Michael Burch-Pesses is director of bands at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and Jazz Choir, and teaches courses in conducting, music education, and MIDI technology. He also works with the Pacific University School of Education, supervising music education interns during their student teaching as they earn the master of arts in teaching degree. He holds master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees in conducting from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Since coming to Pacific University in 1995 he received the Junior Faculty Award (1998) and was named a Wye Fellow of the Aspen Institute (1999). In 2006, he received the S.S. Johnson Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching.

He enjoyed a distinguished career as a bandmaster in the U.S. Navy before arriving at Pacific University, enlisting as a hornist and working his way up through the ranks to become the Navy's senior bandmaster and head of the Navy Music Program. During his Navy career, he served as leader of the Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Md. Under his direction, the Naval Academy Band received the George Howard Citation of Musical Excellence from the John Philip Sousa Foundation, the highest civilian award for a military band. He also served as assistant leader of the Navy Band in Washington, D.C, and director of the Commodores, the Navy's official jazz ensemble.

An internationally active adjudicator, lecturer and clinician, he has conducted festival and honor bands throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.  In 2000 he conducted the British Columbia All-Province Honour Band, and in 2002 he adjudicated the National Concert Band Festival of New Zealand.

Dr. Burch-Pesses also is the conductor and musical director of the Oregon Symphonic Band, Oregon's premier adult band. The band celebrated its 20th anniversary with a performance at the Midwest Clinic in 2006. The following year the band was awarded the Sudler Silver Scroll by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. The Oregon Symphonic Band is composed primarily of musicians from the Portland/Vancouver area. Men and women of many professions are represented in the ensemble, which performs three concert series annually and has appeared in concert at numerous state, regional, and international music conferences, including the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago. His performance at the Midwest Clinic resulted in his being awarded the Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association.

His professional affiliations include the Oregon Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference, and Oregon Band Directors Association. He also is the Oregon chair of the College Band Directors National Association and a charter member of the Oregon chapter of Phi Beta Mu.

Dr. Kenneth Singleton, recently retired, previously directed the University of Northern Colorado  Wind Ensemble and Concert Band and was Chair of the Wind Conducting Program. He has also served as Director of Concert Bands at New Mexico State University, and has directed ensembles at the Hartt School of Music, Albertus Magnus College, and Yale University. Singleton holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida, and two master's degrees from the Yale University School of Music. His doctorate in tuba performance was the first awarded by Yale University in that area. An avid transcriber of brass music (over 1,000 titles) and a music editor for the Charles Ives Society, Singleton has nearly fifty publications to his credit, mainly works for band and wind ensemble. His Ives editions have been recorded by the Chicago Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Concertgebow Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and numerous other ensembles. He is presently conductor of the Denver Brass, the region's premiere brass ensemble. Singleton is in constant demand around the nation as a guest clinician and conductor, and has conducted All-State Bands in New York, New Mexico, Tennessee, North Dakota and Colorado. He has been named the College of Performing and Visual Arts Scholar of the Year, and has received the Kappa Kappa Psi Distinguished Service to Music Award. Dr. Singleton is an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association, as well as a member of the Colorado Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame.

Dr. Rebecca Phillips is the director of bands at Colorado State University where she conducts the CSU Wind Symphony and guides all aspects of the band and graduate wind conducting program. Prior to this appointment, she served as the associate director of bands and director of athletic bands at the University of South Carolina where she was responsible for directing the Symphonic Winds Concert Band, “The Mighty Sound of the Southeast” Carolina Marching Band, “Concocktion” Pep Bands, teaching undergraduate instrumental conducting, and directing the Carolina Summer Drum Major Clinic.

Dr. Phillips has served as a guest-conductor, clinician, and performer throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Most recently, she conducted a chamber winds concert featuring members of the Des Moines Symphony for the 2018 Iowa Bandmasters Association annual conference. In 2017, she conducted members of the Prague National Symphony at the inaugural "2017 American Spring Festival" in Prague, The Czech Republic. Dr. Phillips regularly conducts collegiate honor bands and all-state bands, and festival bands across the United States and in Canada and she has been a rehearsal clinician at the Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Conference. Ensembles under her direction have been featured at the 2012 College Band Director’s National Association Southern Division Conference (CBDNA), the 2010 Society of Composers International Conference, and the 2008 North American Saxophone Alliance International Convention.

A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Phillips earned her Bachelor’s in As a trombonist, Dr. Phillips’ performances can be found on several internationally distributed recordings. She has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, U.S. Army Band (Pershing’s Own), the Tallahassee Symphony, and the Tampa Bay Opera Orchestra. She has also performed internationally in England, Mexico, the Caribbean, Russia, and Sweden, and has toured as a trombonist with Johnny Mathis and Barry ManilowMusic Education from The Florida State University, Master of Music degrees in conducting and trombone performance from the University of South Florida, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in conducting at Louisiana State University. She served as a secondary school band director for seven years in Florida, including director of bands at Howard W. Blake Performing Arts High School in Tampa, Florida where she developed an award-winning concert band program. Currently, she is the first vice president and president-elect of the National Band Association and serves on the Music Education Committee of the College Band Directors National Association.

Danh Pham is Conductor of the WSU Symphony Orchestra, and Director of Bands at Washington State University. In addition to directing the WSU Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Ensemble, he conducts the WSU Opera and Musical Theatre, and teaches Instrumental Conducting and Symphonic Literature courses.

Dr. Pham has appeared as a guest conductor and clinician for several international ensembles. He most recently served as conductor-in-residence at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music and Huazhong University in Central China where he taught masterclasses and conducted the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony in concert. He has also appeared with the Guang Xi Symphony Orchestra (Nanning, China) in the Gala Opening Concert for the China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) New Music Week. Other international organizations include the National Ballet and Opera Orchestra in Hanoi, Vietnam, the Saigon Wind Ensemble, as part of a subscription series for the Saigon Philharmonic Orchestra that was hosted at the Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music, and the National Academy of Music in Northern Vietnam. At home, he has conducted professional and honor groups throughout the Pacific Northwest, American Southwest, Texas, and Hawaii. He has conducted the Palouse Chamber Players, the Pan-Pacific Ensemble, and the Palouse Brass Ensemble. In 2018, he makes his debut with the Coeur D’Alene Symphony Orchestra (USA) and the Hubei Symphony Orchestra (Central China). His own groups have appeared at the Western International Band Clinic, the MENC Biennial Northwest Conference, the Oregon Music Educators Association State Conference, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Southwest Convention.

Dr. Pham serves on the Collegiate Advisory Board for the Western International Band Clinic, where he has conducted their Intercollegiate Honor Band on three occasions. Dr. Pham serves as a contributing Research Associate for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series released by GIA Publications, and has presented at the Washington Music Educators State Conference. He has also served as Producer and Editor for solo compact disc recordings that have been released by Albany and Emeritus Records.

Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, he received his degrees from DePauw University, Indiana University, and the University of Oklahoma. His conducting mentors include Ray Cramer, Stephen Pratt, and William Wakefield. Prior to his appointment at Washington State University, Dr. Pham held similar posts at McMurry University, Western Oregon University, Salem-Keizer Public Schools, and the Beaverton (OR) School District.