Dr. Allan McMurray
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Conducting
University of Colorado, Boulder
“It is an honour to teach a subject that promotes a collaborative approach to artistry, and the teaching of instrumental conducting is uniquely enriching”
Allan McMurray is Distinguished Professor and Professor of Conducting Emeritus at the University of Colorado. He served for 35 years as Director of Bands and Chair of the Conducting faculty before retiring from CU at the end of the 2013 academic year. Prior to this position, he was on the faculty of the University of Michigan, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. Considered one of the world’s leading teachers of conducting, the professor McMurray has guest conducted and taught conductors in 48 states and 15 foreign countries. He has been a featured visiting professor and conducted over 200 universities and conservatories internationally.
During his tenure at Colorado, the University of Colorado Wind Symphony performed by invitation at major conferences and conventions, including the First International Conference for Symphonic Bands in Manchester, England; the all-Japan Band Conference in Nemo Nu Sato, Japan; the College Band Directors National Association (twice) , and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Hamamatsu, Japan. The ensemble also has released two CDs on the Klavier label featuring original works by composers Daniel Kellogg, Carter Pann and Frank Ticheli and collaboration with the Takacs String Quartet, Patrick Mason, baritone, and Jennifer Bird-Arvidson, soprano
ith a strong commitment to new music, Allan McMurray has been a strong proponent in commissioning and performing new compositions by American composers. He has won praise for his interpretive and expressive conducting by many composers, including Pulitzer Prize winners Michael Colgrass, George Crumb, John Harbison, Karel Husa, and Steven Stuckey.
Professor McMurray has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra, and has conducted the Colorado Symphony, the Thai Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. He also conducted the Prague Chamber musicians in a festival featuring the music of George Crumb in Prague and subsequently in the US. McMurray also completed four seasons with the Colorado Ballet Orchestra as conductor of Philip Feeney’s “Dracula”.
Professor McMurray’s internationally acclaimed DVD series on the Art of Conducting includes three DVDs: “Conducting from the Inside Out: Gesture and Movement” published by GIA; “Conducting from the Inside Out: Conductor and çomposer with Frank Ticheli” published by Manhattan Beach Music; and “Kindred Spirits” with friends and well-known conductors Richard Floyd, Craig Kirchhoff, and Robert Reynolds also published by GIA. He’s currently working on a companion textbook to the DVD series.
Alan McMurray has received numerous honours awards. He is a Past President of the College Band Directors National Association, he is a recipient of the Bohumil Makovsky Award for Outstanding College Band Directors from the National Band Fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi, and has been recognized by California State University, Long Beach as “Distinguished Artist in Classical Music”. In December 2004, the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado designated Alan McMurray as the university’s 25th Distinguished Professor, in recognition of his lifetime, professional achievement in the teaching of conducting.
Alan McMurray remains active as an artist conductor, teacher, and author.
Dr. Steven J. Capaldo
Associate Professor of Music Education & Conducting
University of Victoria
“One of the key things I’d like to establish is a focus on conducting from an education perspective through a reflexive learner-centred approach, with an emphasis on clear, artistic communication between the conductor and the ensemble“
Dr Steven Capaldo has distinguished himself as one of the most respected music educators, wind conductors and conductor educators in Australia and Canada, earning academic and musical recognition internationally. Steven is currently an Associate Professor of Music Education & Conducting, Conductor of the Wind Symphony, and Head of Music Education and Graduate Wind Conducting at the University of Victoria, Canada. He has previously held positions in Music Education at the University of Wollongong
(Australia) and the University of Victoria, and was the Conductor of the Sydney University Wind Orchestra and the UNSW Wind Symphony. While at the University of Wollongong, Steven held positions including Academic Program Director for the Master of Teaching degree, Faculty Director of Academic Integrity, Honours Program Coordinator, and has served as Interim Director of Music at the UVic School of Music.
Completing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting at UNLV, a Master of Performance (Orchestral and Choral Conducting) at the University of Sydney (Conservatorium of Music), a Bachelor of Education in Music at the University of Melbourne, and an AMusA on Saxophone (with Distinction), Steven has extensive experience working with wind orchestras, symphony orchestras, and chamber ensembles. He has established a long-standing history supporting, mentoring, and engaging in community music and music education settings as well as premiering dozens of works including many commissioned works for the wind ensemble genre and is a passionate advocate for new music and supporting diverse, underrepresented, and local composers.
An active writer, Steven composes, arranges, and transcribes music for wind orchestras, symphony orchestras, festivals and concerts and his works have been performed by groups in Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States, and recorded on Klavier records (US). Listed as a composer in the book ‘The Band Down Under‘, Steven’s music is published though Brolga Music Australia and Murphy Music Press, and has been a finalist in international composition competitions. An Assistant Producer and Co-Editor for eight Klavier Records CDs, Steven was also Chair of the Australian Jury Panel for the 2018 International Eurovision Song Contest and a panelist for Junior Eurovision 2017.
He has received critical praise for his ensembles and many awards for his academic & teaching achievements including the 2023 Faculty of Fine Arts Teaching Excellence Award, the 2018 UOW Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning Award, and the 2011 Recognition of Teaching Excellence from the Australian College of Educators. As an academic, Steven has published in journals and presented papers at national and international conferences in conducting, music education, and music technology including the International EdTech Conference, the BCMEA Conference, the Australian National Band and Orchestra Conference (ANBOC), and the ASME conference.
Steven is highly active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator having worked at local, state/provincial, national, and international levels. He has adjudicated at MusicFest (Canada’s National Music Festival), the Australian International Music Festival, the Whistler Con Brio Festival, conducted honour bands including the BC Honour Winds (2007 & 2024), Queensland SHEP Honour Band, Southern Sydney Honour Band, conducted concerts with the Civic Orchestra of Victoria, and was a regular guest conductor with the Wollongong Community Orchestra. Providing professional learning opportunities for music educators and conductors, he has been a conducting instructor for the Canadian Armed Forces and a conducting clinician at ANBOC (Sydney), the chief conducting clinician for the ABODA Queensland Conducting School, a clinician for the ABODA NSW Conducting School, and will be the chief conducting clinician for the 2025 ABODA NSW Conducting School.