The Clinicians

Graham Bennett is a native of Hoover, Alabama.  After graduating from Hoover High School in 2008, he attended Jacksonville State University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education.  Mr. Bennett participated for three years in Drum Corps International as a member of the world class organizations Spirit and The Madison Scouts.  Mr. Bennett went on to receive his Masters in Music Education from William Carey University in the Summer of 2019.  He previously served as the Director of Bands at Jacksonville High School and Mary G. Montgomery High School before joining the faculty of Thompson High School in 2019.  Mr. Bennett currently serves as the Director of Bands at Thompson High School and leads the Thompson High School Marching Southern Sounds, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble.  During his tenure at Thompson High School, the Wind Ensemble has received consistent superior ratings at State Assessment, the Marching Southern Sounds have ranked top three in the state of Alabama, and the band program has performed at various national locations.  The Thompson High School Wind Ensemble has also performed twice, as well as the Thompson High School Jazz Ensemble once, at the Alabama Music Educators Association Conference under Mr. Bennett's direction.  The Thompson High School Pep Band has also won four consecutive National Championships from 2023-2026 at the Varsity Spirit National Championships in Orlando, Florida.  Alabaster City Schools has also received “Best Community for Music Education” from the NAMM Foundation annually under the leadership of Mr. Bennett and all of the other incredible faculty and staff within the Music Education programs in ACS.  Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and their two beautiful daughters currently reside in Helena, Alabama.

Dr. Patrick E. Young is director of bands and assistant professor of tuba and euphonium at Samford University. He works with the athletic bands, conducts the wind ensemble, teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting and leads the tuba and euphonium studio. Before joining Samford, Young served as director of bands and low brass at Idaho State University and Young Harris College.
 

An active conducting clinician and adjudicator, Young works with regional and state-level wind bands and is regularly invited to adjudicate solo, marching and large ensemble competitions across the western and southeastern United States. He previously served as higher education chair for the Idaho Bandmasters Association, where he organized the annual Idaho All-Collegiate Band. He routinely commissions and premieres new works by younger and underrepresented composers for wind band and frequently presents at state and national music conferences. His past presentations include Sing Through Your Baton – Expressive Conducting for the Band Director, Conducting Tips: A Performer’s Perspective, SPEAK CLEARLY: Articulation Tips for the Band Director, cNAFME - Preparing for the Job Interview and Exploring Chat GPT for Music Teachers.
 

In addition to his duties at Samford, Young is principal tubist of Opera Colorado in Denver and the Taneycomo Festival Orchestra in Branson, Missouri. As a soloist, he has performed at International Tuba & Euphonium Conferences and regional conferences in the Southeast and Northwest. He received two Global Music Awards in the solo instrumentalist and creativity categories for his album Counting Rests and won first place in the Rocky Mountain Brass Solo Contest. He was also a two-time semifinalist in the International Leonard Falcone Festival and Competition in Michigan and previously served as principal tubist with the Symphony of the Rockies and the Longmont Symphony Orchestra in Colorado.
 

An advocate for chamber music, Young regularly provides chamber coaching and tuba/euphonium masterclasses with the Cantare Brass Quintet, a group dedicated to premiering new and diverse works for brass quintet while also performing classic repertoire. He has coached at institutions including the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Colorado State University, the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Wyoming, the University of Utah, Boise State University, Brigham Young University–Idaho and the University of Oregon. In 2019, he toured Russia as a guest artist with the Fortress Brass Quintet, performing as a soloist with the St. Petersburg Conservatory Orchestra, teaching masterclasses and lessons and presenting recitals at the Moscow Conservatory, the Gnessin Musical College and the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
 

Young is a Melton Meinl Weston and B&S Tuba performing artist and a member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association, the National Association for Music Education, the College Band Directors National Association and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He earned a bachelor of music education from Young Harris College, a master of music performance in tuba from the University of Georgia and a doctorate of musical arts in music performance and pedagogy from the University of Colorado Boulder.
 

In his free time, Young enjoys grilling, watching the Atlanta Braves and hiking with his wife, Jenna, and their Siberian husky, Kirby.