Brian McMath is the retired Director of Bands from Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a prior appointment at Southwestern Randolph High School.  He taught for 30 years as a music educator.  While at Northwest Guilford HS, Mr. McMath built ten performing ensembles for the students to advance within: Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble consistently receiving accolades and Superior Ratings at adjudicated festivals and events.   The nationally competitive Marching Viking Band, Middle School Cadet Winter Guard, JV Winter Guard, National Semi-Finalist Varsity Winter Guard and the Winter Percussion Ensemble continued to entertain audiences and create wonderful co-curricular performance experiences for all students. Students in Mr. McMath’s programs are selected to local, state and national honor bands and many former students have gone on to careers in Music and Music Education.  

The groups from Northwest Guilford performed in Tampa and Orlando, Florida; Tempe, Arizona; Dayton, Ohio; Toronto, Canada; New York City; 2018 Hollywood Christmas Parade in California as well as Disneyland; 80th Pearl Harbor Concert Series in Waikiki, Hawaii in 2021 and has traveled to Italy, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.  The Marching Vikings just returned from their performance for the Pope in the 2024-2025 New Year’s Day Parade in Rome, Italy.

Mr. McMath holds a Bachelor and Masters’ Degree in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as well as his National Board Certification in Post-Secondary Music Education in 2002 with recertifications in 2012 and 2022.

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Mr. McMath was named the Coca-Cola Outstanding Young Educator (1999), Guilford County United ARTS County Teacher of the Year (2011), NC Teaching Hero Award (2019), 2021 Central District Bandmasters Award of Excellence for North Carolina, a 4-time Grammy Nominated Music Educator (2023 Semi-Finalist & 2021 Top Ten Finalist) and the 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year for Northwest Guilford High School.

He held professional memberships in the Music Educators National Conference, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the North Carolina Bandmasters Association, the North Carolina Association of Educators, the Central District Bandmasters Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Mr. McMath has performed in Switzerland, Italy, France and Monte Carlo with the Greensboro Choral Society. He also conducted in New York, London, York and in Scotland for the Prime Minister in April 2001.  

Mr. McMath is the Founder & CEO of MAC Group Travel which offers amazing travel opportunities for small and large groups.  Specializing in Band, Orchestra, Choral, Visual Art and Drama trips but also including sports, churches, theatre, families and anyone else looking to travel domestic or international.  Feel free to email at brianmcmath@gmail.com for any future travel plans.

Dr. J. Ben Jones is Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Catawba College where he serves as conductor for the Wind Ensemble, director of the Marching Band and Pep Band, and administers the entire Catawba College bands program. Prior to this appointment he served as the Assistant Director of Bands at Elon University from 2020 to 2022 and as interim conductor of the Duke University Wind Symphony during the fall of 2021. 

Ben earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Instrumental Conducting at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2021. While at UNCG, he served as the principal conductor of the University Band and was the co-conductor of the Symphonic Band during the 2018–19 school year. He was also a frequent guest conductor with the Wind Ensemble, Casella Sinfonietta, and served as an instructor in undergraduate instrumental conducting. 

Prior to his graduate studies Ben taught in the public school system of North Carolina as the Director of Bands at Ashbrook High School in Gastonia, where he oversaw marching and concert bands and collaborative efforts within the community. An advocate for music education and building leaders in school music programs, Ben has presented leadership training workshops, worked with young music educators, adjudicated, and served as a guest clinician for many band programs around the Carolinas. 

Ben is a native of Gastonia, NC, and holds a BME from the University of South Carolina and an MM in Instrumental Conducting from UNCG. He has studied with Dr. Kevin Geraldi, Dr. John Locke, and Dr. Jonathan Caldwell, and is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the College Band Directors National Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.