7th/8th Grade Band

Celebrate the Season

Fanfare on "Joy To The World"

Matt Conaway

Matt Conaway (b. 1979) was appointed to the Purdue University faculty in August 2012 as an Assistant Professor of Bands. He serves as an associate director of the famed "All-American" Marching Band and basketball pep bands, and directs the University Concert Band and Varsity Band. He is also the faculty supervisor for the band's various auxiliary units, serves as the department's technical coordinator, and coordinates the annual Band Day event.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Conaway served for ten years as the Director of Bands for the West Lafayette Community School Corporation, during which time the program received many state and national accolades for msuical excellence. He brought the Marching "red Devil" Band, basketball pep band, jazz band, and symphony orchestra back to he music department, and raised band program enrollment by over 200 sutdents in grades 5-12. During his tenure, West Lafayette became regarded as one of the great small-school music programs in Indian, with two state concert finals appearances and dozens of superior festival ratings. The NAMM Foundation recognized the West Lafayette Community School Corporation as one of the "Best Communities for Music Education in America" in 2006, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Mr Conaway is a noted composer for concert band, with over 30 works currently in print. His compositions range from very beginning through very advanced, based on his experience working with all levels of performers in grades 5-12. He has received commissions from many schools and honor bands in the last five years. He is also an accomplished, arranger, and has written for athletic bands at Indiana University, Purdue University, and many high schools and colleges throughout the country. His arrangements have been heard internationally at multiple bowl games, basketball tournaments, and major sporting events since 1999.

After graduating from Woodhaven (MI) High School in 1997, Mr. Conaway attended Indiana University – Bloomington, where he studied arranging with David Woodley. He received his Bachelor of Music Education with Distinction in 2001, and earned a Masters of Music degree from the American Band College of Sam Houston State University in 2010. He is a member of NAFME, CBDNA, NBA, ASTA, Indiana Music Educators Association, Indiana Bandmasters Association, and ASCAP. He is an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi, and was recently inducted into the Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Mu. He is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator at concert band festivals and competitions throughout the Midwest.

7th/8th Grade Band

Snowfall

Chris M. Bernotas

Composer, conductor, clinician, and educator Chris M. Bernotas (b.1969) earned a Bachelor of Music degree from William Paterson University and a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College. As Director of Instrumental School Methods and Repertoire for Alfred Music, he draws upon his 28-year experience as an instrumental music teacher in New Jersey and brings an energetic and enthusiastic approach to the world of music education. As a widely published composer and author, he is co-author, along with Dr. Peter Boonshaft, of Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Young, Intermediate, and Advanced Concert Band. He is also co-author, along with Dave Black, of Alfred's ground-breaking percussion method, Sound Percussion.

As an active composer and arranger of concert band, string orchestra, and marching band music, Mr. Bernotas is highly sought after nationwide as a composer of commissioned new works, as a guest conductor, as an adjudicator, and as a clinician on a variety of music education topics.

He resides in New Jersey with his wife Cristina and three kids.

Greensleeves

Arranged by Victor Lopez

Victor López (b. 1950, Cuba) is an American composer, conductor, and administrator.

Dr. López holds music education degrees from the University of Florida and Florida International University, including a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree in Educational Administration and Supervision.

For sixteen years he served as director of bands at Mays Junior High School and Miami Senior High School, and for the past nineteen years, he has worked as an administrator in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. He was the principal at G. W. Carver Middle School, which under his leadership received the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award and Miami Senior High School, his alma mater. Mr. López also served as Executive Director of the Division of Life Skills and Special Programs in MDCPS. He has also achieved much success in music performance and education. Among many of his accomplishments, Dr. López was named the “1978 Miami-Dade County Public Schools Teacher of the Year” and the “1979 State of Florida Teacher of the Year.”

In addition to being the former lead trumpet player and arranger for the Miami Sound Machine, he has recorded and performed with various artists and has appeared in numerous music videos. Although always busy, Dr. López has found time to serve his community as a councilman in the Doral Community Council in Miami, Florida. He has also participated in the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTACS) committee, which drafted model arts education licensing standards and supporting materials for national certification. Additionally, he was a founding board member of the Florida Schools Music Association, a non-profit organization that oversees all of the music activities in the state of Florida. He is in constant demand as a guest speaker, clinician/conductor, adjudicator, and commission writer across Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Major publishing companies have published his compositions and he currently serves as an exclusive composer, arranger and clinician for Alfred Music Publishing Company with over 450 publications to his credit. Dr. López has recently joined the Fischler School of Education and Human Services staff at Nova Southeastern University as Senior Director/Program Professor in the Office of Licensure and Compliance.

7th/8th Grade Band

Directed by Mr. Brendan Korak

Jingle Bells Upside Down

J. Pierpont

James D. Ployhar (22 September 1926, Valley City, N.D. – 2 January 2007, Fargo, N.D.) was an American composer, music educator, and film producer.

Ployhar attended Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota, was initiated into the Beta Rho chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity in 1952, and also originated the Fargo Big Band All-Stars, a musical group that frequently performed in and around Fargo, North Dakota, including regular engagements at Silent Movie Night, held at the historic Fargo Theatre.

Mr. Ployhar taught nineteen years in the public schools and was enthusiastically welcomed throughout the United States and Canada as a clinician and a conductor.

He was considered to be one of the most prolific writers in the field of music education. He was responsible for many great American songs, including the instrumental piece, Cool Blues for Trumpets, March of the Irish Guard, Crazy Clock and Korean Folk Song Medley. He was the author of the Contemporary Band Course, Belwin-Mills Publishing Corporation of New York, composer of The Fickertail, official North Dakota march, and recipient of the citation of excellence by the executive committee of the National Band Association. Mr. Ployhar was past president of the VCSC Alumni Association (1975-76) and is a member of the V-500 Foundation.

On May 20, 1977, Mr. Ployhar was given the Distinguished Alumnus Award at Valley City State University. In 1994, he was one of the co-producers of the Disney film Iron Will.

7th/8th Grade Band

Santa the Barbarian

Randall D. Standridge (ASCAP)

Randall Standridge (b.1976) received his Bachelor's of Music Education from Arkansas State University. During this time, he studied composition with Dr. Tom O'Connor, before returning to Arkansas State University to earn his Master's in Music Composition, studying with Dr. Tom O'Connor and Dr. Tim Crist. In 2001, he began his tenure as Director of Bands at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Arkansas. He left this post in 2013 to pursue a career as a full-time composer and marching arts designer.

Mr. Standridge is currently published by Grand Mesa Music, Alfred Music, FJH Music, Wingert-Jones Music, Band Works Publications, Twin Towers Music, and Northeastern Music Publications. Mr. Standridge's music is performed internationally. He has had numerous works selected to the J.W. Pepper's editor's choice. His compositions Snake Charmer, Gently Blows the Summer Wind, and Angelic Celebrations have been included in the "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band" series. He has had numerous works performed at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. His work Art(isms) was premiered by the Arkansas State University Wind Ensemble at the 2010 CBDNA conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and his work Stonewall: 1969 was premiered at the National LGBA conference in 2019. Mr. Standridge is also a contributing composer for Alfred Music's Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development series.

In addition to his career as a composer, Mr. Standridge is the owner and editor for Randall Standridge Music, LLC, and Grand Mesa Marching. He is in demand as a drill designer, music arranger, and colorguard designer for the marching arts, as well as a freelance artist/photographer and writer. He lives in Jonesboro, Arkansas with his family.