2022 NBA HALL OF FAME OF DISTINGUISHED CONDUCTORS DENNIS ZEISLER

It is a great pleasure to announce that Dennis Zeisler, Professor Emeritus & Director of Bands Emeritus at Old Dominion University, has been elected to the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors. A public announcement was made at the National Band Association General Membership meeting at the 2022 Midwest Clinic.

For 39 years (1979-2018), Dennis Zeisler served as the Director of Bands, Professor of Clarinet and Saxophone, and Professor of Conducting, Wind Literature and

Pedagogy at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. During his tenure at Old Dominion, his bands made multiple recordings and performed several times at the Virginia Music Educators Association State Conference as well as appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Carnegie Hall in New York City.

He was the founder and conductor of the Virginia Wind Symphony, a professional wind ensemble established in 1994. The VWS performed at two American Bandmaster Association Conventions (2004, 2011) as well as three performances at the prestigious Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic (2004, 2012, 2017). The John Philip Sousa Foundation awarded the Sudler Silver Scroll Award to Dennis and the VWS in 2011.

In 1998, Dennis was the National Band Association State Chair for Virginia and was also elected for membership to the American Bandmasters Association and later served as its 77th president (20142015). In 1999, he was selected as the Virginia Music Educator of the Year and received the Phi Mu Alpha Orpheus Award. He received the National Band Association Mentor Award in 2004, and in 2010 he was awarded a “University Professorship” for excellence in teaching by Old Dominion University. Upon his retirement in 2018, Kappa Kappa Psi presented him with the Distinguished Service to Music Award.

In 1994, 2004, 2014, 2017 he received Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association, and in 2020, the Association of Concert Bands voted him the Outstanding Conductor. In 2022, the Alpha Chi Phi Beta Mu Chapter established the “Career Achievement Award”, and presented it posthumously to the Zeisler family.

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From here forward, it will be awarded as the Phi Beta Mu “Dennis J. Zeisler” Career Achievement Award.

Professor Zeisler’s musical pedigree was impressive. For four years, Dennis was the principal clarinetist of the famed University of Michigan Symphony Band under the direction of William D. Revelli.

He was the solo clarinetist of the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, and solo clarinetist of the Detroit Concert Band conducted by Leonard B. Smith. Zeisler had his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in May of 1974 and performed at three International Clarinet Society Conferences. His list of orchestral performances included: principal clarinetist of the American Youth Orchestra, Frederick Fennell Conductor, the Virginia Symphony, the Roanoke Symphony, and the Virginia Beach Pops, to name a few. He performed on both clarinet and saxophone with many big names such as: Tony Bennett, Rita Moreno, Steve and Eydie Gorme and many others. He was clarinet soloist and conductor of numerous high school, college and university bands. Some other guestconducting experiences include the Dallas Wind Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, Symphoncity, Tidewater Winds, several All-State Bands, and multiple European tour performances with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp International Bands. He was the founder and conductor of the Colburn Adult Wind Symphony in Los Angeles,

CA. Zeisler was elected the founding conductor of the Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia Wind Ensemble. He took great pride in conducting most of the premiere U.S. military bands.

His career included tremendous leadership in his profession. He served as the chair of the Department of Music at ODU for many years during a time when the department experienced many significant changes including securing a very large monetary gift from the Ludwig Diehn estate. He was the President of the Southern Division of CBDNA from 1993-1995 and hosted one of their annual conventions. He served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Schools of Music, the John Philip Sousa Foundation, the National Band Association, and the American Bandmasters Association, and most recently served on the Board of Directors for the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. In addition to teaching conducting at ODU, Dennis was active in the mentoring and training of many young military conductors. He trained Army, Navy and Marine Band Officers at the graduate level. He also mentored and trained both Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers at the Army School of Music.

“Every moment in your presence was beautiful, artistic, inspirational and consequential.”

“I didn’t know Mr. Zeisler very long, but his impact on me was great.”

“Dennis Zeisler was a masterful bandmaster who gave me opportunities I would not have received elsewhere. His care and guidance went well beyond music and I am grateful for his role in my life.”

“I took lessons from Dennis starting in high school, then continued learning from him for the rest of my life. His musicianship has inspired my musical career over the last 30 years, and I am deeply indebted to him for who I am as a musician.”

“His firm-but-incredibly-warm attention to the person I was, not just the student I was, gave both the space for growth and the guidance to become the person I am today.”

Perhaps his greatest legacy is his students his students who he mentored with affection, honesty, and great skill. Some of their comments include the following:

His induction will take place at the Hall of Fame located at Troy University in 2024.

During the recent NBA General Membership meeting at the 2022 Midwest Clinic, it was announced that Julie Giroux and Frank Ticheli will be the 2023 recipients of the National Band Association Academy of Wind and Percussive Arts award. Both will be formally recognized at the NBA General

Membership meeting during the 2023 Midwest Clinic. The Academy of Wind and Percussive Arts (AWAPA) award was established for the purpose of recognizing those individuals who have made truly significant and outstanding contributions to furthering the excellence of bands and of band music. It is not limited to band directors, but to anyone whose contributions are determined to be so outstanding that they deserve and warrant honor and recognition. The nine inch silver “AWAPA” figure is designed to be the “Oscar” of the band world. The NBA extends congratulations to both Julie Giroux and Frank Ticheli.

Julie Ann Giroux was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on December 12, 1961. She graduated from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA in 1984. She started playing piano at 3 years of age and began composing at the age of 8 and has been composing ever since. Her first published work for concert band, published by Southern Music Company was composed at age 13.

Julie began composing commercially in 1984. She was hired by Oscar winning composer Bill Conti as an orchestrator, her first project with Conti being “North & South” the mini-series. With over 100 film, television and video game credits, Giroux collaborated with dozens of film composers, producers, and celebrities including Samuel Goldwyn, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood,

Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Celene Dion, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Paul Newman, Harry Connick Jr. and many others. Projects she has worked on have been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globe awards. She has won individual Emmy Awards in the field of “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction”. When She won her first Emmy Award, she was the first woman and the youngest person to ever win that award. She has won it three times.

Giroux has also published a large category of classical works with emphasis on original compositions for Wind Band which are published by Musica Propria and distributed internationally. She is greatly sought after as a composer and recently completing her 5th Symphony “Sun, Rain & Wind” which premiered in June, 2018. Her music has been recorded and reviewed internationally receiving top reviews and her music has been performed at major music festivals the world over.

Giroux has been a true force in a male dominated field and has accrued many previously male only awards. She is a member of ASCAP, The Film Musicians Fund, Kappa Kappa PSI, Tau Beta Sigma and a member of the American Bandmasters Association. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Service to Music Medal Award, Emmy Awards and was the first female composer inducted into the American Bandmasters Association in 2009.

Frank Ticheli’s music has been described as being “optimistic and thoughtful” (Los Angeles Times), “lean and muscular” (The New York Times), “brilliantly effective” (Miami Herald) and “powerful, deeply felt, crafted with impressive flair and an ear for striking instrumental colors” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel). Ticheli (b. 1958) joined the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is Professor of Composition. From 1991 to 1998, Ticheli was Composer in Residence of the Pacific Symphony.

Ticheli’s orchestral works have received considerable recognition in the U.S. and Europe. Orchestral performances have come from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, the radio orchestras of Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Saarbruecken and Austria and the orchestras of Austin, Bridgeport, Charlotte, Colorado, Haddonfield, Harrisburg, Hong Kong, Jacksonville, Lansing, Long Island, Louisville, Lubbock, Memphis, Nashville, Omaha, Phoenix,

Portland, Richmond, San Antonio, San Jose, Wichita Falls and others.

Ticheli’s flute concerto received its world premiere at the National Flute Association Convention in Minneapolis, with the composer conducting and Thornton colleague Jim Walker as soloist. In February 2018, Ticheli’s third symphony, The Shore, received its East Coast premiere at New York’s Carnegie Hall by NYChoral Society and Orchestra.

Ticheli is well-known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. In addition to composing, he has appeared as guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities and music festivals and in cities throughout the world, including Schladming (Austria), Beijing and Shanghai, London and Manchester, Singapore, Rome, Sydney and numerous cities in Japan.

He is the recipient of a 2012 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, his third award from that prestigious organization. His Symphony No. 2 was named winner of the 2006 NBA/ William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. Other awards include the Walter Beeler Memorial Prize and first prize awards in the Texas Sesquicentennial Orchestral Composition Competition, Britten-onthe-Bay Choral Composition Contest and Virginia CBDNA Symposium for New Band Music.

Ticheli was awarded national honorary membership to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, “bestowed to individuals who have significantly contributed to the cause of music in America,” and the A. Austin Harding Award by the American School Band Directors Association, “given to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the school band movement in America.” At USC, he has received the Virginia Ramo Award for excellence in teaching, and the Dean’s Award for Professional Achievement.

Ticheli received his doctoral and master’s degrees in composition from The University of Michigan. His works are published by Manhattan Beach, Southern, Hinshaw and Encore Music and are recorded on the labels of Albany, Chandos, Clarion, Klavier, Koch International, Mark and Naxos.