Louis Young, tubaDr. Louis Young joined the faculty of The University of Central Arkansas in the Fall of 2001 as Assistant Professor of Tuba and Assistant Director of Bands. In this capacity Louis teaches applied tuba, performs with Pinnacle Brass, the faculty brass quintet in residence at The University of Central Arkansas, assists with the administration of the "Marching Bear Band" and the UCA Pep Band and conducts the UCA Symphonic Band.
A native of Georgia, Louis received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music Performance degrees at The University of Georgia where he studied with Dr. David Randolph. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in tuba performance from The University of Michigan where he studied with Professor Fritz Kaenzig. Prior to coming to Arkansas, Louis taught at the University of Toledo, in Toledo, Ohio. He has performed widely with many professional orchestras and chamber groups including Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Ypsilanti Symphony, Solid Brass of Little Rock, New South Brass Quintet, and Pinnacle Brass. Louis has been on the faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan since summer 2003.
Young is very active as a recitalist and clinician including solo performances with Solid Brass of Little Rock, as recitalist at the 2003 Great Plains Regional Tuba and Euphonium Conference and the 2003 Texas Regional Tuba and Euphonium Conference and many guest appearances at universities and colleges around the United States. Louis is a 1992 International Tuba and Euphonium Conference Solo Competition Finalist and a winner in the 1991 University of Georgia Concerto Competition. Professional memberships include The International Tuba Euphonium Association in which he serves as Competitions Coordinator, Music Educators National Conference in which he serves on the board of directors for Arkansas Music Educators Association, Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association, and the American School Band Directors Association.
Ben Pierce, euphoniumBenjamin Pierce teaches applied tuba and euphonium at the University of Arkansas and conducts the U of A tuba-euphonium ensemble.
Ben holds a DMA in tuba performance from the University of Michigan as well as an MM in euphonium performance from Michigan and a BM in euphonium performance from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. His teachers include Fritz Kaenzig, Velvet Brown, and Wesley Jacobs.
Ben has been the winner of numerous international competitions including both euphonium and tuba divisions of the ITEC (International Tuba-Euphonium Conference) competitions and both tuba and euphonium divisions of the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Artist Competition. He was the grand prize winner of the 2001 Japan Wind and Percussion Competition in Tokyo and was the first euphonium player ever to be chosen as a finalist in the prestigious Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York City.
Ben has performed with several major ensembles including the Detroit Symphony, the Detroit Chamber Brass, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, the Toledo Symphony, and the Flint Symphony. He is a featured soloist annually with the Toledo Concert Band. He has served as principal tubist of the Ann Arbor Symphony and is currently tubist with the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
Also active as a teacher and guest artist, Ben has performed guest recitals and clinics in the United States, Canada, and Japan.
Steven
Mead, euphonium
March 5, 2005
Steven Mead’s extraordinary pioneering work with the euphonium has gained him worldwide recognition as one of the world’s leading euphonium players and he has been acclaimed as the most travelled soloist in the history of the instrument. Based in the East Midlands in the UK, in the village of Fenny Drayton , near Nuneaton, his hectic schedule sees him playing concerts with leading ensembles, orchestras, brass and wind bands the world over. In recent years he has diversified still further he has begun to play popular styles and jazz.
He is currently in great demand as a recitalist and clinician throughout the world of brass playing (please refer to the events schedule on this site). Not only has he been at the forefront of performance but is credited as a pioneer in euphonium education and repertoire. Steven has been a professional euphonium soloist for some 17 years after a successful career with some of the top British brass bands and as a full time music teacher. It is this wealth of experience that has helped to create a musician who communicates with his audiences.
Born in Bournemouth , February 26th , 1962, he grew up at this popular south coast seaside town, attending Bournemouth School for Boys from 1973-1980. His earliest brass ‘training’ began at the age of 6, with the Boscombe Salvation Army Junior Band. The euphonium was too big at that stage (!) and over the next few years, gravitated lower, onto tenor horn, then baritone, then at the age of 11 to the euphonium. From the age of 8 to 12 he took singing lessons passing his Grade 8 singing exam with distinction, as a boy soprano!
His love for the euphonium seriously developed from the age of 13 and he was entering competitions at local music festivals from this time. Early teachers included Bernhard Roberts and Glyn Bosanko at the Boscombe SA. From the age of 17 Steven took lessons from brass band euphonium legend Trevor Groom, travelling by train from Bournemouth to Kettering regularly, a round trip of 7 hours on Saturdays. From Bournemouth he moved to the West Country to begin his studies at Bristol University. Whilst at Bristol he came into contact with the composer Derek Bourgeois who encouraged him greatly to persevere while many others gave him advice that to become a professional player he would have to move to the trombone. Although Steven was playing a lot of trombone at the time, the Bristol years clarified that the euphonium was the instrument for his future career whatever that would be. He graduated with a BA Honours degree in Music and moved 12 miles south to the Newton Park College, Bath where he gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, qualifying him to teach at secondary school level, (high school).
Past guest artists: Thomas Bough, Neal Corwell, Jason Ham, Steve Maxwell, Ben Pierce, Pat Sheridan, Jason Roland Smith, Helen Tyler, Kevin Wass, Scott Watson, Louis Young.