Canadian Wind Conductors Development Program

Dr. Shelley Jagow

Shelley M. Jagow, Professor of Music at Wright State University is director of the Symphonic Band and Saxophone Quartet; and professor of Saxophone and Music Education courses. She earned Music Education degrees from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and the University of Missouri (Columbia) where respective mentors include Marvin Eckroth, Dale Lonis, Martin Bergee and Wendy Sims. She earned her Ph. D. in Music Education at the Union Institute & University (Cincinnati) where Colonel Timothy Foley, Frank Battisti, and Edward Wingard served as her mentors.

She has presented clinics and performances at OMEA (Ohio Music Educators Association), Kansas-MEA, New Hampshire-MEA, Massachusetts-MEA, MENC (Music Educators National Conference), the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, NASA (North American Saxophone Alliance), ISME (International Society for Music Education, CMS (College Music Symposium), and the United States Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium. As a Selmer Artist Clinician for both Conducting and Saxophone, Shelley performs with local bands and orchestras, has commissioned works for solo saxophone and ensembles from both national and international composers, and is often invited to present clinics and performances while serving as Honor Band Conductor and adjudicator at local, state, and national levels.

Shelley has published numerous articles in periodicals such as the College Music Symposium Journal, TRIAD, Music Educators Journal, National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors, and Canadian Winds. Her nationally recognized student saxophone quartet released their first commercial CD Avion Saxophone Quartet on CDbaby.com. Shelley is a contributing author to The Music Director’s Cookbook (Meredith), Teaching Music Through Performance series (GIA), and is author of the book and DVD of Teaching Instrumental Music: Developing the Complete Band Program (Meredith).

Dr. Dale J. Lonis

Dale J. Lonis was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in July of 2008 after holding a similar position with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.  He returned to the Chicago area after leaving his position on the Northwestern University conducting faculty in 1988.  He received his Bachelors and Doctoral degrees in Music Education from the University of Illinois and a Master of Music in Conducting degree from Northwestern University.  While completing his Masters Degree he was appointed to the conducting faculty at Northwestern University, and was also Assistant Director of the National High School Summer Music Institute. In 1988 he became Director of Bands and Coordinator of Conducting and Performing Organizations, and later Founder and Director of the Fine Arts Residential College, at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

In 2001 Dr. Lonis was appointed as Director of the School of Music at the University of Manitoba, a position that was later promoted to Dean of the Faculty of Music. While there Dr. Lonis developed a culture where student success was the highest priority.  During his tenure on the Faculty, he established new Graduate Conducting and Composition programs, Post-Baccalaureate Diploma, Collaborative Piano, and Jazz programs and increased enrollment from 120 full-time students to nearly 300 students.  He added several new faculty positions, increased student retention rates to a nation leading high of nearly 90% and developed an Artist-in-Residence program which brought performing artists from throughout the world to campus for periods of up to one year.  He also led successful fund-raising efforts in support of the Faculty of Music and student scholarships.

Dr. Lonis is committed to the development of collaborative efforts between community programs, school music programs and professional musical organizations throughout the world.  After joining the Elgin Symphony Orchestra he established the “Food for Tickets” program, which was later adopted by the League of American Orchestras as a national movement. He also brought a record number of Elgin area not-for-profit social service and arts programs together for collaborative fund raising efforts. Further, Dr. Lonis identified funding and brought back a “Family Fun Series” to the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, which brought over 900 children and their families to the first performance. He is also the co-founder of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Professional Conducting Program and Indigenous Music Festival; Australian Young Conductors Development and Leadership Program; Canadian Wind Conductors Development Program; and the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Fine Arts Residential College and Missouri Summer Music Institute. As a member of the Artistic Planning Committee and CEO of Educational Planning for the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Dr. Lonis led the educational and presentational programming for the WASBE International Conference held at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in the summer of 2009 and established a new Mentor program for the organization.

Dr. Lonis is the former Artistic Director and Conductor of the Israel Wind Symphony and the Winnipeg Wind Ensemble. As a conductor Dr. Lonis has led Wind Ensembles, Brass Bands, New Music Ensembles and Orchestras across six continents regularly appearing on stages across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.  His interpretation of new music has been noted for its “artistry and depth.”  He is also a frequent keynote and motivational speaker at professional music, educational and leadership conferences throughout the world. He is considered a noted authority on conducting and pedagogy, and has been an advisor and mentor to professional conductors and music educators from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Spain, and Uruguay.

Dr. Fraser Linklater

Fraser Linklater is presently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba, where he directs the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band and Chamber Winds and teaches courses in music education and conducting.  A native of Winnipeg, Dr. Linklater holds a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Michigan. He has published articles in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Music Educators Journal, and the Canadian Music Educator.  He has also presented at national music education conferences.

A trumpet player, Dr. Linklater has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Genève (Switzerland), and the Ron Paley Big Band, as well as being a founding member of the Winnipeg Brass Quintet.  His trumpet teachers have included Vincent Cichowicz, Armando Ghitalla, and Edward Tarr.  Dr. Linklater has studied wind conducting in numerous workshops with clinicians such as Frank Battisti, Eugene Corporon, Craig Kirchhoff, Allan McMurray, Larry Rachleff, and Mallory Thompson, as well as with H. Robert Reynolds at the University of Michigan.  Dr. Linklater has guest conducted and adjudicated at various festivals and music camps across Canada as well as the United States.

A co-director of the Canadian Wind Conductors Development Program, Dr. Linklater is also Secretary-Treasurer of the Manitoba Band Association and coordinates all three levels of honour bands for the MBA. In October 2002, he received the MBA Award of Distinction for his services to music education in Manitoba.  Dr. Linklater is an assistant editor of Canadian Winds, the national journal of the Canadian Band Association. In May 2006 Dr. Linklater was the guest conductor of the 2006 National Youth Band of Canada.  The University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble has released two CDs devoted to Canadian wind band music — “North Winds I and II” with a third CD on the way.   Under Dr. Linklater’s direction, the University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble has been a guest ensemble at the Cantando Band Festival in Edmonton on four different occasions, and has performed at the past three Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra New Music Festivals.

Dr. Linklater is also interested in transcribing orchestral works for wind ensemble, having recently completed transcriptions of Frenergy by John Estacio and Tabuh-Tabuhan by Colin McPhee.  In March 2007, Dr. Linklater presented a session on the wind band music of Colin McPhee at the College Band Directors’ National Association Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan.   Last summer, Dr. Linklater, in collaboration with Tim Maloney and Keith Kinder presented a session on Canadian wind band music at the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles biennial conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. Jason Caslor

Dr. Jason Caslor

Jason Caslor currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL where he conducts both the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra and teaches conducting. He recently completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts (Conducting) at Arizona State University where his principal conducting teacher was Professor Gary Hill, Director of Ensemble Studies.

Prior to earning a Master of Music (Conducting) degree from the University of Manitoba, Jason earned his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of Saskatchewan.  During this time, he was a member of the Scherzo Quartet, winner of the Chamber Music category at the 2000 National Music Festival.

In 2004, Jason became the first ever Resident Conductor with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, working with Music Director and Conductor Earl Stafford.  A position supported by the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the University of Manitoba Faculty of Music, Jason’s professional debut was made with the RWB and the WSO in their production of the Nutcracker.

From 2005-2008, Jason was Resident Conductor with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, a 30 member professional ensemble. During his tenure with the TBSO, he conducted over 75 concerts (including a CBC Radio broadcast), designed and implemented a myriad of education and outreach initiatives, was instrumental is helping secure numerous local, provincial, and national grants, and recorded a full-length, internationally distributed CD with Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli. Described as “the lushest-sounding set of blues ever recorded in Canada”, it received two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations.

As an educator, Jason spent several years teaching in the public school system as both an instrumental and choral instructor. At the post-secondary level, Jason directed the Lakehead University Wind Ensemble for the 2007-08 academic year. He is increasingly active as a clinician, adjudicator, and conductor for festivals, honour bands, and music camps across Canada.

Dr. Caslor’s current research interests include spontaneous improvisation as it pertains to both conducting pedagogy and large, school-based instrumental ensembles, the wind music of Giya Kancheli and Nikolai Myaskovsky, and the observation of compositional propulsion through cadential manipulation during the score study process.