Kappa Kappa Psi, The Epsilon Kappa Chapter

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Our organization lifts up the ASU Band Program, public school bands in the area, develops solid leadership in its members, and helps prepare them for their professional lives. With your help we can reach even higher.

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Eddie Pace Initiated April 4th, 1970 Mr. Pace received his Bachelor’s of Music and his Master’s of Music from the University of Texas – Austin. He served as Director for ten years, during which time the program steadily grew and became known as “The Golden Ram Band”. Mr. Pace is an alumni of the Alpha Tau Chapter at the University of Texas at Austin, and was responsible for initiating the process of colonization for both the Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma chapters at Angelo State University
Harris Brinson Initiated September 15th, 1977 Professor Harris Brinson is Director of Bands Emeritus at Angelo State University. In 1997, he retired from ASU after serving as Director of Bands for twenty-three years. Prior to this appointment, he was Director of Instrumental Music for the Pampa, TX public schools. He is a graduate of West Texas A & M University with a bachelor and masters degree in music education. He served as a Texas Band Director for thirty-two years during which time he was very active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States and abroad. He served as president of the Texas Bandmasters Association, President of the Texas (alpha) chapter of Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Association as well as International President of the organization. He is a charter member of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association and an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He was recognized as the Angelo State Outstanding Retired Faculty member in 2001 and was also selected as the Texas Bandmaster of the Year. In 2004, he was honored to be elected to the Texas Bandmaster Hall of Fame. Currently, Professor Brinson is active in the band uniform business and in association with Stanbury Uniforms as a Regional Manager for sales and design. His company HB Enterprises, provides band accessories and uniforms to musical groups throughout Texas. In addition to his business involvement, he remains active as a clinician and adjudicator.
Dr. David Fenell Initiated September 28th, 1978 Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music, passed away on August 20, 1995, after serving Angelo State University for 20 Years. He was an alumni of the Alpha Psi Chapter at West Texas State University, and served as the assistant band director under Harris Brinson at Pampa High School prior joining the faculty at Angelo State University.
Dr. Edward Surface Initiated September 28th, 1978 Edward Surface joined the ASU faculty in 1976. He has attended the University of Oklahoma, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, University of Houston, and The University of North Texas. His teachers have included Albert Buswell, Dave Pack, Terry Segress, Don Little, and William Rose. Dr. Surface has performed with such notable popular and jazz artists as B.J. Thomas, Clark Terry, Anacanni, Harry Connick Sr., Anita Bryant, and Janie Frickie. He has also performed with the famed Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus and has toured throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States.
Forrest Herman Perry Initiated April 22nd, 1985
Carey Steven Hanson Initiated April 22nd, 1985
Mark Edward Clark Initiated April 19th, 1991
Jake Martin Initiated April 19th, 1991
Mary Jo Fennell Initiated November 17th, 1995
Koste A. Belcheff Initiated April 4th, 1997
Christopher M. Neal Initiated April 4th, 1997 Dr. Neal earned his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from the University of Oklahoma, his Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Oklahoma. After serving as an Assistant Director, Dr. Neal was named the Interim Director of Bands in the Fall of 1997, and served for a year until Dr. David Scott was hired to be the full time Director of Bands. During Dr. Neal’s year at the podium he modified the Symphonic Band into the Wind Ensemble that is still in use today. He is currently teaching at McMurry University in Abilene, Tx.
ZEGRET, The God of Brotherhood Initiated April 4th, 1997 It is said that ZEGRET first appeared in the Epsilon Kappa Chapter in 1985, and has served as its mascot ever since. ZEGRET teaches the members of EK the value of brotherhood. Upon entering the chapter he quickly became involved in the Membership Education Program. Though his specific involvement has changed throughout the years, he remains actively a part of the education program to this day. Additionally, ZEGRET is a celebrity of sorts around the Southwest District, and because of this he always helps bring positive attention to the chapter at convention and other District and National events throughout the year.
Carol Darby Initiated April 4th, 1997
Stephen A. Harper Initiated in 2000
Dr. John Irish Initiated in 2000 Dr. John Irish is Associate Professor of Music/High Brass at Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas. In addition to his duties with the high brass studio, he directs ASU brass ensembles. Prior to this position, he taught trumpet at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio and at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. His career includes performances with the Southwest German Radio Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, many chamber orchestras, brass quintets, and a wide variety of dance bands and commercial projects. He currently holds the position of principal trumpet of the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra and is active in the musical life of the area as well as a founder of Jazz Concho, a jazz sextet made up of local professionals. This university position follows a distinguished career in the Air Force Band system in which he performed in all fifty states, Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe. He has recorded often, premiered new works for winds, and soloed with bands and orchestras. Dr. Irish was recently featured as a guest artist in a series of master classes and as a soloist with an orchestra in Chihuahua, Mexico. As a contributor of a series of articles in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild (ITG), he has illuminated world-renowned trumpet players who have made a signigicant impact on the trumpet. In addition to his other frequent contributions to the ITG Journal, he has written articles for the Bandmasters Review, and educational publication of the Texas Bandmasters Association, the Newsletter of the International Women's Brass Conference, and other publications in the music industry. Irish completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music; he earned the MM and BM degrees from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prominent teachers include Bert Truax, Alan Siebert, John Carroll, Vince DiMartino, and Dale Marrs. Dr. Irish is a clinician/artist for the Conn-Selmer Company.
Douglas Overmier Initiated in 2000 Dr. Overmier was the Assistant Director of Bands at Angelo State University from 1999-2003. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music from Ohio University, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During the Summer of 2003 he left the program without notice. He is currently the Director of Bands and Instructor of Percussion at the University of West Georgia.
Dr. Eldon U. Black Initiated April 24th, 2003
Kathleen F. Carrico Initiated April 24th, 2003
Matthew W. Vaught Initiated April 24th, 2003
James R. Bode Initiated April 16th, 2004
Janet Owen Initiated May 1st, 2004
Dr. Fred Wilson Initiated May 1st, 2004
Jerry Keith Call Initiated March 25th, 2006
Dr. Stephen D. Emmons Initiated March 25th, 2006 Dr. Stephen D. Emmons is a native of San Antonio, Texas. He attended Texas State University - San Marcos, where he studied composition with Mark Dal Porto and Russell Riepe, earning the B.M. and M.M. He received the Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts at Texas Tech University, where he studied composition with Mary Jeanne van Appledorn. Prior to joining the faculty at Angelo State University, Dr. Emmons was an assistant professor of music at Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina, where he taught theory, history, and directed the school orchestra. He composes for a variety of ensembles, including band, choir and chamber groups. His music often integrates the melodies and formal procedures found in medieval music, Renaissance music and early American hymnody. His music has been performed in Texas and across the Southeast. Dr. Emmons is a member of Texas Music Educator's Association, Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, and ASCAP.
Daniel R. Smithiger Initiated March 25th, 2006 Mr. Smithiger arrived at ASU in the Fall of 2004 as the Director of Athletic Bands, which included the Ram Marching Band, Basketball Band and Concert Band. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education at Northern Arizona University, as well as his Master of Music at the University of Arizona.
Dr. Timothy A. Bonenfant Initiated November 11th, 2006 Timothy Bonenfant is an Assistant Professor of Music at Angelo State University, where he teaches the single reed studio and directs the jazz ensemble. He comes to Angelo State University from Las Vegas, Nevada, where he earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, the first woodwind performer from that institution to earn that degree. He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Masters of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts. His primary instructors were Alberto Asercion, Felix Viscuglia, William Powell, Raphael Sanders, Marina Sturm, Michael Limoli and Michele Zukovsky. During his years in Las Vegas, Dr. Bonenfant played with the famed UNLV Jazz Ensemble, directed by Frank Gagliardi. During his time with the jazz ensemble, the band played with Joe Williams, Don Menza, Louis Bellson, Chuck Findley, Marlena Shaw and Carl Fontana. Dr. Bonenfant has worked with many of the major composers of our time, including John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Milton Babbitt, Luciano Berio, Walter Blanton, John Cage, Paul Dresher, Morton Feldman, Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann, Steven Horowitz, Libby Larsen, Stephen Mosko, Mel Powell, Steve Reich, and Frederic Rzewski, Dorrance Stalvey, Eric Whitacre and most significantly, Virko Baley, the subject of Bonenfant’s dissertation. He has premiered over thirty works, many written especially for him, including Virko Baley's Partita No. 4 for clarinets (bass, A, Eb and Bb contrabass) and piano, and Stephen Emmons’ Seaside. Dr. Bonenfant was a longtime member of both the Las Vegas and the Nevada Symphony Orchestras and, from its inception in 1998, the Las Vegas Philharmonic. His professional experience also includes playing with such notable performers as Marvin Hamlisch, Tommy Tune, Luciano Pavorotti, Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, Charlotte Church, Theodore Bikel, Rip Taylor, the Village People, the Moody Blues, Beatlemania, Dudley Moore, David Foster, Sandi Patty and John Duykers. Dr. Bonenfant’s performances can be heard on three recordings. Two of these feature him playing works written especially for him, Those recordings include “San Francisco Chronicled: The Chamber Music of Steven Horowitz 1990-1996” (the composer of the soundtrack to “Super Size Me”), “The Body of a House: Music of Walter Blanton” and “Voyage From The Past,” a recording with Blanton’s small jazz group Dharma.
Brian D. Tillman Initiated November 11th, 2006
Dr. Reginald Houze Initiated Fall 2007 Dr. Houze arrived in the summer of 2007 as the Director of Bands. He received his degrees in Music from The University of Southern Mississippi and the Steinhardt School at New York University. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting from the University of South Carolina, and was the first African-American to achieve this distinction. He was also inducted into the University of Southern Mississippi Hall of Fame. He is the primary director for The RAM Band and conducts the Wind Ensemble in the fall and spring semesters.
Dr. Jeffery Womack Initiated Fall 2007 Dr. Womack is the Assistant Professor of Music at Angelo State University specializing in Double Reeds and Music History. Prior to coming to ASU, he was the Director of Woodwind Studies at Dickinson State University where he also taught music history and music theory. He has also previously been on faculty at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Womack has an extensive performing background and currently fills the Principal Bassoon chair with the San Angelo Symphony. He has been called upon to play Principal Oboe in the SASO as well. Prior to coming to ASU, he served as second bassoon with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra. In the BMSO, he also filled the principal oboe chair on occasion as well as solo English horn. He was the principal bassoonist with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra and performed with the Kokopelli Wind Quintet while at Northern Arizona University. Active nationally and internationally on the bassoon, in April of 2005, Dr. Womack traveled to Cork, Ireland as a guest lecturer at the Cork Institute of Music. While there, he taught a bassoon masterclass, coached chamber music and gave a recital featuring contemporary American music. He has also recently presented masterclasses at Kansas State University and the University of Kentucky. Dr. Womack has performed at Conferences of the International Double Reed Society in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2007. Dr. Womack is also a founding member of the bassoon quartet Depraved Indifference whose goal is to increase the repertoire for multiple bassoon ensembles. Depraved Indifference performed a recital featuring two newly composed works for bassoon quartet at the International Double Reed Society Conference in July 2006 at Ball State University.
Dr. Constance Kelly Initiated Fall 2008 Dr. Constance Kelley is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music and the Assistant Director of Bands at Angelo State University. She recently completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Kelley is also principle flutist with the 312th United States Army Reserve Band, based in Lawrence, Kansas. Before beginning her doctoral work at UNL, Dr. Kelley spent several years as a teacher in the Lawrence, Kansas public school system where she was an itinerant elementary band director and assisted with the local junior high and high school band programs. While in Lincoln, Nebraska, she had the opportunity to serve as interim flute professor at UNL, taught applied flute, counterpoint, and orchestration at Union College, and was a contract teacher at Concordia University in Seward, NE. Dr. Kelley has been a featured soloist with the 312th Army Band on tours through El Salvador, Nicaragua, and the Midwest and is a past winner of the Southwest Missouri State University concerto competition, and former member of the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in master classes for William Bennett, Alexa Still, Kyle Dzapo, and Maria Harding. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Southwest Missouri State University and a Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University. Dr. Kelley's flute instructors include John Bailey, Mary Poses, Katherine Kemler, Alan Zoloth, and Belva Prather.
Dr. Daniel McCloud Initiated Fall 2008 Originally from Gary, Indiana, Dr. Daniel McCloud earned his Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. In 2003, Dr. McCloud earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Instrumental Conducting, and has completed a Doctor of Arts degree in Percussion Performance from Ball State. In addition to performing and conducting, Dr. McCloud is an active composer. He has received commissions from the World Saxophone Congress and from PBS affiliate, WIPB-TV at Ball State University, and has been fortunate to have more than 20 compositions published by Dutch Music Partners (http://www.dutchmusicpartners.com). Dr. McCloud is an Educational Endorser of Pro-Mark, a prominent percussion company, and is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP); Percussive Arts Society and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.