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Faculty, Associate Instructors, Administrative Staff

Faculty


Stephen W. Pratt - Director of Bands

Stephen W. Pratt is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the Indiana University School of Music. He conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches graduate conducting as well as other courses in the wind conducting program. Professor Pratt is in constant demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator of bands and orchestras in many states, and as a faculty member of conducting clinics and workshops. Mr. Pratt also serves as Director of the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic.
Mr. Pratt holds degrees from Indiana University and The University of Michigan. He joined the IU faculty in 1984 and was honored as a faculty member of the highest distinction in 1988 by the combined honor societies on campus. In 1993 he was the recipient of the Distinguished Service to Music Medal awarded by Kappa Kappa Psi, the national collegiate band honorary organization. In 1998 he was honored with the Outstanding Bandmaster award by the Gamma chapter (Indiana) of Phi Beta Mu and in 2001 honored with the Outstanding University Music Educator Award, presented by the Indiana Music Educators Association. He serves the CBDNA North Central Division as president, and has served as president of the Indiana Bandmasters Association and as a member of the Indiana Music Educators Association Board of Directors. He was Music Director and Conductor of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra from 1995-2000. Mr. Pratt has a number of years of experience teaching bands and orchestras in the public schools of Sturgis, Michigan, where he conducted groups of national recognition.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here


David C. Woodley - Director of Athletic Bands/Associate Director of Bands

David C. Woodley, Professor of Music, Director of Athletic Bands and Associate Director of Bands, was appointed to the School of Music faculty in 1993. His duties include directing the Marching Hundred, the Big Red Basketball Band, and administrating the All Campus Band. He also teaches Arranging and Marching Band Techniques in the School of Music. Prior to his appointment at IU, Mr. Woodley served as Interim Assistant Director of Bands and Director of the Hawkeye Marching Band at The University of Iowa in Iowa City and held a similar position at The University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Woodley has been commissioned by over 125 high school and college bands, and has over 450 concert and athletic band arrangements to his credit. He also served as the founder and National Co-Chairman of the College Band Directors National Association Athletic Band Advisory Council. Mr. Woodley received a "Student Choice Award for Outstanding Faculty" in the spring of 2000. Mr. Woodley received the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The University of Iowa.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here



Dr. Paul W. Popiel - Assistant Director of Bands

Dr. Paul Popiel is Assistant Director of Bands and Associate Director of the Marching Hundred at Indiana University. In this capacity he conducts the Concert Band and teaches courses in conducting, band administration and wind history. Prior to his appointment at IU, Popiel was the Associate Director of Bands and Director of the Cowboy Marching Band at Oklahoma State University, where his duties included conducting the Concert Band and the Frontiers New Music Ensemble, supervising student teachers, and teaching courses in music education.

Popiel taught in the public schools of Texas and Michigan. He holds degrees from Truman State University, the University of Notre Dame, and Michigan State University. As a 1996 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar, he earned a Postgraduate Diploma in 20th-Century Music at the University of Bristol, England. He recently served as Resident Conductor of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Wind Ensemble as the Frank L. Battisti Conducting Fellow.

Dr. Popiel maintains an active schedule as a drill designer, clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor. He holds memberships in College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Collegiate Music Society, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here

Dr. Patrick F. Casey - Visiting Associate Director of Bands


Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here


Director of Bands Emeritus
Ray Cramer


Ray Cramer

Ray E. Cramer is the former chairman of the Band Department at Indiana University. He conducted the Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds, and University Orchestra and taught graduate conducting and wind literature classes. Past president of the College Band Directors National Association. President of the board of the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. In constant demand as guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator internationally. Regular guest conductor of The Musashino Academy of Music in Tokyo. Prof. Cramer holds D.M. and B.S. degrees from Western Illinois University and an M.A. degree from the University of Iowa.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here


Associate Instructors

Matt Brunner is a native of Dover, OH. He graduated cum laude in 1995 with his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Ohio University. From 1995-2002, he was a band director in the Carrollton School District in Carrollton, OH. His duties included conducting the Symphonic Wind Band, Concert Band, Marching Band, Junior High Bands and assisting with elementary bands. While there, he raised the performance expectations of the bands, helping them to their first superior ratings in years. His musical versatility was frequently showcased as he could be heard on trumpet in several area concert bands, orchestras, funk and jazz bands. From 2002-2005, Mr. Brunner returned to Ohio University and completed his Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting with minor area studies in trumpet. While there, he conducted the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, University Band, Marching 110, Varsity Band and also taught classes in music theory, orchestration, and conducting. Mr. Brunner also became one of the staff arrangers for the Ohio University Marching 110. He is credited with nearly a hundred marching band arrangements for several university and high school marching bands around the country. Mr. Brunner continues to serve as an adjudicator for the Ohio Music Education Association. His professional affiliations have included Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Kappa Kappa Psi, CBDNA, NBA, MENC, OMEA, and the International Trumpet Guild. In his spare time, Mr. Brunner enjoys running, weight lifting and is an avid volleyball player. He and his wife Janice reside in Bloomington with their two sons, Kyler and Kaden.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here

Richard Frey comes to Indiana University after holding Director of Bands positions at McNary High School and North Salem High School, both in Salem, Oregon. Mr. Frey's concert ensembles consistently received superior ratings and praise from adjudicators such as William Wakefield and Rodney Winther for their quality of sound and strong musical concepts. Mr. Frey has also been active as a summer camp instructor, working with local high schools as well as the University of Oregon Leadership Camps each July.
Mr. Frey received a Bachelor's degree with honors in Percussion Performance from the University of Puget Sound in 2002. He has studied with conductor Robert Musser (UPS), and clinicians Jerry Junkin, Michael Haithcock, and Rodney Winther. During his time at Puget Sound, Mr. Frey conducted the UPS Wind Ensemble, University Band, Percussion Ensemble, and Adelphian Concert Choir.
As a freelance percussionist, Mr. Frey has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theater, Tacoma Symphony, and Bellevue Philharmonic. In addition to his teaching and performing responsibilities, Mr. Frey is an active arranger for concert and marching ensembles.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here

Pam Holt is originally from Oxford, Ohio. She graduated with high honors in 2004 with her Bachelors of Music Education from Indiana University.
Between degrees at IU, Ms. Holt taught bands at Charlestown Middle and High Schools in Charlestown, IN for the 2004/2005 school year, then at Tri-County Middle-Senior High School in Wolcott, IN from 2005-2007. Her duties included teaching beginning, junior high and high school concert bands, competitive and non-competitive marching band, pep band, jazz band, and percussion ensembles. Ms. Holt was also active with various state music associations in Indiana and helped to organize the first John Philip Sousa Junior High Honor Band in Indiana.
Ms. Holt is also an active bassoonist, having taught as an applied faculty member at Purdue University and at the IU Summer Music Clinic. She has studied bassoon with William Ludwig, David McGill, Andrew Barnes, Kim Walker, Benjamin Coelho, and Jennifer Speck.
Her professional affiliations have included Kappa Kappa Psi, NBA, IBA, IMEA and the International Double Reed Society. In her spare time, Pam enjoys yoga, reading, running and cooking. Pam and her husband Jack live in West Lafayette, IN, seeing each other as often as possible during her degree program in Bloomington.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here

Polly Middleton, originally from Normal, IL attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a French Horn scholarship and received a Bachelors Degree in Music Education in 2002. At the University of Illinois, Ms. Middleton was a five-year member of the Marching Illini where she was a section leader, drum major, and administrative assistant. In addition to her responsibilities with the Marching Illini, she was the director for an exclusive band that performed for University/Community related functions. She performed with the University of Illinois Wind Symphony for four years under the direction of Professor James Keene. At the University of Illinois she studied conducting with Professor Keene, Dr. Thomas Caneva, and Dr. Peter Griffin. Ms. Middleton studied horn with Dr. Kazimierz Machala and continues to be an active performer.
Most recently, Ms. Middleton was the Assistant Director of Bands at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, IL. At Plainfield High School, Ms. Middleton was responsible for the Marching and Pep bands and directed both the Symphonic and Concert bands. The band has performed under her direction for nationally renowned clinicians including Dr. Ray Cramer, Mr. James Curnow, and Dr. Deborah Sheldon. Ms. Middleton has served as an adjudicator and summer instructor for area bands as well as an accompanist.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here

Administrative Assistant

Rachel Caswell is an award-winning jazz vocalist with a unique style combining extraordinary scatting ability and sensitive song interpretation. She has performed with the Billy Taylor Trio and Curtis Fuller and was selected as one of two vocalists for the 1997 Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Colony at Jazz Aspen/Snowmass. A native of Bloomington, Indiana, Rachel's compelling improvisation skills developed out of her many years of jazz cello study under internationally-renowned pedagogue David Baker. A student of Baker's from age 13, Caswell graduated with High Distinction in 1995 with degrees in classical cello and jazz studies from Indiana University where she was on full scholarship. In 1998 she completed her Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music where she studied with Dominique Eade, Carol Sloane, Danilo Perez, George Garzone, and John McNeil. Winner of the 1997 Hilton Head Jazz Society Scholarship, Rachel has had coachings with Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Barry Harris, and Clark Terry and appears on Sara Caswell's DoubleTime CD, First Song. She recently was filmed as the featured vocalist in John McNeil's Jazz Series on Video, Vol. 3 Vocal Jazz: Learning to Scat with Mr. McNeil as trumpeter/host and Rufus Reid on bass. Rachel continues gigging throughout the midwest and is planning the release of her debut CD featuring Lynne Arriale, Steve Davis, Kelly Sill, and Sara Caswell.

Email addresses, phone numbers and mailing information are available here




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