Steve Benham
Stephen Benham is currently Associate Professor of Music Education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He completed his undergraduate training at the University of Minnesota, and conducted his graduate studies at the University of Michigan (M.M.), and the University of Rochester—Eastman School of Music (Ph.D.). He is a cellist, and studied with Tanya Remenikova, Richard Kapucsinski, and Jerome Jelinek.At Duquesne, Dr. Benham teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education and string pedagogy, supervises student teachers, and created the string component of all music education courses. Since his appointment to the faculty in 2001, the number of string education majors has grown dramatically, and his students are in high demand as teachers. In response to the growing field of alternative styles in string education, Dr. Benham is the director of Strings Without Boundaries, an international workshop that features dual tracks in alternative styles teacher-training and performance. Dr. Benham has held teaching and conducting positions in both public and private schools in Salem, Oregon, and in Ann Arbor and Grand Haven, Michigan. He has also served as the Music Director for the Salem Youth Symphony Association in Salem, Oregon and the Holland Area Youth Symphony in Holland, Michigan. Dr. Benham is also an active consultant in the development of new music programs in communities without current string programs. This work frequently takes him outside of the United States, working in countries that are seeking to establish new models of string instruction. He is currently involved witha national music education project in Ukraine and serves as a consultant to ongoing projects in Brazil, China, Latvia, and Estonia.

 

Barbara Eads
Barbara attended Missouri State University where she majored in Music Education and graduated with a B. S. in Education and a Diploma in Voice.  While in school at Missouri State University, she was president of her sorority, Sigma Kappa, and taught music classes at Kickapoo Consolidated School District.  She received a teaching assistantship at the University of Texas at Austin, where she taught in the Junior String Project and music education classes.  Barbara received a Master of Music degree and began her teaching career in the public schools in Texas. Mrs. Eads teaching career included assignments in Port Arthur, TX; Greenwood Training School at Missouri State University, Springfield, MO; Port Neches-Groves, TX; Beaumont, TX; Houston, TX; and Pasadena, TX.  She has taught music to grades K-12, band, choir, orchestra, drum and bugle corps, high school English and college courses.  When she retired she held the position of Director of Fine Arts for the Pasadena Independent School District.  Since retiring she has served as a supervisor for student teachers from the University of Houston/Main campus and Sam Houston State University. She was the first woman elected President of the Texas Music Educators Association.  She has also been President of the Texas Orchestra Directors Association and Texas Music Educators Conference.  She is a charter member of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association and Mu Omicron, an honorary organization for orchestra directors.  She was on a state committee to write the Fine Arts Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) which is mandated in Texas. She has just completed serving six years on the national executive board of the American String Teachers Association as Publications Chair. Barbara judges music competitions/festivals in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

 

Kory Katseanes
Professor Katseanes is the Director of Orchestras and an Associate Director of the School of Music at Brigham Young University. As Director of Orchestras he oversees the orchestral program that accommodates nearly 400 students enrolled in the five University orchestras, and directs the graduate orchestral conducting program. He conducts the BYU Philharmonic and the BYU Chamber Orchestra in their campus concerts, throughout Utah, and on their regular tours throughout the world. He has worked with such artists as The King’s Singers, the Chieftains, Kathy Mattea, Nanci Griffiths, Judy Collins, Art Garfunkel, Michael Martin Murphy, Riders in the Sky, and The Manhattan Rhythm Kings, among others. His work with dance companies includes Rudolph Nureyev and Friends, Repertory Dance Theater and the Twin Cities Ballet, and he was the founder and Music Director of The Utah Virtuosi, a professional chamber orchestra in Salt Lake City. Mr. Katseanes received Masters and Bachelors degrees from the University of Utah, and an Associate Degree from Ricks College. Conducting studies were with renowned conductor Josef Rosenstock. Violin teachers included Lamar Barrus, Oscar Chausow, Kathryn Katseanes, Zvi Zeitlin, and Elaine Richey. Prior to BYU he was on the faculties of Illinois Wesleyan University and Ricks College.

Dr. David Littrell
Dr. David Littrell is a University Distinguished Professor of Music at Kansas State University where he conducts the University Orchestra and teaches or plays the cello, baroque cello, five-string violoncello piccolo, double bass, viola da gamba, and electric cello. A chamber orchestra from the KSU Orchestra toured England and Scotland in March 2008. As a reflection of his interest in the music education of young people, he is the Director of String Fling, an annual event at Kansas State that attracts 700 string students from Kansas. He also conducts the Gold Orchestra, which includes over 70 Manhattan area string students in grades 5-10. The Gold Orchestra has toured England, British Columbia, Colorado, and performed at Carnegie Hall in 2001 and 2006. They participated in the ASTA National Orchestra Festival in Dallas in March 2004. He served six years as Editor of the Books and Music Reviews section of the American String Teacher, and he is Editor of ASTA’s two-volume String Syllabus. He is the Editor and Compiler of three volumes of Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra for GIA Publications. Dr. Littrell twice received an Undergraduate Teaching Award at Kansas State University. In 1994 the Kansas Chapter of ASTA awarded him the Certificate of Merit. He was the national President of the American String Teachers Association in 2002-2004 and planned ASTA’s first stand-alone conference in March 2003. He represented ASTA on a trip to France in March 2004 to learn about import opportunities for French string instruments and bows. In 2007, he was named Kansas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He adjudicates solo and orchestra contests and is a clinician and conductor throughout the United States.

Dr. Michael Alexander
Dr. Michael Alexander is currently the Associate Professor of String Music Education at Baylor University. His duties include supervising string student teachers, instruction in classroom string pedagogy, directing the Baylor String Project, and conducting the Baylor Campus Orchestra. Alexander’s musical education includes: Bachelor of Music Education (Southwestern University), Master of Music (Sam Houston State University), and Doctor of Musical Arts (University of Houston). He has studied conducting with Kenneth Sheppard , B. R. Henson, and Franz Krager, and has participated in institutes with William LaRue Jones, Robert Culver, and Marvin Rabin. During his 22-year tenure as Director of Orchestras at Stratford High School the Stratford Symphony was twice named the Texas Honor Orchestra (1994, 1997) by the Texas Music Educators Association and earned sweepstakes ratings at regional festivals the last 17 of those years. Alexander is a past-president of the Texas Orchestra Directors Association and a Past Vice-President of the Texas Music Educators Association. He has served as Chairman of the Committee on School Orchestras and Strings for the ASTA w/ NSOA and from 1994-2001 Alexander served as Conductor for the Houston Youth Symphony-Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2006 he was named Music Director of the Waco Symphony Youth Orchestra. Alexander was the first recipient of the Houston Symphony School Bell Award for Excellence in Teaching and, in 1994 and 2006, named Teacher of the Year for Stratford High School. He has received letters of commendation from the City of Houston, the Texas Music Educators Assn., Spring Branch ISD, a Citation of Merit from ASTA/NSOA, and, in 2002, the Elizabeth A.H. Green Award from ASTA/NSOA.