Composers

Randall Standridge

Randall Standridge (b.1976) received his Bachelor's of Music Education from Arkansas State University. During this time, he studied composition with Dr. Tom O'Connor, before returning to Arkansas State University to earn his Master's in Music Composition, studying with Dr. Tom O'Connor and Dr. Tim Crist. In 2001, he began his tenure as Director of Bands at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Arkansas. He left this post in 2013 to pursue a career as a full-time composer and marching arts designer.

Mr. Standridge's music is performed internationally. He has had numerous works selected for the J.W. Pepper's editor's choice. His compositions Snake Charmer, Gently Blows the Summer Wind, and Angelic Celebrations have been included in the "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band" series. He has had numerous works performed at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. The Arkansas State University Wind Ensemble premiered his work Art(isms) at the 2010 CBDNA conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and his work Stonewall: 1969 was premiered at the National LGBA conference in 2019. Mr. Standridge is also a contributing composer for Alfred Music's Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development series.  His Symphony no.1: A Ghost Story waspremiered in 2023.

In addition to his career as a composer, Mr. Standridge is the owner and editor of Randall Standridge Music, LLC and Grand Mesa Marching. He is in demand as an arranger/designer for the marching arts.  He lives in Jonesboro, Arkansas, with his husband and their very, very spoiled pets.

JaRod Hall

JaRod Hall (b. 1991) is a Texas-native composer, educator, and performer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of North Texas where he studied conducting with Nicholas Williams and Dennis Fisher. JaRod's bands have received consistent sweepstakes awards at the Texas University Interscholastic League Concert and Sightreading Evaluations, as well as being recognized at the state level. In 2018 and 2019, JaRod's bands at Griffin Middle School earned the Citation of Excellence award, honoring the top two non-varsity bands in the state of Texas. Under his leadership, the R. L. Turner Marching Band in Carrollton, TX received 1st divisions and advanced to the Area Marching Contest for the first time in almost a decade; his Varsity band at Sam Houston Middle School in Irving, Texas received the unanimous 1st division ratings from all UIL judges for the first time in the school's history; his Varsity band at Hobby Middle School in San Antonio, TX achieved the same feat for the first time in five years.

JaRod is a tuba and trombone player by trade and has been a part of many esteemed ensembles such as the North Texas Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band, 3 O’ Clock Lab Band, Carrollton Wind Symphony, and Metropolitan Winds. During his time in high school, JaRod made the Texas All-State Band for all four years of his eligibility - the first 3 years of which were on tuba, eventually earning 1st chair Jazz Bass Trombone in the state his fourth and final year. He served as drum major for the 2013 Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, and was a member of the 2014 Disneyland All-American College Band.

As a composer, JaRod's compositions appear on the Texas Prescribed Music List, The J.W. Pepper "Editor's Choice" list, and the Bandworld Top 100 list. His composition Lost Woods Fantasy was showcased at the 73rd annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago by the Berkner High School Band composed of the first students JaRod taught as a band director in Richardson ISD. His composition "Silver Fanfare" was selected as a winner of the Dallas Winds Call for Fanfares and "Through the Storm" was selected as the 2021 Barbara Buehlman Prize winner for middle school band - commissioned by David Puckett and the Keller Middle School Band, premiered for Midwest by Robert Herrings the Artie Henry Middle School Band. Additionally, JaRod is a nationwide marching band and WGI arranger and consultant.

JaRod is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Composition at Texas State University. He resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife, Rachel (the smart one in the family) who is a medical student at the University of Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine. 

Marty Nelson

Marty Nelson (b. 1958), a native of Fairfax, Virginia, moved to Texas in 1976 to attend the University of North Texas where he earned both a Bachelors and a Master’s Degree in Music Education.

In 2013, Mr. Nelson retired from Arbor Creek Middle School in Carrollton, where his Honors Band was a consistent UIL Sweepstakes award winner, and placed fifth in the 2011 T.M.E.A. CC State Honor Band Competition. He was also the ACMS teacher of the year in 2012.

Prior to teaching in Lewisville I.S.D. Marty taught at Coppell Middle School East for 13 years. While at Coppell East, his band was a State Honor Band Finalist in 2000 and earned a UIL Sweepstakes every year. In 2005, Mr. Nelson was named Secondary Teacher of the Year for the Coppell I.S.D. From 1985-1992 Marty directed band at Shackelford J.H. in Arlington, Texas. The Shackelford Honors Band placed third in the T.M.E.A. Honor Band competition in 1992. Mr. Nelson also taught in the Houston area for the Spring Branch and Aldine school districts.

Mr. Nelson serves as a clinician and adjudicator, helps organize Kidz in the Park events in the DFW area, and teaches master classes and private lessons in the Hebron High School Band cluster. In 2014, he launched his own music publishing company MRNS Music to promote his band and solo compositions. The band arrangement or The Count’s Lament and Tarantella was originally commissioned by the Shadow Ridge Honor Winds in Flower Mound, Texas for the band's 2018 Midwest Clinic performance in Chicago, Illinois.  

His professional affiliations include the Texas Music Educators Association, The Texas Band Masters Association, the Texas Music Adjudicators Association, and the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity.

Patrick Roszell

Patrick Roszell (b. 1976) is an internationally published composer and arranger of band, orchestra, and choral literature. A native of Oxford, AL, Patrick received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Jacksonville State University (AL) and a Master’s degree from Troy University (AL). He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Arts in Music Education from William Carey University. His arranging and composition teachers include Dr. William Jerryl Davis, Mr. Robert W. Smith, Mr. Ralph Ford, and Dr. James Woodward.

Patrick’s arrangements and compositions have been performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and the Music for All National Concert Festival. His works have also appeared on numerous J.W. Pepper’s “Editor’s Choice” lists and several state lists for band and orchestra.

His professional background includes instrumental editorial work at Warner Bros. Publications in Miami, FL—now Alfred Music, and the FJH Music Company of Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Patrick is currently an exclusive composer and arranger for the Belwin Division of Alfred Music and a high school band director.  He resides in the state of Alabama with his pup Zoey.

Thomas Doss

Thomas Doss (b. 6 July 1966, Linz, Austria) is an Austrian composer and conductor.

Doss was born into a musical family (both parents were active orchestra-musicians). His undergraduate degree took place at the Brucknerkonservatorium Linz in music education, with an emphasis in trombone, composition, conducting, and piano. Subsequent studies took place in Salzburg, Vienna, Los Angeles, and Maastricht (Limburg).

Doss debuted with the Wiener Kammerorchester in 1988. He held residencies with various opera houses and festivals, working as both conductor and composer with, among others, the Brucknerorchester Linz, Philharmonisches Orchester Erfurt, Wiener Kammersinfoniker, Westfälisches Sinfonieorchester, Philharmonisches Orchester Budweis, Südböhmische Kammerphilharmonie, Wiener Kammerchor, Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, and the Österreichisches Ensemble für neue Musik.

Doss is known for collaborating with artists from many different genres, such as Harri Stojka, Chris de Burgh, Thomas Gansch, John Williams, Steven Mead, Christian Maurer, as well as many others. His passion for wind and brass ensembles have taken his expertise and talent around the world. He has maintained a close relationship with the Mitropa/Dehaske publishing house since 2001 and has published numerous scores and CDs with them.

Teaching and coaching have also become an increasingly important part of Doss’s work. Many of his students are award-recipients at international competitions. He also leads workshops and masterclasses at institutes across Europe, such as the Konservatorium Groningen (Netherlands), Lemmensinstitut (Belgium), Konservatorium Gent (Belgium), Universität Mainz (Germany), Musikuniversität Wien, and Anton Bruckneruniversität Linz (Austria).

Doss has been the coordinator for the „Ensembleleitung des oberösterreichischen Landesmusikschulwerk“ since 2006. He is professor of conducting at the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität, the Conservatorium Montiverdi in Bozano (I) and consults with institutes looking to improve and further their conducting programs.

Karl L. King

Karl Lawrence King was born February 21, 1891 in Paintersville, Ohio. His family moved to Xenia a short time later, and around the turn of the century, the King family moved to Canton, where young Karl would begin to develop an interest in bands and music. After receiving some instruction on the cornet, King switched to baritone. His first band experience was with the Thayer Military Band of Canton, while in his teens. In 1909 King spent some time as a member of bands in Columbus and also Danville, Illinois. While a member of these bands, King began to compose marches and other works. Beginning in 1910, King began a decade-long career as a circus musician, spending one season each as a baritone player in the bands of Robinson’s Famous Circus, Yankee Robinson Circus, Sells Floto Circus, and the Barnum and Bailey “Greatest Show On Earth.” He continued to write music while a member of these bands, and in 1913 wrote what would become his masterpiece, “Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite.”

In 1914 King accepted the position as bandleader on the Sells Floto/Buffalo Bill Combined Shows, a position he would hold for three seasons. In 1917 and 1918 he returned to the Barnum and Bailey Circus band, this time as its leader and conductor. Recently married and intent upon settling down, King ended his circus “trouping days” and returned to Canton in 1919, where he led the Grand Army Band. In 1920 King relocated to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he assumed leadership of the municipal band and operated his own publishing company, the K. L. King Music House. During his tenure, the Fort Dodge band gained national recognition, and King became a beloved member of the community as well as a band musician of national and international repute. Among many honors bestowed upon King was membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He served as ABA President in 1938 and was later named an Honorary Life President. He lived in Fort Dodge for the remainder of his life, passing away on March 31, 1971. His Fort Dodge band was subsequently renamed the “Karl L. King Municipal Band” in his honor. On October 22, 2006, a life-sized bronze statue of Mr. King was unveiled on the city square in Fort Dodge, as a testament and monument to the city’s most famous musician and citizen.

As a composer, King was one of the most prolific and popular in the history of band music. He composed at least 291 works, including 185 marches, 22 overtures, 12 galops, 29 waltzes, and works in many other styles. Not only did he compose some of the most brilliant and famous marches for experienced bands at the professional and university levels; he also displayed a remarkable ability to compose first-rate music for younger, less experienced musicians and bands. His music continues to be performed worldwide by bands of all experience levels.