Nick Eggen has been a Director of Instrumental Music at Viera High School in Brevard County, Florida since 2008, teaching ensemble courses for Band, Jazz, and Orchestra. He earned the BME & MME from the Florida State University and previously taught at middle and high schools in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. Mr. Eggen was recently selected as the 2024-2025 Viera High School Teacher of the Year. 

Mr. Eggen currently serves as chairman of the Florida Bandmasters Association’s Sightreading Committee and has previously served on the Florida Music Education Association Executive Board as the technology chairman and member at-large. He regularly works with the FMEA Conference Planning Committee to coordinate the annual Professional Development Conference in Tampa each January.

Mr. Eggen serves on the Brevard Public Schools Music Leadership Team and served as the All-County Band Coordinator for 10 years. He is a conductor of the Brevard Symphony Youth Orchestra, having worked with the organization since 2018.

Mr. Eggen's professional affiliations include the Florida Bandmasters Association, Florida Orchestra Association, Florida Music Education Association, the National Association for Music Education, the American School Band Directors Association, the National Band Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. He was elected to the Omega Chapter of Phi Beta Mu, an International Bandmasters Fraternity, in 2017. 

Mr. Eggen resides in Melbourne with his wife Michelle, the Orchestra Director at Melbourne High School; his daughters Mary & Helen and sons Benjamin & William.

Enjoying her 32nd year of teaching, Maria Dix holds a Bachelors of Music from the University of South Carolina and a Masters of Music Education from the University of Miami. Ms. Dix is currently Associate Director of Instrumental Music at Viera High School in Brevard County, Florida. She currently serves as co-chair of the Brevard All-County Jazz Band Festival and is a member of the Brevard Music Leadership Team.

Prior to her tenure at Viera High School, Ms. Dix taught in Broward County Florida, Tennessee and Northern Virginia. Under her direction, her ensembles have consistently earned Superior Ratings at both District and State level assessments.  Ms. Dix is a member of the Florida Bandmasters Association, the Florida Orchestra Association, the Florida Music Educators Association, and NAfME. She is an active adjudicator and has served as an honor band clinician throughout Florida. She lives In Melbourne with her love, Dave Lawver and a house full of happy fur babies.

Dan Johnson is an educator, performer, and arranger in the Central Florida area. He has been involved in the design and educational sides of both indoor and outdoor pageantry arts for over 20 years. He holds a Graduate Certificate in Percussion Performance and an MM in Jazz Studies from the University of South Florida. He is currently the Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Stetson University and the Director of Percussion at Viera High School. In addition to an active private lesson studio, he also writes and arranges for marching bands and indoor percussion programs. Dan lives in Longwood with the best teenager a dad could ask for. 

Dr. Tom Silliman has been an orchestra director and string teacher with the Brevard County School District for over thirty years and is currently the itinerant string specialist teacher for the Viera High School feeder chain. He is a cellist in the Brevard Symphony and previously served as the artistic director/concert orchestra conductor of the Brevard Symphony Youth Orchestra. He frequently performs with many other organizations in the Central Florida area and performs with his wife Becky in the Highwire flute and cello duo. Prior to moving to Brevard County, he served as professor of string education at Southern Utah University for three years. Dr. Silliman has a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance from James Madison University and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in cello performance from Arizona State University. Dr. Silliman is an active member of the Worship Orchestra at First Baptist Melbourne.

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