staff
Band Staff
GREGG I. HANSON
Director of Bands
Professor of Music
Music Building, Room 166A
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.7024, fax 520.621.1916
hansong@u.arizona.edu
Professor Hanson joined the UA School of Music faculty in the fall of 1990. As a young
musician, he studied trumpet, piano, and voice before attending the University of
Michigan where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1967-68. While at
Michigan he studied conducting with Elizabeth A. H. Green and William D. Revelli and
now heads the graduate conducting program in Wind Band conducting at the University
of Arizona. Before coming to the U of A, Professor Hanson taught high school for seven
years and served as Director of Bands at the University of Utah for fourteen years. He
was inducted as member of the American Bandmasters Association in 1984. Over the
course of his conducting career, his performing ensembles have appeared at all of the
major venues for wind band performance, including the conferences of the College Band
Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, the American
Bandmasters Association Convention, and in Lucern, Switzerland for the World
Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.
His conducting experience is varied and includes commercial music, musical theatre,
opera, chamber music, orchestra, and wind band. Under his baton, The University of
Arizona Wind Ensemble has achieved national and international recognition with the
release of five commercial CDs under the Albany label.
Hanson has enjoyed numerous guest-conducting and clinic appointments in the United
States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and China, where he was the first American wind band
conductor to conduct a public concert with the People’s Liberation Army Band. Later,
during the fall semester of 2003, he returned to China for the purpose of creating the firstever
wind ensembles at both the Beijing Central Conservatory and the Xian Conservatory
of Music.
Hanson has been praised for his authentic interpretations and degree of excellence of his
work and is credited with numerous commissions and premieres of outstanding repertoire
for wind band. The faculty of the UA College of Fine Arts selected professor Hanson as
the recipient of the prestigious James R. Anthony Award for Sustained Excellence in
Teaching for 2011-12.
JAY C. REES
Associate Director of Bands
Professor of Music
Director, the "Pride of Arizona"
Athletic Bands
Music Building, Room 166
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.7027, fax 520.621.1916
jrees@u.arizona.edu
Jay
Rees is an experienced and innovative musician with a varied
background as a
conductor, composer, arranger, and performer. He has a diverse catalog of original music written for jazz, wind ensemble, concert bands, and athletic bands that is commissioned and performed by major universities and high schools nationwide. Many of his works have been published by Warner Bros./C.P.P. Belwin, Pumpkin Monkey Music, and Musicexpresso.com. Rees teaches undergraduate music education, jazz studies, and leadership courses. He also travels as a clinician, guest speaker and adjudicator for band programs across the country.
An accomplished musician in jazz performance, Rees has appeared throughout the U.S., Canada and Japan. He has performed with such notable artists as Jimmy Cobb, Lenny White, Paul Horn, Randy Sandke, and others. He toured with the international recording act The Lettermen as bassist and musical director and is featured on their album release Now and Then. Rees formed the nationally touring jazz-fusion ensemble Sylvan Street, serving as bassist, leader and composer. Their debut CD The Perfect Leaf was released on Summit Records in 2009, followed by a new collection of works in 2011.Rees also collaborates with the UA jazz faculty and performs at UA's annual AZ Jazz Concert Series.
As Director of the University of Arizona marching and pep bands, Rees’ contemporary arrangements and inventive drill design have gained the “Pride of Arizona” a national presence. His inspired work helped innovate the medium and is referenced extensively in the book "Marching Bands and Drumlines: Secrets of Success from the Best of the Best." In 2009, the prestigious College Band Directors National Association named the “Pride of Arizona” one of the top marching bands in the country. The bands have released CD recordings and appeared in numerous television features including NBC-TV's Today Show and Fox Sports.
In 2001, Rees choreographed a live "human flag" for the Tucson community in response to the events of 9/11. His iconic design incorporated 10,000 citizens and became a national symbol. The image appeared on CNN and was published in a special issue of Sports Illustrated.
Rees is listed in Who's Who In America for the 21st Century as well as Who's Who Among America's Teachers. He is a member of ASCAP, NARAS, and CBDNA. A native of Detroit, Rees lived in Miami and Los Angeles before making his home in Tucson with his wife and two sons.
SHAWN CULLEN
Adjunct Professor/Instructor
Athletic Bands
Pep Band Director
School of Music
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.1683, fax 520.621.1916
scullen@u.arizona.edu
Shawn Cullen is on faculty with Tucson Unified School District where he has served as Instrumental and Choral educator and conductor with students K-12 since 2004. He quickly earned a reputation for his high-energy teaching style and “Superior and Superior with Distinction” award-winning performing groups. Cullen served as Music Director and Band Director for TUSD's largest 5th grade instrumental program where his school was chosen as the "arts spotlight" program for Governor Janet Napolitano's educational tour to Tucson for the 2005/2006 school year. Currently he holds the position of Director of Bands at and Choirs at Magee Middle School and enjoys working as Lead Grant Panelist for the Arizona Commission on the Arts helping to allocate millions dollars to state and local arts organizations.
Cullen has performed professionally with a multitude of groups including the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and has traveled throughout the United States, Mexico, and South America as vocalist, instrumentalist and conductor. When not teaching or performing, Mr. Cullen serves as an artistic consultant to various musical groups as a sought out clinician, motivator, and guest conductor. Cullen has also composed and arranged music for film and radio and has directed multiple staged musical productions.
Mr. Cullen is a graduate of the University of Arizona, has recorded on multiple albums including Park Avenue Records and has recently been inducted into "Who's Who in America 2007". Most recently Cullen has been named Artistic Director of the Reveille Men’s Chorus for the 2009/2010 Season.
Kevin Holzman is a conductor, clarinetist, and instructor at the University of Arizona. He began clarinet studies at the age of 13, and has been an active musical performer since. He has taught clarinet in Scottsdale and Tucson, Arizona. His clarinet teachers have included Professor Jerry Kirkbride, Dr. Karen Wevursky and Mr. Eric Broomfield. Prior to his undergraduate degree, Kevin studied conducting with Dr. Schultz Bennett and Mrs. Michelle Irvin in Scottsdale, Arizona.
As a National Merit Scholar, he began studies in clarinet performance and conducting at the University of Arizona in 2006. Kevin graduated summa cum laude with a degree in clarinet performance in the spring of 2010. After teaching in an inner city high school in West Philadelphia with Teach For America and studying at the University of Pennsylvania for a year, he returned to the University of Arizona to pursue a master’s degree in instrumental conducting.
Kevin’s primary conducting teacher is Professor Gregg I. Hanson, director of bands at the University of Arizona. He has also studied conducting with Dr. Thomas Cockrell, director of orchestral activities at the University of Arizona. In addition to being the instructor of undergraduate instrumental conducting, he is actively involved in conducting rehearsals and performances at the university, and studies piano with Dr. Michael Dauphinais. Kevin plans to earn his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in instrumental conducting after his master’s studies, and aims to one day conduct bands and orchestras at the collegiate and professional level. Kevin was appointed conductor of the UA Wind Symphony in spring 2013.
EVE DOTSON
Administrative Secretary
Music Building, Room 166
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.1683, fax 520.621.1916
dotson@u.arizona.edu
Eve Dotson, a native Arizonan, graduated from Sahuaro High School here in Tucson. After receiving her AA degree from Pima College, she worked as an Administrative Secretary at IBM for 10 years before coming to The University of Arizona.
Eve has been the Band Area administrative assistant since 1989 and still loves it. As the office manager for the band program, Eve enjoys being the "behind-the-scenes" staff member supporting the Director of Bands, Associate Director of Bands, and Pep Band Director.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact her. She's here to help you.