faculty

Dr. Christopher Heidenreich,
Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands

Dr. Christopher P. Heidenreich began his tenure at Louisiana Tech in the fall of 2021 after serving at the University of Michigan-Flint since 2009. Prior work includes three years at Youngstown State University as well as fourteen teaching public school in Ohio. He completed his Doctor of Music in Wind Conducting from Indiana University (2006), holds a Master of Arts in Music Education from The Ohio State University (1998), and a Bachelor of Music degree from Bowling Green State University (1989) where he graduated cum laude.

From 2011-2021 he served as Conductor and Music Director of the Washtenaw Community Concert Band of Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2002, he was awarded the American School Band Directors Association's “Distinguished Band Director” Award for Ohio and the North Central Region, and in 2013 UM-Flint awarded him the Faculty Distinguished Service Award. The Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association granted him with an Honorary Membership for service to the state in 2020.

Heidenreich continues to be in demand as an adjudicator for concert and marching bands throughout Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois. He has been a presenter at the Midwest Clinic, the Michigan Music Conference, and the Ohio Music Education Association Convention. In addition, he is a contributor to Teaching Music Through Performing in Band, and has published various articles in The National Band Association Journal, The Instrumentalist, The International Trumpet Guild, The Association of Concert Bands Journal and The WASBE World Magazine.

Heidenreich studied under the mentorship of Ray E. Cramer and Stephen W. Pratt while at IU as well as assisted with the Marching Hundred. He held various guest conducting responsibilities with each of the wind bands, and continued trumpet study with Professor Joey Tartell. His doctoral project, completed in partial fulfillment of the degree, included creating a new edition of Gordon Jacob’s An Original Suite, composed in 1924. His new editions of the Jacob and Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1 in G Minor receive regular national and international performances.

Heidenreich is a member of the National Association for Music Educators, Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, and a lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association. He and his wife Beth have two children: Jillian who is a doctorate candidate in Occupational Therapy, and Daniel, a Cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Dr. Gregory Lyons,
James Alvey Smith Endowed Professor
Associate Professor of Music and Assistant Director of Bands

Dr. Gregory Lyons is Associate Professor of Music and the James Alvey Smith Endowed Professor at Louisiana Tech University where he teaches applied percussion, directs the percussion ensemble, and coaches the drum line. He also serves as head of instrumental music education. Formerly, Dr. Lyons was as an assistant band director in the Missouri public schools where he taught percussion and conducted beginning and intermediate bands.

As a solo and ensemble performer, he has made appearances in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, and California including performances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention’s Technology Day and the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. He is principal percussionist with the Rapides Symphony Orchestra (Alexandria, LA) and has also performed with the Shreveport Symphony, Monroe Symphony, Texarkana Symphony (TX), West Shore Symphony (MI), and Lansing Symphony (MI). Dr. Lyons is the co-coordinator and co-founder of New Music on the Bayou, a contemporary summer music festival since 2016. He also coordinates the North Louisiana Youth Percussion Ensemble Festival at Louisiana Tech. He is past president and current treasurer of the Louisiana Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, and is a proud endorser of Grover Pro Percussion, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, SABIAN Cymbals and Majestic Percussion.

Madison Prattini
Dillon Telford
Daniel Wesson

Aimee Bourgeois

Rosa Andrzejewski
Carley Dugas

Callie Hamilton

Peyton Bonvillian
Alex Cogburn
Tyler Poe

Kaelis Ash
Dakova Becks
Luke Suarez

Breeanna Godwin
Neil Haas

Justin Griffin
Frank Simcox

Jason Chancey

Will Drake
Lucas Drake

Christopher Broome

Dalton Cate
Christian Guzman
Michael Horn
Jalia Payne

Kylie Hammett

Frances Sevcik

Luke Suarez

Neil Haas

Rosa Andrzejewski

Haleigh Ward

Tyler Johnson

Kylie Hammett