Brian Balmages is known worldwide as a composer and conductor who equally spans the worlds of orchestral, band, and chamber music. His music has been performed by groups ranging from professional symphony orchestras to elementary schools in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Sydney Opera House, Toronto Centre for the Arts, and many more. He is a recipient of the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association, won the 2020 NBA William D. Revelli Composition Contest with his work Love and Light, and was awarded the inaugural James Madison University Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Visual and Performing Arts. In the same year, he was commissioned by his other alma mater, the University of Miami, to compose music for the inauguration of the institution’s 6th president, Dr. Julio Frenk. His music was also performed as part of the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service, which was attended by both President Obama and Vice President Biden.

As a conductor, Mr. Balmages enjoys regular engagements with all-state and regional ensembles as well as university and professional groups throughout the world. Notable guest conducting appearances have included the Midwest Clinic, Western International Band Clinic, Maryborough Music Conference (Australia), College Band Directors Conference, American School Band Directors Association National Conference, numerous state ASTA conferences, Teatro dell’Aquila (Italy), and others. He is an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association and has taught instrumental conducting at Towson University where he also served as Assistant Director of Bands and Orchestras. Currently, he is Director of MakeMusic Publications and Digital Education for Alfred and MakeMusic.

Benjamin Bergey is associate professor of music at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) and Director of Orchestra and Choirs. He is the assistant conductor for the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival as well as music director of the Rapidan Orchestra in Orange, VA. He is also the advisor of the new Music and Peacebuilding Major at EMU.

Dr. Bergey was named “40 Under 40” in Yamaha’s 2024 Music Educator Award, received the 2023 Excellence in Teaching Award at EMU, and won 2nd place in the American Prize for Orchestral and Choral Conducting in the University division. He is also active as a guest conductor and clinician, conducting honor and festival orchestras and choirs, and leading many resourcing events for worship leaders.  

His doctoral research focused on how ensemble music can be a tool in peacebuilding by bringing diverse people together for building empathy and dialogue, using two groups in Israel and Palestine as examples. He then started and now advises a new major at EMU called Music and Peacebuilding. He regularly gives presentations and trainings on the use of music in peacebuilding.

He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting at James Madison University, where he was assistant conductor with the Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Opera Orchestra.

Taiwanese conductor and educator Dr. Chun-Ming Chen joined the University of South Dakota Music Department faculty as Director of Orchestral Activities in Fall 2024. Chen's conducting experience spans the professional and academic worlds. Outside the University, Dr. Chen has served as cover conductor of the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra since Spring 2025. Over his career, he has worked with ensembles ranging from high school and college ensembles to youth and professional orchestras. He has performed with musicians such as the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble New York Voices, pianists André Watts and Ching-Yun Hu, and violinist Rachel Barton Pine. Musicians have credited Chen's rehearsals as highly efficient, and audiences have described his performances as extremely passionate.

Previously, Dr. Chen served as Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Evansville Music Conservatory, Conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Music Director of the Heartland Symphony Orchestra in Little Falls, MN, and Interim Conductor of the Grinnell College Symphony Orchestra in Grinnell, IA, and the Coe College Symphony Orchestra in Cedar Rapids, IA. He has appeared as a guest conductor with the Hsinchu Philharmonic Orchestra, Miaoli Wind Ensemble in Taiwan, Indiana ASTA All-Region Honor Orchestra, Northwest Iowa Honor Orchestra, and the South Dakota J. Laiten Weed Honors Orchestra.

Dr. Chen received his bachelor's degree in saxophone performance from Tunghai University, master's degrees in orchestral conducting from Boston Conservatory and Ithaca College, and a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Iowa. His primary teachers include Dr. Annie Chung, Bruce Hangen, Dr. Jeffery Meyer, and Dr. William LaRue Jones.

Dr. Christopher H. Fashun is a versatile conductor, performer, and music educator. Known for his ability to conduct and perform across classical, popular, and folkloric styles, he has worked with Andrea Bocelli, Pia Toscano, Trisha Yearwood, CeCe Winans, Michael W. Smith, Broadway star Doug LaBrecque, beatboxing saxophonist Derek Brown, tap dancer Heather Cornell, Brazilian group Choro das 3, and recorded with jazz artists Jordan VanHemert, Rodney Whitaker, and Lisa Sung on Navona Records. A champion of new music, Dr. Fashun has commissioned works from composers Texu Kim, Evan Williams, Andrew Maxfield, Choro das 3, Micheal Udow, Egemen Kesikli, and Christopher Theofanidis. Other notable conducting engagements include the Holland Symphony Orchestra, the Elkhart Symphony Orchestra, the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Ambrose University Community Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Fashun has conducted the Oregon and Iowa All-State Orchestras, Midwest Mennonite Festival Orchestra and Concert Band, and several All-County Orchestras. He has also served as the Music Director/Conductor for the Elkhart Youth Honors Orchestra and the Holland Area Youth Orchestra.

A distinguished recipient of a 2019 Fulbright Award in the U.S. Scholar Program, Dr. Fashun lived in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil researching Afro-Brazilian music and culture. His project title, “The Dissemination of Afro-Brazilian Music in Salvador da Bahia” explored the cultural, racial, religious, and musical milieu that contribute to the shared musical identity of Afro-Brazilians and, by extension, all of Brazil. His research brings more awareness to the various ways music is taught and disseminated within Brazilian culture. As an application of this research, Dr. Fashun founded the Holland Samba School, an intergenerational community group that teaches the culture and drumming styles of Brazil.

Central to his mission as an award winning guest conductor, clinician, and performer, Dr. Fashun seeks to create community through the joy of music. Dr. Fashun has presented sessions at the national NAfME and state music education conferences throughout the Midwest, teaching K-8 music educators how to integrate Brazilian songs, rhythms, and dance into the general music classroom.

An accomplished percussionist and violist, he brings more than two decades of orchestral, chamber and world music experience and has enjoyed success in both areas as a soloist by winning three concerto competitions, one on viola and two on marimba. As a percussionist, he has toured and performed in Brazil, Thailand, Northern Ireland, Mexico, and throughout the United States.

Dr. Fashun holds a Bachelors of Music Education from Saint Olaf College, Masters of Music degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Iowa. His conducting teachers include Steven Amundson, Timothy Mahr, David E. Becker and William LaRue Jones. He has also studied viola with Andrea Een and Christine Rutledge and percussion with Anthony DiSanza.

When he’s not making music, he is either cycling, paddle boarding, and enjoying the great outdoors with his wife and daughter.

https://www.belmont.edu/profiles/christopher-fashun/

Dr. Colleen Ferguson

Associate Professor of Strings and Orchestra
Artistic Director and Conductor, Kingsville Symphony Orchestra

Dr. Colleen Ferguson is an active teacher, performer, and conductor who brings a wealth of experience to her role at Texas A&M University–Kingsville. She regularly presents educational sessions at national and international conferences and offers masterclasses and workshops at institutions across the United States.

At Texas A&M University–Kingsville, Dr. Ferguson maintains a dynamic applied studio of string students and serves as Associate Professor of Strings and Orchestra. She is also the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Kingsville Symphony Orchestra, programming six diverse concert programs each season.

As leader of the Herbert St. Trio, Dr. Ferguson has performed chamber and solo recitals at distinguished venues including St. Stephen’s Church in Dublin, Ireland (2016), Imperial College in London, England (2018), Birmingham, UK (2019), Gloucester Cathedral (2021), Durham University during the Stanford Society Annual Symposium (2022), and Salisbury Cathedral (2025).

Dr. Ferguson has been recognized internationally for her conducting, competing in the Chamber Orchestra of New York’s Respighi Prize in Orchestral Conducting (2023 and 2024). Her recent engagements include conducting Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Rossini’s Barber of Seville Overture at St. James’ Church, Piccadilly, London, and serving as Guest Clinician for the TMEA Region 12 Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2024.

Dr. Lucy Lewis enjoys an active career as an orchestral conductor and performer, soloist, chamber musician, and teaching clinician, and has appeared in these roles throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Africa. Just having received early tenure and promotion at California State University San Bernardino, Dr. Lewis is Professor of Orchestral Music Education, and coordinates the string area, directs the orchestral studies program, facilitates the string chamber music program, and teaches applied violin and viola, string methods, and string pedagogy, and maintains a small private studio. Previously, Dr. Lewis served as the director of the Loma Linda Academy String Program & Symphony Orchestra, and has also been on the faculties of the Preucil School of Music, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory Preparatory Department, Southwestern and Lake Michigan Colleges, the Citadel Dance & Music Center, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Association’s Mentor Program.

During her time as Music Director and Conductor of the Orchestral Studies Program at California State University, San Bernardino, the program has more than doubled in size. Dr. Lewis’s innovative season programming has featured the CSUSB Opera Theatre Program, Concert Choir & Chamber Singers, Vocal Jazz Program, and Brass Ensemble, in addition to multiple guest artists. An avid supporter of the development of young musicians, Dr. Lewis founded the CSUSB Young Artist Competition that provides finalists with the opportunity to perform as featured young artists with the orchestra. She also annually commissions new works by the faculty and students of the CSUSB Composition Program, which are performed by the orchestra every spring.

Dr. Lewis is frequently engaged as an orchestral clinician and has guest conducted orchestras in California, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Maine, and Colorado. On tour, she has led orchestras to perform in Hawaii and Florida, and in September of 2019, the CSUSB Orchestra traveled to South Korea upon the invitation of Dr. Se-Ung Lee, honorary chairman of the Shin-Il Cultural Foundation Board of Directors, and the administration of Seoul Cyber University, to perform in the Seoul Arts Center IBK Chamber Hall. The CSUSB Orchestra's tour to Korea was covered by the CSUSB Magazine, the CSUniverse, and the Korea Times. CSUSB also produced a documentary film, the first of it's kind for the university, covering this experience, entitled "Flight to Harmony." Dr. Lewis is the director of the CSUSB Orchestra, Piano, and Chamber Music Summer Camp, has been a guest clinician for several honor orchestras, and has served as an adjudicator for the San Bernardino County Music Educators Association, California American String Teachers Association, and Forum Music Festivals. As an orchestral violinist and violist, Dr. Lewis currently performs with the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra, Coachella Valley Symphony, Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Desert Symphony, Temecula Valley Symphony, and Sea Coast (formerly Dana Point) Symphony.

Dr. Lewis is a graduate of Andrews University where she received Bachelor of Music degrees in music education and violin performance as a student of Carla Trynchuk, in addition to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and a minor in bilingual education, magna cum laude. While at Andrews University, Dr. Lewis directed the string program at the Ruth Murdoch Elementary School and completed her student teaching under Roberta Guaspari (about whom the Grammy award winning movie “Music of the Heart” was made) at the Rivereast Elementary Public School, Central Park East I & II Public Schools, and the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music in East Harlem, New York City. Dr. Lewis also holds a Master of Music degree in violin performance, summa cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Piotr Milewski, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance and pedagogy, summa cum laude, from the University of Iowa, where she studied with Scott Conklin, and was a recipient of the String Area Henry & Parker Pelzer Fellowship Award. At the University of Iowa, Dr. Lewis also completed a cognate area in viola performance and pedagogy with Christine Rutledge, and a cognate area in orchestral conducting with William LaRue Jones. Dr. Lewis has completed additional conducting studies with Stephen Zork, Alan Mitchell, Claudio Gonzalez, and most recently, with John Farrer and Howard Williams at the London Conducting Workshop at the Royal Academy of Music.

Dr. Lewis holds professional memberships in the National Association for Music Education (MENC), the California Music Educators Association (CMEA), the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), the College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA), the California Orchestra Directors Association (CODA), the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association (SCSBOA), the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), the California Chapter of the American String Teachers Association (CALASTA), the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA), the Suzuki Music Association of California, Los Angeles Chapter (SMAC-LA), the Chamber Music of America Association (CMA), the American Viola Society (AVS), Pi Kappa Lambda (National Music Honor Society), Sigma Alpha Iota (International Sorority for Women in Music), Pi Lambda Theta (National Education Honor Society), Alpha Mu Gamma (the International Languages Honor Society), the San Bernardino County Music Educators Association (SBCMEA), and the International Adventist Musicians Association (IAMA).

Soon Hee Newbold is an internationally acclaimed composer and conductor known for incorporating differing cultural and ethnic styles in her writing inspired by her experiences and travel. She started her musical journey at the age of 5 on piano and violin at age 7 and performed as a concert artist in professional ensembles around the world.

Newbold’s works are performed by groups ranging in all levels from professional symphonies to beginning elementary ensembles in prominent venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and many more worldwide stages. Notable commissions include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Merian Ensemble, the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic’s YOLA and youth orchestras for the Columbus Symphony. She was inducted into the Women Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2024.

Newbold is frequently sought after as a keynote speaker and guest clinician. She has conducted and worked with orchestras and bands throughout the U.S. and overseas such as The Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, S. Korea, and China. As a filmmaker and composer in Hollywood, her music can also be heard in film and other recording projects.