staff
Band Staff
GREGG I. HANSON
Director of Bands
Professor of Music
Music Building, Room 166A
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.7024, fax 520.621.1916
hansong@u.arizona.edu
Gregg
I. Hanson was born in Ogden, Utah in 1943. He studied trumpet, piano,
and voice in his formative years before attending The University of
Michigan where he earned bachelor and master degrees in 1967-68. He
has studied conducting with Elizabeth A. H. Green and William D. Revelli
and now heads an innovative graduate conducting program at the University
of Arizona where he currently serves as director of Wind Bands and professor
of conducting. His performing ensembles have appeared at all of the
major venues in the United States including the conferences of the College
Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference,
and the American Bandmasters Association. He was inducted as a member
of ABA in 1984. In the summer of 2001, the UA Wind Ensemble performed
at Lucerne, Switzerland. His conducting experience is varied and includes
commercial music, musical theatre, opera, chamber music, orchestra,
and wind band.
Under his baton, The University of Arizona Wind Ensemble has achieved international recognition with the release of three compact disc recordings, all of the music of David Maslanka, under the Albany label. Hanson enjoys numerous guest-conducting and clinic appointments in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and most recently in China where he was the first American wind band conductor to conduct a public concert with the Peoples Liberation Army Band. During the fall semester of 2003, he returned to China for the purpose of creating the first-ever wind ensembles at the Beijing and Xi'an Conservatories of Music. Hanson has been praised for his authentic interpretations and degree of excellence of his work and is credited with numerous premieres of outstanding repertoire for the wind band.
JAY C. REES
Associate Director of Bands
Professor of Music
Director, the "Pride of Arizona"
Athletic Bands
Music Building, Room 166
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.7027, fax 520.621.1916
jrees@u.arizona.edu
Jay
Rees is an experienced music educator with a varied background as a
conductor, composer, arranger, and performer. Concert, jazz, and athletic
bands across the country perform his original compositions and arrangements.
He is published with Warner Bros./C.P.P. Belwin and Musicexpresso.com and his work is commissioned annually by major universities and high
schools.
Rees conducts the UA Wind Symphony and teaches undergraduate music education courses. He also travels as a clinician, guest speaker and adjudicator for band programs nationwide. Under his inspired direction, the University of Arizona's marching and pep bands have attained national reputation with Rees' contemporary arrangements and innovative drill design. The Pride of Arizona have released CD recordings and are heard as part of an Electronic Arts college basketball computer software program. They have appeared in numerous television features including NBC-TV's Today Show and Fox Sports.
Rees is an accomplished musician in jazz performance, having appeared throughout U.S., Canada and Japan. He toured with the international recording act The Lettermen as bassist and music director and is featured on their 1991 album release Now and Then. He currently collaborates with the UA jazz faculty and performs at UA's annual AZ Jazz festival.
Rees choreographed a live "human flag" for the Tucson community in response to the events of 9/11/01. His imaginative design incorporated 10,000 citizens and became a national symbol. The image appeared on CNN and was published in a special issue of Sports Illustrated.
Rees is listed in Who's Who In America for the 21st Century as well as Who's Who Among America's Teachers. A native of Detroit, Rees lived in Miami and Los Angeles before making his home in Tucson with his wife and two sons.
KELLY THOMAS
Assistant Professor of Music
Pep Band Director
Tuba and Euphonium
Music Building, Room 234
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.2057, fax 520.621.8118
kgthomas@u.arizona.edu
Mr. Thomas, a native of Flagstaff, Arizona was appointed
tuba/euphonium instructor and director of pep bands at The University of
Arizona in 2001. He has a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from
Tennessee Technological University and a Master of Music degree in music
education from Arizona State University where he studied with Sam Pilafian.
Kelly is currently completing a Doctor of Musical Arts performance
degree at Arizona
State University.
Mr. Thomas participated in the famed Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble, under the direction of R. Winston Morris, while at TTU. With this ensemble, he performed at Carnegie Hall and was featured on the CD recording, Unleash the Beast (Mark Records, 1995). In the fall of 1998, Thomas participated in the release of Tubalogy 601 (Mark Records, 2000), a jazz CD featuring alumni of Tennessee Tech. He recently returned to Tennessee Tech for another alumni recording including classical works written for the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble. This CD, The Kings of Brass, was released in December 2001.
In the summer of 2000, Mr. Thomas performed at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Regina, Canada with Sam Pilafian. In the summer of 2003, Mr. Thomas hosted the Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at the University of Arizona. He has also been invited several times as a finalist for Washington D.C. service bands. Kelly has also worked with numerous valley high schools as a brass instructor and clinician. He is a Clinician/Artist for Boosey & Hawkes.
EVE DOTSON
Administrative Secretary
Music Building, Room 166
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.621.1683, fax 520.621.1916
dotson@u.arizona.edu
Eve Dotson, a native Arizonan, graduated from Sahuaro High School here in Tucson. After receiving her AA degree from Pima College, she worked as an Administrative Secretary at IBM for 10 years before coming to The University of Arizona.
Eve has been the Band Area administrative assistant since 1989 and still loves it. As the office manager for the band program, Eve enjoys being the "behind-the-scenes" staff member supporting the Director of Bands, Associate Director of Bands, and Pep Band Director.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact her. She's here to help you.