Middle School Band
sheila smith
Ms. Smith is a retired music educator having taught band for 32 years at South Central Middle School in Emerson, Georgia and a total of 35 years in the Bartow County School System. In 1987 Sheila received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree from Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama, and in 2000 she received her Master of Music Education degree from Vander Cook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois.
Ms. Smith was voted South Central Middle School's Teacher of the Year in 1989-1990, 2000-2001, and again in 2009-2010. She was selected as “STAR” teacher in 2009 and 2019. She has served as guest clinician/conductor throughout the Southeast. She is a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association, Phi Beta Mu, The National Association for Music Education, Georgia Association of Educators, The National Band Director Association and The American School Band Directors Association. She has served her state music organization as an officer and has been the host for district events. She enjoys serving as a certified adjudicator for the Georgia Music Educators Association Large Group Performance Evaluations. Ms. Smith is a multiple recipient of the Citation of Excellence awarded by the National Band Association and she served on the Board of Directors for the NBA from 2017-2019.
Groups under her direction have performed at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, Carnegie Hall in New York, The Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference multiple times, The University of Georgia Middle School Honor Band Festival, The University of Alabama Middle School Honor Band Festival, the Reinhardt University Middle School Honor Band Festival, and the Southeastern United States Middle School Honor Clinic. In 2017 the South Central Middle School Band performed at the 75th commemorative anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
Since retiring, Ms. Smith has served as an adjunct faculty member at Berry College, and was employed as one of the band directors at Woodland High School in Cartersville, Georgia last year. She has played principal flute with the Rome Symphony Orchestra, Gadsden Symphony Orchestra, and is currently a member of the Tara Winds Community Band. She also teaches private flute in the Northwest Georgia area.
Middle School Band
Travis Downs
Travis Downs has been sharing his love of music with students for over twenty-five years. He is currently in his twelfth year at North Gwinnett Middle School in Sugar Hill, Ga. serving over 500 students enrolled in the band program grades 6-8. The NGMS music department was awarded the inaugural Music Program of the Year Award by the Georgia Music Educators Association for the 2017-2018 school year. Mr. Downs has been presented the National Band Association Citation of Excellence on seven separate occasions.
Before his appointment at North Gwinnett in 2013, Mr. Downs served as the Director of Bands at Valdosta Middle School in Valdosta, Ga., Assistant Band Director at VMS, and Assistant Band Director at Tapp Middle School in Cobb County, GA.
Ensembles under Mr. Downs’ direction have received invitations to perform at many music conferences and clinics on multiple years, including the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival, the Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival, the Georgia Music Educators Association Annual In-Service Conference, the University of Georgia Middle School Festival, and the Grand National Adjudicators Invitational. The NGMS Percussion Ensemble was the winner of the Percussive Arts Society 2023 International Percussion Ensemble Competition (Middle/Jr. High Category) and performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Conference held in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition, during his tenure both VMS and NGMS Band programs have been the recipient of the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award.
Mr. Downs has served GMEA in several positions over his career, including District 13 Large Group Performance Evaluations organizer, District 13 Middle School Band Chair, the All-State Band Standing Committee, and served as the State Chair for the Band Division from 2020-2023. Mr. Downs’ professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, the National Band Association, the Georgia Music Educators Association, Phi Beta Mu, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the Percussive Arts Society.
Concert Band
Dr. Josh Byrd
Josh Byrd serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of West Georgia. His primary responsibilities include conducting the Wind Ensemble, teaching conducting and graduate coursework, and administrating all aspects of the UWG band program. Prior to his appointment he served as Director of Bands at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin and Assistant Director of Bands at Lanier Middle School and Norcross High School in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
Dr. Byrd received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting and a minor in Music Theory from the University of Georgia where he studied with John Lynch. He received his Master of Music degree in Conducting while studying with Tom Dvorak at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia where he studied saxophone with Kenneth Fischer and conducting with Dwight Satterwhite and John Culvahouse.
Dr. Byrd is an active clinician, having presented at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, NAfMEBiennial Music Research and Teacher Educator Conference, TNMEA, FMEA, CBDNA National Conference, and multiple times at the GMEA annual in-service conference, including 2018 as the conductor of the UWG Wind Ensemble for the group’s first performance there in over twenty years. In 2020, the Wind Ensemble performed at the CBDNA Southern Division Conference for the first time in the program’s history. Dr. Byrd is a strong advocate of new music, having been part of numerous commissioning consortiums and premieres during his tenure at UWG, including works by Harrison Collins, Katahj Copley, Viet Cuong, James M. David, Jennifer Higdon, John Mackey, Peter Meechan, David Maslanka, Joel Puckett, Joseph Schwantner, Ingrid Stölzel, and Jamie Thierman.
Dr. Byrd is a published arranger; his most recent works include Beethoven’s “Opus 103b” and Wiggin’s March Timpani (Maestro and Fox Music, 2020) and Chabrier’s España Rhapsody (C. Alan Publications, 2021). He also serves as conductor of the West Georgia Winds, a regional high school honor band. His professional affiliations include the Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Phi Beta Mu. Dr. Byrd lives in Carrollton with his wife, Katie, and their two children, Tripp and Haley.
Concert Band
Dr. Robert Dunham
Dr. Robert Dunham is Professor of Music and Director of Bands Emeritus from Georgia Southern University, where, from 2006 – 2023, he helped coordinate the Instrumental Music Program, conducted the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, established and guided the Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting Program, taught undergraduate and graduate Instrumental Conducting, and courses in Wind Band and Orchestral literature and history.
Between 2017 and 2023, Dr. Dunham served as Music Director and Conductor of the Gwinnett Symphony Wind Orchestra, a professional-level adult wind ensemble based in the Atlanta Metro Area, which performed a regular series of public concerts each fall and spring in greater Gwinnett County.
Prior to his appointment at Georgia Southern University, Dr. Dunham served, for 10 years, as the Director of Bands and Music Department Chair at California State University – San Bernardino, where he conducted the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble, coordinated the Instrumental Music Program, and guided the activities of the Department of Music.
Ensembles under his direction have performed at regional College Band Directors National Association, and National Band Association, Regional Conventions; the California Music Educators Convention; the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Convention; the Wyoming All State Music Educators Convention; Drum Corps International World Championships; National Football League half-time shows; embarked on concert tours of Ireland, England, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic; and have been invited to perform in China, Mexico, and at Carnegie Hall.
While living in the Midwest, Dr. Dunham served as a tenured trumpet player in the St. Joseph Symphony Orchestra (MO), and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra (WI); and - through open audition - won the position of Assistant Conductor with both ensembles. In 2003 he founded the Inland Southern California Chamber Players – a professional ensemble dedicated to the performance of chamber music composed after 1900.
As a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator, Dr. Dunham has traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Dr. Dunham received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Professor Gary Hill; the Master of Music in Trumpet Performance and Music Education from the University of Wyoming, where he studied with Professors Robert Mayse and Carlyle Weiss; and the Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance, and Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado, where he studied with Professors Eugene Corporon, and William Pfund.
Symphonic Band
Dr. Nicholas ENRICO Williams
NICHOLAS ENRICO WILLIAMS is a Professor of Music and serves as the Director of Bands at the University of Georgia, where he coordinates one of the country’s largest and most comprehensive university band programs, conducts the University of Georgia Wind Ensemble, and oversees the graduate wind band conducting area. Prior to his time in Athens, he was the Director of Wind Bands at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Melbourne, Australia). Before venturing to Australia, Dr. Williams flourished for sixteen years as the Assistant Director of Wind Studies, the Conductor of the Wind Ensemble, Brass Band, and Concert Band, as well as the Director of Athletic Bands at the University of North Texas. For a decade, he was the Conductor of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony and continues to be a frequent guest conductor of the Dallas Winds (formerly Dallas Wind Symphony), one of America’s few professional civic wind bands. Professor Williams earned the Bachelor of Music (music education), MM (performance-conducting), and DMA (conducting) degrees from the University of North Texas.
Professor Williams has been a guest conductor with the Opole (Poland) Philharmonic Orchestra; the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”; United States Navy Band; United States Army Field Band; United States Air Force Band; Royal Australian Defence Force Bands; World Youth Wind Symphony at the Interlochen Arts Camp; Dallas Winds; Lone Star Wind Orchestra; at the annual Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois; the College BandDirectors National Association national and regional conferences; the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention; and the Texas Music Educators Association Annual Clinic/Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Dr. Williams is active in Australia, Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the United States as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, consultant, and arranger; his arrangements and transcriptions for wind band, percussion ensembles, drum corps, and school pageantry ensembles are performed by outstanding organizations throughout the world. A member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), he is a sought-after recording session producer, associate producer, editor, and conductor, having been involved with numerous CDs and DVDs on the Klavier, Mark Records, and GIA labels, as well as UNT and UGA projects, including the 2024 release of “Never a Reason to Stop” by the University of Georgia Wind Ensemble, and the 2019 release of“FIESTAS” by the University of North Texas Wind Ensemble. In addition to his work in therecording arts, he has written several conductor study guides published in the multivolume series of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. He was a primary consultant of the book Women of Influence in Contemporary Music and is an honorary member of Sigma Alpha IotaInternational Music Fraternity for women. His professional affiliations include the GeorgiaMusic Educators Association, Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association, TexasMusic Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors NationalAssociation, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Phi Beta Mu, an international bandmasters fraternity.
Symphonic Band
DR. Robert ambrose
Conductor Robert J. Ambrose enjoys a highly successful and diverse career as a dynamic and engaging musician. His musical interests cross many genres and can be seen in the wide range of professional activities he pursues. Dr. Ambrose studied formally at Boston College, Boston University and Northwestern University, where he received the Doctor of Music degree in conducting. Dr. Ambrose currently serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Georgia State University a research institution of over 53,000 students located in Atlanta.
Dr. Ambrose is in constant demand as a guest conductor and has performed on four continents. Recent engagements include performances in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan as well as across the United States. In 2016, Dr. Ambrose was invited to spend ten days on tour as a guest conductor with the United States Army Field Band. Ambrose is the only civilian in history to be invited to guest conduct a premiere American military band on tour.
This engagement led to the formation of the National Chamber Winds, a professional wind dectet based in Washington, D.C. for which he is Founder and Music Director. The National Chamber Winds have performed across the country including at the 2022 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Ambrose is also the Founder and Music Director of the Atlanta Chamber Winds and Ensemble ATL, ensembles comprising musicians from the Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Opera, and Atlanta Ballet Orchestras. The Atlanta Chamber Winds have released two professional recordings on the Albany Records label and have received strong reviews in the American Record Guide and Fanfare Magazine.
Previously, Ambrose served as the Music Director of the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble (MAYWE), a highly-select high school honor ensemble that comprised musicians from throughout the Atlanta area. During his nine-year tenure as Music Director, nearly 1000 high school students participated in the MAYWE program and the ensemble was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall on two occasions.
Dr. Ambrose has strong ties to the Finnish music community. He is frequently engaged in that country as a guest conductor, teacher, master clinician, and lecturer. Ambrose is a prolific arranger with nearly two dozen publications to his credit. His transcriptions and editions are published by Presser Music, Murphy Music Press, C. Alan Publications, Fennica Gehrman (Finland), and Edition Tilli (Finland). His transcriptions appear on several state lists and have been performed around the world.
11-12 Percussion ensemble
Dr. John Parks
Dr. John Will Parks IV, Florida State University Distinguished Teaching Professor, earned the DMA degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, two Master's degrees in Performance and Jazz Pedagogy from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Furman University. His teachers include Patricia Dash (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), John H. Beck (Rochester Philharmonic), Michael Burritt, Paul Wertico(formerly of the Pat Metheny Group), and John Beckford.
Parks made his Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in Weill Recital Hall in May of 2007 and has performed with diverse performing organizations ranging from the Eastman Wind Ensemble on their 2000 tour of Japan and Taiwan and the Schlossfestspiele Orchestra of Heidelberg, Germany to the Kansas City, Alabama, Key West, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras as well as the Florida Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, and Eastern Music Festival Faculty Orchestra.
Dr. Parks also leads the FSU Percussion Ensemble, featured on four critically celebrated full-length recordings and winners of the 2007, 2011, and 2023 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competitions, and has appeared as performer/clinician at the Belgium Basilica Festival, the Thailand Brass and Percussion Conference, three Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinics, twelve Percussive Arts Society International Conventions, National Public Radio, and state MENC conventions, as well as leading conservatory and university music programs throughout the United States.
In 2013 John was inducted into the Engineering Wing of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as a voting member of the GRAMMY® Awards based upon his numerous audio and video production credits. These include internationally acclaimed projects with She-e Wu, Will James (The Repertoire), Thomas Burritt, The John Psathas Percussion Project, Blake Tyson, Scott Herring, Omar Carmenates, Adam Silverman, and Line Upon Line among many others, and his presentations on the integration of audio and video recording technology into the classical curriculum have been hosted by the Eastern Music Festival, Spark Laboratory, and the Leigh Stevens Marimba Seminar, as well as podcasts including The Entrepreneurial Musician, Everything Band, The Percussion Educator, @Percussion, and The Percussion Conservatory.
For more information on Dr. Parks, please check out johnparkspercussion.com.