Northshore Concert Band - About Us - NCB History

		Former Music Directors Dr. John P. Paynter, Conductor and Music Director, 1956-1996 Dr. Stephen Peterson, Conductor and Music Director, 1996-1998 Stephen Peterson, appointed Director of Bands at Ithaca College in 1998, currently conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches courses in conducting and wind literature. From 1988-98, he served as Associate Director of Bands at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and was also conductor of the renowned Northshore Concert Band. Dr. Peterson served on the faculty at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas and has several years of successful teaching experience in the public schools in Arizona. Dr. Peterson holds the Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University, and Master's and Bachelor's degrees from Arizona State University. His ensembles have appeared before conventions of the American Bandmaster's Association, the College Band Director's National Association, the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors, the American School Band Director's Association, at Orchestra Hall with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and at Lincoln Center. For many years, Peterson served as a new music reviewer for Instrumentalist magazine. He is active as a conductor and clinician throughout the United States, Canada, and the Republic of China. He is a member of the Music Educator's National Conference, College Band Directors National Association, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, New York School State Band Director's Association, and New York State School Music Association. Peterson has been elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmaster's Association. Dr. John Lynch, Conductor and Music Director, 1999-2002 John Lynch was Music Director of Northshore Concert Band and Associate Director of Bands at Northwestern University from the fall of 1999 through summer of 2002. Currently he is the Director of Bands at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University, a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Dr. Lynch has been named a Searle Junior Fellow for teaching excellence at Northwestern University and was a member of the prestigious Emory Scholars Committee in his former position as Director of Instrumental Music at Emory University in Atlanta. He is the national recipient of the Stanbury Award for outstanding teaching and conducting and the winner of the William D. Revelli Award. He is listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers and has been published in Teaching Music Through Performance in Band and through Ludwig Music. Dr. Lynch is a member of the International Symphonic Conducting Workshop in the Czech Republic and a semi-finalist in the Hungarian Radio Conductors Competition. Ensembles under his direction have performed throughout the United States, Canada, France, and central Europe, and his performances have been broadcast throughout Georgia on Peachstate Public Radio. He is an active clinician, composer, and guest conductor. Recent invitations, as conductor of the Northshore Concert Band, include the Midwest Clinic, Bands of America, and the International Wind Band Festival in La Croix Valmer, France. John Lynch is a strong advocate for new music, receiving grants to travel and research contemporary wind band and chamber music in Scandinavia, Spain and Portugal. He has commissioned and premiered several compositions and has recorded two compact discs. Dr. Lynch is the founder and former music director of the Orange County Wind Ensemble in New York and was the conductor of the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony. His professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, the Conductors Guild, the Association for Curriculum and Development, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles. Dr. Lawrence Stoffel, Conductor and Music Director, 2002-2003 Lawrence Stoffel was Music Director and Conductor of the Northshore Concert Band from the fall of 2002 through the summer of 2003. Dr. Stoffel joined the Northshore Concert Band in 1999 as assistant conductor and bassoonist. Dr. Stoffel currently serves on the faculty of Northern Illinois University as Director of Huskie Bands. Since his appointment in 1996, he has conducted the Wind Symphony and University Band, taught conducting and education courses, and supervised student teachers. He has also served as Director of Athletic Bands and will soon be adding a mariachi band to the School of Music curriculum. Dr. Stoffel was interim Director of Bands at Eastern Illinois University during the 2001-02 school year. A native of California, he was Director of Bands at the University of California-San Diego, in addition to teaching music at the high school level in Pasadena and Buena Park. Dr. Stoffel holds the degrees Doctor of Music from Indiana University, the Master of Music from the University of Colorado, and both the Bachelor of Arts in Music and the Master of Education degrees from the University of California-Los Angeles. He has studied conducting with Ray E. Cramer, Allan McMurray, Thomas Lee, and Stephen W. Pratt. In addition, he has studied marching band techniques with David C. Woodley. Dr. Stoffel has been published in Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Alta Musica, the Czech Music Bulletin, and the College Band Directors National Association Report. He has presented at the Illinois Music Educators Association All-State Conference, the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association Conference, as well as at international conferences in Germany and Austria. This year he will co-present at the 48th annual Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference held each December in Chicago. As a clinician, Lawrence Stoffel has guest-conducted middle school, high school, college, and community bands and orchestras throughout the state of Illinois, the midwest, Canada, and most recently Australia. His professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and the Internationale Gesellschaft zur Erforschung und Förderung der Blasmusik. He has received honorary membership in Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi, the national band fraternity and sorority. Dr. Richard Fischer, Music Director, 2003-2005 Dr. Richard Fischer is professor of music and director of bands at Concordia University, River Forest, IL. He received the bachelor of music education and master of music degrees from DePaul University and the doctor of musical arts degree from Michigan State University. He has also studied at Cornell College and the University of Northern Colorado. Fischer conducts the Wind Symphony and University Band. He teaches basic and advanced level conducting courses as well as various music education courses. Fischer also observes student teachers. He plays French horn in the Faculty Brass Quintet. Since Fischer's arrival in 1974, the Wind Symphony has played concerts and church services in 40 states and Canada. In May 2001, the Wind Symphony toured Germany, The Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. This ensemble performed at the 24th National Conference of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) and recorded seven internationally-sold compact discs of sacred wind music. The Wind Symphony has commissioned and premiered numerous major wind compositions. In the fall of 1995, the ensemble was invited to perform two concerts at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. Fischer is in demand internationally as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator. He was named to the "A Team" of University Professors by the Chicago Tribune in 1994. He has held positions with numerous professional organizations, such as the communications director for the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in preparation for the 1995 conference in Hamamatsu, Japan. Since 1989, Fischer has served as music director for Ballet LeGere's production of the Nutcracker Ballet. For 17 years, he served as the assistant conductor of the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest. Fischer's professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles, Music Educators National Conference, Illinois Music Educators Association, National Band Association and the Christian Instrumental Directors Association.