UTC Tri-States Honor Band

Eastern Michigan University

Mary K. Schneider is Professor of Conducting and Director of Bands at Eastern Michigan University, where she conducts the EMU Wind Symphony, teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting and music education, and oversees the comprehensive University Bands program. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Schneider was on the faculty at the University of Minnesota and enjoyed a successful career as a secondary school instrumental music educator.

Active nationally and internationally as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician, Dr. Schneider’s recent engagements include conducting residencies with the wind ensembles at the Eastman School of Music, Sydney (AUS) Conservatorium of Music, and the New England Conservatory of Music. She has served as an adjudicator for the Music For All National Concert Band Festival, Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival, the Thailand International Wind Symphony Competition, and the Victorian School Music Festival in Melbourne, Australia, among others. In addition to teaching and conducting workshops stateside, Schneider has been the featured instructor of the ABODA Conducting Symposium in New South Wales, and the Deisis Academy of Conducting in Almeria, Spain. She is frequently an invited conductor of regional and all-state honor bands throughout the United States. 

Guest Soloist and Clinician

Doreen Ketchens (b. 1966), otherwise known as “Queen Clarinet” and “the female Louis Armstrong,” is truly a keeper of the New Orleans flame. Her ensemble, Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans, has recorded 28 CDs and 3 DVDs, performed for four U.S. presidents, and has toured far and wide, from Russia to Brazil. In 2006, she performed as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s South African Cultural Exchange Program with the Field Band Foundation, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Thankfully, she also performs close to home. On any given day, you can go to the corner of Royal and St. Peter’s streets in the French Quarter and hear one of the greatest clarinetists alive.