Conducting

Conducting Faculty and Ensemble Directors

	Troy Bennefield, Assistant Director of Bands, "Spirit of Houston Marching Band" and Cougar Brass
	David Bertman, Director of Bands M.M., University of Houston; B.M.E., University of Oklahoma; former Associate Director of Bands, Haltom High School, Haltom City, TX; active as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the region; numerous awards and honors for bands under his leadership; member, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, Phil Mu Alpha.
	Matthew Dirst, musicology; Director, Collegiu m Musicum First American to win major international prizes in both organ and harpsichord; first prize, American Guild of Organists National Young Artist Competition; second prize, Warsaw International Harpsichord Competition; publications include a number of articles on the music of J. S. Bach; author of a forthcoming book, Bach and the Public Sphere, for Cambridge University Press.
	Ryan Gabbart, Assistant Director of Jazz Studies A lifelong student of music, Ryan received both his undergraduate and masters degrees (music performance and music theory, respectively) from The Moores School of Music at The University of Houston.
	Charles Hausmann, Director of Graduate Choral Studies Director, Houston Symphony Chorus; many appearances as choral clinician and guest conductor; chorus preparation for Robert Shaw, Christoph Eschenbach, Helmuth Rilling, Roger Wagner, Neville Marriner, Edo De Waart and many others; choirs have received acclaim at major American music conventions and at festivals in the United States, Mexico and Europe; co-author of a textbook on choral music and has written articles for several music journals.
	Franz Anton Krager, Director of Orchestras Artistic Co-Director, Virtuosi of Houston; former Music Director, Brazos Valley Symphony & Sinfonietta; Guest Conductor, Houston Symphony, Romanian & Kazan State Philharmonics, Chetham's Symphony Orchestra & Musicfest International Orchestra (UK), Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, Akademisches Orchester Leipzig, Honolulu & Florida West Coast Symphonies, Riverside Philharmonic (CA); chamber orchestras of Stratford (Principal Guest Conductor) & Leamington England, Grosseto Italy, Columbia Missouri, Round Top Texas; ballet & modern dance companies of Houston and Oakland (CA); Lichfield & Aberystwyth International Arts Festivals (UK), Lunatica, Festival Sinfonico & Scarlino Castello Music Festivals (ITALY), Interlochen, Texas Music Festival, Shostakovich 2000 Festival General & Artistic Director; recordings, Albany Records.
	Noe Marmolejo, Director of Jazz Ensembles Active jazz and classical trumpet performer; active adjudicator and clinician in Houston area; former conductor, Houston Youth Symphony and Ballet Orchestra; director, Jazz Institute of the Texas Music Festival, as well as festival brass ensemble coach.
	*Robert Mayes, Director of the Moores School Symphonic Band* (email)** Former director of bands at University of Wyoming; taught public school at Lee High School in Midland, Texas; assistant director of bands at Texas Tech; UH bands under his direction have performed in France, Ireland, and Japan, as well as numerous sporting events throughout the U.S.
	Brett Mitchell, Music Director-Moores Opera Center Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra; former Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony; and cover conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra. Mitchell has led performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; The Philadelphia Orchestra; the Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Oregon, National, Memphis, Peoria, and Frankfurt Radio symphonies; the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and the Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra. Mitchell has also acted as musical assistant and cover conductor for The Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and The Philadelphia Orchestra. He made his European debut in 2004 with Romania's Brasov Philharmonic and his Latin American debut in 2005 with the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM in Mexico City. He holds degrees from The University of Texas, Western Washington University. Participant in the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C.; studied extensively with Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival and Kurt Masur as a recipient of the inaugural American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation Scholarship. Mitchell was also one of five recipients of the League of American Orchestras' prestigious American Conducting Fellowship from 2007 to 2010.
	Jeb Mueller, Director of University Men's Chorus, Concert Women's Chorus Director of University Men's Chorus, Concert Women's Chorus, helps prepare opera choruses, and teaches choral music education courses. In addition to his teaching duties, he is an active clinician, adjudicator, and conference presenter. Mueller taught high school choral music in the Houston area for six years. His choirs consistently earned superior ratings at contests and were twice chosen the Overall Best Choir at state and national choral festivals. Dr. Mueller holds degrees from The University of Miami, The University of Texas, and Texas Tech University.
	Buck Ross, Producer/Director, Edythe Bates Old Moores Opera Center Has staged productions for the Houston Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Houston Symphony, San Antonio Opera, Kentucky Opera, El Paso Opera, Utah Opera. For many years he was Director of Dramatic Studies for the Houston Opera Studio and co-director of the apprentice program of the Des Moines Metro Opera. Librettist for opera adaptation of E.M. Forster's A Room With a View with music by Robert Nelson. Author of English singing versions of several operas including Don Pasquale, La Finta Giardiniera, and Orpheus in the Underworld. He holds degrees in music and theatre from Bucknell University, and an MFA in stage direction from the University of Minnesota where he was assistant to H. Wesley Balk.
	Rob Smith, composition and theory; Director, AURA Contemporary Ensemble D.M.A. in composition, University of Texas at Austin. Fulbright Grant recipient to Sydney, Australia, where he studied with Peter Sculthorpe. Taught at Australia's University of Wollongong. Awards: National Band Association, Luigi Russolo International Electronic Music Competition, Society of Composers Inc., National Association of Composers in the USA, ASCAP; Selected commissions: American Composers Forum (Continental Harmony), New York Youth Chamber Music Program; works performed thoughout the US and abroad. Smith is director of AURA, the Moores School of Music's contemporary music ensemble.
	Betsy Cook Weber, Director of Choral Studies Director of Moores School Concert Chorale and the Concert Women's Chorus; served for seven years as Assistant/Associate Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus; successful music teacher in the public schools at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels, during which time choirs there won numerous competitions and awards; active at local and national levels as a conductor, presenter, and clinician; several of her editions of choral works are in current publication; degrees from North Texas State University, Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ), and University of Houston.