Ms. Audrey Murphy is in her second year as Band Director at East Cobb Middle School in Marietta, Georgia. Prior to this appointment, she was Band Director at Hopewell Middle School in Milton, Georgia from the opening of the school in 2004 until 2023. Under her direction, Hopewell ensembles earned consecutive Superior ratings in performance evaluations and appeared as guest performing ensembles at the University of Georgia Middle School Band Festival, the Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Band Festival, and the Music for All National Concert Festival. The Hopewell Middle School Symphonic Band also performed as a featured ensemble for the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference in 2010 and 2019.

A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Ms. Murphy is a graduate of East Carolina University. She has performed as a clarinetist with the Long Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Charlotte Civic Orchestra, the Capital City Opera Company of Atlanta, Tara Winds, the Georgia Wind Symphony, and Atlanta-based woodwind quintet Highland5.

Ms. Murphy has served as a guest clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. She has received the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence on four occasions for her contributions to the field of concert band. She is also a recipient of the North Fulton Jaycees Outstanding Young Arts Professional Award and was named 2010-2011 Hopewell Middle School Teacher of the Year. In 2022, she was featured in the “50 Directors Who Make a Difference” issue of School Band and Orchestra Magazine and, most recently, was conductor of the 2024 Georgia Middle School All-State Band. Ms. Murphy currently serves as Elementary/Middle School/Junior High School Representative on the National Band Association Board of Directors, and chairs the National Band Association/Alfred Music Young Band Composition Contest Committee.

T.j. Anderson (he/him) is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting and serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Texas at Austin. At UT, T.j. works closely with all aspects of the university band program, including the Wind Ensemble and Longhorn Band. His duties for the Longhorn Band include teaching, arranging, and writing drill. T.j. earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Coastal Carolina University, where he studied percussion with Dr. Jesse Willis. During his undergraduate studies, he served as Drum Major for the Chanticleer Regiment for two seasons and conducted the university pep band. He also studied conducting with Dr. T. André Feagin, Garrett Griffin, and Dr. Timothy Koch.

He completed a Master’s Degree in Instrumental Conducting at Appalachian State University under the mentorship of Dr. John Stanley Ross, Dr. Jason Gardner, Dr. Regulo Stabilito, and Dr. Alexandra Dee. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, he contributed to undergraduate courses in conducting, band literature, and band methods, while also teaching and arranging for the Marching Mountaineers. Additionally, he conducted the Appalachian Concert Band and Basketball Pep Band.

T.j. has held positions as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Festive Brass and Assistant Conductor of the Carolina Master Chorale. His professional affiliations include CBDNA, NAfME, SCMEA, NCMEA, TMEA, and Pi Kappa Lambda. He is also an Honorary Brother of Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and a Sigma Alpha Iota Friend of the Arts.

A proud graduate of Carolina Forest High School and the Horry County School District, T.j. remains committed to advancing music education and performance.

Dr. Mark J. Spede is Professor of Music, Director of Bands, Director of Tiger Band, Conductor of the Symphonic Band at Clemson University, and past president of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA). In the fall of 2023, he was honored by Clemson with “Honorary Alumnus” status and given a school ring. He is the recipient of the Clemson University 2009 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2023 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service (College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities), and three Clemson University Board of Trustees Awards for Faculty Excellence (2008, 2009, and 2012). He was awarded the Kappa Kappa Psi “Distinguished Service to Music

Medal” (2022), elected as national honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma (2021), the Minority Band Directors National Association (2021), and Omicron Kappa Delta (2022). He teaches several courses including two for the Honors College: aesthetics of music and science of music. In 2012 he conducted the Clemson University Symphonic Band at venues in London, England for the Summer Olympic Games. In 2012 he founded the Clemson Faculty Jazz Quintet for which he plays drums. Spede earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan (1984), a Master of Music from Ball State University (1988), and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Texas at Austin (1998).

In 2020 he co-chaired the International Coalition Performing Arts Aerosol Study conducted at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Maryland that led an estimated 4.5 million music students back into the classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Articles quoting him about return to music activities were published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Tampa Bay Times, and the Charleston Post and Courier among others.