Originally from Pineville, NC, Mr. Michael T. Sanders currently serves as the Director of Instrumental‬ Music, Choral Music, and AP Music Theory at John Taylor Williams Secondary Montessori in‬ Charlotte, NC, where 45% of the school’s total population is enrolled in one or more music classes.‬ This is his seventh year at Williams Montessori and his twenty-first year in public school music‬ education.‬

‭Mr. Sanders holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of North Carolina at‬ Greensboro (UNCG), where he specialized in Music Education and French Horn. His previous teaching roles include positions at Lexington Middle School (NC), Durham School of the Arts in‬ Durham, NC, and Northwest School of the Arts and Winterfield Elementary School in Charlotte, NC.‬

‭Since 2011, Mr. Sanders has been a teaching artist for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s Project‬ Harmony, a collaboration with Arts+ (formerly Community School of the Arts) focused on‬ nstrumental music instruction for grades 2-5. He is also the Co-Founder of the Greater Charlotte‬ Summer Arts Camp, now in its sixth year, offering visual and performing arts instruction for students‬ ages 6-12. For twenty years, he has served as a counselor and camp band conductor at the UNCG‬ Summer Music Camp. Additionally, he performs as a French horn player in the Catawba River Winds‬ based in Fort Mill, South Carolina.‬

‭Mr. Sanders attributes his love for music to the‬‭ Final‬‭ Fantasy‬‭ video game series, with a special‬ admiration for Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu, whose iconic scores inspired his early passion‬ and curiosity for musical expression. He actively contributes to the music education community,‬ holding memberships in the North Carolina Bandmasters Association (NCBA), North Carolina Music‬ Educators Association (NCMEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and Phi Mu‬ Alpha Sinfonia. He currently co-chairs the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Middle School‬ Honors Band, represents middle school music on the CMS Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory‬ Council, leads as the CMS AP Music Theory coordinator, and serves on the community advisory‬ board for Charlotte’s classical music radio station, WDAV. Additionally, he frequently serves as a‬ guest clinician for honor bands across North and South Carolina and provides mentorship to student‬ musicians in local middle and high schools, including the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras.‬

‭In his free time, Mr. Sanders enjoys video gaming, electronics repair, and spending time with family‬ and friends.‬

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.