Alfredo
Vélez III
Associate Director of
Bands
Director, Bearkat Marching Band
Alfredo Vélez is Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Director of Bands at Sam Houston State University. In this capacity, Mr. Velez directs the Symphonic Band, Basketball Bands, and the Bearkat Marching Band. In addition to these ensemble responsibilities, he also teaches courses in conducting and music education.
Mr. Vélez has held positions as Director of Bands at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Assistant Director of Wind Studies at the University of North Texas and Associate and Interim Director of Bands at Texas Christian University. Mr. Vélez began his career in the Plano Independent School District where his concert, jazz
and marching bands were widely recognized for their outstanding performances. The Texas A&M-Kingsville Wind Symphony received extraordinary reviews for their performance at the Texas Music Educators Conference in February, 2006. Throughout his career, Mr. Vélez has been widely recognized for his wind ensemble’s performances. His dedication to advancing
the arts is only surpassed by his strong advocacy for music education in the state of Texas. Mr. Velez recently conducted the inaugural concert of the newest professeional wind band, the Lone Star Wind Orchestra in Dallas, Texas at the Meerson Symphony Center in September of 2006.
Alfredo Vélez holds a Bachelor and Masters degree in Music Education from Angelo State University. Mr. Vélez is in constant demand as guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator. His professional affiliations include the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Phi Beta Mu, National Band Association and the College Band Directors National Association..
Matthew
McInturf
Director of Bands, Sam Houston State
University
Matthew McInturf is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Sam Houston State University. In that capacity he conducts the Wind Ensemble, teaches conducting, and administers the university's nationally recognized band program. Mr. McInturf previously taught at Florida International University and in the public schools of Richardson, Texas.
Mr. McInturf is currently a doctoral candidate in conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied conducting with Eugene Corporon and composition with Darrell Handel. He holds a B.M. degree in Music Theory from the University of North Texas and an M.M. in Composition from the University of Houston. An active composer and arranger, Mr. McInturf's works have been performed at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention and at the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic.
Mr. McInturf serves as an officer in the Texas Bandmasters Association, and is active in the Texas Music Educators Association, the College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, and the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles. He maintains a professional relationship with Bands of America as part of his ongoing commitment to the quality of music education.
John
Lane
Percussion Instructor, Bearkat Marching
Band
John
Lane, Assistant Professor of Percussion, is pleased to join
the faculty at Sam Houston State University this fall. Prior
to his appointment at Sam Houston, John served as Interim
Professor of Percussion at the University of Wyoming in
Laramie, WY. In addition to his teaching duties, John served
as the Chapter President for the Wyoming Chapter of the
Percussive Arts Society.
John was recently featured as both a composer and performer,
along with Allen Otte, at the Contemporary Arts Center in
Cincinnati, OH. John’s compositions involving electro-acoustic
applications have been performed on the Sonic Explorations
concert series at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of
Music. John has also been featured in the Van Cliburn Foundation’s
concert series Modern at the Modern at the Fort Worth Museum
of Modern Art. In 2004, John was a collaborator, composer,
and performer in an interdisciplinary multi-media production,
Scaling the Walls, at the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore,
MD. In addition, he has appeared as a soloist and with his
percussion quartet, The Bain Percussion Group, at the Percussive
Arts Society International Conventions in 2002, 2003, and
2004 respectively. John is also an Innovative Percussion
Artist and a former member of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle
Corps.
John has recorded for the Klavier and GIA record labels
with the North Texas Wind Symphony and has performed and
recorded alongside artists such as Keiko Abe, William Cahn,
Christopher Deane, Mark Ford, and Allen Otte. His educational
articles have appeared in Windsong, the Wyoming Music Educators
Journal, and Percussive Notes.
John is actively pursuing a DMA in Percussion Performance
from the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music. He holds
an MM in Percussion Performance from the University of North
Texas and a BM from Stephen F. Austin State University.
His principle teachers have included: Jim Culley, Rusell
Burge, Christopher Deane, Mark Ford, Scott Harris, Allen
Otte, Ed Smith, and Ed Soph. John has studied composition
under Michael Fiday, Mara Helmuth, and Allen Otte.
Debra Vandergriff
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Bearkat
Marching Band
