Please click on names for full informtaion.
Conductors/Directors/Head of Program
Chamber Choir — Christopher Kiver, Penn State School of Music
Jazz Combo- Marko Marcinko, Penn State School of Music
Music Technology- Steven Rice, Penn State School of Music
Piano-Timothy Shafer, Penn State School of Music
Wind Ensemble — Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, Penn State School of Music
Music Composition - Baljinder Sehkon, Penn State School of Music
Applied Faculty
Bassoon — Daryl Durran, Penn State School of Music
Clarinet — Anthony Costa, Penn State School of Music
Flute — Naomi Seidman, Penn State School of Music
Horn — Lisa O. Bontrager, Penn State School of Music
Jazz Guitar/Electric Bass - MacKinlay Himes
MacKinlay has been both a performing jazz guitarist and guitar teacher for over 15 years in the central Pennsylvania area. He has most notably played in the Rick Hirsch 4 and the Dan Yoder Quartet as well as his own trio. Mac is a Ph.D. candidate in Music Education at the Penn State School of Music. He received a masters in music composition from Penn State and B.A. in music from Peabody Institute. Mac has also been a faculty member at the School of Music for 10 years directing jazz ensembles, teaching an online jazz history course, guitar methods and jazz guitar lessons.
Jazz Piano Performance, Drum Set and Rhythm Section-Marko Marcinko, Penn State University
Music Technology - Jonathan Dexter, Penn State University
Oboe — Andreas Oeste, Penn State School of Music
Piano - Timothy Shafer, Penn State School of Music
Percussion — Michael Schutz, McMaster University of the Arts, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Saxophone — David Stambler, Penn State School of Music
Trombone -Mark Lusk, Penn State School of Music
Trumpet -Michael Mergen
Michael Mergen performs and teaches in the Washington, DC area. He has appeared with groups such as the National Symphony Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the Choral Arts Society of Washington. He has worked with conductors, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Osmo Vanska, and John Williams. For the past four summers, he appeared with the Blossom Music Festival Band as Solo Cornet under the direction of Loras Schissel. In 1999 he joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band as a trumpet and cornet player. As a founding member of the Valor Brass, he has performed recitals and given master classes around the country. In 2015 The Valor Brass released the album Inaugural including Jim Stephenson’s new work Chase Sequence , a Valor Brass commission, and some traditional works for Wind Ensemble newly arranged for the quintet by Tom Holtz. With his brother Paul, Michael commissioned composer Jim Stephenson to write Hanging by a Thread, a concerto for Trumpet, Tuba, and Wind Ensemble. Michael has taught trumpet at Elizabethtown College and maintains an active studio in the Alexandria, VA area. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the Eastman School of Music and The Catholic University of America. Michael Mergen’s appearance is in an unofficial capacity and neither "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, the U.S. Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense or the U.S Government has endorsed this activity.
Tuba/Euphonium -Hiram Diaz