Meet the WMU Trombone Studio 2009-2010
WELCOME NEW STUDENTS!
 |
|
Graduate student Craig Freeman is from Cleveland Heights, OH, where he was a member of the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony and the Cleveland Music Settlement Jazz Orchestra. He attended Bowling Green State University where he studied with Dr. William Mathis and graduated with a degree in Music Education. Throughout his undergraduate studies at Bowling Green, Craig performed in many ensembles, including the Jazz Combo, Wind Symphony, New Music Ensemble, and Marching Band. After graduating he spent a year freelancing and teaching trombone lessons in the Cleveland area.
Craig enjoys, working out, reading, golfing, cycling, and a myriad of other outdoor activities.
 |
|
Eva Hamer is a native of the misty redwood rainforests of Humboldt County, California. In California she can be regularly observed playing jazz at a local coffee shop or with her ska band at the area's all ages music venue. She had the honor of playing with the All-State Band and attending the California State Summer School for the Arts, a month long music program before her senior year of high school which greatly shaped her musical development. As a junior in high school, she also achieved a perfect score on the AP Music Theory Test and continued to graduate in the top 5% of her class.
Eva enjoys jamming, composing, and listening to music she's never heard before and likewise hopes her career to be highly creative. Besides music, Eva enjoys exploring nature, art shows and poetry slams, and attending various other cultural events.
 |
|
Karl Schmidt is an incoming freshman to the trombone studio this fall semester with an anticipated double major in trombone performance and architecture. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he now resides in Commerce Township, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. As a student at Walled Lake Central High School he has received highest academic honors and is a member of the National Honor Society. He has also been very active in his school’s performing arts program. Karl has been first chair tenor trombone in his high school’s wind ensemble since he was a freshmen, and he has performed in his school's marching band and jazz band for all four years. He has also consistently received Division 1 ratings at solo and ensemble and performed in the Michigan Music Conference last year.
Karl notes that he excels in competitive environments. He likes mostly everything, indoor and outdoor activities, being with his girlfriend, and any sort of game. He is a member of his school's French and German club, and he indicates that he’s an easy guy to get along with.
RETURNING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
 |
Visit Hana's MySpace Page |
Junior Hana Beloglavec is a trombone performance major from
Kalamazoo, Michigan. She graduated from Loy Norrix High School and the Kalamazoo
Area Math and Science Center, and finished first in her high school class at
Loy Norrix. She was a three year participant in the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony,
playing principal trombone her final two years, and was 1st chair in the Michigan
All-State Orchestra her junior year. Hana has a number of impressive achievements
to her credit. In 2006 as a high school junior she was named one of three finalists in the International
Trombone Association's prestigious Gilberto Gagliardi/Weril Trombone Solo Competition
for students 18 and under, held in Birmingham, UK, a competition she won in June
2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hana also finished 2nd in the Division I of the US Army Band's National
Trombone Solo Competition, held at the Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington,
D.C. in March 2007, and she was selected as the winner of the 2009 Division II competition. She was also chosen as the low brass winner in the competitive 2008 Yamaha Young
Performing Artist's Competition. Locally she won the Kalamazoo Concert Band's
Youth Solo Competition in 2006 and the Grand Rapids Symphonic Band's Youth Solo
Competition in 2007. She was invited to perform as soloist on the Chamber Music
Festival of Saugatuck's concert series in August 2007. At WMU she is a member
of the Lee Honors College.
Hana enjoys rubiks cubing, hanging out with friends, watching movies, and spending
far too much time on the computer.
 |
ERIC BOWMAN E-mail Eric |
Eric Bowman is a junior trombone performance major from Portage,
Michigan. He is a graduate of Portage Northern High School, where he was named
the winner of the John Philip Sousa Outstanding Senior Musician Award. While
at PNHS he was a member of the award-winning Northside Jazz Quintet, and was
featured in various venues throughout southwest Michigan, including Kalamazoo's
New Year's Fest and Bronson Park's summer concert series. The quintet, which
was responsible for raising over $8,000 for the Portage Northern Band program,
was invited to perform for Governer Granholm this past year. Eric was selected
as the Outstanding Soloist at the 2007 Western Jazz Festival. He has a number of other impressive achievement to his credit. In 2008 he was also
named one of three finalists in the prestigious Gilberto Gagliardi/Weirl
Trombone Solo Competition, a competition sponsored by the International Trombone
Association (ITA) that was held in Salt Lake City. And in 2009 he was selected as one of three finalists in TWO of the competitions sponsored by the ITA, including the Robert Marsteller Solo Competition and the Carl Fontana Jazz Trombone Competition. He was later named the winner of the Carl Fontana Jazz Trombone Competition, held in Aarhus, Denmark in June 2009.
In his free time he enjoys both tennis and table tennis, basketball, poker, Karl
Pilkington's mind, old-school videogames and, of course, music.
 |
|
Lauren Figura is a junior music education major from Rochester, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Lauren is a graduate of Stoney Creek High School where she participated in the Key Club and graduated Magna Cum Laude. She was active in a variety of vocal and instrumental ensembles at her high school and church, and she also was a member of the Oakland Youth Orchestra. Lauren has several awards and honors to her credit, including being selected as the winner of the Award of Academic Excellence her sophomore year. She also won the James Joseph Memorial Jazz Scholarship her senior year through the Rochester Community School Foundation. Lauren was recently named one of three finalists in the Motor City Brass Band Solo/Scholarship Competition, which awarded her a cash prize. At WMU she recently served as President of the School of Music's CMENC chapter. She is co-section leader of the Bronco Marching Band, is an accomplished euphonium player, and she is currently a member of the Lee Honors College. During the summer 2009 she will be working at Interlochen Arts Academy as a Front of House staff.
Lauren enjoys arranging and composing music, reading, walking in the rain, and just about any Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor.
 |
|
David A. Hepinstall II was born in Orange
County, California and raised in Zeeland, Michigan. A 2005 graduate of Zeeland
High School, he is a senior majoring in music education. In high school Dave
was the recipient of his high school band's Louis Armstrong Jazz Award and was
a pep band student director his final year. He was also a member of the District
X Honors Band. Currently, Dave is actively involved in the WMU Symphonic Band as the band's manager, plays lead in the WMU Jazz Lab Band, and he is the co-section leader in the Bronco Marching Band, a position he has held since 2006. Dave has served as a music arranger for Zeeland High School's Marching Band since graduating. As a Zeeland band staff member, he had the privilege of traveling with the band to Washington D.C. for their Memorial Day Parade performance in 2009. Dave is also a frequent
staff member for various band camps throughout southwest Michigan and was a counselor at WMU's summer music camp, Seminar, in 2008 and 2009.
A Detroit Tigers fan, he played high school baseball
for four years and was selected All-Conference Honorable Mention his last year.
In addition to teaching music after graduation, Dave hopes to work as a professional arranger for marching band and other various instrumental ensembles and coach baseball in the public schools. In his spare time he enjoys watching the Tigers, playing fantasy baseball, music arranging, watching TV on "hulu.com," watching Drum Corp DVD's, and most of all spending quality time with his girlfriend, Chrissie.
 |
|
Adam Lenz is a double major in Music Composition and Anthropology from Parchment, Michigan. He has played with the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra, the Parchment High School Band, and the Battle Creek Youth Symphony and has participated in side by side concerts with the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestras. As a composer, Adam has had music performed in the New Sounds Festival at WMU, in Yerevan, Armenia, and has several forthcoming performances as the result of commissioning projects. Adam plans to pursue graduate studies in ethnomusicology and historical musicology with a focus on Soviet period chamber music from the Caucasus and Central Asia. In June 2009, he traveled to Yerevan, Armenia to conduct research that the Aram Khachaturian House-Museum and the Komitas Conservatory of Music on University grant funding. The works collected will be presented in his Honors College Thesis concert in Spring 2010 and with his new chamber ensemble Muzika Russe. He serves as Vice President of the Society for Central Eurasian Studies at WMU and is active as a research assistant on a number of faculty research projects.
When he has spare time, Adam is an amateur botanist and assists with WMU’s Orchid collection in addition to his personal orchid collection. He is a member of the Dunes-Kalamazoo Orchid Society and will present a lecture on the Orchidaceae Family for the Michigan Botanical Club in Fall 2009. He also enjoys traveling, painting, spending time with friends, and reading about soviet music and politics.
 |
|
Brian Massey is a senior majoring in both instrumental and
choral music education. A graduate of Portland High School in Portland, Michigan,
Brian was a member of both the All-State Band and Choir, and he was drum major
with his high school band his senior year. As an athlete he ran both cross
country and track and field, and won all-state honors in both. He was also
very involved in theatre and in his church's youth group. At WMU Brian is the
co-section leader of the Bronco Marching Band trombone section. He is also
involved with Kappa Kappa Psi, Campus Crusade for Christ, and the Justice Brass
Quintet.
When not involved in his college music studies Brian enjoys working out, writing
original songs, and hanging out with his girlfriend. He is also on the staff
at Jamestown Reformed Church where he is a worship leader.
 |
|
Alyssa Madeira entered the studio during the spring semester 2009, double majoring in music education and German. She is a native of Romeoville, Illinios, a suburb of Chicago. As a high school trombonist she was invited to attend the district All-Star Jazz Band four years in a row, playing lead the last two. Alyssa was also a member of the Southwest Prairie Conference Honor Band, and she was invited to perform at the Fox Valley Music Festival. At her high school Alyssa received the Outstanding Freshman Award, and as a senior the Outstanding Marching Band Award. She was one of 91 high school seniors throughout the nation invited to become a member of the 2008 Inagural U.S. Army All-American Bowl Marching Band which played during the All-American Bowl football game in San Antonio, Texas. Alyssa was a member of the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps from Toledo, Ohio from 2006 to 2008, touring the U.S. and Europe. She is a two time WGI World Champion in the PIA category with Pioneer Indoor. In addition to her talents on trombone, Alyssa has played piano for 12 years. She has earned Division I ratings at solo and ensemble competitions, arranged and performed pieces for various concerts, and has served as an accompanist for various instrumentalists and musicals.
In her free time she enjoys listening to a wide variety of music, watching movies, and traveling.
 |
|
A native Californian most recently from Sanford, Michigan, Kirsten
Schaffert is a sophomore with an
interests in both instrumental and vocal music education.
An honorable mention selection in the prestigious 2009 International Trombone Association's Gilberto Gagliardi Trombone Solo Competition, Kirsten performed with the Central Michigan University honors
band at age 15 and, for her final two years at Midland High School, she studied with Dr. Robert
Lindahl, trombone professor at CMU. Kirsten
was a two time Michigan State University Honors
band member, a three time Michigan Youth Arts Festival
All-State Orchestra participant (including principal
trombonist for 2008), and she toured Europe two summers
with the Blue Lake Orchestra, the second year as principal
trombonist. Kirsten loves marching band and was drum
major her junior and senior years of high school. As a high school student in Midland she played
in the jazz band, Midland Concert Band, Chemical City
Band and the trombone choir, "Just Trombones."
Kirsten is also vocally accomplished. Her soprano voice
was frequently heard in the Midland High School Meistersingers,
Women’s Ensemble, at church, and before various sporting
events where she would sing the National Anthem. She recently
played Sarah Brown in her high school's production of "Guys
and Dolls" and hopes to have the chance for more
theater experience. (See a YouTube clip of Kirsten singing
with the Midland High School Orchestra here)
Kirsten is the youngest of three and enjoys hiking, scrapbooking
and baking cookies.
 |
|
Mai Lan Vo is a senior bass trombonist from Muskegon, Michigan majoring in music education. As a student at Reeths-Puffer High School she was a member of the Michigan All-State Band. At WMU she is active in many ensembles, works as a Concert Band librarian, and is a webmaster for the Bronco Marching Band. She is also a member of CMENC.
In her spare time Mai Lan enjoys visiting with family and friends, volunteering at her middle school and high school band program, conducting, reading, and photography. Mai Lan is an avid band lover, and she enjoys practicing the trombone.
 |
|
Lauren Westerby is a sophomore at WMU. As a high school student of Kip Hickman of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, she was a member of the Flint Youth Symphony for three years, joining the orchestra on a 2008 trip to France. Lauren was an All-State Orchestra participant her junior year. She was also drum major of the Davison High School Marching Band, president of her high school's symphonic band, and pep band secretary for the past three years. Other honors include playing 1st chair in the 2008 District 3 Honors Band. Currently she is a drill instructor for the Bronco Marching Band. Lauren has a number of non-musical achievements to her credit. In 2007 she placed 1st in a speak-off competition which allowed her to serve as a United Nations Youth Delegate with other international delegates. She is also an active volunteer.
In her spare time Lauren enjoys dance, singing, listening to classic rock music, and just being completely random. She also enjoys reading traveling, and spending time with friends.
RETURNING GRADUATE STUDENTS
 |
|
Bass trombone graduate student Evan Dorner is a 2008
graduate of the University of Illinois School of Music in Urbana-Champaign.
A native of Urbana, Illinois, he played in the award winning Urbana High
School Concert Band, as well as receiving All-State honors. During his
time at the University of Illinois, Evan played in the symphonic band,
jazz band, and orchestra, while studying with Elliot Chasanov and jazz
trombone legend Jim Pugh.
In his free time Evan enjoys tennis, bicycle riding, and
other sports. His true passion, however, is hanging out with friends,
watching movies, and playing video games.
 |
|
Graduate student Jeremy Marks is a native of Wakeman, Ohio where he graduated from Firelands High School. While in high school, Jeremy was the principal trombonist of the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra his senior year and received the “Outstanding Musician” Award. Jeremy received his undergraduate degree in 2008 from Bowling Green State University in music performance. While at B.G.S.U., he studied with Dr. William Mathis and Garth Simmons, principal trombonist of the Toledo Symphony. Jeremy has also benefitted from master class performances and seminars with Keith Jackson, William Kimball, Wesley Jacobs, Jeannie Little, and Pete Ellefson. Jeremy has been the principal trombonist of the Bowling Green Symphony Orchestra of Bowling Green, OH for two years. Currently, Jeremy maintains a studio through Marshall Music of Kalamazoo teaching tenor and bass trombone.
Jeremy enjoys playing golf, basketball, hockey, football, riding dirt bikes and ATVs, and just being outdoors.
 |
|
Graduate student Brian Wagner completed
his undergraduate degree in music education from WMU in
2002. While at Western he performed with the University
Symphony Orchestra. Since graduating he has taught music
in the Covert Public Schools and at both Trinity Lutheran
School in Paw Paw and at Kalamazoo Christian High School.
Brian has been a member of the Kalamazoo Concert Band and
has been a freelance performer in the Kalamazoo area. Currently
he teaches several applied trombone students in Kalamazoo.
Brian performs on a regular basis at Calvary Bible Church
in Kalamazoo and enjoys helping take care of his two kids,
Becca (age 4) and Micah (age 2). For leisure he enjoys
running, camping, and playing guitar.