Mitchell Bender 1934-2013
Mitchell Bender was the founder MSB Publishing. Click here to learn more about musician, composer and directory, Mitchell Bender.
Elliot A. Del Borgo
Born in Port Chester, NY, Elliot Del Borgo holds a B.S. degree from the State University of New York, an Ed.M. degree from Temple University, and an M.M. degree from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, where he studied theory and composition with Vincent Persichetti and trumpet with Gilbert Johnson. In 1973 he was granted the doctoral equivalency by SUNY, and was elected to membership in the American Bandmasters Association in 1993. Mr. Del Borgo taught instrumental music in the Philadelphia public schools and was professor of music at the Crane School of Music, where he held teaching and administrative positions from 1966 to 1995. An award-winning member of ASCAP, he is a frequent consultant, clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator in the United States and abroad. Mr. Del Borgo is an internationally known conductor of bands and orchestras. In addition to his music for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, he has published over 600 compositions for a variety of media. His music reflects the aesthetics of 20th-century musical ideals through its eclectic nature and vigorous harmonic and rhythmic style. In retirement, Mr. Del Borgo frequently worked with students in an educational setting to enhance the overall musical experience for teachers and players at all levels. His tips and clinics for getting the most from rehearsals and performances of young players were in constant demand. Sadly, on May 30, 2013 Mr.Del Borgo died suddenly, he is survived by him family and loving wife, Nancy.
Joseph Compello
Joseph Compello, a native of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, holds degrees in music education from the Peabody Conservatory and Towson University. During his 31 year career as an instrumental music teacher in Maryland, he wrote numerous compositions for his students. In 1994, Mitchell Bender began publishing many of these classroom-tested pieces. Now retired from teaching with well over 100 published works to his credit, Compello continues to draw on his extensive background in music education to compose new music for MSB Publishing and Carl Fischer’s Performance Series. His music for young players is now a model for college curricular study by music education students. A master’s thesis by Abel Borg entitled “The Resourceful and Engaging Compositions for Beginning Band” by Joseph Compello is available at: http://gradworks.umi.com/MR/75/MR75572.html. Compello’s journey from school teacher to internationally published composer was recently chronicled in the Baltimore Sun. His ASCAP award winning music is now performed worldwide in venues ranging from school concerts to Carnegie Hall.
Scott Humphries
Scott Humphries is a native of Alleghany County, Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Music Education from James Madison University and a Master of Arts from Virginia Tech. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Boston University. While in Virginia, Humphries directed bands at both the middle school and high school levels. He worked with the Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra for ten years and taught as a lecturer in music history for Dabney S. Lancaster Community College. He taught at the Virginia Tech Summer Music Camp from 1994-2009, listed as one of the top 200 summer youth activities in the country. Humphries has presented research at the Virginia Music Educators Association Convention, the Music Educators National Conference Convention, and has published research in the international journal Psychology of Music. He is also a published composer of music for concert band and wind ensemble. His compositions have been published by MSB Publishing. He is currently an assistant professor at Manchester University in Indiana, where he is the Director of Instrumental Studies and Music Education, conducting the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and MU Symphonic Band and teaching music education courses. He is a member of the Indiana Bandmasters Association, IMEA, NAfME, CBDNA, CODA and the College Music Society. Humphries remains in demand as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States.
Gary Fagan
Gary Fagan was born and raised in Frederick, Maryland where he remained until graduation from high school. He completed his undergraduate studies at Bridgewater College with a degree in Music Education in 1973 and began teaching middle and high school choral music in Louisa County, Virginia. He attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia from 1974 through 1977 receiving a Masters Degree in Music Education. In 1975 he became a band instructor in Albemarle County, Virginia where he taught until his retirement in 2009. In 1989 Mr. Fagan was elected Central Virginia Outstanding Middle School Teacher by the University of Virginia Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa. In 1999 he received an Outstanding Educator Award from the Virginia Governor’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts. In October of 2001 he received the outstanding educator award from the Piedmont Council of the Arts. He has also been twice listed in “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. He is active in the Music Educators National Conference and the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association. He is also a member of A.S.C.A.P., the Percussive Arts Society, Phi Beta Mu Bandmasters Fraternity, and the National Band Association. He is a percussionist with the Charlottesville Municipal Band and is Assistant Director of that organization. He is active as a band clinician and adjudicator in addition to composing and arranging for band. He is currently serving on the James Madison University Music Education Advisory Council and is supervising several student teachers from J.M.U. He has also recently taught Instrumental Arranging at J.M.U. Mr. Fagan is a contributing author to the recently released book “Musicianship: Composing in Band and Orchestra” published b GIA Publications. He has had over fifty compositions for concert band and string orchestra published by Heritage Music Press, MSB Publishing Co., Grand Mesa Music Publishers, Daehn Music Publications, Ludwig Music, Boosey and Hawkes Publishing, Neil Kjos Publishing and Alfred Publishing. Eight of these have been performed at the prestigious Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.
Donald E. Olah
Donald E. Olah received his Bachelor of Music Education from West Virginia Wesleyan College and his Master of Music in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. He taught instrumental and vocal music in Virginia for thirty years, including schools is Brunswick County, the City of Petersburg, Chesterfield County, and Stafford County. In 1999 he joined the faculty of Spotsylvania County schools as one of three teachers who started the new string orchestra program there. Mr. Olah has written numerous compositions and arrangements for school music groups, primarily middle school string orchestra. His article “Why Not Write Music for String Orchestra?” was published in the December 2002 issue of Teaching Music magazine. He was chosen Chancellor Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2003. He was part of the original faculty of Spotsylvania County’s Freedom Middle School, which opened in the fall of 2003. There he taught orchestra and general music classes until his retirement from teaching in 2009.
Dr. David Campo
Dr. David became Associate Director of Bands and Director of the Lumberjack Marching Band at Stephen F. Austin State University in 2004. In 2012, The Lumberjack Marching Band appeared in the London New Year’s Day Parade, and the SFA Wind Ensemble performed in historic Cadogan Hall on that same trip. The LMB will be featured in exhibition at the Texas 3A State Marching Contest in San Antonio later this year. In addition to overseeing all aspects of the 280-member Lumberjack Marching Band, Dr. Campo is coordinator of undergraduate conducting studies and conducts the S.F.A. Wind Symphony. Prior to his appointment at SFA, he was a Doctoral Conducting Fellow at the University of Oklahoma, where he studied conducting with Dr. William K. Wakefield before receiving his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2007. From 1999 – 2001, Dr. Campo was the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette, where he supervised all athletic bands in addition to conducting the University concert band and teaching conducting. For 15 years, he taught at both the middle school and high school levels in Louisiana, where his bands received state and national recognition for their excellence. Dr. Campo is a published composer and author; he has completed commissions for high schools, universities and professional orchestras, including the University of Louisiana – Lafayette Wind Ensemble and The Acadiana Symphony. He received his Bachelor of Music Education and his Master of Music in Theory and Composition from Louisiana State University. His professional associations include the Texas Bandmasters Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, Phi Beta Mu, Phi Kappa Phi, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Dr. Campo resides in Nacogdoches with his wife Donna, and his daughter, McKenzie.
Dr. Jerry Weseley Harris
Dr. Harris continues to be active as a festival director, adjudicator and composer. He has had an active 37 year career teaching all grade levels, including community choir. Dr. Harris has held many leadership positions in the Oregon Music Educators Association and the MENC. He was the first consultant on Music Education for the Oregon State Department of Education and he served as President of the Northwest Division of MENC. In 1993 he received the “Distinguished Service Award” for the Northwest Division of MENC. He has conducted the Portland Symphonic Choir in rehearsals and concerts. In 1998, he organized and conducted the Northwest Chorale, a forty-voice professional choir. Dr. Harris continues to compose and arrange wonderful pieces of music; MSB Publishing is pleased to be able to add his music onto our list of compositions for string orchestra.
Ray Pancarowicz
Raymond Pancarowicz (Violin/Viola) was Instrumental Music Department Chairman (1987-2007) for the Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1985 he was selected to establish the Music Program for the Governor’s School.
Mr. Pancarowicz has been a member the Richmond Symphony, first violinist with the Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate String Quartet, Assistant Concertmaster of the Virginia Symphony, and a member of the Virginia Opera Association Orchestra.
He performed for many years with the Nova Trio which in 1987 was one of only four piano trios selected internationally to perform in master classes at the Banff Festival (Canada) with Manahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio. A former string and harp instructor with the Hampton and Norfolk Public Schools, Mr. Pancarowicz is the composer and arranger of numerous published works for orchestra and is also active as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator.
He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he received the B. M. degree in 1975 and studied violin with Carroll Glenn.
Mr. Pancarowicz received the M. M. degree in Violin Performance in 1977 from Virginia Commonwealth University.
In 2004 Mr. Pancarowicz was awarded a SURDNA Foundation Arts Teacher Fellowship to attend the Soesterberg International Music Festival in the Netherlands where he pursued advanced violin and conducting studies with Sidney Harth, former concertmaster of the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras.
From 2007-2012 Mr. Pancarowicz was violist with “Phantom, the Las Vegas Spectacular!” at the Venetian Hotel and Casino. Currently, he performs violin with the show “Frank. The Man. The Music.” at the Palazzo.
Matthew Schoendorff
Matthew Schoendorff (B.M.—Music Education and Composition, Western Michigan University; M.M. and D.M.A.—Music Composition, Michigan State University) composes music for an eclectic range of ensembles, voice types, and media. His works have received recognition by the National Band Association’s Young Composer Mentor Project and the National Association for Music Education. His works have been performed on several continents and are listed on many state band and orchestra required music lists. Schoendorff maintains an active composing career and has provided arrangements for the Opera Remix Initiative at the Townsend Opera Company in Modesto, CA. He is the composer-in-residence for the NUCLASSICA ensemble, Theory & Composition Chair at the National Music Institute for Young Artists (currently in affiliation with the Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, MI). He serves as a member of the adjunct faculty at Wayne State University, where he teaches music theory and composition. Select titles are published by Grand Mesa Music Publishers, TRN Music Publisher, and several works by MSB Publishing.
Dr. Andrejs Jansons
Andrejs Jansons was born in Riga, Latvia. During World War II, to get away from the horrors of the Soviet occupation of their homeland his family fled to Germany where they ended up in a displaced persons’ camp in Esslingen near Stuttgart. Some four years later, a relative in Norfolk, Virginia sponsored their emigration to the United State where Andrejs attended school and began to study the oboe. With great esteem, he remembers his high school band director, Sidney Berg, who, incidentally, was a graduate of the University of Michigan. Under Berg’s mentorship he was able to achieve the level of proficiency to receive a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music of which he graduated in 1960.
After several years as oboist with the Baltimore Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, American Symphony, Broadway Theatres, Joffrey Ballet, New York City Opera, Metropolitan Opera and others he went back to school to receive a MM degree in conducting from the Manhattan School of Music. His guest conducting engagements include they Milwaukee Symphony, Philharmonia Hungarica, Nuernberg Symphony, Latvian National Opera, Lithuanian National Symphony, New England Chamber Orchestra and others. He has served as Music Director of the New York Latvian Choir, Bergen Chorale and Fordham University Choirs and as principal guest conductor of the Liepaja Symphony (Latvia) and the Bronx Arts Orchestra of New York.
In 1986 Jansons received a D.Ed. degree in Creative arts, from Rutgers University, majoring in composition. His compositions include eight musicals, works for band, some 50 choral works, folk song settings, chamber music, art songs, orchestrations for the Joffrey Ballet, orchestrations of cantatas, oratorios and an opera, “The Heiress of Vilkad” by Bruno Skulte.
Jansons is presently making his home in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
Scott Whittington
Scott Whittington, a native of Ontario, Canada, attended the University of Toronto, where he earned degrees in both music and education. A recipient of an Ontario Arts Council scholarship, he studied clarinet with virtuoso Joachim Valdepenas. Scott’s intensive studies in arranging, orchestration, conducting, and music pedagogy have led to a successful, multi-faceted music career. Scott has written over 125 compositions and has numerous symphony and string orchestra commissions to his credit. Scott’s work is represented by U.S. publishers; MSB, Kjos, Wingert-Jones, FJH, Tempo, and Ludwig Masters. His active engagement in both adult and youth music education for over 30 years has enabled him to be keenly attuned to various player levels when composing. His writing covers many genres, including full orchestra, string orchestra, concert band, choir, chamber ensembles, solo piano, and the stage. With a fresh and contemporary feel, his engaging music is built on strong melodies and catchy rhythmic content. Equally at home in the fields of classical music and jazz, he is also an avid
piano/vocal interpreter of jazz standards and French and Italian popular vocal music. Scott is a member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC) and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).