Band - John Watkins

John M. “Jay” Watkins, Jr. serves as the Associate Director of Bands, Assistant Professor in the School of Music and as Director of the “Pride of the Sunshine” - The Gator Marching Band. He conducts the Symphonic Band and teaches classes in advanced conducting, rehearsal techniques, and music education. Professor Watkins has also been very active commissioning new works and producing recordings for the Wind Symphony, Clarinet Choir and other ensembles at The University of Florida. Prior to his appointment at UF, he served as Assistant to the Director of Bands, Assistant Director of the Longhorn Band, and Conductor of the Longhorn Basketball, Volleyball and Concert Bands at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was the principle guest conductor of the Symphony Band and the show designer for the Longhorn Band. He spent eight years as the Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at Charleston Southern University (SC), where he was also the Coordinator of Instrumental Music Education. Mr. Watkins is a recipient of the National Band Association’s “Citation of Excellence”, and was the founder, Music Director and Conductor of The Lowcountry Winds, a professional wind ensemble based in Charleston. He has also served as the Director of the U.S. Navy Drum & Bugle Corps and the Director of Instrumental Music at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and as a teacher in the public schools in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia.

Mr. Watkins is a native of Falls Church, VA and earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Music Education degrees from George Mason University and Valdosta State University. He holds professional memberships in numerous organizations, served as South Carolina State Chair and Southern Division Chair for the National Band Association, is an elected member of Phi Beta Mu, the International Bandmaster’s Fraternity, and an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Mr. Watkins remains very active as a show designer, clinician, adjudicator and recording producer throughout the country.

Chorus - Jason Locker

Jason Locker currently serves as Director of Choral Activities at Bloomingdale High School in Tampa, Florida. Prior to this position, he taught for 10 years in both Florida and Georgia. Choirs under his direction consistently receive Superior Ratings at performance evaluations, and have accepted invitations to perform in numerous distinguished music festivals and venues – including multiple university choral festivals, appearances at Walt Disney World, and as a part of the National Festival Chorus in Carnegie Hall. His choirs have been named Grand Champions at several regional music festivals and competitions. Mr. Locker’s students are selected each year to participate in NAfME and ACDA Honor Choirs at the state, division, and national levels.

Mr. Locker received the Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Florida and the Master of Music Education from Florida State University. In 2006, he received National Board Certification in Choral Music Education (Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood). He is a member of The National Association for Music Education, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Vocal Association, American Choral Directors Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, and the prestigious Florida Blue Key Leadership Honorary. He has served on the Florida Music Educators Association Board of Directors, as Clinic Chair of the Florida Vocal Association, as Florida ACDA Repertoire & Standards Chair for Male Choirs, and as Alumni Coordinator for Province 33 (North & Central Georgia) of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. A frequent clinician, guest conductor, and adjudicator, Mr. Locker was most recently a member of the renowned Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. He currently serves as Florida ACDA Repertoire & Standards Chair for Jazz/Show Choirs, and as an online Choral Mentor for the National Association for Music Education.

General Music - Maureen Butler

Maureen Butler received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education and Performance at Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University) and her Master of Arts degree in Creative Arts at New York University. She has been teaching music for seventeen years in the Mountain Lakes District in New Jersey: at the Lake Drive School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children in Mountain Lakes, where she has designed and implemented a curriculum for students with hearing loss, and at Wildwood Elementary School where she teaches grades pre-K through 3. As the NJMEA resource person for students with special needs, she presents workshops throughout the state and writes about special education topics as they apply to the music classroom for the state journal TEMPO. A former church music director, she currently freelances on organ and piano in northern New Jersey.

Guitar - Duke Sharp

After 30 years as a professional musician and a decade as a music teacher, Duke Sharp was inspired to write the resource book he searched for but had never found. Garage Band Theory was created as a comprehensive, practical guide for beginning and experienced players alike. Duke plays and teaches several instruments, and wanted a book that was not restricted to just one instrument and that would be useful to teachers and students alike.

Duke Sharp has produced five CDs of mostly original music. 'Yucca Pie, Duke Sharp and Friends' described by one reviewer as "a unique blend of western, Latin and jazz sounds," 'Two Grass Crew, Gavotte in A Minor' a collection of duets with Mike Parsons, an outstanding musician playing mandolin and violin, 'Pickin After Midnight In The Moonlight' a solo project, 'Bozeman All Stars, Contrafactually Yours' a jazz-lite CD featuring some of Bozeman, Montana's finest musicians , and 'Matkatamiba' - music inspired by Grand Canyon rafting trips.

Jazz - Peter Perry

Peter Perry is a lifelong Maryland resident, and is currently in his sixteenth consecutive year as Instrumental Music Director at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland. Here he conducts the orchestra, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, concert band, marching band, and pit orchestra. These ensembles consistently receive critical acclaim on local, state, and national levels.

Mr. Perry is currently working on a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music Education, under fellowship, at Shenandoah Conservatory. He holds a Masters Degree in Music Education-Instrumental Conducting Concentration and a Bachelor of Science Degree-Instrumental Music Education from the University of Maryland, where he was awarded the prestigious Creative and Performing Arts Scholarship in Music. In 2006, Mr. Perry was awarded a Japan Fulbright fellowship and participated in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program.

Mr. Perry is an active guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, lecturer, author, composer, and performer. He was the vice president of the Maryland state unit of the International Association for Jazz Education and was the director of the Montgomery County Public Schools Senior Honors Jazz Ensemble for seven years. This is an auditioned ensemble comprised of the best high school jazz musicians in the county. He is a contributing reviewer for the Music Educators National Conference Music Educators Journal. Mr. Perry has also served as trumpet professor at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland and has presented sessions at the Maryland Music Educators Conference, Music Teacher's National Association Conference, and the MENC Eastern Division Conference.

Orchestra - Brian Powell

Brian Powell is a professor of Double Bass and String Music Education at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music. He has a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance and a Masters degree in Teaching from Indiana University. He is also a doctoral candidate at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Powell is a former member of The New World Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas. He has also performed with the Louisville Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Powell has received recognition in several solo competitions, including winning the Aspen Music Festival Double Bass Solo Competition.

As an educator, Mr. Powell has taught string students from elementary to collegiate levels, working with well over two hundred string students in his program every year. He was formerly the director of orchestras at Eastern High School in Louisville, KY, and on the string faculty at Bellarmine University as the double bass instructor. His orchestra at Eastern was selected to perform at the KMEA State convention in 2004 and 2011. They have also performed at the United Nations in New York City. He has received Teacher of the Year honors in his district and held offices in the Kentucky chapter of the American String Teachers Association. He remains an active performer and clinician throughout the United States.