Directors, Conductors, & Faculty 2025
BCFAM Director: Leigh Hurtz ([email protected])
BCFAM Co-Directors: Jim Latten and Anthony Poehailos
BCFAM Co-Directors: Jim Latten and Anthony Poehailos
BCFAM 2025 Conductors
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Week 1
June 8-14, 2025 Retired Colonel Michael Colburn of "The President's Own" Marine Band, Conductor |
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Week 2
June 15-21, 2025 Retired Colonel Timothy Holtan of "Pershing's Own" Army Band, Conductor |
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2025 Faculty
The principal players for each section of the Band Camp Concert Band will be faculty members from several colleges, university and distinguished professional musicians. They not only play in the large ensemble but also teach master classes on their respective instruments. This distinguished group of musicians help camp participants improve their instrumental techniques and musicianship. BCFAM strives to provide only the best faculty for it's participants.
Read more below about the faculty members for BCFAM 2025.
LeAnne Wistrom
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Instructor of Flute, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Principal Flutist, Erie Philharmonic Orchestra Head of Woodwinds Chamber Music and Resident Flutist, Luzerne Music Center, 1983 - 2010. |
Katherine deGruchy
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Katherine received her Bachelors and Masters in Music Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with the renowned oboist John Mack of the Cleveland Orchestra. She was in Mexico City for 17 years where she played oboe and English horn with the Mexico City Philharmonic and other orchestras. While there she performed the Mexican debut of the Persichetti English horn Concerto. Katherine also performed with the Sinfonietta Ventus wind octet in the Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC. In 2005, she returned to the Dayton area where she continued her performing career subbing with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Opera Project of Columbus and other orchestras. In 2006 she helped create the Burning River Winds with her husband John. They were featured as guest artists at the 2012 IDRS Annual Conference and performed the debut of a piece commissioned for them at the 2022 Conference.
For 16 years Katherine was the Adjunct Instructor, Applied Oboe at Wright State University. Currently she teaches oboe in several local schools, including the Stivers School for the Arts. |
John deGruchy
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John is a native of Long Island, N.Y. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland
Institute of Music, where he studied under Cleveland Orchestra principal bassoonist George Goslee. He has also earned a Masters of Music from Rice University, studying under of Benjamin Kamins. John served as Second Bassoon in the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra from 1988-1996. He has also performed extensively throughout southwest Ohio and the Midwest, including with the Cincinnati Opera and Ballet, The Springfield Symphony, The West Virginia Symphony, and the Opera Project Columbus. Most recently, John has performed as principal bassoon with the Lima Symphony, the Southwest Ohio Philharmonic, and also the Butler Philharmonic. John and his wife Katherine were featured as guest artists at the 2012 IDRS Annual Conference with their trio the Burning River Winds and performed the debut of a piece commissioned for them at the 2022 Conference. He also is on the adjunct faculty as bassoon instructor at the Stivers School for the Arts. |
Anthony Poehailos
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Adjunct Faculty in Music, Susquehanna Music
DM, Florida State University MM, Pennsylvania State University BM, James Madison University Dr. Anthony Poehailos is a clarinetist and music teacher residing in central Pennsylvania. He currently serves as principal clarinetist of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra and Williamsport Symphony Orchestra. He is also a versatile utility clarinetist, with professional experience on bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, and saxophone. He won First Prize in the International Clarinet Association’s 2018 ClarinetFest Orchestral Audition Competition in Oostende, Belgium, which included both principal and bass clarinet excerpts. Anthony has recently appeared as a soloist with the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, Susquehanna University Wind Ensemble, and the Band Camp for Adult Musicians. He is also an active chamber musician, often seen performing with the Stonebridge Winds based in State College, PA. An educator at heart, Anthony serves on the faculty at both Susquehanna University and Bucknell University, teaching clarinet lessons, chamber music ensembles, clarinet choir, music theory, and general music appreciation. In the summers, he can be found working at the Band Camp for Adult Musicians, and will be assisting the camp as Co-Director starting in June 2025. Anthony graduated from Florida State University in 2020 with his doctorate in clarinet performance. His previous degrees include an M.M. in performance from Penn State and a B.M. in music education from James Madison University, where he was named the valedictorian of his graduating class. His teachers include Deborah Bish, Jonathan Holden, Anthony J. Costa, Janice L. Minor, Anastasia Christofakis, and James Tobin. He holds memberships with the International Clarinet Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. |
Audrey Cupples
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A diverse performer with extensive solo and ensemble experience, Audrey Cupples has traveled throughout the United States performing in such prestigious concert venues as New York's Carnegie Hall and Boston's Symphony Hall. Audrey was also part of an historic 18-day concert tour of the Soviet Union in 1990 that took her to Kiev, Moscow, Leningrad, Lviv, and Minsk. In 1992, she traveled to England for another concert tour that took her to the White Cliffs of Dover and London, where the final concert was given at Royal Albert Hall. In 2001, Audrey had the opportunity to perform in Lucerne, Switzerland at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) convention.
During her career, she has appeared with celebrities Marvin Hamlisch, Teresa Stratas, Kathleen Battle, Lynn Redgrave, Shirley Jones, Aretha Franklin, Trisha Yearwood, Al Gallodoro, and Benny Carter; has performed under famous conductors including Leonard Slatkin, John Williams, Giancarlo Guerrero, Gunther Schuller, Frederick Fennell, and Donald Hunsberger; and has performed for many famous dignitaries including the late President Reagan, President H.W. Bush, President Clinton, President G.W. Bush, President Obama, the late Yitzak Rabin, Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin, South Africa's President Nelson Mandella, and Pope Benedict XVI. Audrey was the baritone saxophonist with the East Coast Saxophone Quartet, who, in 1995, released their first album, Americana Suite. Audrey has appeared with the National Gallery Orchestra, the Arlington Symphony, and the McLean Orchestra; and has presented clinics and master classes at various universities and conventions including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Loyola University, All-Eastern Convention, Mid-Western Convention, and the Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, where her saxophone ensemble arrangements have frequently been performed by the Inter-Service Saxophone Ensemble. In 2014, she was commissioned by the Marine Band to write arrangements for an Inter-Service Saxophone Ensemble Concert honoring the bicentennial of Adolphe Sax. A 1986 graduate of the Eastman School of Music and a recipient of the prestigious Performer's Certificate, she played principal saxophone with the Eastman Wind Ensemble on Wynton Marsalis's Grammy-nominated album, Carnaval. In 2000, Audrey received her master's degree in music and, in 2008, her doctorate of musical arts, both from the University of Maryland, College Park. In 1999, Audrey released her first solo album, Sunshine and Tears, featuring a variety of styles, colors, and emotions. In 2001, she was invited to become a Yamaha Artist. Since then, she has written articles for the Yamaha Educators Series, and given recitals, master classes, and clinics across the country. In 2002, Audrey was a featured saxophonist on the cover of The Saxophone Journal, where she gave an in-depth interview about herself and her career. In 2009, she wrote an article about her experiences performing for various Presidents of the United States for the summer issue of Phi Kappa Phi Forum. From 1988 until her retirement in 2014, Audrey was the first and only woman saxophonist in "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, where she was a featured soloist on both soprano and alto saxophone. In 2014, she retired from that position, after 26 years of service. |
Joe Walcyk
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Bio coming soon!
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Fred Marcellus
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Fred Marcellus is a native of the Washington, D.C. area and is an active teacher, clinician, adjudicator, soloist, and freelance trumpet player. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Wichita State University.
He is on the faculty of George Washington University where he is the instructor of Trumpet and teaches privately for the Washington Brass Institute. He is the personnel contractor and member of the Washington Ballet Orchestra and was one of the first call substitute players with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Opera Orchestra for over 25 years. From 1991-2000, he was a Soloist and Assistant Principal Cornet of the “President’s Own” Marine Band and is presently finishing his military career as the First Sergeant with the Band of the Nation’s Capital, the 257th Army Band with the DC National Guard. As a soloist, he performed over 130 solos with the US Marine Band on four national tours. He was a featured soloist with the American Ballet Theatre in NY and with the Wichita Symphony and at the Mid West Band Clinic and NY Brass Conference. In the Washington D.C. area, he has performed with many groups including the Washington Chorus, Master Chorale of Washington, the Choral Arts Society, the Alexandria Symphony, the Chesapeake Orchestra, the Wolf Trap Opera, the Dominion Brass, the Virginia Grand Military Band, and the Capital Wind Symphony. Throughout his career as a freelance musician, he has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Baltimore Opera, the Chautauqua Symphony (N.Y.), the Wichita Ballet Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, the Eugene Symphony, the Heidelberg Opera Orchestra in West Germany, the University of Maryland Faculty Brass Quintet, the Missouri Chamber Orchestra, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Eastman Brass Quintet, and he was a member of the Disney All-American College Orchestra. He is on numerous recordings with the US Marine Band, including a solo feature on the Marine Band’s “On Tour” CD. He has recorded with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Washington Choral Arts Society, and on live broadcasts with the National Symphony, Washington Opera Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony, and the Chautauqua Symphony. Prior to joining the “President’s Own” Marine Band, he was a member of the Wichita Symphony and the Wichita Faculty Brass Quintet in Wichita, Kansas. |
Van Parker
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Van Parker enjoys a dynamic career as a highly sought-after orchestral and chamber musician, soloist, recording artist, new music collaborator, and music educator. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, they have been featured as a recitalist throughout the Great Lakes region and perform frequently with the Akron, Ashland, Firelands, Lima, Mansfield, and Youngstown Symphonies, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, and Cleveland Opera Theater.
Van is an advocate for the works of living composers and has participated in premieres of works by Eric Whitacre, Lewis Nielsen, John Wineglass, and Deborah Phelps, from whom he commissioned the piece Cui Bono, a duet for horn and violin. They are also a frequent performer on historical instruments as a member of Orchestra19, an ensemble dedicated to period performance of 19th century music, and as a member of the Evelyn Dunbar Early Music Festival they have performed Niccolo Piccini’s 18th century opera, La Buona Figliuola. This performance marked the opera’s first fully-staged presentation in the United States using period instruments, pitch, and tuning. Van has toured internationally with Ensemble du Monde and is a member of New York’s Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra. They are also principal horn with the Charleston, SC-based Colour of Music Festival Orchestra, a unique ensemble showcasing the talents of black musicians from around the world. Currently, Van is on faculty at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood, Ohio and serves as a brass coach for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony and Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra, in addition to being an assistant director of the All-Ohio State Fair Band. They received their M.M. from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, their B.M. from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. |
Phil Franke
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MGySgt PHIL FRANKE recently retired from the United States Marine Band after 30+ years of service. Originally from Quincy, IL, Phil has a degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois, playing under the baton of Dr. Harry Begian. His private teachers include Charles Winking of Quincy College, along with Dan Perantoni and Dr. Robert Gray, both with the University of Illinois.
MGySgt. Franke enlisted in the Marine Band in 1981 as a euphonium player. He then switched to principal trombone player for 8 years before completing his service back on euphonium, with his last 8 years there as section leader and principal player. With the Marine Band, MGySgt. Franke played for every US President since Ronald Reagan at many White House events and ceremonies. He has performed hundreds of concerts with the Marine Band as a featured soloist on both euphonium and trombone throughout the United States and a dozen countries on several tours through Europe and the former Soviet Union. MGySgt. Franke has also played with many ensembles including the National Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and Harrisburg Symphony as well as numerous College and University bands across the U.S. |
Luke Spiros
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After 26 years of service Luke retired as principal euphonium and featured soloist with the “President’s Own”, U.S. Marine Band. Luke was a pioneer in making the euphonium a household name and is accountable for over 500 public clinics and solo recitals in his lifetime. Luke joined the faculty of Band Camp For Adult Musicians in 2005 and has been a powerhouse of musical wealth and advice to all.
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Will Hurtz
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Bio coming soon!
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Charles Ebersole
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Charles Ebersole (Chuck) is a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He has a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Music in Tuba Performance from Temple University with graduate study in conducting. He began his teaching career in the parochial schools of Cambria County, Pennsylvania before accepting the position as band director at Fleetwood Area High School in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1985. There, Chuck directs the two concert bands, two jazz bands, and the marching bands, along with teaching music electives and coaching jazz combos and chamber ensembles.
Mr. Ebersole has performed with the Johnstown Civic Concert Band, the Erie Philharmonic, Altoona Symphony, the Berkshire Brass Quintet, Lancaster British Brass Band, Reading Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia. He also performed as the featured tuba soloist with the Ringgold Band from 1986 to 1992 before taking time off to spend more time with his family. In 1979, he married his wife, Linda, and together they were blessed to raise six children. They also have five grandchildren. An active member of Fleetwood Bible Church, Chuck teaches Sunday school, helps with the children’s AWANA program, and serves on the church board. His many interests include reading, listening to music, cooking, exercising, visiting his children, long walks and conversations with Linda, fishing (especially with his grandchildren), and gardening. Mr. Ebersole’s favorite marches are National Emblem, March of the Belgian Paratroopers, March Grandioso, and Sousa’s King Cotton March. His favorite band composers are Gustav Holst and Frank Ticheli, and his favorite Broadway musical is “Les Miserables.” |
Jim Latten
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James Latten, professor of music (percussionist/conductor), first joined the Juniata faculty in 1997 as an adjunct percussion instructor. In 2002 he returned in a full-time role as Director of Instrumental Music and Director of the College Wind Symphony, and was named Outstanding Faculty Member in 2008. In addition, he directs the "Percussion at Juniata" program, and instructs academic music courses including a team taught Musical Acoustics course in the Physics department. Originally from Wellsville, New York, Latten holds a Ph.D. in Music Education (2003) from Penn State University, a Master of Music Education with wind conducting emphasis (1990) from Indiana University Bloomington, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education (1986) from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, where he performed as soloist on the Creston Concertino with the college Wind Ensemble. At Penn State he served for three years as graduate assistant with the band program, including the famed Penn State Marching Blue Band and both basketball pep bands, Latten studied percussion with Richard Talbot, Rob James, William Roberts, and Dan C. Armstrong, and wind conducting with Ray Cramer, Dennis Glocke, Mark Scatterday, Rodney Winther, and Jack Stamp.
Latten taught high school bands and grades 5-12 percussion in New York State public schools, and has guest conducted bands and percussion ensembles in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, and served as an instructor with the Penn State Indoor Drumline during 1997-2000 (including their 2000 WGI Percussion Independent Open championship year), the Juniata Valley HS (PA) drumline, the Wellsville (NY) HS drumline, as well as the Syracuse Brigadiers and Rochester Crusaders drum and bugle corps. He performed as a percussionist with the 1985 world champion Garfield Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, which included a masterclass performance with Leigh Howard Stevens, and has twice performed the Yuyama Divertimento for Alto Saxophone and marimba (4- and 6-mallets). Dr. Latten is currently a member of National Association for Music Education, College Music Society, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, New York State School Music Association, Percussive Arts Society, and College Band Directors National Association, in which he served (2007-2013) as national chair of the Small College/Community College Task Force and (2017-2020) co-editor of the publication The Small Band Program: A Collegiate Director’s Resource. He serves as an adjudicator for New York State School Music Association, Music In The Parks, and Tournament of Bands. In addition, he performs as Principal Percussionist with the Altoona Symphony Orchestra and the Raystown Woods woodwind ensemble, conducts the Raystown Wind Orchestra, and teaches in the State College Concert Percussion Academy, which he founded in 2006. Spare time is dedicated to researching and learning of Christian truth, family board games and activities, disc golf, sightseeing, and woodworking. |
Leigh Hurtz
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Leigh is a native of Illinois where she got her degree in Music Education from Illinois State University. Leigh first attended Band Camp For Adult Musicians in 2009 where she immediately knew she had found her “happy place.” Leigh teaches Middle School music at Young Scholars Charter School in State College, PA.
As an active euphonium player, Leigh performs with and is President of the Board of Directors for the State College Area Municipal Band and the Little German Band of State College. She performs with the Raystown Wind Orchestra, Below Centre Tuba and Euphonium Quartet and is the assistant conductor of the Bellefonte Community Band. After several years of working closely with the founder of BCFAM John Fleming, Leigh has been instrumental in keeping Band Camp running smoothly. In her spare time, Leigh enjoys bike riding Rails to Trails. |
