Claudia is excited to be a part of the founding of Mission: #LoveMusic. She holds a BA in Theater Studies from Youngstown State and a MA in Arts Administration-MPA in Nonprofit Management from Indiana University. In addition to her work with #LoveMusic, she works in arts consulting, is a freelance photographer, and serves on the board and development committee for Windfall Dancers in Bloomington, IN.

Because of the excitement of the 2023 #LoveMusic concert and interest in continuing to make music at a high level, Stephanie is thrilled to bring people together to carry on Stephen Gage’s legacy. She has a BM from Millikin University and a MS in Music Education from the University of Illinois, where she met Steve in 1989. They were married for 32 years. She has taught general music, band and orchestra, grades preschool through college.

Treasurer

John Veneskey is honored to be a part of the founding board of Mission: #LoveMusic. John holds degrees from Bowling Green State University (Bachelor of Music, 1985), Youngstown State University (Master of Music, 1987), and Kent State University (Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education, 2014). 

He currently serves as an Educational Representative for Pellegrino Music Center in Canton, Ohio. In addition to his work with Pellegrino Music, John maintains an active performing and clinician schedule throughout the region. He retired from teaching in 2023 from the South Range Local School District (Canfield, Ohio). Prior to his appointment at South Range (2005), John served as the Associate Director of Bands at Youngstown State University, where he had the privilege of teaching with Dr. Gage.

Board Member

Board Member

Board Member

Board MemberHeather loves to see how many people are brought together by Mission: #LoveMusic.  She holds a BME and a MM from Youngstown State University where she worked alongside Dr. Gage as a Graduate Assistant in the Bands Department.  She currently works at Warren G. Harding High School as the Assistant Band Director and is active within OMEA, serving as the District 5 President-Elect and as a chairperson of the D5 High School Honors Band.

Dr. David M. Blon serves the students of the Purdue Bands and Orchestras as Clinical Assistant Professor of Bands. Prior to this appointment in fall of 2021, David previously spent time with the Boilermakers as an Artist in-Residence during the 2019-2020 academic year. The Purdue Bands and Orchestras provide performance-based learning experiences for over 1,300 students each semester, where students enroll in one or more of the eight concert bands, four orchestras, seven jazz ensembles, four athletic bands, in addition to various chamber music opportunities. 

During the fall semester, David’s responsibilities include conducting the Collegiate Band, Varsity Band, and the University Band. Each spring, he conducts the Concert Band and the Collegiate Band II. David also serves as assistant conductor of the Purdue Wind Ensemble, which also allows him to spearhead the chamber music component of Purdue Bands and Orchestras program. In spring of 2023, he served as co-director of the Percussion Ensemble and taught courses in Music Appreciation and served as the faculty coordinator of the PBO Engineering Learning Community.

David received his Bachelor of Music Education (Percussion) at Slippery Rock University, his Master of Music (Conducting) at Youngstown State University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts (Wind Conducting) at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory. David studied conducting with Steven D. Davis, Stephen L. Gage, Joseph Parisi, James Berry, Stephen Hawk, and Jack Stamp.

Reed Chamberlin serves as Director of Bands, Director of the School of Music and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Nevada, Reno, conducting the Nevada Wind Ensemble, teaching graduate conducting, and overseeing the comprehensive band program. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the Eastman School of Music (2014), a BME degree from The Ohio State University (2003), and an MM degree in Conducting from Youngstown State University (2007). 

He has been recognized internationally through publications, paper presentations and performances. At the Eastman School of Music, he was a Fennell Conducting Fellow and the recipient of the Walter Hagen Prize in Conducting. He has presented multiple times at the CBDNA National Conference, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the International Society for the Research and Promotion of Wind Band Literature, Nevada Music Educators Association, and the World Association of Symphonic Band Ensembles. His work has been published in the National Band Association Journal, the Ohio Music Education Association’s TRIAD, CBDNA Journal, and the WASBE Journal. The nationally recognized Nevada Wind Ensemble has been selected by jury to perform for the College Band Directors National Association Western Division Conference. His recent album release with the Nevada Wind Ensemble entitled Mythology Suite explores diverse works for the wind ensemble.

Brian T. Harris is currently serving as the Director of Bands at Robert Morris University in Moon Township. Pennsylvania. At Robert Morris, Mr. Harris directs and oversees the Marching Show Band, Basketball and Hockey Pep Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Fife and Drum Corps, chamber ensembles, teaches private lessons and humanities courses, oversees all operations of the University Bands program, and develops student leaders within the bands program and the Nu Gamma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi.

Mr. Harris’ past experiences have included work as the Instrumental and Choral Director, Instructor of Music, and Music Department Chair at Eastern Oklahoma State College where he increased the size and scope of the music department by 600% in three years, as director of bands at Thiel College, assistant director of bands at Saint Francis University, director of the Canfield Community Concert Band, and as band director at Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School, Lockerman Middle School, Bishop Carroll Catholic High School, and North Penn Jr. Sr. High School/Blossburg Elementary School. In addition to directing bands, Mr. Harris also directed the choirs and small ensembles at both Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School and Bishop Carroll Catholic High School.

Mr. Harris has also served as a judge at various Oklahoma High School Marching Band Competitions, guest conductor for the 2014 District 6 PMEA Band Festival, pit conductor for the Wheatherfield Jr. High musical "Wizard of Oz", low brass instructor for the Stambaugh Youth Concert Band, and has provided full band and instrumental clinics throughout the Pennsylvania Counties of Mercer, Venango, Cambria, and Somerset; and Oklahoma Counties of Latimer, Pittsburg, McIntosh, and Haskell.

Mr. Harris holds a Master of Music in Performance: Instrumental Conducting from Youngstown State University and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has also completed two semesters of work toward a DMA in Wind Band Conducting at the Shenandoah University Conservatory of Music. Mr. Harris has studied conducting with Dr. Timothy Robblee, Dr. Stephen L. Gage, Mr. Donald Linn, Dr. Christopher Heidenreich, Mr. James Dearing, Dr. Douglas Bish, Dr. Jason Worzbyt, and Dr. Jack Stamp. He has also studied trombone with Dr. Michael Crist, Mr. John Olson, Mr. John Huling, Dr. Christopher Hayes, and Dr. Christian Dickinson.

Mr. Harris is an active conductor, trombonist, and teacher in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and Oklahoma. He has performed professionally with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Butler Symphony Orchestra, Nittany Symphony Orchestra, Joe McConnell Jazz/Dixieland Band, Rick K and the Allnighters, and the Keystone Wind Ensemble. He can be heard performing with the Keystone Wind Ensemble on The Composer's Voice: The Band Music of Norman Dello Joio (2003), Tempo Di Bourgeois (2010), and Grace and Glory: The Music of Jack Stamp (2011). Mr. Harris has also performed as a featured soloist with the Canfield Community Concert Band and the Mercer

Community Band. He currently lives in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania with his wife Melanie.

Photo & bio coming soon!

Dr. Timothy Shade is the Director of the School of Music, Director of Bands, and Coordinator of the Graduate Wind Conducting Program at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. Additionally, he is the Artistic Director of the Wichita Wind Symphony, a professional ensemble based in Wichita and Conductor of the Wichita Youth Symphony Orchestra. His previous appointments include Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Alhambra Orchestra (FL), Visiting Director of Orchestras at Florida Atlantic University, and Director of Instrumental Music at Bethel College (KS). He has garnered praise for his exciting programming, engaging personality, and “marvelous conducting.”

Equally comfortable in the orchestral and wind realms, Shade has worked with organizations such as the Wichita Wind Ensemble, the Greater Miami Symphonic Band, The New River Orchestra, The Frost Wind Ensemble, The Florida Youth Symphony, The Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra, The Delano Chamber Orchestra, The Wichita Youth Symphony Orchestra, The Tidewater Brass Institute, and the Fredericksburg Brass Institute. Some of Dr. Shade’s accolades include being third prize winner in the American Prize Wind Conductor Collegiate Division in 2018-19, being named the Kansas Bandmasters Association “Outstanding Young Bandmaster” in 2012, and the 2019 WSU College of Fine Arts Mickey and Pete Armstrong Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.

Ensembles under Dr. Shade’s direction have performed for local, regional, and national audiences to great acclaim. The WSU Wind Ensemble received the 2018-19 American Prize for Collegiate Wind Ensemble Performance, performed at the 2022 & 2018 CBDNA Southwest Conferences in Waco, TX and Houston, TX respectively, and performed at the 2023 & 2018 KMEA In-Service Workshops. The Wichita Wind Symphony recently performed at the 2024 Kansas Bandmasters Association Summer Convention and the 2024 KMEA In-Service Workshop. Recent premieres and collaborative projects include the North American Premiere of “The Path to Heaven” an opera for winds and voices by Adam Gorb, the World Premiere of “Symphony No. 2” by James Syler, and a project entitled “Dante’s Nightmares and Dreams” a program for wind ensemble, dancers, and film.

As a performer, Dr. Shade has played in venues from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Carnival Cruise Lines’ m.s. Inspiration. An active euphonium performer, Dr. Shade has given more than 100 performances in recitals and as a guest soloist. He has appeared with the Youngstown State University Wind Ensemble, the Dana All-Star Band, the Dana Chamber Orchestra, the W.D. Packard Band, the University of Miami Symphonic Winds, the Greater Miami Symphonic Band, Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra, and the Wichita Wind Ensemble, among others. A proponent for new music, Dr. Shade has premiered several new works and is always on the lookout for more repertoire for the euphonium. In the fall of 2011, Dr. Shade commissioned and premiered PARALLAX by Thomas Sleeper. PARALLAX was recently released on the album "Thomas Sleeper Symphony No. 3" with Shade as the soloist. Also a busy jazz trombonist, Dr. Shade has shared the stage with many well-known performers such as Wessell “Warm Daddy” Anderson, John Clayton, Harold Danko, Joey DeFrancesco, Conrad Herwig, Sean Jones, Darren Kramer, Wynton Marsalis, Jim McNeely, Bernadette Peters, and the Modernaires.

The promotion and creation of new music is a passion of Shade's. He has been involved in over 30 commissions and has worked with composers such as David Maslanka, Andrew Boysen Jr., Steven Bryant, Jonathan Newman, Christopher Rouse, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, Paul Rudy, Steve Danyew, Derek Jenkins, Thomas Sleeper, Paul Dooley, and James Syler. Shade’s recent world premiere performances include Orbits by Robert Tindle, Symphony No. 2 by James Syler, KHRONOS by Nikoyle Noel, and Symphony No. 3: Circles by Murray Gross. Current projects include a cross-genre works and new projects utilizing Ion Concert Media’s live media sync software, Muséik.

MICHAEL S. YONCHAK is an Associate Professor of Music at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, teaching a variety of ensembles and courses in general education, integrative studies, first-year seminars, and popular music history. He earned the Bachelor of Music in Education and Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting degrees from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, and completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting at the University of Kentucky. Prior to his time in Lexington (KY), he taught for five and a half years in the public schools of northeast Ohio.

Dr. Yonchak maintains an active schedule as a freelance percussionist in the Columbus area, currently appearing with the KB4 Jazz Organ Quartet, Acoustic Edge (country-bluegrass), and perennial appearances with the Lost Revival (indie rock) and internationally recognized flamenco dancer/instructor Griset Damas-Roche of the Flamenco Company of Columbus. As a music pedagogue and clinician, Dr. Yonchak is frequently in demand for middle/high school ensemble masterclasses, honors bands, adjudication, and professional development clinics. Notable conference appearances include research sessions and performances at the Ohio Music Education Association’s State Conference, College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society, the American Musicological Society, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Summer Teacher Institute.

Recent endeavors include presentations for Otterbein University’s “Lifelong Leaning Community” (LLC) on the history of Rock and Roll and the Roots of Hip Hop, two co-authored article publications in the Percussive Arts Society's Percussive Notes: an analysis of Jennifer Higdon’s Grammy-winning Percussion Concerto (December 2023), followed by an historic overview of Frank Zappa’s percussionists (April 2024), and a complete manifestation of Frank Zappa's landmark jazz fusion album Hot Rats (1969), reorchestrated for wind ensemble with rock band and performed by the Otterbein Wind Ensemble in December of 2024.

Dr. Yonchak holds honorary memberships in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma. He is an endorsee for Vic Firth, Inc., Murat Diril Cymbals (muratdiril.com), and JDUB Cajons (jdubcajons.com).