UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
Music Program
Conductor Biographies
Jack Stamp
Currently serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin- River Falls, Dr. Stamp teaches conducting and composition. He recently retired from full-time employment as Professor of Music and Director of Band Studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he conducted the Wind Ensemble and taught courses in graduate conducting. Dr. Stamp received his Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree from IUP, a Master's in Percussion Performance from East Carolina University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Conducting from Michigan State University where he studied with Eugene Corporon.
Past Appointments:
Prior to his appointment at IUP, he served as chairman of the Division of Fine Arts at Campbell University in North Carolina. He also taught for several years in the public schools of North Carolina. In addition to these posts, Dr. Stamp served as conductor of the Duke University Wind Symphony (1988-89) and was musical director of the Triangle British Brass Band, leading them to a national brass band championship in 1989.
Past teachers:
Dr. Stamp's primary composition teachers have been Robert Washburn and Fisher Tull, though he was strongly influenced by his music theory teachers at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and East Carolina. Other studies include work with noted American composers David Diamond, Joan Tower and Richard Danielpour.
Conducting & Compositions:
He is active as a guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and composer throughout North America and Great Britain. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading military and university bands across the United States. He has won the praise of American composers David Diamond, Norman Dello Joio, Ron Nelson, Michael Torke, Samuel Adler, Robert Ward, Robert Washburn, Fisher Tull, Nancy Galbraith and Bruce Yurko for performances of their works. He is also a contributing author to the "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band" series released by GIA Publications.
Awards:
In 1996, he received the Orpheus Award from the Zeta Tau Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha for service to music and was named a "Distinguished Alumnus" of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 1999, he received the "Citation of Excellence" from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association. In 2000, he was inducted into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He was awarded the title of "University Professor" for the 2008-2009 academic year at IUP. This is the highest award the university gives to a professor.
Kris Tjornehoj
Growing up in New Richmond, Wisconsin, Kris’ love of music and teaching inspired her to pursue a career in music education. A Luther and U of M grad, she taught band at both the middle and high school in Hudson, Wisconsin before taking her current position at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls (UWRF) where she conducts the Symphony Band, St. Croix Valley Symphony Orchestra and St. Croix Valley Community Band.
Kris truly believes in the power of building and strengthening relationships through music. She has had the honor and privilege of working with some of the most amazing musicians, composers and supporters of the arts in the world. An active guest conductor and clinician, Dr. Tjornehoj has served in these capacities throughout the United States and abroad. Recent highlights include serving as guest conductor for the Prague Castle Spanish Hall Concert with Hradní stráže a Policie ?R (Václav Blahunek, director) and conducting bands in Pinto and Madridejos, Spain as part of the country’s celebration of women. Dr. Tjornehoj has also led numerous performance tours both at home and abroad. In 2013, she co-founded the Three Rivers Concert Band, a group of adult musicians from Minnesota and Wisconsin, who collaborate and participate in international performance tours. To date the group has traveled to Spain, Budapest, Vienna and Prague. In June of 2018 the ensemble will visit Switzerland, France and Italy.
Driven by a desire to inspire others, Kris particularly enjoys public speaking engagements, providing her with the opportunity to engage, educate and inspire her audiences on a variety of topics – including: leadership; motivation; educational reform; arts advocacy; and of course…music!
www.kristjornehoj.com
132nd Army Band, Madison
Military bands have a long tradition of supporting and entertaining service members and civilians with music. In Wisconsin, the National Guard’s 132nd Army Band keeps the tradition alive and thriving with approximately 60 citizen-soldier-musicians who travel the state, the country and even the world with a variety of music. A descendant of the Army Guard’s famed 32nd “Red Arrow” Division bands of World War I and World War II, today’s 132nd Army Band is an exceptional band of outstanding musicians. The band inaugurates Wisconsin governors, has played honors for the President of the United States, helped commission the battleship USS Wisconsin, has played with the Milwaukee and Beloit/Janesville Symphony Orchestras, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Wisconsin Guard’s World War II service in Australia, welcomed home each of the Wisconsin Guard’s Desert Storm units, and played for military ceremonies and public performances in Germany.
Many band members are civilian musicians, music students or band directors, and others represent a number of other civilian professions in their hometowns throughout Wisconsin and other nearby states, but when they come together as the 132nd Army Band, they’re all musicians in one of the finest military bands in the nation.
Audiences may be surprised at the versatility of this army band, which plays a wide range of music that goes far beyond traditional concert and marching band material. Within the unit are various performing ensembles including the “Patriot Jazz” big band, the “EZ Jazz” jazz combo, the “Claymore Project” Rock Band, the “Soldiers of Sax” saxophone ensemble, the “Guardian Winds” woodwind quintet, and brass quintets.
And, of course, there is the concert band. With as many as 60 musicians, the 132nd concert band has delighted audiences from Wisconsin to Australia to Germany.
The 132nd Army Band has a group appropriate for almost any event, from parades to concerts, and everything in between.
