Ensembles

Kevin Geraldi

DR. KEVIN M. GERALDI is Associate Director of Bands and Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  In this capacity, he conducts the UNCG Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and Casella Sinfonietta, and is associate conductor of the UNCG Wind Ensemble.  In addition, he teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting and directs the Wind Ensemble chamber music program. He coordinates the Carolina Band Festival and Conductors Conference and is associate director of the UNCG Summer Music Camp.  Previously, he served as Director of Bands at Lander University in Greenwood, SC, from 2000-2002, as director of bands for the Westchester Public Schools in Westchester, IL, from 1996-1998, and as assistant conductor of the Central Illinois and Michigan Youth Symphonies. Dr. Geraldi appears regularly as a guest conductor and he maintains an active schedule as a clinician throughout the country.  He has presented clinics at the North Carolina and South Carolina Music Educators Association Conferences, and at National and Southern Division CBDNA Conventions.  With the UNCG Wind Ensemble, he has performed in the Music Center at Strathmore, at the national CBDNA convention in Austin, Texas, at the NCMEA conference, and on several commercially available compact discs.  As a member of the Franklin Park Brass Quintet, Dr. Geraldi has toured the Midwest, New England, and South Carolina, performing recitals and conducting brass and chamber music masterclasses.  A proponent of contemporary music and chamber music, he has commissioned and premiered numerous compositions and published articles in the Music Educators Journal, the Journal of Band Research,the Journal of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, andvolume 7 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band.  His compact disc leading the Minerva Chamber Players, featuring nonets by Johannes Brahms and Louise Farrenc, is available on the Centaur Records label. Dr. Geraldi holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in instrumental conducting from the University of Michigan where he studied with H. Robert Reynolds and Michael Haithcock.  He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, where he studied conducting with Steven Eggleston.  As a trombonist, his principal teachers have been Thomas Streeter, H. Dennis Smith, David Jackson, and Edward Kleinhammer.  Dr. Geraldi is a recipient of the Thelma A. Robinson Award, an award given biennially by the Conductors Guild and the National Federation of Music Clubs.  He is a member of the Conductors Guild, the College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the International Trombone Association, and a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota. 336-334-5435 or email: kevin_geraldi@uncg.edu.

Robert Gutter - click for web site

Robert Gutter is currently director of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and also serves as Music Director of the Philharmonia of Greensboro. In 1996 he received an appointment as Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine in Kiev. He is founder and artistic director for the International Institute for Conductors which has had workshops in Kiev,Catania, and most recently in Bacau, Romania. In his 35 years as a professional conductor he has devoted himself to both professional and non-professional orchestras in over twenty five countries and in the major cities of New York, Washington D.C., Paris, London, Vienna, Milano,Firenze, Stuttgart, and St. Petersburg. In addition to his symphonic engagements, he has appeared with opera companies both in the United States and in Europe. Prior to accepting his orchestral posts in North Carolina in 1988, he served as Music Director and Conductor of the Springfield, Massachusetts Symphony. In 1986 he was named "Conductor Emeritus" of that orchestra. As an instrumentalist, Gutter served as principal trombonist with the Washington National Symphony. He holds the bachelor and Master degrees from Yale University. 336-334-5359 or email: gutter@uncg.edu or http://home.triad.rr.com/robertgutter , www.rconductors.com

John R. Locke - click for web site

John R. Locke has served on the UNCG School of Music Faculty as director of bands and founding director of Summer Music Camp since 1982. A Professor of Music, Locke is Conductor of the University Wind Ensemble and, until recently, Chaired the Instrumental Division. He holds the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from West Virginia University and the Doctor of Education degree from the University of Illinois. Previously, Dr. Locke held teaching positions in music at West Virginia University, Southeast Missouri State University, and the University of Illinois. Dr. Locke has conducted band performances throughout the country including the National Conventions of the MENC and CBDNA, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and Lincoln Center in New York City. In addition, he has guest conducted the U.S. Air Force Band, U.S. Army Field Band, U.S. Navy Band, and the Dallas Wind Symphony, as well as numerous university bands. He has published articles on band literature in The Journal of Band Research and Winds Quarterly, is the former Editor of The North Carolina Music Educator and was a member of the Research Publications Commmittee for CBDNA. In 1989, Dr. Locke was selected for membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, one of the youngest members of the modern era. He has received the Phi Mu Alpha Orpheus Award and has been a recipient of the National Band Association Citation of Excellence on three occasions. He is a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota. In 1994, Dr. Locke received the Phi Beta Mu International Fraternity Outstanding Bandmaster of the Year Award, presented at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. With the UNCG Wind Ensemble, Locke has recorded eleven commercially available compact discs which have received critical acclaim from Bandworld Magazine and been aired frequently on PBS radio stations across the country. He is Past-President of the North Carolina Music Educators Association, an affiliate of MENC with some 2,200 members. In 1999, Dr. Locke became President of the Southern Division of the College Band Directors National Association and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Bandmasters Association. In 2002, Dr. Locke was nominated for the O. Max Gardner Award, the highest award in the 16-campus UNC System. In 2003, Locke was elected Vice-President of the American Bandmasters Association and was awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award in the School of Music in April. In 2005, Locke was elected President of the American Bandmasters Association. Dr. Locke maintains an active schedule of guest conducting and adjudicating bands throughout the United States and Canada. Since 1977, he has administered summer music camps for more than 45,000 students. 336-334-5299 or email: lockej@uncg.edu

Carole Ott

Carole Ott joins the faculty at UNCG as an Assistant Professor of Choral Music and director of the University Chorale.  Her degrees include a BM in Music Education from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where her primary instrument was French Horn.  After teaching choral and instrumental music in the public schools, Ott began pursuing graduate degrees at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance where she recently received a DMA in Choral Conducting. Ott’s major conducting teachers while in graduate school were Jerry Blackstone and Theodore Morrison.  She has also participated in conducting seminars with Helmuth Rilling, Carl St. Clair, and Michael Haithcock.  At UNCG, Dr. Ott teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting as well as graduate seminars in choral music.  Additionally, she is the director of the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale.   Ott has appeared as a guest clinician and adjudicator for the Michigan School Vocal Music Association and has spent several summers as adjunct faculty at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp.   Also an active soloist, Ott has appeared with the Early Music Ensemble at the University of Michigan, has participated in master classes with Early Music Vancouver, and premiered the works of Susan Botti at the American Academy in Rome in 2006.

Welborn E. Young

Welborn E. Young, Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music, holds a BME degree and a MA in Conducting degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a DMA in choral conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Young teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting, graduate seminars in choral repertoire, German diction, and conducts the Women's Choir and Chamber Singers. In addition, Dr. Young is the Conductor of the Choral Society of Greensboro. He has served as guest conductor and clinician in festivals and clinics in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, Washington D.C., Illinois, and Washington. Recently, His choirs have toured Austria, the Czech-Republic, Hungary, Italy, and England. He is the former Artistic Director and Conductor for Windy City Performing Arts, Inc. in Chicago. These ensembles received enthusiastic reviews in such papers the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Windy City Times. In the summer of 1998, Dr. Young was a featured festival conductor at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands. That same summer he was guest conductor of Chicago's Grant Park Symphony Chorus and assisted with the preparation of their first recording. He has prepared and conducted the Nashville Symphony Chorus and appeared as guest conductor with the Nashville Opera Association. 334-5493 or email: weyoung@uncg.edu