The Authors of Sound Innovations

Robert Sheldon is one of the most performed composers of wind band music today. He is also the lead author of Sound Innovations for Concert Band. A recipient of numerous awards from the American School Band Director's Association, Phi Beta Mu and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, his compositions embody a level of expression that resonates with ensembles and audiences alike. His music is performed around the world and appears on many international concert and contest lists. Mr. Sheldon regularly accepts commissions for new works, and produces numerous publications for concert band each year.

Sheldon's schedule includes many appearances as guest conductor for All-State and Regional Honor Bands. He also frequently appears as a music education clinician, and has presented sessions and seminars at numerous colleges and universities as well as state Music Education Association conferences.  He has served as a conductor and clinician throughout the United States, as well as Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany, Australia, and China, and has conducted performances of his works in New York's Carnegie Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, The Sydney Opera House and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

Called one of the most exciting and exhilarating voices in music education today, Peter Loel Boonshaft has been invited to speak or conduct in every state in the nation and around the world. Honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education," Dr. Boonshaft has recently been named Director of Education for Jupiter Band Instruments.

Dr. Boonshaft is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. He is also co-author of Alfred Music Publishing’s new method book series, Sound Innovations for Concert Band and Sound Innovations for String Orchestra. He is currently on the faculty of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, where he is Professor of Music and Director of Bands.

Pedagogue, composer, and teacher trainer Bob Phillips is an innovator in string education. During his 27 years of teaching strings in Saline, Michigan, Bob built a thriving string program of over 700 students and was honored as teacher of the year 9 times by regional, state, and national organizations. A recognized expert in large group pedagogy and alternative styles, he has presented clinics throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.

Phillips has authored over 21 book series that include 130 books for use in the classroom, including Alfred Music’s revolutionary new method, Sound Innovations for String Orchestra and Sound Innovations for Concert Band as well as the ground breaking Philharmonic series. He has had over 180 works published for orchestras and bands and is an award winning ASCAP composer. His conducting resume includes professional, all-state, and youth orchestras. As the former Director of String Publications for Alfred Music and Past-President of ASTA, Bob was inducted into the University of Michigan School of Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

Percussionist/composer Dave Black received his Bachelor of Music in percussion performance from California State University, Northridge. He has traveled around the world, performing and recording with a wide variety of well-known entertainers and shows.

A prolific composer and arranger, Mr. Black has had more than 60 of his compositions and arrangements published by most of the major music publishers, and many of those have been recorded. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and commissions, including 26 consecutive ASCAP Popular Composer Awards, two GRAMMY Award^® participation/nomination certificates, the Percussive Arts Society President’s Industry Award, a Modern Drummer Readers Poll award (educational book), two Drum! Magazine Drummie! awards (educational books), and a certified Gold Record award for the sale of more than 500,000 copies of Alfred’s Drum Method, Book 1. In addition, many of his compositions have been used as source/background music on numerous TV shows and movies, including the film Drumline.

As one of the biggest selling percussion authors in the world, Mr. Black is the author and/or co-author of over 50 books, including Alfred’s Drum Method (the world’s current bestseller) and Sound Innovations for Concert Band. His books and music are used and performed by young people all over the world, with combined sales now totaling two million units. He is the former Vice President & Editor-in-Chief, School and Pop Publications for Alfred Music.

Dr. Scott Watson has taught instrumental and elective music in the Parkland School District (Allentown, PA) for 35 years and serves as adjunct professor for Cairn University, University of the Arts, Moravian College, and at Central Connecticut State University's Summer Music Institute.

He is a frequently commissioned composer with approximately 100 published pieces for band and strings at all levels, including chamber works. His music has received recognition from the American Composer's Forum, American Music Center, Phi MU Alpha Sinfonia (among others), and been performed at venues around the world, including the Academy of Music (Philadelphia), the Midwest Clinic (Chicago), and the White House (Washington, D.C.). Watson is an exclusive composer for Alfred Music, a contributor to the Sound Innovations concert band series, and an Alfred Clinician.

Watson has presented numerous workshops/clinics for music educators around the U.S. and in Australia and Canada, frequently serves as guest conductor for honor and festival bands, and is the author of the highly regarded music education text, Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity (©2011, Oxford University Press). To learn more, please visit scottwatsonmusic.com.

Composer, conductor, clinician, and educator Chris M. Bernotas (b.1969) earned a Bachelor of Music degree from William Paterson University and a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College. As Director of Instrumental School Methods and Repertoire for Alfred Music, he draws upon his 28-year experience as an instrumental music teacher in New Jersey, and brings an energetic and enthusiastic approach to the world of music education. As a widely published composer and author, he is co-author, along with Dr. Peter Boonshaft, of Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Young, Intermediate, and Advanced Concert Band. He is also co-author, along with Dave Black, of Alfred’s ground-breaking percussion method, Sound Percussion.

As an active composer and arranger of concert band, string orchestra, and marching band music, Mr. Bernotas is highly sought after nationwide as a composer of commissioned new works, as a guest conductor, as an adjudicator, and as a clinician on a variety of music education topics.

He resides in New Jersey with his wife Cristina and three kids.

Brian Beck is a band director in the Duncanville Independent School District. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Texas A&M University-Commerce and a Master's Degree in Music Education from the University of Houston.

Mr. Beck is very active in composing and arranging for both instrumental and vocal ensembles, many featured in honor band concerts, state marching contests, recordings, and choral concerts. He is a member of the Association of Songwriters, Composers, Arrangers, and Publishers (ASCAP), and his works have been published by Southern Music Publications, Anthem Publications, and Alfred Publishing. Other affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association, where he serves as the Region 20 Middle School Band Chairman, and Texas Band Masters Association.

Mr. Beck lives in Cedar Hill with his wife, Dr. Kelley Beck, a Neuropsychology Resident at Integra Hospital of Plano, and dogs Daphne and Bailey.

Kirk D. Moss, PhD, serves as Interim Dean for the College of Arts & Humanities and Professor and Chair of the Department of Music & Theatre at University of Northwestern—St. Paul. He is a past national president of the American String Teachers Association, five times chaired the ASTA National Orchestra Festival, and held office on ASTA’s Executive Board. Moss has appeared as a guest conductor, clinician, or adjudicator in nearly 40 states. The University of Florida School of Music awarded him an Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award, and he has received six ASTA National Citation for Leadership & Merit awards.

With 12 years of experience teaching elementary, middle, and high school orchestras, groups under his direction have earned distinction at state, national, and international events. One of his former high schools honors him by annually awarding a college string scholarship in his name. He has coauthored method books for Alfred Music’s Sound Innovations series, as well as numerous string orchestra arrangements.

Dr. Stephen Benham is Associate Professor of Music Education and Associate Dean at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. He has degrees from the University of Minnesota, the University of Michigan (M.M.), and the Eastman School of Music (Ph.D.). At Duquesne, Dr. Benham teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education and string pedagogy.

Prior to this, Dr. Benham held teaching positions in both public and private schools in Oregon, Michigan, and New York. Dr. Benham maintains a very active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, speaker, and adjudicator, with professional appearances in more than 30 states and more than 20 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia, including more than 200 clinics, multiple residencies, and extended workshops.

Dr. Benham is in high demand as a clinician, conductor, and speaker. His areas of expertise include string pedagogy, methods, curriculum, and assessment. His research interests include cultural issues in music education, increasing access to music instruction in underserved populations, and culturally relevant pedagogy, and his work has been featured in numerous international research seminars and conferences.

Dr. Benham is also an active consultant in the development of new music programs in communities without current string programs across the US, in addition to providing expertise to new music education projects in Europe and Africa. He is an internationally-recognized leader in the music education profession, having served in leadership positions in several states and is past-president of the American String Teachers Association.

Matt Turner is widely regarded as one of the world's leading improvising cellists.  Equally skilled as a pianist, Turner performs in myriad of styles and has shared the stage with Cape Breton fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster, avant-garde musicians Marilyn Crispell, Peter Kowald, Pauline Oliveros, Hal Rammel, Guillermo Gregorio, Scott Fields, and John Butcher, country musician Wanda Vick, singer-songwriter LJ Booth, and jazz musician Bobby McFerrin to name a few and has performed in Canada, Europe and Asia.  He appears on over 100 recordings on Sketch/Harmonia Mundi, Nato /Hope Street, Ayler, Clean Feed, Illusions, Music and Arts, Accurate, Polyvinyl, Cadence Jazz and others and has recorded with jazz violinist Randy Sabien, goth vocalist/pianist Jo Gabriel, singer-songwriters Mark Croft and Tret Fure, punk artist Kyle Fischer, Kitty Brazelton’s chamber rockestra Dadadah, alt-country band Heller Mason and with the Pointless Orchestra. As a leader, Turner’s recordings appear on Illusions, Stellar, O.O. Discs, Asian Improv, Penumbra, Fever Pitch, Geode, Tautology, and Meniscus Records. Turner is a Yamaha and D’Addario Performing Artist and currently performs and records with Bill Carrothers, Randy Sabien, Hal Rammel, Janet Planet, and Karmadog. Turner teaches in the Jazz & Improvisational Music Department at Lawrence University.

Becky Bush, Orchestra Director at Jenison Public Schools in Jenison, Michigan, was String Acquisition Editor and Suzuki Strategist at Alfred Music Publishing, Adjunct Professor of Music Education at Grand Valley State University and Calvin College, St. Cecilia Music Center Youth Orchestra Director, and founder of the Hudsonville Public Schools orchestra program. She co-authored Sound Differentiation for Beginning String Orchestra published by Alfred Music. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University, she has been Music Director at the Michigan ASTA String Camps, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camps, and Phillips Family Fiddle Camps. She has presented mulitple sessions at The Midwest Clinic, the National ASTA Conference, Ontario Music Educators’ Association Conference, Texas Music Educator’s Assocation Conference, New York State School Music Association Conference, other state music conventions and has been an active guest conductor throughout Michigan.

Sarah Lenhart, Middle School Orchestra Director at Hudsonville Public Schools in Michigan, was previously a beginning strings teacher in Greenwich, Connecticut and Naperville, Illinois. She also taught high school orchestra in Livonia, Michigan and 7th–12th grade strings in New York where her ensembles consistently earned first division ratings. These experiences have provided Lenhart with insight in applying string pedagogy to a wide variety of teaching situations.

A graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Music Education, and of Western Connecticut University with a Masters of Education, she has presented numerous times at the National ASTA Conference and the Michigan Music Conference, was conductor of the Ann Arbor School of the Performing Arts Youth Orchestra, has guest conducted throughout Michigan, and has been the music director at many alternative styles camps and the MASTA Strings Camp. Lenhart co-authored a book titled Sound Differentiation for Beginning String Orchestra published by Alfred Music.

Recipient of the American String Teachers Association Elizabeth A. H. Green Award for a distinguished career in string teaching, James Palmer is an editor, arranger, and featured clinician for Alfred Music. He is also the Orchestra Director and Fine Arts Department Chairman at Allatoona High School in Acworth, Georgia; the Music Director for the Youth Orchestras of Greater Columbus in Columbus, Georgia; and the Senior Conductor at the Florida State University Summer Music Camps, a post he has held since 1996. Mr. Palmer has served as the Orchestra Director at Manatee High School in Bradenton, Florida; Music Department Chairman and Orchestra Director at Cypress Lake Center for the Arts in Fort Myers, Florida; and Fine Arts Department Chairman and Orchestra Director at Chattahoochee High School in John’s Creek, Georgia. In addition to his teaching career, Mr. Palmer has also served as conductor with several youth orchestras.

Jim Palmer has received the Teacher of the Year Award in three separate high schools and has been inducted into the Florida Collegiate Music Educators Hall of Fame. He is a frequent clinician having conducted All State and honors orchestras in several states. Mr. Palmer has also maintained a career as a professional violist serving as Principal Violist for the Sarasota Pops Orchestra, section violist, and substitute principal for the Southwest Florida Symphony and Chamber Orchestra as well as a freelance violist in the Atlanta area.

David Pope is an Associate Professor of Music Education and Chair of Professional Studies at Baldwin Wallace University’s Conservatory of Music. In addition, he serves as a senior conductor and co-director of Baldwin Wallace Conservatory’s String Orchestra Camp. As an active adjudicator and clinician, he has conducted numerous all-state orchestras, regional honor orchestras, university summer camps, and served as a guest clinician for various orchestra programs throughout the United States. Dr. Pope has presented string pedagogy clinics and his research at state, regional, national, and international conferences.

He currently serves as the editor for The String Research Journal and on the review committees for Update: Applications of Research in Music Education and Research Perspectives in Music Education. Dr. Pope recently served as a co-editor and compiler for Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, Volume 4. He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Music Educator Award from the Yale Symposium for Music in Schools, the Emerging String Researcher Award from the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), the Presidential Service Award from ASTA, and the Outstanding Young Music Educator Award for the state of Tennessee. He taught middle and high school orchestra for 12 years in the public schools.

Bill Purse is a full professor, chair of the guitar and music technology departments at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh), where he was instrumental in the development of two new majors: undergraduate music technology degree and graduate music technology degree programs. Purse received his bachelor of music and master of music at Duquesne University, as well as an EduCom (Education Communication) grant for study with Dr. Carol Lennox at Mills College; multimedia development in 1990. Additionally, Purse has studied privately with Howard Massey at the Center for Electronic Music in New York, and with guitar virtuoso Pat Martino. Purse has received Duquesne University’s 1996 Presidents award for excellence in scholarship and a 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award for guitar pedagogy and performance. He is also an honored member of the Lexington Who’s Who and was initiated into the Duquesne University Office of Research’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

Purse is the chair of the NAfME/NAMM/GAMA (National Association for Music Educators / National Association of Music Merchants / Guitar / Accessories Marketing Association) Guitar Task Force, which was created to revitalize classroom guitar in K-12 education. This successful task force has retrained more than 3,200 teachers, who in turn have taught more than 780,000 young guitarists. Purse is also the editor of the NAfME publication “Strategies for Teaching Guitar in Middle and High School.”

Aaron Stang is a performer, author and video producer. His numerous guitar publications include his latest release Sound Innovations for Guitar; The 21st Century Guitar Method, and Guitar Expressions.

In 2005 he was a featured artist on the Grammy award-winning, Best Pop Instrumental Album, Henry Mancini, Pink Guitar. In 2007 Aaron was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Duquesne University for outstanding achievement in guitar performance, pedagogy, and publishing.

Aaron has also produced numerous DVDs including Jerry Lee Lewis’s Killer Piano, featuring rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis. Killer Piano was premiered at a six day tribute to Jerry at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Guitarist, clinician, and teacher Jason Yeary holds undergraduate (B.M.) and graduate (M.A.) degrees from Middle Tennessee State University, achieving an Outstanding Achievement Award from the MTSU School of Music. He has also completed additional graduate work at Eastern Kentucky University and undergone training in the Orff Schülwerk.

Yeary has performed across the United States as a guitarist in jazz, country, and rock groups and performed on numerous recordings. He has served as a clinician for universities and school districts in Tennessee and Kentucky. A former elementary music teacher in Nashville, TN, Yeary currently teaches elementary music in Lexington, KY.

For over a decade Scott Lang has been educating and entertaining audiences of all ages. As a nationally known leadership trainer, Scott conducts over 120 workshops annually and works with some of our countries finest educational groups and performing ensembles.

As a highly decorated veteran teacher of sixteen years Scott's bands have had many notable performances including the Pasadena Tournament of Rose Parade, the Music Educators National Biennial Conference and for the President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton.

Scott is a well regarded author with over ten publications to his credit including; Seriously?!, Leader of the Band, Leadership Success, Leadership Travel Guide, Leadership Survival Guide, Sound Leadership and is the creator of the highly successful Be Part of the Music series.

Mr. Lang currently resides in Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife Leah and their sons, Brayden, Evan and their highly irrational Golden Retriever Rexie. He has breathed in and out approximately 264 million times and plans to keep on doing so until he doubles that number.