2025 James Madison University VMEA Music Awards

We present this award to an individual who has provided outstanding leadership and service to the music education profession and JMU in the following ways:

• Excellence in leadership in music education at the local, state, or national level
• Significant recognized service to the JMU School of Music and its music education program

Ms. Emily Marek Oyan is in her second year as Director of Bands at Midlothian Middle School and her twenty-fourth year as a music educator. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in teaching and to the mentorship of emerging music educators in Virginia. Before joining the faculty at Midlothian Middle School, Ms. Oyan spent eighteen years as Director of Bands at Lloyd C. Bird High School. She also previously taught at Bailey Bridge Middle School and Nottoway High School. Her ensembles have consistently received superior ratings at Concert Band Assessment and she has led her bands to eight Commonwealth of Virginia Honor Band titles.  

As an alumnus, Ms. Oyan maintains professional relationships with both James Madison University (BM 2002) and Virginia Commonwealth University (MM 2006). She has served as a bassoon instructor at the JMU Summer Band Camps and, in 2025, co-hosted an All-State Double Reed Audition session with Dr. Sue Barber. She performed with Dr. Bruce Hammel and other local bassoonists for the VCU Clarinet and Double Reed Day. In 2021, she served as an Accreditation Process Partner for VCU’s Music Education Program, contributing to the evaluation and enhancement of the university’s teacher preparation program. Ms. Oyan has mentored multiple new performing arts teachers and is a Pre-Service Teacher Clinical Faculty Member at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has hosted numerous practicum students and student teachers from VCU, JMU, and Longwood University.

Ms. Oyan studied under multiple nationally-recognized educators including Robert McCashin, Pat Rooney, Chuck Dotas, Terry Austin, Ed Lisk, Tim Lautzenheiser, Garwood Whaley, and Antonio García. Her ensembles have had opportunities to perform with Reggie Pace, Sue Barber, Antonio García, Mike Goldberg, Earl Shaffer, multiple members of NoBS Brass Band, Dave Matthews Band members Jeff Coffin and Rashawn Ross; and Steve Van Dam of the band Everything. She has commissioned three concert band works with the Skyhawk Band—Saiai no Sensei and Always with Grace by Gary P. Gilroy, and The Sparrow and the Hawk by Steven Barton—and is currently collaborating on a fourth commission for middle school band with Steven Kunka.

Ms. Oyan’s honors include the Chesterfield County Performing Arts Unsung Hero Award, the VCU Outstanding Music Educator Award, the Superintendent’s MERV Award, recognition as a two-time Teacher of the Year finalist, and being named a Conn-Selmer VIP Band Director. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, NAfME, and the Virginia Professional Educators Association. An active leader within the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association, Ms. Oyan has served as a Concert Band Assessment Judge for thirteen years, was a member of the 2025 VBODA Sight Reading Committee, and has hosted the District 3 Concert Band Assessment for seventeen years. She is a frequent guest clinician and conductor throughout Virginia. 

We present this award to a JMU undergraduate or graduate music education alumnus or alumna in years three, four, or five of his or her teaching career and who exemplifies JMU's commitment to musicianship and pedagogy. This recipient demonstrates:

• Effective, comprehensive, innovative teaching
• Service to and emerging leadership in the profession of music education
• Continuing relationship with and support of the music education program at JMU

Sam Campbell is the current director of bands and guitar at Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra, VA. He has been in this role for four years since graduating from James Madison University in 2022.

Under his direction, the FCHS Advanced Wind Ensemble has received multiple Superior ratings at district concert assessment, and the Marching Flucos remain competitive in local, regional, and state competitions. In his time at FCHS, he has prioritized increasing the variety and accessibility of instrumental music groups and general music classes available to studnets, including leading the inception of a high school beginning band program, indoor drumline, and classes in music theory and music appreciation. He also serves VBODA District XIII in a number of capacities, including as head of the committee on the selection of guest adjudicators and conductors, and as the chair of the annual All-District Band event.

In his spare time, Mr. Campbell remains active as a performer with the Cville Band and other small ensembles on multiple brass instruments. He also enjoys cooking, reading, composing music, writing marching band drill, and spending time with his cat, Luna.

We present this award to a JMU undergraduate or graduate music education alumnus or alumna who has taught for at least ten years and who exemplifies JMU's commitment to musicianship and pedagogy. The recipient demonstrates:

• Excellence in music teaching, including the development of comprehensive, innovative programs and curricula
• Service to and sustained leadership in the profession of music education
• Continuing relationship with and support of the music education program at JMU

Marlon Foster served in the United States Air Force from 1984 through 1988. He taught as a band director in the Harrisonburg City Public Schools for 26 years.

Marlon was known for his welcoming smile and endearing laugh. His ability to remember students' and former students' names amazed most. His love of all genres of music was deep, but he held a special passion for jazz. He mentored without being aware of it. He exempli ed a gifted educator with a father's heart. Marlon loved God, family, people, books, music, sporting events, and ocean views.
In Marlon's younger years he played in the Yorktown Fife and Drum Corps. In school he wrestled, played basketball and football. He participated in the York High School Band, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Percussion held a long- term place in his heart since childhood, as a result of his cousin's love of percussion.

Marlon graduated from York High School, in Yorktown, VA, in 1977. Marlon earned his Bachelor of Music in Education and his Master of Music from James Madison University. He served in the USAF Tactical Air Command Band at Langley Air Force Base, VA. He then taught as a band director in the Harrisonburg City Public Schools at Thomas Harrison Middle School and Skyline Middle School, as well as guiding the drumline at Harrisonburg High School's marching band. Throughout his career Marlon taught as adjunct music faculty at James Madison University, Shenandoah University, Eastern Mennonite University, and Bridgewater College. He enjoyed composing music and many opportunities as a guest conductor, clinician, and judge at band events. He taught private drum lessons, and performed in jazz combos and bands in events throughout the state. He was a longstanding member of the Percussive Arts Society. In addition, he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Marlon received numerous awards throughout his lifetime. Some included Outstanding Airman of the Quarter, Teacher of the Year, retired Teacher of the Year, and Hall of Fame recipient from the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association.

We present this award to an individual who has provided outstanding service as a mentor for JMU music students and student teachers through:

• A sustained record of excellence in mentoring JMU music students and student teachers
• A sustained record of interfacing and communicating with JMU student teaching supervisors
• A model of excellence in classroom teaching, recognized at the local and/or state level

Daniel Upton is in his fourteenth year at Harrisonburg High School, where he serves as Director of Bands. He conducts the Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Percussion Ensembles, and Musical Pit Orchestra, and co-directs the Rock City Regiment—a competitive marching band comprising students from both Harrisonburg High School and Rocktown High School, which debuted in fall 2024. The HHS Band program is known for its commitment to both excellence and inclusion. It proudly hosts Virginia’s first United Sound chapter, which performed with the United States Air Force Band in 2024 and celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025. The program has also earned 13 VBODA Virginia Honor Band awards and 15 VMEA Blue Ribbon School recognitions. His ensembles have performed at the Virginia Day of Percussion, Percussive Arts Society International Convention, VMEA Composition Festival, inaugural Virginia Tech Concert Band Festival, and CNU Wind Ensemble Invitational, as well as opening for the James Madison University Wind Symphony in May 2025. They have appeared in the concert halls of Virginia Tech, James Madison University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Christopher Newport University.

An active guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician across Virginia, Upton has held leadership roles in both the Virginia Music Educators Association and the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association. He has served two terms as District V Chair and Representative, coordinated professional development workshops at the All-Virginia event for five years, and presented at the VMEA Conference and the Kennedy Center’s Very Special Arts Integration Conferences. In 2022, Upton was inducted into the Alpha Chi chapter of Phi Beta Mu, International Bandmasters Fraternity. In 2023, he was named to the Daily News-Record’s “10 Under 40” list, recognizing young professionals making an impact in the Shenandoah Valley. In 2024, he received the 10-Year Virginia Honor Band Director plaque and was named District 5 Music Educator of the Year.

Upton earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education (2011) and Master of Arts in Education (2012) from Virginia Tech. During his time there, he performed with the Marching Virginians, New River Valley Symphony Orchestra, Campus Band, and Percussion Ensemble, and served as section leader and President of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble—performing with the Wind Ensemble at both the VMEA Conference and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

He is a founding member and board member of the Valley Wind Ensemble, a group of local music educators and professional musicians from across the Shenandoah Valley, and served as principal percussionist with the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra from 2023 to 2025. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Bridgewater College, directing the percussion ensemble and teaching percussion methods in the music education program.

Upton lives in Harrisonburg with his wife, Gracie, their son, Daniel “Danny” Upton III, and their rescue dog, Rudy.