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David Kehler serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the Bobbie Bailey School of Music where he is Music Director and Conductor of the KSU Wind Ensemble. In addition, Dr. Kehler teaches courses in instrumental conducting, symphonic repertoire, and twentieth century music. Professor Kehler is also the recipient of several awards including the ÁñÁ«»ÆÊÓƵ College of Arts 2020 Teaching Award, and the 2021 Research and Creative Activity Award. An advocate of new music, Dr. Kehler has commissioned more than two-dozen composers, including several Pulitzer Prize winners to write new compositions for wind ensemble. In addition to his university responsibilities, David Kehler serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Wind Symphony, along with serving on the Board of Directors for the College Band Directors National Association, and as the CBDNA Southern Division President.  

Previously, David Kehler served as Associate Conductor of America's Premiere Windband; The Dallas Winds and served as Founder and Conductor of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony. Previous academic appointments were at Southern Methodist University, the University of Rhode Island, and Bay City Western High School, in Bay City, Michigan. Growing up in Michigan, Dr. Kehler received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Conducting degrees from Michigan State University, followed by his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Mallory Thompson is the former director of bands, professor of music, and coordinator of the conducting program at Northwestern University, where she held the John W. Beattie Chair of Music. Named a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence in 2003, she was only the third person in the university’s history to hold the director of bands position. Thompson conducted the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, taught undergraduate and graduate conducting, and administered all aspects of the band program. She made five recordings with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble for Summit Records, available on Spotify and Apple Music, and led the ensemble in performances at the College Band Directors National Association national conventions in 2001 and 2017. Her work earned praise from composers including John Adams, Michael Colgrass, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Karel Husa, Morten Lauridsen, David Maslanka, Jonathan Newman, Carter Pann, Joel Puckett, Kevin Puts, and Adam Schoenberg.

Thompson received Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees in conducting from Northwestern University, where she studied with John P. Paynter and Vincent Cichowicz, and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music under Donald Hunsberger.

An active guest conductor, teacher, and lecturer throughout the United States and Canada, she has taught thousands of students and appeared at CBDNA conventions, the Midwest Clinic, the Interlochen Arts Academy, numerous state music conventions, and the Aspen Music Festival. She has conducted all major U.S. military bands, the Dallas Wind Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Monarch Brass Ensemble, and Banda Sinfônica in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2019 she received the Midwest Clinic Medal of Honor. Dr. Thompson is especially proud of her 58 graduate conducting students and the many Symphonic Wind Ensemble members with whom she has made music at Northwestern.

Prior to completing his graduate studies and arriving at Kennesaw State, David was an active music educator in the public schools of Illinois, serving from 2013-2019 as Band Director for the North Clay and Neoga School Districts. In these roles, David taught band for grades 4-12, guiding his students from their first sounds until their high school graduation. During this time, the bands under his direction consistently sent students to Illinois All-District and All-State festivals, received high marks from adjudicators, and were selected multiple times to perform at state-level athletic competitions.

David holds a bachelor of music degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master of music degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities, and a doctor of musical arts degree in Wind Conducting from Northwestern University. He has studied conducting with Dr. Mallory Thompson, Dr. Emily Threinen, and Dr. Linda Moorhouse, and in 2019 he was chosen as one of 12 Conducting Fellows at the Midwest Clinic’s Reynolds Conducting Institute.
David currently maintains active memberships in the College Band Director’s National Association, National Band Association, and the National Association for Music Education.

Brandon Meeks is from Charlotte, North Carolina, and is currently the director of athletic bands and assistant professor of music education at ÁñÁ«»ÆÊÓƵ. He is a graduate of Florida State University where he received his PhD and master’s in music education. He is also a graduate of Western Carolina University where he received a Bachelor of Science in music education. From 2009-2016, he served as the director of bands at East Lincoln Middle School in Iron Station, N.C. Dr. Meeks is a National Board-Certified Teacher, holds honorary memberships to Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, was named the 2013 East Lincoln Middle School Teacher of the Year, and was named the 2016 N.C. South Central Bandmasters Young Director Award for Excellence. He is an active presenter across the Southeast and currently resides in Woodstock, Georgia. 

Dr. Sorenson is Assistant Professor of Music Education (Instrumental) at ÁñÁ«»ÆÊÓƵ. She holds degrees from Stetson University and Florida State University, where she completed an MME and Ph.D in music education. She has taught a wide range of courses at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, as well as at Florida State, and previously served as a band director in the Central Florida area. An active scholar, she has been published in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Contributions to Music Education, and in Research Perspectives in Music Education, and has presented nationally and internationally. Her research interests include pre-service music teacher preparation, mentoring, and the Impostor Phenomenon.