Luther King Magnet School. Currently, he is the Co-Director of Bands at Rock Springs Middle School in Smyrna, TN and Christiana Middle School in Christiana, TN.

Prior to teaching, Mr. Zimmerman was a trumpet instrumentalist with the United States Navy Band, Washington D.C., where he served in both concert and ceremonial capacities. His navy tour of duty included a 1988 national tour, weekly concerts in and around the nation’s capital, and numerous ceremonial duties for Naval District Washington. He was also an active free-lance musician in the Washington D.C. area.

Mr. Zimmerman's education includes receiving his Masters +30 certification from MTSU in Administration & Supervision, a Master of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN.

Mr. Zimmerman is a member of the Music Educator's National Conference, the Tennessee Music Education Association and the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association. As a member of TMEA he served on the Board of Directors as State Band Chair and he served on the Steering Committee which reorganized the governing structure of TMEA. As a member of the MTSBOA he served as President-Elect, President and Past-President. He is also a member of the Phi Mu Alpha, a professional music fraternity and the Phi Beta Mu, an honorary Band Director's fraternity.

Mr. Greg Lawson has been a music educator for the past 28 years. He holds degrees from MTSU and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. After receiving his Master of Music degree, he began his teaching career at Franklin Road Academy in Nashville, TN teaching 5th-12th grade instrumental music. In 1988, Mr. Lawson started the band program at the newly opened Lavergne High School in Lavergne, TN., where he remained for 13 years. Over the next five years, he taught at McGavock High School in Nashville and Oakland High School in Murfreesboro. He is currently a band director in the Murfreesboro City School System. In 2003, Mr. Lawson was selected as the “School Band and Orchestra” Tennessee Honoree as one of “50 Directors who make a difference”. He was inducted into the MTSU Band of Blue Hall of Fame in 1996. Mr. Lawson holds membership in Music Educators National Conference, Tennessee Band Master Association, Middle Tennessee State Band and Orchestra Association, International Clarinet Society, Local 257 of the Association of Federal Musicians Phi Mu Alpha, twice elected Who’s Who of American Teachers, and an elected member of Phi Beta Mu.

For more information about the Wind Band Conference, including a complete schedule of all events for the weekend, please visit: http://frank.mtsu.edu/~wbc/schedule.html

MEDIA CONTACT:  Mary Margaret Moore
TN Valley Winds
mandms1963@comcast.net