Wind Band Literature

A Conductor's Perspective by Andy Pease

About

Andy Pease serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Music at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY, where he directs the Wind Ensemble and Brass Ensemble and teaches conducting, orchestration, composition, and brass methods. At Hartwick, he spearheaded the creation of the pathbreaking album, Stravinsky: Alone No More, with the Hartwick Faculty Wind Octet, released by Mark Masters. Beyond Hartwick, he is co-conductor of the Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble, a community band also based in Oneonta, and a frequent guest conductor of the professional Oneonta Community Concert Band. His additional guest conducting work has taken him to several states and the United Kingdom, including two appearances at Carnegie Hall with bands from Hartwick College and Columbia University. He completed his DMA degree in wind conducting at Arizona State University, studying with Gary Hill, Wayne Bailey, and William Reber. His work there earned him the 2017 American Prize in Wind Band Conducting at the collegiate level. He is committed to bringing composers into contact with his ensembles, and as such he has led rehearsal clinics with David del Tredici, Johan de Meij, John Mackey, Michael Markowski, Eric Ewazen, Edward Green, Oliver Caplan, JoAnne Harris, and Chris Lamb, among others.

Dr. Pease started his career in New York City, where he helped put wind bands back on the map. While music director of the Columbia University Wind Ensemble, he began a student guest conductor program with Columbia’s Teachers College and helped to start the Columbia Festival of Winds, an annual fundraising festival for inner-city music education that brought the wind bands of the New York City area together for a day of concerts. Concurrently, he conducted the community band Columbia Summer Winds, which inaugurated its Outdoor Composition Contest under his watch. He also taught elementary and high school band in New York and Arizona, and remains committed to public education as a board member of the New York State Band Directors Association (NYSBDA). He has additional degrees from Dartmouth College, Teachers College at Columbia University, and Hofstra University. His past conducting teachers include Max Culpepper, Melinda O’Neal, Dino Anagnost, and Peter Boonshaft, as well as clinics with other leading figures in the conducting world.

Dr. Pease runs two websites dedicated to the music of the wind band. Wind Band Literature has been used as a repertoire resource for bands around the world. The Wind Band Symphony Archive is a dynamic record of all known symphonies written for wind band.

7 thoughts on “About

  1. Very interested in your blog – a bit of research into Chen Qian led me to it. Is it possible to quote your material in stuff I write for WASBE website or my own website……and if you send me an email address and a snail mail address, I will send a few repertoire links to some composers who need programming. Best wishes, Tim

  2. As I was researching some new wind music to listen to I came across your blog! Remember meeting me at the symposium at Temple this summer? How are things going for you? Looking forward to hearing from you!

  3. Hi Andy! I like your blog. We met at the Temple symposium last July. Thanks for all this information, I’m getting lots of ideas. Take care!

  4. Hi Andy! This is a coincidence, I am researching Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy for our March concert, and the first thing I see underneath the Wikipedia link is your blog. It contains everything – information, recordings and useful links, so this is a huge help – thank you. And… funny how you meet old friends in strange places…

  5. Hi Andy, I like your blog! I am interested in talking with you about a project and I need some advice. Please feel free to contact me at my UNT address.

    Albert Lo

  6. Hi Andy,

    I stumbled across your website while doing research for my own woodwind quintet website, so I thought I’d introduce it to you since we’re on complementary paths. Brandt’s Woodwind Quintet Site obviously lists wind chamber music, but it also includes references to double woodwind quintets and a few larger ensembles that would likely require a conductor. So I offer it as a resource for you and your readers. Congratulations on your website as well. Nicely done. One more thing we also have in common: we’re both Andys.

    Andy Brandt
    http://www.woodwind5.com/

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