Middle School Band
William kilgore
William Kilgore is recently retired after thirty years in the profession. He served as a music educator in Jackson County for nearly a quarter of a century and finished his career as the Director of Bands at Jackson County High School. Mr. Kilgore, a native of Milledgeville, Georgia received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Educational Leadership degrees from the University of Georgia. Also Mr. Kilgore earned his Specialist degree from Piedmont College. Over his career, he has taught music on the elementary, middle and high school levels. He has been a guest lecturer for colleges and universities. Mr. Kilgore is an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the Southeastern United States. For decades, Mr. Kilgore has helped marching bands, jazz bands, concert bands, praise bands, choirs and individual musicians maximize their potential.
Mr. Kilgore has earned several awards and honors throughout his professional career including “Teacher of the Year” at multiple schools and the 2024 GMEA District 14 Music Educator of the Year. Mr. Kilgore has been featured as “One of the Fifty Music Educators who make a Difference” in the School Band and Orchestra Magazine. He has been awarded multiple Citations of Excellence by the National Band Association and most recently recieved the NBA’s “Outstanding Jazz Educator Award.” His professional affiliations include the National Association for Music Education, the Georgia Music Educators Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Phi Beta Mu.
Bands under his direction have performed at the GMEA Conference, UGA Midfest, SEUS Honor Band Clinic and many other venues and events throughout the Southeast. His bands have accumulated an enviable record of the highest ratings at GMEA Performance Evaluations. Students under Mr. Kilgore’s direction have been awarded many high honors and have been selected to perform with some of the most elite state and national performing ensembles. Many of his former students have successful careers in music and many others are advocating for music education in their adulthood.
Mr. Kilgore has served on the staff of Encore! Band Camps for more than fifteen years and is a co-owner of Encore!. Mr. Kilgore has served as Worship Leader for over thirty years and is currently serving Briarwood Baptist Church. Mr. Kilgore enjoys singing and playing his tuba with the Sons of Jubal when time allows. William has also been a member of the Briarwood Brothers Quartet who have performed for thousands and twice recorded albums in Nashville, Tennessee.
William and his wife of thirty years, Ora, reside in Statham, Georgia and are proud of their three talented sons and daughter in law: Christian (Hannah), Micah, and Bill.
Middle School Band
John Palmer
John Palmer has been in the Walton High School cluster since 1999, directing the band at Dickerson Middle School for 17 years, and at Walton since 2016. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Furman University, a Master of Music Education degree from Louisiana State University, and an Education Specialist degree from the University of Georgia. Prior to coming to Cobb County, he taught for three years at South Effingham Middle and High Schools in Guyton, Georgia.
Under Mr. Palmer’s direction, the Dickerson Middle School Band was invited to perform at the Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Band Festival (2015), the Music for All National Concert Band Festival (2010, 2014), the Georgia Music Educators Association Annual Convention (2006, 2016), and the University of Georgia Middle School Band Festival (2002, 2009, and 2013). Since Mr. Palmer’s arrival at Walton, the Wind Symphony has been invited perform at the Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival (2020, 2024), the GMEA In-Service Conference (2021 virtual, 2022), and the University of Georgia January High School Band Festival (2023). The Marching Raider Band has won numerous awards at local and regional competitions and received invitations to march in the National Cherry Blossom Parade in 2022 and the London Parade on January 1, 2026.
Mr. Palmer has served as an adjudicator for GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluations, as a guest conductor for several GMEA Honor Bands and collegiate band clinics, served on the committee to revise the Georgia Performance Standards in 2017, and served on the GMEA Advocacy Committee. Mr. Palmer’s professional associations include Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the Georgia Music Educators Association, the National Band Association, Phi Kappa Lambda, the National Association for Music Education, Kappa Delta Phi, the Georgia Association of Educators, and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. He has received ten Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association, was elected to Phi Beta Mu in 2008, and inducted into the John Philip Sousa Legion of Honor in December 2021.
Outside of band, Mr. Palmer is a vocal advocate for public education and for teachers and state employees. He lives in Marietta with his wife, Elaine, and their two children, Rebecca and Jack.
Concert Band
Jeffrey O. Rowser
Jeffrey Rowser, is a 2023 Inductee into the National High School Band Directors”Hall of Fame” and a 45-year veteran teacher with many distinctions: received the John Philip Sousa, “Legion of Honor” in 2023 and 2022 GMEA “Distinguished Service Award”, the 2018 Auburn University “Outstanding Alumni Educator” Award recipient, 2017 “STAR TEACHER”, 2014-15 Morgan County Schools “Teacher of the Year”, 2013-14 “Georgia Music Educator of the Year”. He is a native of Attalla, Alabama and is a 1976 graduate of Etowah High School, where he lettered 3 years in band, basketball and track. Mr. Rowser later graduated from Auburn University (AU) with his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Music Education. He was a saxophone major, studying with Lawrence Morgan. He has also studied music arranging with the famed composers, Dr. Johnnie Vinson and Bob Richardson. He performed his student teaching duties with the legendary Tommy Goff at Auburn High School in 1980. While at Auburn, he was drum major of the Auburn University Marching Band for three years. His appointment by Dr. Bill Walls made Jeffrey the first African American Drum Major at Auburn University and Southeastern Conference.
Mr. Rowser brings over 45 years of experience in music education. He was chosen in 2006, to lead the East Jackson Fine Arts Department in Jackson County Schools (GA). His hiring in 2006-07 was to prepare a Fine Arts Department that would begin its work in August 2007. He was chosen as “Teacher of the Year'' for East Jackson in 2011. Prior to East Jackson, he served as a director in Dougherty County, Marietta City Schools(STAR Teacher 1988), with 16 years serving as the founding director at Salem HS (Conyers, GA), where he was “Teacher of the Year'' in 1994 for Rockdale County Schools. During his career his bands received Superior Ratings in all marching, jazz and symphonic music events. His bands have won over 600 awards, with 350 of those coming at Salem HS as “Superior, Best-in-Class and Grand Champion” awards in band, drum major, color guard, dance team, winter guard and drumline. His bands have received special invitations to perform in London, Toronto, Hawaii, Orlando, Hollywood (CA), Kansas City and New York. His groups performed frequently in the Atlanta Children’s Healthcare Parade televised on WSB-TV2.
He is one of the lead hosts for Atlanta Symphonic Orchestra “UpTempo”, a pre-concert TedTalk prior to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Concert hour.
In 1991, Rowser founded the “Premier Drum Major and Leadership Academy” held annually on high school campuses around the southeast. His student management workshop, “Team Building Anywhere” is a featured session for band, chorus, student council and athletic groups around Southeast. He has presented at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago) and at GMEA Conferences. In 2012 he founded the “Premier Drum Major and Leadership Academy '' established at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. He is a frequent clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor of Regional and State Band events in the Southeast. He has served on the Georgia Music Educators Association Board of Directors and organized many district events.
He is a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association of Jazz Educators, National Association for Music Educators, Phi Beta Mu Bandmaster Honorary and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Concert Band
Dr. Rebekah daniel
Dr. Rebekah A. Daniel serves as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), where she conducts both the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting. Under her leadership, the EKU Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the 2025 Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) State Conference, and in 2024 she was named “University Teacher of the Year” by KMEA District 11. Prior to joining EKU, Dr. Daniel served as Visiting Director of Bands at The University of Utah, where she conducted the wind ensemble and taught undergraduate and graduate conducting and music education courses. She then became Artistic Director and Conductor of the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, continuing her teaching in conducting and music education.
Dr. Daniel maintains an active schedule with engagements throughout the United States as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. She has led performances of regional and world premieres and has collaborated in rehearsal and performance with notable composers including Sally McCune, Dana Wilson, Zhou Tian, Eric Guinivan, and Henry Dorn. In 2018, she was selected as a Conducting Fellow for the inaugural Reynolds Conducting Institute at the Midwest Clinic.
As a music education advocate, Dr. Daniel has presented at major state music education conferences in Texas, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Utah, and Kentucky. Her research centers on fostering intrinsic motivation in rehearsals and refining gestural communication to enhance musical expression.
Dr. Daniel completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting at Michigan State University (MSU) as a student of Dr. Kevin Sedatole. As a doctoral conducting assistant at MSU, she conducted instrumental ensembles, taught conducting courses, and was involved in all aspects of the athletic band program. Prior to attending MSU, Dr. Daniel taught in the Georgia public school system where ensembles under her direction enjoyed notable success in both district and statewide performance evaluations. She completed the Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Wind Conducting at Georgia Southern University where she studied with Drs. Robert Dunham and Colin McKenzie.
Dr. Daniel is an alumni member of Tau Beta Sigma and holds professional membership in the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, and the National Association for Music Education.
Symphonic Band
Patrick J. Burns
PATRICK J. BURNS (b. 1969) has served as Adjunct Professor of Music at Montclair State University in New Jersey since 1994, where he teaches courses in music theory, orchestration, and composition. From 2011-2024, he directed the New Jersey City University Symphony of Winds and Percussion, and was recently appointed director of the Kean University Community Wind Ensemble. He is the Talent Relations Manager for the Elegant Music Group, a luxury entertainment company with a roster of over 350 musicians nationwide, and is employed by Ackk Studios as orchestrator/composer tor the company's video game projects. From 1938-2013, Mr. Burns taught elementary instrumental music in the Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools, and has served on the executive board of the Bloomfield Federation of Music since 1988.
As a clarinetist. Mr. Burns has performed with many professional ensembles in the New York metro area including the Metropolitan Opera Summer Ballet Orchestra, the pit orchestra for the Broadway revival production of Camelot starring Robert Goulet, and with the New Jersey Chamber Music Society in broadcasts for National Public Radio and New Jersey Network Television.
In 1986, at the age of seventeen, Mr. Burns founded the Bloomfield Youth Band, a community wind ensemble of some 55 secondary school and collegiate musicians which he continues to direct today. The Youth Band has been recognized for its outstanding artistic achievements and service to the community by the United States Congress, the New Jersey Legislature and the Mayor and Town Council of Bloomfield. Mr. Burns is former director of the Montclair State University Youth Orchestra and the Imperial Brass. He has been featured as guest conductor and clinician with public school, community, university, region and all-state bands and orchestras in New Jersey. New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Georgia and has recorded albums and concertized with world-renowned brass artists Philip Smith, Billy Hunter, Warren Vache, Roger Webster and Chris Jaudes.
Mr. Burns' compositions for symphonic band have been performed by bands of every level throughout the world. The United States Army Band, "Pershing's Own', has performed his music in Washington, D.C. and at Carnegie Hall. His music has also been performed by conservatory and military bands in Sweden, Russia, Japan and China.
His music is published by Bandworks Publications, G. Schirmer, Daehn Publications, Grand Mesa Music Publishers, FJH Music, Wingert-Jones Music, and TRN Music Publisher, and music has appeared on Bandworld Magazine's Top 100 list of band compositions seven times. The Instrumentalist and School Music News have printed numerous favorable reviews of Mr. Burns’ band music and The Classical New Jersey Society Journal has praised his chamber music. His music for symphonic band has been performed at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago and has been recorded for the educational series Distinguished Music for the Developing Band. He has received commissions from many organizations including the Goldman Band/Harvey Phillips Foundation, The Ohio Northern University chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, the Bel Air (Maryland) Community Band, the SoundTree Corporation and the Salem Band of North Carolina, commemorating the band's 250th anniversary season (1771-2021).
In March 2010, he founded his own publishing company, Bandworks Publications, which he continues to operate today. His music can be heard at his websites, www.bandworkspublications.com, and www.youtube.com/patrickburnsmusic.
Symphonic Band
Dr. Kristin tjornehoj
Kristin Tjornehoj is a conductor who has positively influenced musicians, students, composers, and audiences across the globe. A Wisconsin native, Kris has earned several degrees in Music, including her Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Minnesota. She has taught tens of thousands of students, from Hudson High School to the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, plus the Shell Lake Wisconsin Arts Camp, Honors Bands, school and community bands and orchestras, here and abroad. A teacher at the University of Wisconsin for over 30 years, she loves working with students at home and overseas. In addition to teaching, Kris has been a musician, conductor, collaborator, and speaker throughout the U.S., Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, and Switzerland. Kris will tell you that music energizes her, that having a purpose-filled life guides her actions. Her passion is collaboration with new composers throughout the world, and thanks to Kris, these international composers have had their works premiered and recorded by her UW River Falls ensembles, St. Croix Valley Symphony, and the St. Croix Sounds Wind Orchestra. She welcomes international and local guest conductors and soloists, annually commissions new works, and enhances the appeal of music here and abroad. She firmly believes in embracing all cultures and enhancing life through music. She loves to share her passion, time, and energy in helping people find the enjoyment and value music provides for all people. Tjornehoj launched the Stillwater, MN-based St. Croix Sounds Music Society, which supports and forms regional ensembles and concerts in the Midwest region. The Three Rivers Concert Band will tour Greece and Turkey in 2026.
11-12 Percussion ensemble
Dr. brian west
Dr. Brian A. West is Professor of Music and the Coordinator of Percussion at Texas Christian University. Under his direction, the TCU Percussion Studio has received international recognition. The TCU Percussion Orchestra was named a winner in the 2025, 2022, 2019, 2015, 2011, 2008, and 2005 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competitions, and the Percussion Ensemble won the PAS Concert Chamber Percussion Ensemble Competition in 2024. Additionally, the TCU Drumline won the 2012 and 2006 PAS Marching Percussion Festivals.
Brian’s passion for the percussion ensemble has led to commissioning/premiering over forty new works for this medium. Additionally, he is the Executive Producer of four percussion ensemble CDs. In 2022, Brian started the TCU Percussion Festival hosting percussion ensembles at all levels, soloists, and guest artists. The festival has grown to a two-day event featuring over fifty ensembles from multiple states.
As a long-time member of the Percussive Arts Society, Brian has been active in the society for nearly forty years. He has served on the Board of Advisors and multiple committees, including serving as the Chair of the Percussion Ensemble Committee. Brian served as the Vice President of the Texas PAS Chapter, has adjudicated for numerous PAS events, and he received the PAS Outstanding Service Award in 2024.
Prior to coming to TCU, Brian served as the Director of Percussion Studies at Texas A&M University-Commerce, a winner in the 2000 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition. He has conducted/performed in Taiwan, Australia, England, France, Spain, Italy, Hawaii, and around the United States. Brian holds degrees from the University of Oklahoma, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the University of North Texas. He is published by Row-Loff Productions and is an educational artist for Innovative Percussion, Yamaha, Remo, Marimba One, and Sabian.