Symphonic Band Guest Clinician: Caroline Beatty
Caroline Beatty is Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Texas State University where she conducts the Texas State Wind Symphony, leads the graduate wind band conducting program, teaches conducting and band literature courses, and provides primary administration and oversight for the comprehensive band program.
Performances under her direction garner consistent accolades from audience members, composers, and fellow performers for their artistry, excitement, beauty, and craft. While honoring the standard repertoire, Dr. Beatty actively invests in the commissioning and performance of new works. In 2019-2020, the Texas State Bands Centennial Music Project encompassed commissions for new works by TXST-affiliated composers Michael Ippolito, Wayne Oquin, Ryan Chase, Jack Wilds, Daniel Montoya, and Ricky Hall to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the bands at the university. Other premiere performances include music by Michael Daugherty, Cynthia Van Maanen, Theresa Martin, Giovanni Santos, Margaret Brouwer, and Alexandra Gardner. The Texas State Wind Symphony has been recognized for musical excellence through invitations to perform at the National Conference of the College Band Directors National Association, the Southwestern Division Conference of CBDNA, and for the Texas Music Educators Association. Dr. Beatty’s teaching has been recognized at the university through receipt of both a Presidential Excellence Award and College Achievement Award.
Dr. Beatty maintains a vibrant conducting and teaching schedule outside of the university. She has led the Summer Conducting School for the Australia Band and Orchestra Directors Association-Victoria as well as served as Chief Adjudicator and Clinician for the Victoria School Music Festival where she enjoyed connecting with over 80 Australian school bands. Dr. Beatty is consistently engaged as conductor for a variety of ensembles throughout the US including recent invitations to conduct Concordia Santa Fe, the World Youth Wind Symphony at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and numerous All-State and regional honor bands.
Prior to her current position, Dr. Beatty held the position of Associate Director of Bands at Texas State University and Northwestern State University-Louisiana. Her secondary school teaching experience includes thirteen years as a high school band director in the Houston area. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the University of Michigan and both a Master of Music degree in Instrumental Conducting and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Beatty serves the profession as President-elect of the Southwestern Division of the College Band Directors National Association and through memberships in the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, and Phi Beta Mu International Band Fraternity.
Jazz Band Guest Clinician: Alex Parker
ALEX PARKER joined the faculty at Baylor in the Fall of 2001 and he is the Director of Jazz Studies of the Wayne Fisher Jazz Program at Baylor University.
He serves as the director of the Baylor Jazz Ensemble, the Baylor Concert Jazz Ensemble, jazz combos, jazz string quartets and he teaches undergraduate and graduate students in several jazz disciplines.
Mr. Parker holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Miami at Coral Gables and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. His background is in jazz writing, jazz performance and jazz pedagogy, as well as trumpet performance and instrumental teaching.
Before coming to Baylor, Mr. Parker was assistant band director and then (beginning in November 2000) head band director at Pflugerville High School. Prior to his position in the Pflugerville Independent School District, he served as band and orchestra director at Fort Lauderdale High School in Florida.
The high school bands with which he has been associated have been sweepstakes winners in both the Texas University Interscholastic League and the Florida Bandmasters Association.
Mr. Parker is a founding director of the Texas Jazz Educators Association and he now serves as the Executive Officer of TJEA. He is also the editor of the Texas All-State Jazz Etudes. He is a past president of the Texas Chapter of the International Association for Jazz Education and he is a charter member of the Jazz Educators Network.
He was a full scholarship recipient at the University of Miami, where he studied jazz with Whit Sidner and conducting with Gary Green, and a merit scholarship recipient at the Eastman School of Music, where his principal teachers were Fred Sturm and Bill Dobbins (jazz) and Barbara Butler (trumpet).
Mr. Parker’s jazz and studio orchestra writing has been performed by many different groups around the country including the Harrisburg Symphony, the US Air Force Band in Washington, DC and collegiate ensembles around the country..
Mr. Parker is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator. He has performed clinics, judged or worked with region and all state jazz ensembles all around Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Peru and Costa Rica. He continues to teach trumpet privately and perform as a free-lance musician.
Mr. Parker also serves as the Director and Coordinator of the Baylor Summer Music Camps.
Mr. Parker received the Baylor University Outstanding Professor Award for Teaching in 2010.