Conducting

Thomas McCauley is currently the Director of University Bands in the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University in New Jersey where he conducts the Montclair State University Wind Symphony, the Symphonic Band, and teaches both graduate and undergraduate conducting. He has held similar positions in the states of Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, in addition to teaching high school instrumental music in Nevada for nine years. Composers including Karel Husa, David Gillingham, Michael Daugherty, Joseph Turrin, Bruce Yurko, Robert Aldridge, Morten Lauridsen, Armando Bayolo, Eric Whitacre, Jake Runestad, and O’Neal Douglas have praised his work. Dr. McCauley has appeared as a clinician at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago on three different occasions. Each November, he hosts and co-teaches the Weekend Wind Conducting Symposium at Montclair State University, with special guest clinicians and participants from around the world.

Dr. Thomas McCauley is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician, and ensembles under his direction have appeared at regional, national, and international conventions and conferences. McCauley has collaborated with artists including Dame Evelyn Glennie, Arturo Sandoval, Imani Winds, Manhattan Brass Quintet, Decoda, The Westerlies, Monarch Brass, and Phil Smith among many others. In February of 2019, Dr. McCauley led the Montclair Wind Symphony in concert at the 2019 College Band Directors Association national conference in Tempe, Arizona. And the appearance of the Montclair State Wind Symphony at the WASBE International Conference in Prague, Czech Republic in July of 2022 was the first in the school’s history.

Dr. McCauley’s book titled, Adventures in Band Building (or How to Turn a Less-Than-It-Could-Be into a More-Than-It-Should-Be) is published by G.I.A. Publications. He has been published in The Instrumentalist magazine, several state music magazines, and in the second edition of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Vol I published by G.I.A. publications. In 1995, the Nevada Music Educators Association named Dr. McCauley Music Educator of the Year and in 2006, the Indiana Music Educators Association honored Dr. McCauley with an Outstanding University Music Educator Award. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the New Jersey Band Association, is the New Jersey State Representative of the College Band Directors National Association and is the former New Jersey State Representative of the National Band Association. He is also an active member of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and the National Association for Music Education, in addition to serving as a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician. Dr. McCauley holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Music Education from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and earned a Doctor of Music in conducting from Northwestern University.

Heather J. Buchanan, PhD, conducts the 170-voice Chorale, 60-voice University Singers, and 24-voice Vocal Accord. Choirs under her direction have won critical acclaim for their “vibrant sound,” “eloquence”, and for singing with the “crispness and dexterity of a professional choir.” Her choirs have collaborated with many international artists including Meredith Monk, Mícheál ÓSúílleabháin, Tarik O’Regan, Joseph Flummerfelt, Sarah Hopkins, Chen Yi, members of the Vienna Philharmonic strings, Richard Alston Dance Company, and conductors Neeme Järvi, Jacques LaCombe, John Maucceri, and Susie Benchail Seiter with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Buchanan holds degrees from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music (Australia), Westminster Choir College of Rider University (U.S.), and the University of New England (Australia). A licensed Andover Educator, she teaches Body Mapping and somatic pedagogy for musicians. Her publications include co-editing and compiling Teaching Music through Performance in Choir (GIA), a chapter in Teaching Singing in the 21st Century (Springer), a DVD Evoking Sound: Body Mapping & Gesture Fundamentals (GIA), and choral octavos in the Evoking Sound Choral Series (GIA). A vibrant teacher, dynamic performer and passionate musicians’ health advocate, Dr. Buchanan is in demand as a guest conductor, somatic educator and choral clinician in the U.S. and abroad.

New York City-based conductor Kyle Ritenauer is quickly becoming a rising presence in the classical music world. Kyle is currently on the conducting staff of the Manhattan School of Music, conducts regularly at The Juilliard School, and works with orchestras across the nation. This season Kyle makes appearances as a finalist for music director of both the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and NYC’s Camerata Notturna. Ritenauer has worked with organizations including Opera de Montreal, Orchestra Metropolitan, Des Moines Opera, the Utah Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, among many others. Kyle is a graduate of The Juilliard School.