440 S JEFFERSON AVE AT ELM : SPRINGFIELD MO 65806 : 862.3573 1.800.829.3573
Saxophones
1st Alto:
Tina Claussen, Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Jazz
Studies, Drury University.
2nd Alto: Andrew Bishko,
Hoover Music Company
1st Tenor: Becky Wells
Band Director, Cherokee
Middle School. Received her Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Music
from Southwest Missouri State University. Her playing career includes
performances with the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band, Debbie Boone, The
Springfield Symphony, Springfield Little Theater, Jazz Educator's Big
Band and Second Baptist Church. Becky has taught high school and middle
school band for 26 years in the Missouri Public School System and is
currently teaching in her thirteenth year at Cherokee Middle School in
Springfield.
2nd Tenor: Cathy Coonis, Band Director, Seymor
Schools.
Bari James Goldapp, Band Director, College of the
Ozarks
Trumpets
1st Trumpet: Bryant Robinson
2nd Trumpet: Hermon Mehari, University of Missouri,
Kansas City
Hermon Mehari has been playing the trumpet since he was 13. Originally
from Jefferson City, Missouri, he developed an affinity for the
instrument and jazz music while in high school. He currently goes to
the University of Missouri-Kansas City on a full ride scholarship where
he is a junior pursuing his Bachelors degree in Jazz Performance.
Hermon recently won the jazz division of the 2008 National Trumpet
Competition. He has performed overseas with Bobby Watson at the Blues
to Bop Festival in Lugano, Switzerland. Hermon has studied with Terrell
Stafford, Paul McKee, Dave Scott, Clay Jenkins, Jaleel Shaw, Michael
Carvin and Bobby Watson. His idols are Kenny Garrett, Clifford Brown
and John Coltrane.
3rd Trumpet: Ned Wilkinson,
Hoover Music Company
4th Trumpet: Andrew Wang,
Hoover Music Company
Trombones
1st Trombone: Robert Holden
Band Director, and
Music Department Head,
Springfield Public Schools, Retired, and the Jazz Educator's Big Band.
Received my Music Ed Degree from the University of Denver and Masters
in Trombone Performance from Pittsburg State University. Recently
retired after 37 years of teaching high school band and orchestra (
Mostly at Parkview High School in Springfield) & served as
Supervisor of Music for the Springfield Public Schools. I also
conducted the Springfield Youth Symphony for eight years.
Professionally, I have played with Stevie Wonder, Pat Boone, Shirley
Jones, Les Elgart and Jim Stafford and some Branson Shows including
Lawrence Welk , the Ratpack and the Magnificent 7 at the White House
Theater. In my retirement besides directing the Jazz Educators' Big
Band, I serve as a clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor, lead 2
Dance Bands called “Reflections” and perform with a
brass quintet called "Brass Impact" and with the Drury Community
Orchestra.
2nd Trombone: Tom Rastorfer,
Hoover Music Company
3rd Trombone: Bob Swanson
Bob Swanson, trombone,
is a graduate of Missouri State University (Bachelor of Music
Performance) and the University of North Texas (Master of Music
Performance). While in Texas he was a member of the world-famous One
O’Clock Lab Band and an award-winning trombone choir that
played at the 1999 International Trombone Festival. This group was also
Downbeat Magazine’s Best College Classical Chamber Group two
years in a row (1999 and 2000). Bob has also spent time in Florida with
the All-American College Band at Walt Disney World, sailed Alaska and
the Caribbean while playing on cruise ships, and was a member of the
Bobby Vinton/Glenn Miller Orchestra in Branson. A member of the New
Creole Jazz Band and the M-Dock Band, he plays regularly as a
substitute trombonist for the Springfield Symphony and has played for
numerous musicals at Springfield’s own Landers Theatre. Bob
is also a published arranger for various ensembles. His teachers
include William Hartman and Vern Kagarice.
4th Trombone: Kelly Obryant, Hoover Music Company
A native of Springfield, Missouri, Kelly O'Bryant earned a Bachelor of
Music degree in Tuba Performance from the University of Kansas.
Following graduation from KU, he was asked to join the ranks of the
U.S. Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Maryland. Founded in 1852, it is
the oldest band in the United States Navy, and one of the oldest
professional musical organizations in the country. After reporting for
duty at the U.S. Naval Academy, he was promoted to the position of
Principal Tuba, and performed in the concert band, ceremonial band,
brass quintet, and the tuba-euphonium quartet.
After leaving the U.S.
Navy, Kelly spent several years performing across the United States as
a professional tuba soloist and chamber musician. He has been a guest
performer, lecturer, and clinician at over 40 universities and music
conferences, and has taught low brass and chamber music at various
universities in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. He is also a
former member of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, and performed
throughout Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, and
Russia with that ensemble.
After more than a decade of performing
across the country, Kelly returned to the Springfield area in 2003,
where he is the Educational Representative for Hoover Music Company. An
active performer, he is the Instructor of Tuba at Drury University, as
well as the tuba player of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
Rhythm
Bass: Donnie Kraft, Hoover Music Company
Bassist Donnie Kraft studied under trombonist Bob Holden at Parkview
High School before moving on to study at MSU where he backed up
musicians such as Clark Terry, Louie Belson, and Eddie Daniels. He
currently manages the band and orchestra department at Hoover Music and
is one of the busiest bass players in the area.
Drums: Emerson Spiller
Guitar: Randy Buckner,
Hoover Music Company