February 1, 2020  

Schedule

• 9:30 a.m.: Registration 
• 10 a.m.: Master Classes 
• 11 a.m.: Student Ensembles Rehearsals 
• Noon: Lunch (provided) 
• 1 p.m.: Master Classes/Special Topics 
• 2 p.m.: Ensembles Rehearsals 
• 3 p.m.: Guest Artist and Ensembles Recital  

Early Bird Registration: $15 (through January 31) 
On-Site Registration: $20 (February 1) 

Guest Artists

Dr. Michael Shults, Saxophone 

Saxophonist Michael Shults has been praised for his "strong, imaginative" improvisations (Downbeat Magazine) and "fresh and intelligent musical ideas" (The Pitch). A first-call musician on the Kansas City jazz scene for nearly a decade, Shults remains an active performer in the Fountain City and beyond, and has twice appeared as a sideman on the Jazzweek National Radio Airplay Charts. As a graduate student at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Michael was a finalist in the 2012 North American Saxophone Alliance Jazz Artist Competition, and was the winner of the Graduate College Soloist category in the 2012 Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards Issue. He has performed by invitation as a featured soloist at the North American Saxophone Alliance biennial conference, the Jazz Education Network conference, the Wisconsin Music Educator's Association conference, and the Minnesota Music Educator's Association conference.  

As a concert saxophonist, Shults has been praised for his "jaw-dropping" and "authoritative" performances (Bill Brownlee of the Kansas City Star) and has performed by invitation at the College Band Director's National Association conference, North American Saxophone Alliance biennial conference, the Minnesota Music Educator's Association conference, and the University of Iowa Festival for New Music. He is a founding faculty member of the Kansas City Saxophone  

Workshop along with Zach Shemon, alto saxophonist of the PRISM Quartet. Dr. Shults has also served on the faculty of the Eugene Rousseau Saxophone Workshop at Shell Lake Arts Center. He is currently the alto saxophone chair in the Coalescent Quartet.  

Michael is a Yamaha and D'Addario performing artist and performs on their instruments and reeds exclusively.  

Dr. Suzanne Tirk, Clarinet 

Dr. Suzanne Tirk is Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of Oklahoma, a member of the Oklahoma Wind Quintet, and the former Director of the OU Clarinet Symposium. A dynamic performer and teacher, Dr. Tirk has established a national and international reputation with numerous performance and masterclass presentations throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Kazakhstan, China, Panama, and Great Britain. She has served as principal clarinet with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Norman Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed with the Classical Music Festival Orchestra in Austria and Hungary. Dr. Tirk has been a guest recitalist at several International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests®, the Midwest ClariFest, the Southern Mississippi University Clarinet Symposium, the Potsdam Clarinet Summit, the OU Clarinet Symposium, and the Xi'an, China International Clarinet and Saxophone Festival.  

Dr. Tirk has served on the faculties of the Interharmony International Music Festival in Arcidosso, Italy, Wichita State University, and Bemidji State University. During her tenure at Wichita State University, she received the College of Fine Arts Excellence in Teaching Award and performed with the ensemble in residence, Lieurance Woodwind Quintet. She can be heard on the most recent recording of the Lieurance Quintet, Music from the Americas, released by Summit Records in 2011.  

Dr. Tirk is active in several professional organizations including the International Clarinet Association, the College Music Society, the National Association for Music Education, Oklahoma Music Educators Association, and Phi Kappa Phi. Dr. Tirk was written an article for The Instrumentalist magazine on clarinet fundamentals, and has presented clinics for the Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Montana Music Educators Association, the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference, the Kansas Music Educators Association, the Kansas Bandmasters Association, the Senseney Music Total Band Director Workshop, and the Wichita Metropolitan Music Teacher's Association.  

Dr. Tirk holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University (WI), and a Master of Music degree and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. Her teachers have included Elsa Ludewig Verdehr, Charles Neidich, Theodore Oien, Colin Lawson, Fan Lei, and Richard Faria.  

Dr. Matthew Allison, Flute 

Dr. Matthew Allison is the flute instructor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, as well as at O'Fallon Township, Belleville East, and Granite City High Schools in Illinois. His past teaching positions include Instructor of Flute at Western Illinois University and the Instructor of Flute and Chair of Theory and Composition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music. In addition to a decade of professional teaching experience at nationally accredited institutions, he has performed and taught for organizations including Mansfield University (PA), The College of New Jersey, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Pennsylvania Music Educator Association, and for the Pennsylvania, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois Music Teacher Associations. He was also the Artistic Director of the 2010 and 2011 Flute Fest of Central PA. Matthew is best known through the educational community, but has also performed with the Harrisburg Symphony and as soloist/principal of the Allegro Chamber Orchestra. He is a founding member of NakedEye Ensemble, which is dedicated to promoting new music. He also won first prize at the 2012 Flute Society of St. Louis Young Artist Competition. Matthew attended the University of Louisville for a Bachelor of Music with an emphasis in orchestral performance and the University of Kansas for both his Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, emphasizing in pedagogy, world music, and new music. In addition to teaching and performing flute, Matthew and also works with musicians' total health, as a certified and experienced yoga instructor.