Orchestra
Paul Ousley

Professor Paul Ousley currently holds positions at St. Olaf and Augsburg colleges. He was visiting Professor of Bass at the University of Iowa, 2001-2002, and has served on the faculties of seven different colleges and universities. His private studio has produced many bass players for the Minnesota All-State Orchestra, Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony and the Minnesota Youth Orchestras during the past five years.

Ousley began his musical training in the public schools of Marshfield, Wisconsin, where he also helped to form the Central Wisconsin Youth Orchestra. Following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire under James Clute of the Minnesota Symphony, he pursued studies with Stuart Sankey at the Aspen Music Festival and Gary Karr at the University of Hartford, and earned a Master of Music Performance degree at the Eastman School of Music under bass virtuoso James Van Denmark and conductor David Effron.

As a bassist, he began his career as Principal of the Wichita Symphony, and touring with the Fairmount String Quintet. He has subsequently performed at the Music Festivals of Round Top, Colorado, Aspen, Eastern, Madeline Island, Mount Gretna and Prospect Park and with a variety of professional ensembles including the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Symphonietta, and the Audubon String Quartet.

Band
Maastricht accommodationDr. Frank C. Tracz

Dr. Frank C. Tracz is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. At K-State, he coordinates the undergraduate and graduate conducting programs, teaches classes in music education, and administers and guides all aspects of the University's band program, including the Symphony Band, University Band and Marching Band. Under his direction the Symphony Band has performed at the Kansas Music Educators Association Conference and has performed regional tours. The "Pride of Wildcat Land" Marching Band traveled to eight nationally acclaimed bowl games in support of the University.

Tracz received a Doctor of Philosophy (music education) from The Ohio State University, a Master of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Ohio State University. He has several years experience teaching in the public schools of Ohio and Wisconsin. He has also served as Assistant Director of Bands at Syracuse University. Prior to his appointment at K-State, he was the Director of Bands at Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky.

hotels in ZurichTracz serves on the Music Education Journal Editorial Board and KSU-PDS Partnership Project Committee and is a contributor to the hoteles en LausanneTeaching Music Through Performance in Band series. In addition to being an inducted member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, he is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Beta Mu, and Pi Lambda Theta. He currently serves as the advisor for the Kansas State chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma and the K-State Band Ambassadors. Tracz is President of the Big XII Band Directors Association, Past-President of the Kansas Bandmasters Association, and Director of the Manhattan Municipal Band

. At K-State, he has been honored with the prestigious Stamey Award for Outstanding Teaching, and recently was awarded the Outstanding Bandmaster by the Kansas Bandmasters Association and Phi Beta Mu.

Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Michele Weir

Michele Weir is currently a faculty member at the University of California-Los Angeles and previously taught at the University of Southern California, California State University-Long Beach and the Phil Mattson School. A former member of the Grammy-nominated vocal group, "Phil Mattson and the P.M. Singers," she has also worked as a pianist, including touring as accompanist for singer Bobby Vinton.

Weir's vocal arrangements are published by U.N.C. Jazz Press, Hal Leonard, and Aberdeen Music, and have been performed by numerous vocal groups including Beachfront Property, Voice Trek, Chanticleer, Phil Mattson and the P.M. Singers and M-Pact. Instrumental arrangements and/or compositions have been featured on the Shari Lewis TV Show and the Holland America Cruise Line and her orchestral work has been performed by the Long Beach, Buffalo, Modesto and Pacific symphonies.

As an internationally respected jazz clinician and adjudicator, recent jazz clinics have included presentations for the World Choral Symposium and the National ACDA and IAJE Conferences. Her educational book/CD "Vocal Improvisation" (including practice CD featuring Darmon Meader and Don Shelton) is currently available through Advance Music, Aebersold, Sher Music and Claris Music Services. Weir has served as an ARTS panelist for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and in 1998, she supervised the foreign language dubs for the Dreamworks film Prince of EgyptReservar Hoteles Arendal in Mexico, Greece, Portugal, Denmark, Thailand and Japan.

Jazz Ensemble
Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Jarvis, an Amherst Records artist, has distinguished himself as a multifaceted music industry professional. His solo recordings as a jazz trumpeter and composer have placed high on national air play charts and have won him critical acclaim. Jarvis' early career as a studio trumpeter encompasses over 100 albums for such names as Lou Rawls, Melba Moore, and Michael Jackson.

Live performance credits include Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Bellson, Joe Williams, Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Henry Mancini, Slide Hampton, Kevin Mahogany, Grady Tate, Eddie Daniels, Rob McConnell, and Doc Severinsen. Jarvis is frequently commissioned to compose for various school, military and professional musical groups. He is a contributing editor for The Instrumentalist, in addition to writing for other music trade journals such as Flute Talk, Band & Orchestra Product News, and Jazz Educators Journal. Jarvis has co-authored The Jazz Educators Handbook and The Chord Voicing Handbook, a jazz piano book.

A Yamaha trumpet artist, Jarvis has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Indonesia. He is on the adjunct faculty at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In demand as an honors jazz band conductor, clinician and lecturer, he presents workshops for jazz educators and students of all ages. Jarvis is the music director of the Central New York Jazz Orchestra, serves as jazz coordinator for the Texas Bandmasters Association and is a former Vice-President of the IAJE. He is CEO of Kendor Music, Inc., the first educational music publisher to provide jazz charts written especially for students.

Treble Choir
Dr. Sharon Hansen

Dr. Sharon Hansen is Director of Choral Activities and head of Graduate Choral Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is highly sought after as a guest conductor and clinician both at home and abroad. She has guest conducted numerous State and District Honor Choirs at the high school and collegiate levels, among them the Minnesota Music Educators and the Wyoming Music Educators associations All State Music Festivals and many Illinois District Music Festivals.

Widely known as a conductor and master teacher throughout the United States and in Europe, Hansen is permanent guest conductor for the Romanian National Radio Choir (Bucharest), and has lead guest performances with the Gchinger Kantorei and Bach Collegium-Stuttgart, the Stockholm Conservatory Chamber Choir, the Moldavian and Oltenian Philharmonic Choirs (Romania), and the University of Regensburg (Germany) Symphony Orchestra. Her UW-Milwaukee Concert Chorale made its Carnegie Hall debut in 1997, and her collegiate and professional ensembles have been featured at both MENC and ACDA conventions.

Hansen received the Doctorate in Conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. She is author of the book Helmuth Rilling: Conductor- Teacher, and is currently a member of the Editorial Board of The Choral Journal, where she is editor of the bi-monthly column "On the Voice," dedicated to issues of vocal pedagogy and health. Hansen is the founder and music director of the Milwaukee Choral Artists, a professional vocal ensemble based in the Milwaukee area. Her professional memberships include ACDA, Chorus America, IFCM (International Federation of Choral Music), MENC and NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). She is listed in Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in the World, among others.

Mixed Choir
Dr. Z. Randall Stroope

Dr. Z. Randall Stroope has been the Artistic Director of the Nebraska Choral Arts Society since 1987. He is the conductor of Bel Canto, the most advanced ensemble. He is also Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he holds a Kayser Professorship. He serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University, conducting both the University Chorus and the Concert Choir.

For 15 years Stroope has directed the Nebraska Choral Arts Society (NCAS), inspiring passion and uncovering amazing talent among both children and adult voices. Under his lead, NCAS has expanded from two to nine choirs, totaling over 360 singers.

Stroope is widely known as a conductor, lecturer and composer. Published works include over 30 compositions with Alliance, Mark Foster, Plymouth, Heritage and Chorister's Guild. Choral groups under his direction have given concerts in British Columbia, South Africa, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Austria, France, England, Hungary, Romania and Moldavia.

Born in Albuquerque, Dr. Stroope graduated with a Master's degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Colorado and with a Doctorate in Choral Conducting from Arizona State University.

Stroope has recorded 10 CDs, including one of his own music, titled Passages: The Choral Music of Z. Randall Stroope.