Adjudicators

Describing Yun Ju (Alice) Pan's artistry, marimba legend Keiko Abe wrote:“Alice has natural musicality and performs with great sensitivity. I am convinced that her playing will deeply touch the hearts of audiences.” 

This praise reflects the expressive depth and warm, human connection that define Yun Ju (Alice) Pan — an award-winning performer, dedicated educator, and chamber musician whose work continues to grow across countries and communities.

An active performer and clinician, Yun Ju has appeared in concerts, festivals, and competitions across Australia, Taiwan, Japan, China, and the United States, including featured performances at PASIC and multiple PAS Days of Percussion in different states. She is also a member of the Without Borders Percussion Quartet, an active performing group known for cross-cultural collaborations, new commissions, and innovative programming. In addition, she serves as a judge and adjudicator for numerous percussion competitions and festivals, supporting young musicians through thoughtful guidance and professional insight.

Her work extends beyond the stage: she presents masterclasses, guest residencies, and pedagogy workshops at universities and music institutions worldwide. Her teaching specialties include percussion ensemble techniques, solo marimba interpretation, creative curriculum design, and studio pedagogy. She is passionate about helping young percussionists build confidence, clarity, and artistic imagination.

Yun Ju currently serves as Assistant Professor of Percussion at Missouri State University, where she directs the percussion area and leads a fast-growing, student-centered program. She is internationally recognized for her musical sensitivity, fresh interpretive voice, and commitment to advancing percussion education.

As a scholar-performer, she actively commissions and compose new works, develops interdisciplinary projects, and advocates for representation and innovation within the percussion community.

Yun Ju holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from Michigan State University, a Master of Music from Ithaca College, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Performance from SooChow University (Taiwan).

She is proudly endorsed by Salyers/Encore Mallets, Yamaha Corporation of America, and Remo Drumheads.

Daniel Albertson, originally from Wichita, Kansas, is a graduate of Washburn University (B.M.E. ‘21) and the University of Delaware (M.M. ‘23). He is an Assistant Professor of Music at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas, Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kansas, and is currently furthering his education at the University of Kansas in pursuit of a Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance. Additionally, he serves as president of the Kansas Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and as Festival Coordinator of the Sunflower Music Festival, an internationally known music festival held in Topeka, KS, every June.

While pursuing his Master's degree, he was awarded a Graduate Teaching Assistantship in the University of Delaware percussion studio and was an inaugural member of the University of Delaware Graduate Percussion Group. As a member, this ensemble won first prize at the PASIC Concert Chamber Percussion Ensemble competition in 2021 and runner-up the following year in 2022, and were soloists for Viet Cuong’s Re(new)al percussion concerto with the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble in 2023. Albertson was most recently selected to perform Andy Akiho's carTogRAPh at the University of Kansas’ Graduate Honors Concert in the fall of 2025. His primary teachers have been Steve Hatfield, Dr. Tom Morgan, Dr. Von Hansen, Dr. Gene Koshinski, Dr. Tim Broscious, and Garrett Arney.

Dean Julia Montag is the author of Sequential Studies for Four-Mallet Marimba, published by Tapspace. This three-volume series—comprising twenty lessons per book—systematically addresses the technical strokes foundational to four-mallet marimba repertoire. She also has produced a solo recording Tiger Dance, which features performances of selected intermediate solos from the series alongside additional commissioned works.

As a performer, she has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States and internationally, including performances in Brazil, China, England, and Russia. Her orchestral experience includes work with the Missouri Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Fox Valley Symphony, Green Bay Symphony, and Idaho-Washington Symphony. She has presented extensively at professional conferences, including the Midwest Clinic (2013, 2025) and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in 2004, 2008, 2013, and 2019.

Julia holds three degrees in percussion performance: a Bachelor of Music from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Oklahoma. A long-standing member of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), she has held several leadership roles, including Secretary of the Executive Committee and Associate Editor of Percussive Notes. She currently serves on the PAS Board of Advisors.

Dean Montag serves as the Dean of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music and the School of Theatre at Oklahoma City University.  Prior to joining OCU, she served at the University of Missouri, where she began as Director of Percussion Studies and was appointed Director of the School of Music in 2014. Among her administrative achievements are leading the MU School of Music’s Centennial Celebration and overseeing the design, construction, and grand opening of the Sinquefield Music Center. In recognition of her leadership, she received the 2026 Missouri Outstanding Administrator Award from the Missouri Music Educators Association. 

Nicole Hackel has been playing and teaching music in Missouri for over fifteen years. As a freelance percussionist, she enjoys performing with different types of ensembles including the St. Louis Wind Symphony and subbing with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra. Nicole studied Music Education at Truman State University where she received her BA in Music and her Master’s degree in Arts in Education. She spent the first six years of her career teaching in the Linn, Blair Oaks, and the Fort Zumwalt School districts where her love of seeing young percussionists thrive came to life! She is also a proud alumni of Gateway Indoor Percussion and Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. 

She believes one of the most important things people can do in their life is play music and share it with others to bring us together. 

Mark Reynolds has built a career in music education spanning over 30 years. He began as a middle school and high school music educator before transitioning to the music industry in 2001. Since then, he has worked in school music retail and with some of the world’s leading percussion manufacturers. His extensive experience has led him to his current role as the National Director of Sales & Education, School Music Division at SABIAN Ltd.

In his role at SABIAN, Mark oversees and directs sales activities for the school music division while also managing the company's education department for the U.S. market. Additionally, he leads the artist relations program for the education division, working with educators at high schools, universities, drum corps, WGI ensembles, and freelance orchestral performers nationwide. He is also a key member of SABIAN’s marketing team, contributing to product development, managing social media content, and coordinating numerous trade shows and conventions.

Mark continues to fuel his passion for education as a lecturer and percussion director for The Ohio State University Marching Band in Columbus, Ohio, a role he has held since 2014. Mark has also written and designed shows for Rhythm X, Redline Percussion, Tyler Jr. College, Hilliard Bradley HS, Thomas Worthington HS, and many other programs in the WGI world.

He resides in Grove City, Ohio, with his wife, Audrey, their sons, Max and Evan, and their two dogs, Zeus and Zoe.

Daniel Smithiger is the Instructor of Percussion, and Director of Basketball Bands at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in Edwardsville, Illinois. He teaches applied percussion, percussion ensemble, percussion methods, percussion history and literature, percussion pedagogy, sectionals, SIUe Steel, and directs the Basketball Bands. Since his appointment in the Fall 2010, Mr. Smithiger has grown the Percussion Studio, created the SIUe Steel Band, created the Percussion Institute at SIUe (Summer Percussion Camp), the Marching Percussion Festival at SIUe, created the Greater St. Louis Percussion Ensemble, and the SIUe Marimba Band. He has also initiated the Department’s ILMEA Audition Clinics, and the SIUe Bi-State Honor Band Percussion Ensemble.

Dan Smithiger remains in demand as a performer, judge and clinician throughout the Bi-State Areas of Missouri and Illinois. He has taught and performed in Taiwan, Canada, England, France, Austria, Germany, as well as across Arizona, Nevada, California, Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, and Tennessee. He has performed with the St. Louis Philharmonic, the St. Louis Wind Symphony, the Dubuque Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the San Angelo Symphony, the Midland-Odessa Symphony, the Mesa Symphony, the Tucson Symphony, the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, and the Flagstaff Festival of the Arts Orchestra. As a faculty member, he has performed solo recitals and as a chamber musician on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, as well as with previous employment at McKendree University, and Angelo State University.

His students have won and achieved distinction, recognition in competitions, and are teaching and performing across the United States. Mr. Smithiger is a Black Swamp Percussion Artist and Educator, and serves on the Education team for Sabian Cymbals and Remo. He serves as the coordinator and a judge in the Black Swamp Percussion Ensemble Showcase, and the BSP Solo Multiple Percussion Showcase. He has also served on the Education Committee for the Percussive Arts Society (2009-2019), hosted the Illinois Day of Percussion (2010) while at Mckendree University, and judged in multiple “Days of Percussion” in Illinois, and Arizona.

Sebastian Buhts is a conductor, percussionist, and educator based in St. Louis, MO. Recently appointed as Orchestra Director at St. Louis Community College - Meramec, Sebastian also performs as Principal Timpanist with Union Avenue Opera and teaches percussion at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to these appointments, Sebastian served as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Lindenwood University where he directed Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, Athletic Bands, and Percussion Ensemble.

Praised for his “astonishing virtuosity” by Broadway World, Sebastian maintains an active and diverse performance schedule. Recent conducting highlights include conducting “Meet Me In St. Louis” for the St. Louis Blues NHL team's 2024 Opening Video, conducting the St. Charles County Symphony Orchestra, and teaching as a guest artist at the National Taiwan University of Arts in Taipei. As a freelance percussionist, Sebastian has appeared with numerous symphony orchestras including the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Metropolitan Orchestra of St. Louis. Sebastian has performed solo marimba recitals for the Orchestra of Northern New York Summer Chamber Music Series and premiered works at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Cortona New Music Sessions, and with chamber ensembles throughout the U.S. and Germany.   

Sebastian holds a special interest in North Indian tabla drumming. In addition to creating a course focused on the performance practices of tabla at Washington University in St. Louis, Sebastian has lectured about tabla at the PAS Michigan Day of Percussion, and regularly as a guest-artist at universities across North America. Sebastian taught tabla at the 2025 Strike Institute and was a featured tabla soloist at the 2022 St. Louis Literary Award ceremony, honoring Booker Prize winner and New York Times best-selling author Arundhati Roy. Sebastian’s doctoral dissertation analyzes the form and structure of a traditional tabla solo in the North Indian musical lineage known as the Benares Gharana. 

Sebastian received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University, where he studied with Gwendolyn Dease and Jon Weber. He studied tabla intensively with Shawn Mativetsky and for six months in Varanasi, India with Pandit Kishor Kumar Mishra. His Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees are from Belmont University, where he studied with Christopher Norton. Additionally, Sebastian studied orchestral percussion and timpani at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden, Germany, and at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He is a proud artist endorser for Marimba One and Black Swamp Percussion.

For more information about Sebastian, please visit www.sebastianbuhts.com. 

Dr. Brian Zator is the Director of Percussion at East Texas A&M University and has been awarded the distinction of Regents Professor, the highest honor given to faculty in the A&M-System. As coordinator of the Percussion Studio, he oversees five Percussion Instructors, Graduate Assistants, and is responsible for the classical and marching percussion ensembles, "Panimation" Steel Drum Band, “Samba Leão” Brazilian Ensemble, undergraduate and graduate applied lessons, and the Percussion Pedagogy and Literature courses. He holds degrees from Baylor University, the University of Michigan and the University of North Texas. He is also a student of world-renowned marimba artist, Keiko Abe, having performed and studied with her in Japan. 

Dr. Zator has performed at seven Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC), conventions and festivals across the United States, at Carnegie Hall, and abroad in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, China, Australia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Poland, and Canada. He has two CD’s released on Equilibrium Records: “Zamiki: Music for Solo Marimba” and a chamber-works CD entitled, “Zoomorphs”. Dr. Zator was also named a Co-Winner for The American Prize in Instrumental Performance, 2021 (professional division).

Active within the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), he served as President of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors from 2017-2018. He was a member of the Keyboard and Percussion Ensemble Committees, has written reviews for Percussive Notes, is the founder of the PAS Leadership Academy, and has adjudicated the PAS International Percussion Ensemble, Composition, and PASIC Marimba Solo Competitions.

Dr. Zator and the East Texas A&M Percussion Ensemble are two-time winners (2023 & 2010) of the prestigious PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition.  The ensemble also presented a concert at PASIC 2006, featuring works of Minoru Miki, and has released two CD’s since 2007. Dr. Zator has an instructional keyboard book, “Keyboard Fundamentals with Play-Along Tracks”, and several published keyboard percussion solo and ensemble works. 

Dr. Zator is proud to be a performing artist and clinician for Innovative Percussion, Sabian, Evans, Black Swamp Percussion, and Ensemble Block.