Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world viaLIVE@jacobs!About the DirectorTom Walsh is Robert J. Waller Sr. and Robert J. Waller Jr. Professor of Music (saxophone) and chair of the Jazz Studies Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. An active performer of jazz and classical music, he has presented concerts and workshops in South Africa, China, Brazil, Japan, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, in Europe, and across the United States. He is the co-author of the fifth edition of Creative Jazz Improvisation (2022) with Scott Reeves. His beginning improvisation book Jazz Master Teaches You to Improvise was published by Shanghai Music Publishing House in 2019. Recent recordings include The Pandemic Sessions by the IU jazz faculty, Luke Gillespie's Moving Mists, Basically Baker, Vol. 2, with the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra (Patois), and Mike Hackett's New Point of View (Summit). Premiere performances include Scott Jones's concert band arrangement of Russell Peck's The Upward Stream, Chris Rutkowski's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble, and David Baker's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra. His latest solo CD release is Intersections (Arizona University Recordings). Earlier solo CDs include New Life (RIAX) and Shaking the Pumpkin (RIAX). Other releases include the David Baker Concerto on Paul Freeman Introduces David Baker, Vol. XII (Albany), Basically Baker with the Buselli/Wallarab Jazz Orchestra (Patois), and Sky Scrapings: Saxophone Music of Don Freund (AUR). Walsh is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Vandoren Artist. He taught at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops from 1991 to 2019. He co-leads the IU Summer Saxophone Academy with Otis Murphy and is co-director of the College Audition Preparation Workshop. Walsh earned degrees in Saxophone Performance and Jazz Studies from Indiana University, where his principal teachers were distinguished classical saxophonist Eugene Rousseau and renowned jazz educator David Baker. His other influential teachers include Mike Tracy, Pat LaBarbera, Jerry Coker, and David Liebman.

Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world viaLIVE@jacobs!Repertoire Milhaud: La création du monde, Op. 81a (1923)Martin: Ballade for viola and wind orchestra (1972)Chadwick: Symphony No. 3 in F Major (1894)About the ArtistsThomas Wilkins is principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, artistic partner for education and external engagement and Germeshausen Family and Youth Concerts Conductor Chair with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and professor of music (conducting) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he holds the Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting, established by the late Barbara and David Jacobs as a part of Indiana University's Matching the Promise Campaign. He is also music director laureate of the Omaha Symphony, where he was music director from 2005 through 2021, and principal guest conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Past positions have included resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony and the Florida Orchestra (Tampa Bay) and associate conductor of the Richmond (Virginia) Symphony. He also has served on the music faculties of North Park University (Chicago), University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Devoted to promoting a life-long enthusiasm for music, Wilkins brings energy and commitment to audiences of all ages. He is hailed as a master at communicating and connecting with audiences. He has guest conducted orchestras throughout the United States. Wilkins' commitment to community has been demonstrated by his participation on several boards of directors, including the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the Charles Drew Health Center (Omaha), the Center Against Spouse Abuse in Tampa Bay, and the Museum of Fine Arts as well as the Academy Preparatory Center both in St. Petersburg, Florida. Currently, he serves as chairman of the board for the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund and as National Ambassador for the non-profit World Pediatric Project, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, which provides children throughout Central America and the Caribbean with critical surgical and diagnostic care. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Wilkins is a graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston). He and his wife, Sheri-Lee, are the proud parents of twin daughters, Erica and Nicole.Stephen Wyrczynski is currently professor of music in viola at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra for 18 years, joining them in 1992. Wyrczynski regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician. He prioritizes faculty-student collaborations. One such partnership, which he cofounded with the late violinist Jorja Fleezanis, was an exploration of music from the Second Viennese School, in which faculty and students together performed music by Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg. Wyrczynski considers his teaching a direct result of his own relationship to performing, practicing, and listening. Teaching a student about the great privilege it is to serve the composers of our repertoire is one of the best ways for the students to gain ownership of their musical training. Most recently, he has completed a transcription of Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring with pianist Aram Arakelyan. Wyrczynski and Arakelyan gave the world premiere in the fall of 2024 and recorded it for Azica Records in the summer of 2025 with producer Alan Bise. A printed edition is published by Songburd Music. Wyrczynski will join the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in 2027.

Repertoire Kevin McKee: Alpenpass and Riverrun (2023)Cait Nishimura: she danced in the rain (2018/25)Lauren Bernofsky: Two Latin Dances (2015/21)Anthony Plog: Sonata (2003/10)Horovitz: Music Hall Suite (1964)About the ArtistsJason Bergman is professor of music in trumpet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. A highly accomplished performer, he has appeared across the United States, South America, Europe, and China, earning recognition for his artistry and versatility. An esteemed American trumpeter and educator, Bergman began his orchestral career in 2008 as associate principal trumpet of the Santiago Philharmonic in Chile and has since held principal trumpet positions with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and Mobile Opera. He has also performed with the Utah, Milwaukee, and Fort Worth symphonies, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Dallas Opera, and Dallas Winds. His collaborations include performances with the Canadian Brass and Rhythm & Brass as well as an appearance at Carnegie Hall. He was also a fellow at the Music Academy of the West. A sought-after soloist and clinician, Bergman has presented recitals and master classes at institutions worldwide and has performed and lectured at leading conferences. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Royal Belgian Air Force Band, Mahidol Brass Band, and the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble, among others. A committed educator, he has taught at a host of U.S. and international music festivals. Prior to his appointment at the Jacobs School, he held faculty positions at the University of North Texas and the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received both the Class of '49 Young Scholar Award and the Nina Bell Suggs Endowed Professorship. An active leader in the trumpet community, Bergman served as president of the International Trumpet Guild (2021-23). He is a frequent adjudicator for the National Trumpet Competition, hosting its 2018 edition. Bergman's scholarly contributions include authorship for the Grove Dictionary of American Music and editorial work for the International Trumpet Guild Journal. As a recording artist, he has released three critically acclaimed solo albums and a chamber music album with Brassworks on the MSR label. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist and performs exclusively on Yamaha trumpets.Kimberly Carballo is senior lecturer in music in chamber and collaborative music and director of the Jacobs Virtual Academy at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She joined the Chamber and Collaborative Music Department in 2016, its inaugural year. Carballo is an active international performer and educator, teaching both at the Jacobs School and in her private studio. She is a strong believer in and practitioner of community engagement locally and globally. She founded Reimagining Opera for Kids, a music community engagement and education program based in Bloomington, Indiana, and participates annually as a faculty advisor for the IU portion of the team in the Cheerful Heart Music Education Mission in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. She is a founding member of the Amity Trio, a chamber ensemble that commissions and performs new music in order to amplify underrepresented voices. Carballo is also part of the inaugural and ongoing team for Tunaweza Kimuziki (Through Music All is Possible), a project promoting exchange among music educators, scholars, and performers in Kenya and the United States. Carballo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University (Individualized Major Program) in Music Theory, and a Master of Music in Music Theory from the Jacobs School of Music. She studied piano with Michel Block and Christopher Harding and chamber music with Leonard Hokanson.Katy Ambrose is assistant professor of music in horn at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She previously was faculty at the University of Iowa and taught at the University of Virginia. During summers, she teaches at the Bay View Music Festival Brass Seminar in Petoskey, Michigan, and served on the faculty for the Interlochen Horn Intensive in June 2026. An avid chamber musician, Ambrose is a member of Mirari Brass Quintet, Lanta Horn Duo, and Conica natural horn quartet, and was a founding member of Seraph Brass. She has been featured at the International Women's Brass Conference, Virginia Arts Festival, Historic Brass Society, and the International Trombone Festival, and is a regular performer and presenter for the International Horn Society (IHS). She was recently elected to the advisory board of the IHS and serves on the editorial committee for its journal, The Horn Call. Ambrose has held orchestral positions with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Lexington Philharmonic. She has also performed as a substitute with numerous orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic (South Korea), Richmond Symphony, and the Virginia Symphony. She has performed on natural horn with Philharmonie Austin, Madison Bach Musicians, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, and Staunton Music Festival. Outside of orchestral music, her favorite memories are performing with Adele on her 2016 world tour and recording jingles for the Super Bowl. Ambrose was named a University of Iowa "Champion for Student Success" three times, a student-nominated honor, and was a 2025-26 research fellow at the George Washington Presidential Library, where she studied the musical life of Washington's enslaved huntsman, William Lee. She resides in Bloomington with her husband, Carsten, a software engineer and amateur violinist, their nine-year-old twin sons, and their cat, Milo.Jeffrey Curnow is professor of music in trumpet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He began his career as an undergraduate at Temple University, where he quickly won a coveted position as concerto competition soloist at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. In 1983, Curnow was appointed principal trumpet of the New Haven Symphony and soon after, became a member of the New York Trumpet Ensemble, recording on the MMG/Vox and Newport Classics labels. Four years later, he joined the internationally renowned Empire Brass Quintet. Over the course of his tenure with this ensemble, he recorded 15 compact discs for the Angel EMI and Telarc labels, appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, St. Paul Sunday Morning, Taipei Television, Japan Television, and BBC Television and Radio, and performed with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and major orchestras in Japan and Switzerland. In 1995, Curnow was appointed principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, recording 14 CDs on the Delos label and appearing as soloist on several occasions, notably for Lowell Liebermann's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. In 2001, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as associate principal trumpet, touring worldwide with the ensemble and recording on the Ondine and Deutsche Grammophon labels. Well established as an educator, Curnow has taught at the University of Connecticut, Boston University, Boston University's Tanglewood Institute, the Royal Academy of Music in London, Temple University, and the Curtis Institute of Music. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Temple University.Matt Hightower is assistant professor of music in tuba and euphonium at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment at the Jacobs School, he held similar positions at the University of Kentucky (UK) and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Hightower's professional performance experience covers a wide range of chamber, orchestral, and solo music, spanning three continents and nine countries. He is a prizewinner of international solo competitions and has presented master classes to tuba/euphonium students around the world. His list of solo residencies include Baylor University, Conservatory of Reykjavik (Iceland), University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of Texas, the South Central Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conference, the South East Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conferences, The United States Army Band Tuba/Euphonium Workshop, and the Xi Xiang Music Valley (China), among others. He is tubist with the UK Faculty Brass Quintet and was previously tubist with the Corpus Christi and the Kingsville brass quintets. He is a founding member of the Atlas Tuba Quartet. Some of his credits as a large ensemble performer include appearances with the Bloomington Camerata Orchestra, Columbus (Indiana) Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Jackson Symphony, and David Baker's 21st-Century Bebop Band. Hightower is also an award-winning composer. In 2010, he was named the winner of the KMEA Intercollegiate Composition Contest. Commissioned works by Hightower have received premier performances at the 2012, 2014, and 2016 International Tuba Conferences, the 2017 and 2018 South Central Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference, the 2018 South East Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference, the John F. Kennedy Center, and the 2016 Texas Music Educators Conference. Hightower earned a B.M. in Music Education from Murray State University, an M.M. in Tuba Performance from Jacobs, and a D.M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. His primary instructors were Ray Conklin, Daniel Perantoni, and Charles Villarrubia, with additional instruction in the field of composition from Mike D'Ambrosio, John Fannin, and P.Q. Phan. Hightower is a B&S performing artist.David Murray is professor of music in trombone at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He previously was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra trombone section in Washington, D.C., hired by Christoph Eschenbach in 2014. He has also performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, San Antonio, San Diego, and Saint Louis symphonies, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Washington National Opera Orchestra, among others. Internationally, Murray has performed as guest principal trombone with the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, Germany, and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has also been a member of the Festival Orchestra at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music as well as the Schleswig-Holstein, Spoleto USA, and Chautauqua festivals. Murray served on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University from 2017 to 2026. He has also given master classes, taught, and coached at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, New England Conservatory of Music, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, University of Miami, Stetson University, Michigan State University, George Mason University, Merit School of Music Chicago, Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program, NSO Summer Music Institute, and the Curtis Institute Summerfest, among others. Murray began his musical studies on the piano at age five, adding trombone at age nine. He later continued training at the Peabody Preparatory on both instruments. He earned a Bachelor of Music (High Distinction and Performer Certificate) from the Eastman School of Music and a Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music.

Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world viaLIVE@jacobs!Saxophone soloist to be announcedRepertoire Copland: An Outdoor Overture (1938/42)Zhou Tian: Alto SaxophoneConcerto (2026)Viet Cuong: 'Part One' from "Deep Down (Symphony No. 1)" (2026)Husa: Les couleurs fauves (1996)About the ConductorDonald J. McKinney is professor of music in bands, director of bands, and chair of the Bands Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He was previously director of bands, professor of conducting, and chair of the conducting area at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. Prior to his 2013 appointment at CU Boulder, he was the director of wind ensembles and associate professor at Louisiana State University. McKinney has held additional faculty positions at Interlochen Arts Academy and Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music. From 2010 to 2015, he was the coordinator of bands for the renowned Interlochen Arts Camp, where he conducted the World Youth Wind Symphony and administered the summer band program. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with the Dallas Winds, Concordia Santa Fe, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Greater Boulder Youth Orchestra, and numerous honor ensembles. His performances with the Dallas Winds have been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today on numerous occasions. As a teacher of conducting, he has presented conducting master classes at a host of colleges and universities. His recording credits include projects with the Dallas Winds, University of Michigan Symphony Band, University of Texas Wind Ensemble, University of North Texas Wind Symphony, Keystone Wind Ensemble, and the Duquesne University Wind Symphony. He was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award for producing the Dallas Winds recording John Williams at the Movies. He has published articles in numerous conducting resources, including five volumes of Teaching Music through Performance in Band and The Conductor's Companion. He has also authored a chapter about Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon for the book Women of Influence in Contemporary Music. McKinney earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting degree from the University of Michigan. His primary conducting teachers include Michael Haithcock, Jack Stamp, and Robert Cameron as well as additional study with H. Robert Reynolds and Frank Battisti.

Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world viaLIVE@jacobs!About the DirectorsKevin Bobo is professor of music in percussion at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to his appointment at the Jacobs School, he served as assistant professor of percussion at the University of Kansas (2003-07). He studied percussion with J. C. Combs and Gordon Stout and composition with Greg Woodward and Dana Wilson. Internationally respected as a solo marimba artist, Bobo has performed on five continents. His travels have taken him to Taiwan, Singapore, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Australia, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, and nearly 40 states in the United States. As a composer, Bobo's compositions are performed all over the world, with his solo works frequently appearing on international competition repertoire lists. He has authored two method books and composed numerous pieces for a variety of instruments and ensembles.Joseph Gramley is professor of music in percussion and chair of the Percussion Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. A Grammy Award-winning multi-percussionist, Gramley has performed and taught internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, in addition to playing with major symphony orchestras. He released eight albums as a founding member of the Silkroad Ensemble and served as the group's first associate artistic director, working directly with Yo-Yo Ma. Gramley's two solo recordings, American Deconstruction and Global Percussion, represent definitive, milestone works in the modern multi-percussion canon. Gramley came to Bloomington after 12 years of leading the percussion program at the University of Michigan, where he successfully placed a generation of percussionists in varied posts worldwide—from symphony orchestras to Broadway, and top-tier universities and conservatories to world stages with pop artists and chamber musicians alike. His versatility as a percussionist has found him performing alongside a broad cross section of artists, including Ma, Elton John, Michael Stern, Renee Fleming, Wu Man, Glen Velez, and Keiko Abe. Gramley's cross-genre collaborations have seen him involved with more than 100 new commissions from the leading composers of our time. His duo, Organized Rhythm, with Clive Driskill-Smith, is the world's premier and most active organ/percussion collaboration. Born in 1970, Gramley grew up in Oregon and was named a presidential scholar in the arts in 1988. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan. Festival experience includes Tanglewood, Salzburg Mozarteum, Spoleto Festival, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and 15 summers at the Marlboro Music Festival. He made his concerto debut with the Houston Symphony and his solo debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Gramley earned his master's degree from Juilliard and directed its Summer Percussion Seminar for 17 years. (Photo by Brandon Ilaw)John Tafoya is professor of music in percussion at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He served as principal timpanist of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2007. Tafoya has held previous principal timpani positions with the American Wind Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony (Kentucky), Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra (Indiana), and Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed with the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit. Tafoya has presented numerous master classes and clinics at universities across the United States and Canada. He was a featured clinician at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in 2002, 2007, and 2011. His website, johntafoya.com, is accessed by thousands of percussion students and professional players each month. He has served on the faculties of the University of Evansville, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Florida International University, and University of Maryland. He is the author of two orchestral timpani repertoire books: The Working Timpanist's Survival Guide (2004), published by Carl Fischer, and Beyond the Audition Screen (Hal Leonard, 2011). Tafoya performed on the award-winning recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 by the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of James Judd and on orchestral recordings by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin. Tafoya can also be heard on the American Wind Symphony Orchestra's CD Concertos All and Sundry performing Kaoru Wada's Concertante for Timpani, Percussion, and Winds under the direction of Robert Austin Boudreau. Tafoya also participated on the Summit Brass CD All American Brass (Pro Arte, 1987) and on the 1992 Arkay CD William Albright: Music for Organ and Harpsichord, featuring organist Douglas Reed. Tafoya has worked under many prestigious conductors, including Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christopher Hogwood, Lorin Maazel, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, John Williams, Hugh Wolff, and David Zinman, among others. He proudly endorses American Drum Manufacturing Co., Avedis Zildjian Company, Grover Pro Percussion, Remo Inc., and Yamaha Corporation.

Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world viaLIVE@jacobs!Repertoire Steven Bryant: In This Broad Earth (2015)Joni Greene: Splitting Light (2026, consortium premiere)Gala Flagello: Love and Nature (2024)Aaron Perrine: Pale Blue on Deep (2011)Dana Wilson: Colorado Peaks (2005)John Mackey: Aurora Awakes (2009)About the ConductorJason H. Nam is associate professor of music in bands at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he conducts bands and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in instrumental conducting, administration of school bands, and wind literature. Nam earned a Doctor of Music in Wind Conducting degree from the Jacobs School, where he studied with Stephen W. Pratt. He earned an M.M. in Conducting and a B.M. in Music Education from the University of Redlands, where he studied with Eddie R. Smith. Nam served as a lecturer in the Department of Music at California State University, San Bernardino, and as director of bands at La Colina Junior High School and San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California. More recently, he has served as a faculty member, ensemble conductor, and director of the IU Summer Music Clinic. Nam keeps a busy schedule as conductor, adjudicator, and clinician across North America. He was named a national finalist for The American Prize in Conducting (Band/Wind Ensemble division) in 2017 amd 2023. His IU Concert Band was invited to perform at the 2020 College Band Directors National Association North Central Conference in Chicago, Illinois. Nam served as resident music director of the Bloomington-based Southern Indiana Wind Ensemble from 2016 to 2021, performing widely throughout Indiana and as an invited ensemble at the Ohio Music Educators Professional Development Conference in 2020. He has been published in the Journal of the National Band Association and the American Bandmasters Association's Journal of Band Research. His research interests include the music of William Bolcom, the wind chamber music of Igor Stravinsky, the historical development of the wind band repertoire in the twentieth century, and effective rehearsal methodologies for conductors. Nam currently serves on the national selection committee for the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest and holds professional memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, Conductors Guild, Indiana Music Education Association, and Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society.

Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world viaLIVE@jacobs!Repertoire Joseph Turrin: Academy Overture (2017)Benson: The Leaves are Falling (1964)Corey Chang: What's Next? (2024/25, premiere, D.M. dissertation)Joni Greene: AfterGlow (2024)Jodie Blackshaw: 22° halo (2022)Alfred Reed: Russian Christmas Music (1944/69)About the ConductorEric M. Smedley is associate professor of music in bands at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he directs the Symphonic Band, teaches undergraduate and graduate instrumental conducting courses, and serves as the director of the Big Red Basketball Band. Smedley earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington and Master of Music and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from the Jacobs School of Music. He previously served on the music faculties of Boise State University and Western Kentucky University and as a public-school music educator in Cocoa Beach, Florida; Santa Monica, California; and Kenosha, Wisconsin. He has conducted throughout North America and in Vietnam, Poland, Russia, and Japan. Smedley maintains an active schedule as a clinician, guest conductor, adjudicator, and trumpet performer. His Symphonic Band was selected to perform at the 2018 College Band Directors National Association North Central Conference. He was a finalist at the 2023 Warsaw Wind Band Conducting Competition in Warsaw, Poland. In 2025, Navona Records released the album Origins and Expansions, featuring a composition by Kevin Bobo, world-renowned steel pan soloist Liam Teague, and the IU Wind Ensemble. Smedley's research interests are varied and include projects in the areas of contemporary wind band literature, wind band orchestration, and conducting pedagogy. Smedley is a member of the Gamma chapter of the international band fraternity Phi Beta Mu and is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association and the National Association for Music Education. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana, with his wife, Jessica, their daughter, Ella, and their Bedlington Terriers, Piper and Finn.

About the DirectorsKevin Bobo is professor of music in percussion at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to his appointment at the Jacobs School, he served as assistant professor of percussion at the University of Kansas (2003-07). He studied percussion with J. C. Combs and Gordon Stout and composition with Greg Woodward and Dana Wilson. Internationally respected as a solo marimba artist, Bobo has performed on five continents. His travels have taken him to Taiwan, Singapore, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Australia, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, and nearly 40 states in the United States. As a composer, Bobo's compositions are performed all over the world, with his solo works frequently appearing on international competition repertoire lists. He has authored two method books and composed numerous pieces for a variety of instruments and ensembles.Joseph Gramley is professor of music in percussion and chair of the Percussion Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. A Grammy Award-winning multi-percussionist, Gramley has performed and taught internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, in addition to playing with major symphony orchestras. He released eight albums as a founding member of the Silkroad Ensemble and served as the group's first associate artistic director, working directly with Yo-Yo Ma. Gramley's two solo recordings, American Deconstruction and Global Percussion, represent definitive, milestone works in the modern multi-percussion canon. Gramley came to Bloomington after 12 years of leading the percussion program at the University of Michigan, where he successfully placed a generation of percussionists in varied posts worldwide—from symphony orchestras to Broadway, and top-tier universities and conservatories to world stages with pop artists and chamber musicians alike. His versatility as a percussionist has found him performing alongside a broad cross section of artists, including Ma, Elton John, Michael Stern, Renee Fleming, Wu Man, Glen Velez, and Keiko Abe. Gramley's cross-genre collaborations have seen him involved with more than 100 new commissions from the leading composers of our time. His duo, Organized Rhythm, with Clive Driskill-Smith, is the world's premier and most active organ/percussion collaboration. Born in 1970, Gramley grew up in Oregon and was named a presidential scholar in the arts in 1988. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan. Festival experience includes Tanglewood, Salzburg Mozarteum, Spoleto Festival, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and 15 summers at the Marlboro Music Festival. He made his concerto debut with the Houston Symphony and his solo debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Gramley earned his master's degree from Juilliard and directed its Summer Percussion Seminar for 17 years. (Photo by Brandon Ilaw)John Tafoya is professor of music in percussion at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He served as principal timpanist of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2007. Tafoya has held previous principal timpani positions with the American Wind Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony (Kentucky), Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra (Indiana), and Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed with the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit. Tafoya has presented numerous master classes and clinics at universities across the United States and Canada. He was a featured clinician at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in 2002, 2007, and 2011. His website, johntafoya.com, is accessed by thousands of percussion students and professional players each month. He has served on the faculties of the University of Evansville, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Florida International University, and University of Maryland. He is the author of two orchestral timpani repertoire books: The Working Timpanist's Survival Guide (2004), published by Carl Fischer, and Beyond the Audition Screen (Hal Leonard, 2011). Tafoya performed on the award-winning recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 by the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of James Judd and on orchestral recordings by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin. Tafoya can also be heard on the American Wind Symphony Orchestra's CD Concertos All and Sundry performing Kaoru Wada's Concertante for Timpani, Percussion, and Winds under the direction of Robert Austin Boudreau. Tafoya also participated on the Summit Brass CD All American Brass (Pro Arte, 1987) and on the 1992 Arkay CD William Albright: Music for Organ and Harpsichord, featuring organist Douglas Reed. Tafoya has worked under many prestigious conductors, including Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christopher Hogwood, Lorin Maazel, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, John Williams, Hugh Wolff, and David Zinman, among others. He proudly endorses American Drum Manufacturing Co., Avedis Zildjian Company, Grover Pro Percussion, Remo Inc., and Yamaha Corporation.

Repertoire All works by Don Freund Plots Twists: Concertino Grosso (2026, premiere) Louder than Words (2001) Song in the Waves (2019) Additional repertoire to be announcedAbout the ArtistDon Freund is professor of music in composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he has been on faculty since 1992. His students from a 50-year teaching career continue to win an impressive array of awards and recognitions. He has been described as "a composer thoughtful in approach and imaginative in style" (The Washington Post), whose music is "exciting, amusing, disturbing, beautiful, and always fascinating" (Music and Musicians, London). He is an internationally recognized composer with works ranging from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to pieces involving live performances with electronic instruments, music for dance, and large theater works. Many of his works are available on commercial CD. The recipient of numerous awards and commissions, including two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship, Freund has served as guest composer at a vast array of universities and music festivals, and presented master classes throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America. He is also active as a pianist, conductor, and lecturer. As a festival coordinator, he has programmed over 1,000 new American works. He has been conductor or pianist in the performance of some 200 new pieces, usually in collaboration with the composer. Freund's piano concert repertoire extends from new music to complete performances of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier and his own pianistic realizations of Machaut. He has performed his Earthdance Concerto with numerous university wind ensembles. Up-to-date news on works and performances as well as videos, audio files, and pdf scores of over 100 of his compositions can be found at DonFreund.com.

About the DirectorTom Walsh is Robert J. Waller Sr. and Robert J. Waller Jr. Professor of Music (saxophone) and chair of the Jazz Studies Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. An active performer of jazz and classical music, he has presented concerts and workshops in South Africa, China, Brazil, Japan, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, in Europe, and across the United States. He is the co-author of the fifth edition of Creative Jazz Improvisation (2022) with Scott Reeves. His beginning improvisation book Jazz Master Teaches You to Improvise was published by Shanghai Music Publishing House in 2019. Recent recordings include The Pandemic Sessions by the IU jazz faculty, Luke Gillespie's Moving Mists, Basically Baker, Vol. 2, with the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra (Patois), and Mike Hackett's New Point of View (Summit). Premiere performances include Scott Jones's concert band arrangement of Russell Peck's The Upward Stream, Chris Rutkowski's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble, and David Baker's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra. His latest solo CD release is Intersections (Arizona University Recordings). Earlier solo CDs include New Life (RIAX) and Shaking the Pumpkin (RIAX). Other releases include the David Baker Concerto on Paul Freeman Introduces David Baker, Vol. XII (Albany), Basically Baker with the Buselli/Wallarab Jazz Orchestra (Patois), and Sky Scrapings: Saxophone Music of Don Freund (AUR). Walsh is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Vandoren Artist. He taught at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops from 1991 to 2019. He co-leads the IU Summer Saxophone Academy with Otis Murphy and is co-director of the College Audition Preparation Workshop. Walsh earned degrees in Saxophone Performance and Jazz Studies from Indiana University, where his principal teachers were distinguished classical saxophonist Eugene Rousseau and renowned jazz educator David Baker. His other influential teachers include Mike Tracy, Pat LaBarbera, Jerry Coker, and David Liebman.

Repertoire J. S. Bach: Four Preludes and Fugues from "The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2" (BWVv890-93) Freund: Preludes (including the premiere of "Prelude 2026…Luminous Shadows…")About the ArtistDon Freund is professor of music in composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he has been on faculty since 1992. His students from a 50-year teaching career continue to win an impressive array of awards and recognitions. He has been described as "a composer thoughtful in approach and imaginative in style" (The Washington Post), whose music is "exciting, amusing, disturbing, beautiful, and always fascinating" (Music and Musicians, London). He is an internationally recognized composer with works ranging from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to pieces involving live performances with electronic instruments, music for dance, and large theater works. Many of his works are available on commercial CD. The recipient of numerous awards and commissions, including two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship, Freund has served as guest composer at a vast array of universities and music festivals, and presented master classes throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America. He is also active as a pianist, conductor, and lecturer. As a festival coordinator, he has programmed over 1,000 new American works. He has been conductor or pianist in the performance of some 200 new pieces, usually in collaboration with the composer. Freund's piano concert repertoire extends from new music to complete performances of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier and his own pianistic realizations of Machaut. He has performed his Earthdance Concerto with numerous university wind ensembles. Up-to-date news on works and performances as well as videos, audio files, and pdf scores of over 100 of his compositions can be found at DonFreund.com.