So You Want to Host an ACB Convention

Michael Burch-Pesses is the President-Elect of the Association of Concert Bands and the Director of the award-winning Oregon Symphonic Band, Oregon's premier adult band. He is the Director of Bands at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band, and teaches courses in conducting and music education. A former bandmaster in the US Navy, he served as Leader of the Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Maryland, Assistant Leader of the Navy Band in Washington, D.C., and Director of the Commodores, the Navy's official jazz ensemble. He is the author of “Canadian Band Music – A Qualitative List of Canadian Composers and Their Works for Band.”

A native of Eden, NY, and 2-time Grammy Nominated and semifinalist Music Educator, Ms. Amy J. Erhard attended SUNY Fredonia earning her Bachelor and Masters in Music Education with an emphasis in Conducting. Amy is currently Music Director and Conductor of the Buffalo Wind Symphony where the band was awarded the John Philip Sousa Sudler Silver Scroll Award. Approaching her 30-year  career, Amy earned Teacher of the Year in 2007, was recognized as a pilot program for VH-1 Save the Music, instituted a district-wide yearly Music Camp, conducted the All-City Band, and also initiated several community projects including "Arts Day", “BPS Summer Music Camp”, “All-City Jazz Initiative” and coordinated the "Extreme Makeover" Home Edition Food Drive Challenge, where she and her team broke the national volume record of food raised. Ms. Steiner was founder and project manager of “forGOT music?”, a movement to save the music programs in the Buffalo Schools.  Amy's many achievements do not go un-noticed. In 2010, she received a Forty Under 40 Award from Business First, in 2017 named Western New York Instrumental Music Teacher of the Year through Buffalo State College, and in 2017, she was one of five music teachers worldwide recognized by “Be Part of the Music”. Receiving the President’s Award in 2023, Amy currently serves as Recording Secretary and Convention Project Manager of the Association of Concert Bands.  She was co-chair of the 2018 Convention “Forte in Buffalo”, co-Project Manager of “Diversify Our Bands” in 2023, and is Project Manager of “Music on the Frontier” 2025. 

Scott McElfresh is the Regional Connections Events Coordinator and a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Concert Bands (ACB). An ACB member since 1994, he has also served on the Technology, Convention, and ACB Connects! Committees. Scott is a computer science professor at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. He enjoys playing the clarinet and the saxophone in community and university ensembles.  His computer science career has taken him to various locations to reside along the East Coast of the U.S. He has always been a part of community bands, often playing in multiple ensembles and participating in their organizational leadership, to include the management of logistics, arranging for concert spaces, handling equipment, and obtaining insurance. In 2014, Scott and his wife Sarah founded the Heart of Virginia Community Band in Farmville, Virginia, which he conducted for five years. Having served on computer science conference committees for 30 years, regional band festival committees for several years, and the ACB Convention Committee for the last five years, he brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience to the event planning process.

Mr. Paul M. Furlong, a Western New York native, holds Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees in Music Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Paul is a retired music educator from the Eden (NY) Central Schools, having served as department chair and director of the Junior High School Band and the High School Wind Ensemble. He is the current President of the Buffalo Wind Symphony (BWS) the winner of the 2019 Sudler Silver Scroll Award, and the Erie County Wind Ensemble and is personnel manager for BWS and the Cheektowaga and Orchard Park Symphonies. Paul is currently serving on his second term as a member of the Association of Concert Bands Board of Directors. He has been Chairman of the Convention Bands in 2018 (Buffalo), in 2023 (Orlando) and currently for 2025 (Fort Smith). He is also a member of the Convention Committee, contributing with the planning for future ACB conventions.

Jeff Marlow holds degrees from Arkansas Tech University 1987 and the University of Kansas 1994. Before retiring in 2017, Jeff was Director of Bands in Dover, Arkansas. Jeff’s Dover band performed at the 2004 American School Band Directors Association National Convention and received Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association Sweepstakes Awards 16 of the 21 years. Jeff is a past president of the Arkansas Bandmasters Association (2013). He currently directs the River Valley Community Band in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and teaches private saxophone lessons in the Fort Smith public school system. The River Valley Community Band is the ACB Partner Band for the 2025 ACB Convention. Jeff has served as a member of the ACB Board of Directors. As a member of the ACB Connects! Committee, Jeff is actively engaged in bringing roundtable discussions, tutorials, and clinics to our membership. He was one of the ACB Board members involved in the organization of the Regional Connections Event in Omaha, Nebraska, and his River Valley Community Band performed at the Regional Connections Event in Plano/Richardson, Texas. Jeff has participated in community bands since college and believes that age and ability should not stop musicians from participating in their community bands. He would like to see more ACB activity at the state level with more community bands working with one another on recruiting, repertoire, and financial support. Jeff enjoys relaxing on his farm where he spends time with his wife of 34 years, Greta.