Prior to retiring from public school education in 2001 Mr. Bly taught for 30 years at Centreville High School and Lake Braddock Secondary School in Fairfax County, and J. R. Tucker High School in Richmond, VA, and was Concert Band and Orchestra Director at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Currently Mr. Bly is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. Mr. Bly, a native of Carbondale, PA, is a third generation high school band director. He holds a Bachelors degree in Music Education from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, VA, and a Masters degree in Conducting from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Additionally he has studied conducting with Anthony Maiello, Ret. Col. Arnold Gabriel of the United States Air Force Band, Jacque Houtmann of the Richmond Symphony, and Dr. Richard Lert at the American Symphony Orchestra League’s Summer Institute.

Mr. Bly is a past President of the Virginia Band & Orchestra Directors Association, Past President of the Virginia Chapter of Phi Beta Mu, and was a member of the Music Committee for the National Federation of State High School Association in Indianapolis, IN. He has received three Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association, the Philip J. Fuller Service Award from the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association, and has been honored by the Fairfax County School Board and Board of Supervisors on numerous occasions. Mr. Bly is in constant demand as an adjudicator and conductor of Regional and All-State events. In the marching area Mr. Bly adjudicates for Bands of America, USSBA, and Drum Corps International.

Mr. Bly’s Concert and Marching Bands have enjoyed International reputations. Along with the numerous first place awards his Concert Bands have received, his Symphonic Bands have performed on Friday night at the prestigious Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Bands of America’s National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, the Virginia Music Educators In-Service Conferences, and in the Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center and DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, the Legrande Theatre in Quebec, Canada, and the Filene Center for the Performing Arts at Wolf Trap, in Virginia. In addition to the many awards received by his Marching Bands, Mr. Bly’s bands have been a finalist at the Bands of America’s Grand National Championships in Indianapolis, IN, and they have performed half-time shows for the Washington Redskins, the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond as well as performing for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Chicago White Sox baseball teams.

Tom Jenner currently serves as Director of Bands at West Cary Middle School in Wake County, North Carolina. He holds the MME from Florida State University and the BME from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Mr. Jenner has also served as the Director of the Duke University Wind Symphony. Prior to his tenure at West Cary, Mr. Jenner was the Director of Bands at William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh, where his bands received consistent Superior Ratings at district and national festivals. Under Mr. Jenner’s direction, the Enloe Wind Ensemble served as the clinic band for the Carolina Conductor Conference, performed at the first “Ensembles of Excellence” series at Appalachian State University, and was twice selected to perform for the NCMEA Convention. Mr. Jenner is in constant demand as a clinician, adjudicator throughout North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia. He has been “Band Director of the Year” in North Carolina’s Central District, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Central District Bandmasters Association. He has twice served as Staff Development Coordinator for Wake County Band Directors. He is also a founding member and has served on the board of the North Carolina Wind Orchestra. He is a member of the American School Band Directors Association, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the College Band Directors Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Mr. Jeff Harper is currently the Associate Director of bands at Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw, Georgia. Mr. Harper has had the privilege of being a part of the program since the school opened in 2000. While teaching at Kennesaw Mountain High School, the band program has received acclaim through national and regional performances including the Midwest Band and Orchestra clinic, Bands of America, and Winterguard International.

Andrea Brown is currently a DMA Conducting student of John Locke at UNC-Greensboro where she is the conductor of the University Band. She is on a leave of absence from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, where she just completed her fifth year as assistant director of bands and director of athletic bands. Her duties at APSU included directing the “Governor’s Own” Marching Band, Govs Pep Band, and Symphonic Band, teaching marching band techniques as well as administrating the Governors Honor Band Festival, Mid-South Marching Invitational, and the North Tennessee Concert Festival. Brown’s duties also involve assisting with the APSU Wind Ensemble which has had recent performances at the 2008 CBDNA Southern Division Conference in Columbus, GA, and at the 2008 Tennessee Music Educators Association Conference in Nashville, TN, in which she was a guest conductor. She is also a guest conductor on their recently released recording “Aubade” (2008).

Warren Rickart is a nationally recognized marching band and winter guard adjudicator. He is a veteran adjudicator for Winter Guard International, adjudicating their world championships and regional competitions throughout the country during the past 14 years. Mr. Rickart is a member of the Atlantic Indoor Association Adjudicators, where he serves as education director, adjudicates competitions in Virginia and North Carolina, facilitates training clinics, and mentors local judges. He was elected in 2008 to the Hall of Honor for the Atlantic Indoor Association. He is the former chief judge of the Southern States Judges Association and has held memberships in the Mid-East Judges Association, Southern States Judges Association and Gulf Coast Judges Association. He was a member of the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps and Miller’s Blackhawks winter guard and has been visual caption head and color guard director for numerous award winning bands in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida. A graduate of the State University of New York, he currently resides in Washington, DC where he works for The Associated Press as their facilities manager and business manager for technology.

Cheryl Myers is began her pageantry career as a member of the Liverpool High School Marching Band and Winterguard, going on to travel and teach with Marching Auxiliaries as an All-American before performing with the then Open Class Admiral Guard out of Poughkeepsie, NY. In addition, she worked and danced with the Terpsichorean Society at SUNY Oneonta, choreographing for (3) years, while also acting as Captain of the Kickline & Dance Team. Her instructional experience encompasses many Central NY winterguard and marching band programs, including Critical Acclaim, U-E High School, Trumansburg High School and Marcus Whitman.

Currently, Ms. Myers is a member of the NY Federation of Contest Judges and the Atlantic Indoor Judges Association for both Marching Band and Colorguard, specializing in movement and field visual. She has participated as a WGI adjudicator for the past 6 years, and judges indoor colorguard and band contests around the country. She has been the guest clinician at the Loudon County Guard and Dance Camp in Leesburg, VA, and presents clinics to band directors and guard instructors alike on various topics including incorporating a basic movement block into rehearsals, and building a movement program from the ground up. Recently, she was featured in an interview on www.colorguardeducator.com

Ms. Myers lives in the Fingerlakes area outside of Ithaca, NY where she works as a proofreader/editor for a local accounting firm and acts a continuing education facilitator. She continues to pursue her CPA designation, but is far more proud of her primary career: that of raising a future dancer (Emma) and drummer (Jake).

Grady has been judging nationally both marching band and winter guard for many years. He judges for Winter Guard International in the General Effect caption. Grady is a member of the Texas Color Guard Circuit Judge Association were he has served as their Coordinator for the past 11 years. He was a member of the University of Texas Longhorn Band and the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. He has been a visual designer for bands, winter guards and drum lines in Texas. Grady graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and currently resides in The Woodlands, TX (Houston area) where he is an operations manager for Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions.

Mr. Wright graduated from East Carolina University with an undergraduate degree in Music Education. He received his Masters of Music in percussion performance at Northwestern University. Mr. Wright is also an alumnus of Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps from Charlotte, NC. He is currently beginning his 8th year as a full time teacher at West Carteret High School. Under Mr. Wright's direction, the drum line and percussion ensemble are active in various Percussive Arts Society and Winter Guard International events both regionally and nationally. He serves as head marching band director and teaches the two school jazz ensembles. In his spare time he books for and performs with his Latin steel drum band, Panyélo. Mr. Wright is an Innovative Percussion educator and endorses all of their products.

Philip Leisy is a 2003 graduate of Wakefield High School where he played trumpet for 4 years and was part of the initial band program. Mr. Leisy was a member of the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps where he played trumpet for two years and was drum major for two years. Since marching his age-out year with Boston in 2006, he has returned to teach their drum majors. Mr. Leisy graduated from the Unversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007 with a degree in biology. Currently, he works in the Heart Center at WakeMed hospital. In the future he plans on returning to graduate school to pursue a career in medicine. This will be Philip's third year judging for the Heart of Carolina, and he is excited to be returning to his alma mater.